Vehicle Description
Let's not dance around the issue: if this 1963 Ford Galaxie 500
were an Impala, it would cost twice as much. Yet this freshly
restored Galaxie offers equally handsome looks, full-sized comfort,
and a thumping 406 V8 under the hood matted to a 4-speed - all
beautifully restored to give it the look of luxury with the heart
of a muscle car.
The first thing you notice about this big Galaxie is that wonderful
all-of-a-piece look that only cars that have been well maintained
for decades can offer. Look at how the light works on it, showing
off the soft gloss of the fresh Matte Black paint, bringing out the
details and drawing the eye along its smooth flanks. Matte Black is
obviously not this car's original shade of color, yet it looks
wonderfully vintage, and laying down matte black (called Hotrod
Black in many circles) over a large expanse of sheetmetal like this
isn't easy, as it lends itself to 'tiger-striping' pretty easily,
but the very fact that you won't find any of that here is further
proof that the car is laser-straight underneath, and the finish was
laid down by pros. It's all in very good condition overall and
shows the work of guys who cared about what they were doing, and on
a Galaxie, that's a lot of real estate to manage. Of course, a
quality paint job is nothing without the details being right, and
all the original Ford trim remains in place with a lot of shiny
details that still look good despite being more than five decades
old. And nothing says speed and performance like those twin
jet-like taillights out back.
Neatly restored in beautiful red vinyl, the fresh interior is pure
1960s style and performance. The door tag says the interior was
originally turquoise, so it's safe to assume that everything that's
now red was either replaced or restored, and it's all fresh with
very little signs of use to be found on the bench seats, door
panels, headliner, and carpets. The factory instrument panel covers
the basics of speed and fuel level, and it's nice to see that they
kept it the way the factory built it instead of adding gauges under
the dash, although the addition of a SunPro tachometer to the
steering column is an unobtrusive, and welcome, addition. There's a
big, white cue ball knob for the Hurst 4-speed shifter and there's
really nothing cooler than a full-sized car with a
shift-it-yourself transmission. The original AM radio is still in
the dash, and yes, it unbelievably still works, while the
under-dash A/C unit is factory-spec and still works too! These two
working options alone add plenty of credence to the claim that the
miles on the odometer are in fact original to the car. The trunk is
basic and factory-stock, and it's obvious that there are no nasty
surprises waiting for you under the original mat.
In a big car, you need big power, and the non-numbers matching 406
cubic inch V8 High-Performance engine in this Galaxie doesn't
disappoint. Nicely detailed, it's every bit the NASCAR-bred brawler
that you'd expect. With a fat torque curve and a willingness to rev
thanks to the 3 2-barrel carbs on top, the powerful 406 makes this
car feel 500 pounds smaller. Sporty finned valve covers and a
matching air cleaner give it a racy look, and once again, there
weren't many liberties taken here; even the expansion tank is still
in place atop the radiator. It's quite clean throughout, with only
the surface scale on the exhaust manifolds detracting from a very
nice overall presentation. A vintage dual exhaust system gives the
406 a basso-profundo voice that will make your hair stand up, and
even with manual steering and brakes, it still feels lively on the
road thanks to that 4-speed manual transmission. 15-inch alloy
wheels and white-letter radials give it a high-performance look
that's not over the top, with plenty of rubber left to grip the
asphalt.
A great old-school performance car with big horsepower swagger,
this cool Galaxie can still play hard with the younger kids. And
with a believed-actual 55,556 miles on the clock, it's got quite
the pedigree, too. Call today!