posted at the Cohort by John Lloyd
(first posted 11/19/2016) When I saw this fine ’66 Custom 500 2-door at the Cohort, I was a bit puzzled by the full brightwork on the windows. Hmm; that’s not how they normally came. And it’s not like one could get if off a Galaxie, as there was no 2-door in that trim level. But then I remembered a very similar 4-door Custom 500 some neighbors bought in the spring of 1966, and the answer was at hand.
It’s a White Sale special! I’m not sure when it started; I know I saw some similar ’65s. But for several years every spring Ford made a big push with these specially trimmed Custom 500 sedans. It’s a bit odd, as they’re actually better trimmed than a Galaxie 500, with standard full wheel covers, whitewalls, and Galaxie-level window trim. Even the upholstery looks about basic Galaxie level. What was the point?
To move the metal, of course. It was a way to sell a virtual Galaxie for Custom 500 money during a slow time of year, with the trimmings essentially for free. And in a way that wouldn’t debase the actual Galaxie itself. These were quite popular, and put a lot more Custom 500s in regular folks’ driveways than during the rest of the year.
Of course our featured car is lacking the original wheel covers, as well as its Custom 500 script on its rear fender. But it pretty much has to have started life as a White Sale special, given the window trim and…the white paint job. Of course, it’s possible that it might not have been one, given the 390 V8 call-out on its front fender. These White Sale specials were all dealer stock cars, not custom ordered, to the best of my knowledge, so the 390 badge was either added later along with the hubcaps and missing rear trim, or…
Anyway you look at it, it’s a fine looking representative of what was a dying breed by 1966: a decently trimmed big 2-door sedan.
Here’s a pic of my ’65 Ford Custom 500 Sedan.
Mine is A/C, Radio and Power Steering delete. It did come with the 289 V8 with the Cruise-O-Matic Transmission.
I’ve owned the car 9 years and love it.
Sure could get the 390 in The White Sale Customs:
Great find!
The extra trim sure looks good. My aunt’s 66 LTD coupe had the standard 289. Not fast but more than adequate and mileage a bit better than the 390.
That seals the deal. It’s a White sale special, for sure.
But why would you want to do so?
The ancient, boat anchor, under-achiever FE390 was not all that much faster than the “Thin Wall” 289 in this body, got much worse gas mileage and that heavy lump of cast iron made the car much harder to steer (without the power steering option).
A “Hard Pass” for me.
Luxurious vinyl?
You had to be there. It was a choice of what was seared into your skin when you hopped into the car with shorts on during the summer. Either plain pancake effect ( not luxurious) or interesting waffle variations (luxurious).
Or you could cover the expanses of either with clear plastic and end up both stuck to it and have the texture of your favorite truck bumper branded to the back of your thighs. Oh good times!!
I know, right?
Wow, these got completely past me back in the day. This would have thrown me completely. I love these little oddities. Or maybe big oddities.
To misquote Henry Ford, “Any color you want so long as it is white.” 🙂
That’s a nice car, but the dog-dishes and trim rings are puzzlers, mainly because it looks like the wheels are painted red. On top of that, it has whitewall tires which, in this day and age, aren’t easy to source. You’d think that someone who goes to the trouble of getting proper whitewalls would stick with the OEM Galaxie 500 wheel covers (which, in this case, would be A-OK).
source some redlines and it will be alright.
they will look better than the white walls anyway.
It’s all a matter of taste. Some of us who grew up in the whitewall era miss them.
Agreed. Redlines on an old Goat or Road Runner would be appropriate. But on a Custom 500? Nah. I even wonder if redlines were ever even available on any OEM full-size. Seems like they were limited to ponycars, musclecars, and Corvettes, and then only for an isolated few years before white-letter tires took over.
Unfortunately, it seems that, today, finding repop redlines aren’t nearly as hard to find as whitewalls.
When I was 4 years-old, my Dad rolled up in a 4-door version…brand new off the lot. 289, 3-speed with O/D. No A/C, power brakes or P/S. Instead of a while sale model, it had a very 1960’s white roof over coppertone color scheme.
I’ve always liked the 1965-67 models.
Are those 1964 hubcaps on the one in the photo?
I remember those Ford yearly white sale specials. Seemed like an odd sales approach , but if I still remember them all these years later, that’s pretty astonishing considering how dealerships are running some manner of deal days year round.
These specials always grab me. Kind of like the 1970 Grabber Mustangs, they’re special for what they aren’t.
I wonder if White was used because it was cheaper than other hues?
I photographed this ’66 Custom 500 at the Mecum auction a few years ago and it had bright window uppers. And it’s not white. Was the White Sale limited to white cars?
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If I could option one out right now, that would be my car. I wonder if some Dealerships dressed up slow selling low lines themselves and sold them as “Specials”.
