posted at the Cohort by Dean Edwards
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: This 1967 Ford Galaxie Looks A Bit Too Nice For The Junkyard
– Posted on January 31, 2020
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Curbside Classics Archives
posted at the Cohort by Dean Edwards
Most 1967 Ford’s didn’t look this good in 1975.
Exactly, I was 8 in 1975 and that’s what they looked like.
Like I always say, the problem in the old car hobby is not a lack of old cars but a lack of people willing to take on a “regular” old car.
they didn’t look that good in 1970.
It was still in the barn when grandpa died, and the kids were too lazy to sell it, so they just junked it.
Very reasonable explanation. I can’t believe how good the chrome trim on the body sides looks.
With a body that good I wish I had a truck. I’d bring it back to Ontario and make money either selling rust free panels or depending on the rest of it someone buying it and resurrecting for the road.
Look closer, the bottom of the doors are gone, the rear rockers are shot, the wheelarches are rusted out. What you can’t see is likely even worse.
The chrome/bright trim looks remarkably intact though.
It’s a bit hard to tell, but it looks like there’s row upon row of Chevy Astros all lined up in the background. A bit of an eccentric yard?
Actually, it’s perfect for the junkyard. The sum of its parts are worth more than the whole.
My uncle was going to buy a small junkyard back in the 80s, and part of his due diligence was valuing the current inventory. He said a $100 car was worth up to $2000 or $3000 parted out, then it still had weight value in the crusher. That’s why you see otherwise decent cars disassembled. This nice Galaxie, even with the rusty sheet metal, probably has a small fortune in hard to find genuine OEM bits and pieces.
Who wants to restore a 67 ford unless its a mustang?
Nobody. It may as well be a 94 taurus.
Thats why its in the jynkyard.
That is why there are nuts like me as I would take it on if the rust wasn’t such an issue. It wasn’t with this car also a 1967.
See, to me, that there’s a gorgeous old barge, tbm3.
A fascinating thing I’ve picked up from this site over the years that Americans are almost entirely uninterested in eminently restorable or even really good-condition 4-door (or just plain-Jane) versions of old US cars.
Sure, in other countries, the GT’s and SS’s and general Stripey Sportz Ti editions of cars are also much more highly coveted than their lesser brethren, but such lesser jobs – usually with more doors – still always have buyers, not to mention a pricetag that is somewhat more than small coins.
Assuming this junkyard Glax is as good below as her up-top suggests, there’d be no way of her being junked in Oz. Such a car was, ofcourse, a bit of a rarity here, making its enjunkment a bit unlikely, but if it was the Oz equivalent in this condition – say, an (admittedly-dull) HR Holden sedan of ’67 – it would most definitely not be sitting awaiting strippage in the snow. Or dust, as it were.
It also boils down to whether a person wants to look at their car or drive it. If just gazing at it, perhaps a two-door is sometimes more pleasing. But if one is to drive it, the true intent behind it being built, a two-door looks identical to a four-door when peering out over the hood while cruising down the road.
Although one could argue the two-door preference contains a sprinkle of narcissism.
I agree with Jason about 90 percent on this. However I do think that for a nice weather fun car a pillarless hardtop is nicer than a sedan.
That I think is the issue with this car. Unless you are looking for a police car, 4 door sedans are usually the very bottom of the desirability and value list.
At this point there may be more rust free ’67 Fords than there are people willing to spend money to buy one.
“Americans are almost entirely uninterested in eminently restorable or even really good-condition 4-door (or just plain-Jane) versions”
I was just thinking about this yesterday while out on a drive. Maybe it is that there were so many of the 2 door or sporty versions here that we could afford to be picky.
Almost right Justy but in the junkyard next door to the Cavemans operation in Riverstone NSW were several Galaxies and several other US/OZ large Fords there was a time not long ago that nobody wanted them or the dreary HR Holdens, and yes I had one of those a wagon should have known better I rode in a brand new one my dad bought when I was a kid,
Four door US cars are quite prized in NZ especially if they were NZ new and assembled here RHD most resell for quite stupid money, You guys would be amazed at the prices people ask though not always get,
People are horrified when I told of being tasked with clearing an area in a wrecking yard when at highschool in the 70s, the idea was to clear space of non selling junk to make room for more profitable stock, anyway two of us took a Fordson tractor on steel wheels into this maze of old junk to squash old car bodies smaller and get them on the truck for transport to the local tip, the latest models in this pile were tri 5 Chevs and late 50s Fords the earliest were old rusted out coupes and sedans from the 30s, Nobody was buying parts from this stuff, but the mid to late 60s cars that were coming in was more valueable from a spares or repair point of view that the boss had.
As many say it has two doors too many.
Galaxies of this era are famous for frame rust. Even when the body isn’t bad the frame can often be complete junk. Being in snow country, there is a v good chance that the frame is toast. This is also a 4 door sedan, so it basically needs to be perfect to be worth more than the sum of its parts.