I always thought the WSS was 4 door only. I read this and thought it hard to believe that they would spend to tool up such a limited number of 2-door post window trims, then it hit me. They didn’t have too. The base Monterey 2-door had them.
Good point.
eBay has a ’66 White Sale ad that says it’s the “Third Annual”—and it also includes a 6-cyl Mustang–I’d forgotten about that.
Even for the “base” White-Sale 1966, that’s a lot of car for the money—how does this price compare to the Mustang?
If you trust the calculators that’s about $17,000 in today cash. That’s a lot of car for $17000!
That’s about what a reasonably loaded Fiesta will go for these days. It’s a much smaller car, but it’s really hard to compare the cars.
Even the base Fiesta has an interior that would have been considered sports-luxury stuff back then, with fully adjustable cloth bucket seats and console. Its standard engine would have been tough to beat for most of these big sedans, with 0-60 in under 9 seconds.
And let’s not forget the Fiesta is lightyears ahead in build quality. So it’s not like folks who have to be economical are being screwed over today.
Nice comparison between the Fiesta and the Custom 500, especially considering the spread is 50 years between the two. Really a study in contrasts, with the Fiesta easily winning in all metrics but two: interior space and ride. Six normal-sized adults could easily ride in comfort in the Custom, but that’s pretty much where the positives end for the old Ford.
The kind of advertising we don’t see anymore:
Probably a good thing in this case.
Sharp looking short ! .
Tweak the suspension a bit and go work that 390 hard….
-Nate
What a great reminder. I had totally forgotten about those Ford “white sales”. Exactly the type of thing that kept my teenage eyes glued to the automobile ads in the Sunday paper (and still would, if either existed in a meaningful way).
I wonder if Ford’s White Sales Special gived inspiration to Dodge to go with the “White Hat special”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh_BubTPS_8
IIRC, Dodge’s promotion angle for a while was that their dealers were the “Good Guys” (hence the white hats); I can’t remember how long that lasted. For anyone still reading, here’s one more ad (evidently White Sale colors available were white and blue, Jim Grey):
All of that memorable sixties Dodge ad stuff had to have involvement (if not directly originated) from Chrysler’s Bob McCurry, whose most memorable coup was the (in)famous “Buy a car, get a check!” for a Dodge Dart from Joe Garagiola during the 1975 Super Bowl halftime. Consumers would quickly learn to wait for those rebates and it’s become a part of automotive marketing ever since.
Although not a specific sales special, over at Chevy, in 1969, it was possible to order a Biscayne with both the chromed window frames and chrome side moldings, (the same as those on the Bel Air). Although hardly common, the sales brochure shows both Biscaynes with the side trim. In late 1968, my father was promoted to fleet manager for Paragon/Texaco, in Long Island City. Part of his responsibility was to order company cars for management. At this time, he had a 65 Chevy II 100 as a company car, and with a promotion, came a larger, new, company car. Back then, company cars were typically bottom line four doors, with few options. He was asked to order three new 69 Biscaynes, with one being for himself to use. He went to Spielman Chevrolet and ordered the cars. All three were identical, except for colors. All had the 250 cu in 6, power steering, and power brakes and an AM radio. My Dad thought the Biscaynes looked too plain so,somehow, he got away with ordering all three with the B90 chrome window trim, and the B80 roof drip moldings, and the B84 body side molding. His was Fathm Green, the other two were Frost Green and Azure Turquoise. Other than these three, I’ve never seen another equipped this way.
Here is the sales brochure showing both Biscaynes with the side trim.
funny how most of us want the higher line versions of these cars. I was a wee lad in the mid to late sixties but I bet a lot more Customs, Biscaynes and Fury Is were sold then LTDs, Caprices, or Fury IIIs. I tend to now gravitate to the lowest option/biggest engine old cars today, in the past I wanted all the bells and whistles.
I’m sure you are right, our family didn’t have a car with A/C till 1986
That’s a great find. I’m all for originality but this car screams for some fat blackwall tires and a dual quad 427 side oiler…
Hey guys maybe you can find one of these . 1966 custom 500 2dr post with 352 y block …this was my 10th ford…though my 1st car was 59 olds delta 88 2dr brougham
I restoring a 66 Custom 500 right now. The stripped body and chassis are at the body shop for metal work and paint. I’ve picked up fresh seat covers from Macs/Ecklers. They are a great match. She gonna be Wimbledon White with blue interior. I must have the luxury model, 2 speed wipers and automatic trans (C4). I hope to have her back on the road by spring 2020. And I’ve got the original 240 6 cylinder going right back in. “The buzzin’ half dozen” should be plenty to get her down the road. I fell in love with the comfortable ride these full-sizers have with the coil springs at all four corners. I’ve named her “The White Wonder”
Could also have been a tax/registration fee dodge, too. I know that in Michigan at one point, the annual taxes and fees were based on the base MSRP for any given model of car (remember that Ford considered a Custom 500 to be a different “model” from a Galaxie). So in other words, a $3000 Custom 500 with $500 worth of options would have been cheaper to register/renew annually than a $3500 Galaxie with no options.
Folks in the know ordered some interesting cars in Michigan, and dealers ordered them for stock, too. The “a la carte” ordering of the day meant that you could option a Bel Air almost as nice as a Caprice, for example.
“Luxurious all vinyl”?Huh?
We laugh, but apparently a sizable enough portion of the American populous agrees that they would prefer their automotive thrones to be swathed in such over other, ahem, “lesser” textiles, and that’s been a near constant since even before this car came about. Today, the names of such material manufacturers use are sometimes laughably attempting to masquerade the truth (MB-Tex, SensaTec, Softex, NuLuxe, etc.) but those in the know? It’s vinyl. Usually the upgrade in vehicles that still offer a traditional textile fabric selection, or the default for premium vehicles where the perception of a cloth textile is decidedly not convincing enough. Give me a simple fabric all day every day over vinyl/leather please and thank you unless we are talking velour. I cannot mentally get past my vehicle trimmed in what nowadays is firmly established within the realm of matchy house loungewear and “juicy” tracksuits.
Today…? Beg pardon, but MB-Tex has been around for many decades. Pontiacs were promoted as having Morrokide in the 1960s. I’m sure there are others.
And? Does Mercedes still utilize the name MB-Tex? Do they remotely begin to explain that it is vinyl in this day and age? I never said misleading names were new, and I specifically said sometimes because other manufacturers like VW and Infiniti are relatively transparent in comparison by directly calling it leatherette.
The point and deal is : MB-TEX is incredible stuff, not “leatherette” in any way .
No, they don’t still make it because of cost .
-Nate
Nate, “MB Tex” is just vinyl, and always was just vinyl, also called “leatherette”. All the same stuff. And yes, MB still calls their vinyl interior “MB Tex”.
No ;
it isn’t just vinyl .
I’ve not seen the tradmarked name used in several years, I used to be able to buy it for re trimming jobs .
-Nate
Yes; it is vinyl. What do you think it is? Rhinoceros skin? Whale penis foreskin? Some magical synthetic that no one else can figure out?
IT IS VINYL. (Sorry for the caps)
Yes, it’s still being used and called that by MB. Here’s a screenshot from the current 2022 MB website.
Here’s a screenshot from a MB website. “the material is actually made up of Vinyl”
Convinced now?
Okay but it’s nothing like other types / brands of Vinyl .
The samples I have taken from later model Mercedes is nothing like the old MB-TEX of yore .
-Nate
Vinyl, like fabric and leather, comes in a huge variety: thick, thin, stiff, soft, etc. Vinyl fabric has a fabric backing covered/coated with vinyl. The backing fabric can vary widely, as can the amount of vinyl that’s put on it. Plus I’m sure there are plasticizers and other ingredients to vary the feel, texture, etc.
There’s a big difference between the vinyl seat covers they put into transit buses and truck seats in the 1950s and today’s very soft vinyl seat fabric.
Vinyl is just an ingredient; it can be formulated in a wide variety of ways.
When I was a kid the town police cars were these, or maybe not the exact same model. We had a ’65 wagon, with the 289 V8. All one color, no false woodgrain. Around that era, in the early 70s station wagons were common, not so much pickup trucks. I wonder what the dimensions were of the ’65 wagon with the rear seats folded down… could a 4×8 sheet fit, maybe sideways with the tailgate open?
My Dad traded his 1963 Ford Country Sedan wagon for a 1965 Custom 500, white with a blue interior, our first family car with air conditioning. I seem to remember that it was part of a “Red, White, or Blue promotion.” 352-2V engine, IIRC. Kept it until he traded for a green 1969 LTD, which I drove to my first post AIT assignment at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Everyone wondered how a Private First Class could afford a new LTD.
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THANK YOU GUYS for the attachments ! =8-) .
In 1968 many ‘handymen’ used full size 1965 Ford station wagons with the rear seat down and a slab of exterior plywood covering the floor .
It’s amazing how much crap and tools plus a couple toilets would fit in there .
Plus they all had _ALTERNATORS_ and gasoline was only .27 CENTS making it feasible to leave it running for an hour or more with the heater and radio playing and the battery didn’t go dead like with anything using a generator .
In snow country nothing got wet or snowed upon =8-) .
-Nate
I’m working on that exact car now. I just got it back from the painter. It seemed easier to do when I was taking it apart. I need more pictures than what I took to help me reassemble everything. And even though I have the Custom 500 version, it has the low option 240 cid 6 cylinder. It does have an automatic transmission.