^^^^Believable—it was frame rust that got my 1967 Chevy, just cracking near rear suspension when going over a modest bump. I was able to limp it a mile or two to the junkyard and get my $75 (?) in 1979-80, with everything working and a rebuilt Powerglide. Ah, well….
+1, The perimeter frame at the torque boxes ahead of the rear axle and the frame extension under the trunk were notorious for failing from rust after eight to ten years here in the northeast. It wasn’t unusual to see a big Ford’s rear bumper hanging askew with one side or the other drooping from the broken frame then.
My brain still lights up seeing one of these in a junkyard – my reflexive thought is “what parts can I scrounge for my convertible.” Even though I haven’t owned the convertible since 1978. That front bumper looks great, along with the hood and grille. The passenger side headlight door still has the little black triangle that is not even faded. But it is a 289 (or maybe even a 6) so no engine parts.
I still think this is one of the most all-around attractive big Fords ever built – there is no single outstanding thing, but the whole package comes together perfectly.
That car has sat in the weather for a long time, as the Vintage Burgundy paint is about eroded away, exposing a lot of primer. It takes a lot of weather to do that to Ford’s enamel paints of the era.
Oh Crap – does that white Grand Marquis next to it have the golden “Insta clear” windshield?
Junkyard gold JP, it is out there years ago in OZ an aquaintance who also had EJ and EH Holdens scored a green windscreen from pick a part in Blacktown Sydney regular windscreen price $40, this rare and almost impossible to get period genuine accessory then retailed for around $750 if you could find one, his went into a 63 EJ Premier he was restoring, best bargain from that yard they didnt know what they had.
The little vinyl triangles on the headlight doors were the only thing I had to buy to bring mine up to snuff–best $25 (!) I ever spent. That and a new horn.
The one characteristic I remember most about the 1967 Fords was that huge pad on non cruise control cars right in the middle of the steering wheel. I believe someone replied to me about this in a previous post. The gist of the answer was that Ford did not have a federally mandated collapsible steering column ready for the 1967 model year and used this pad as a stopgap measure. My folks had a 1967 Thunderbird with cruise control which had the control buttons on the steering wheel, thus, no pad. I have always wondered how this met the safety requirements without that pad. My folks’ T Bird also had the ultra rare 8 mph door lock feature.
Interior shot. As most people have chimed in, the car looked presentable, but being Canada, frame rot was the likely reason it ended up in a junkyard.
These pictures were taken a few years ago, so it is long gone. I included it in the cohort because I can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen a ’67 Ford in the wrecking yard.
Wow, that cloth drivers seat looks like it was virtually perfect when the car hit the yard. Back then the vinyl interiors held up and the cloth ones wore out quickly.
Dean where is this junk yard? I saw the other pics you posted on Cohort, and there is definitely some interesting stuff there. I’d love to check it out and might even be able to find parts for my cars. I am assuming it’s somewhere near the Windsor area?
Vince
This was taken at Cambridge auto wreckers a few years ago, so it is recycled by now. I tend to still do the run of the wreckers from Windsor through to Brantford and Cambridge, but the pickings are slim these days. I was recently trying to find an ECU for my ’85 Crown Vic, but finding a 351W in a wrecking yard is almost impossible these days. Flip me your email and current vehicles and I’ll definitely keep an eye open for current intake and ping you with a picture if something comes in. I’m usually a GM guy, but do have a couple of box panthers and one Chrysler van that I don’t admit to owning!
Dean, I can’t see you email. Thanks for the info not the wrecking yard. I frequent that area so I will have to check it some time. I am primarily looking for parts from Colonnade era Chevrolets. Email me at wmitchell1963 at gmail dot com for more details.
Now I wouldn’t want it as much now that one needs to source door panels and a steering column with correct steering wheel. What else…?
Rear shot. Lots of good trim left.
I remembered the Ford XL but had forgotten about the Ford 00. 🙂
One day my friend’s Mom picked us at school in her new ’67 Galaxie. The 3 or 4 of us were remarking how nice the car was, and one asked how good the power brakes were.
She said no better than non-power brakes To our surprise she hit the brake pedal hard and (WHAM) all of us went flying into the dashboard or the back of the front seat. When we regained our composure we all buckled up.
She said something to the effect “I guess they are better”.
LOL
When I was younger, it was quite often to see older cars that looked fairly solid from above, but the undercarriage was completely rusted. Often the owners would look after the body and even invest in a decent paint job, while the floors and frame are rotting underneath. I am sure that is likely the case with this car. It probably was the proverbial old person car that saw little use but was relatively well cared for – at least the top side.
My family’s ’72 Skylark was a car that fell into this category. It was a very low mile old person car with a fairly decent body. It had minor rust on the rear quarters that was fixed with a quick body and paint job after purchase. Eventually the frame rust got the better of it. It still looked pretty solid when we sold it because of the body job, but the frame was gone on the car and it was no longer road worthy. It looked better than this Ford when it went to the junkyard, but the cost to repair it far out-weighted the value of the car.
Wow. This is a near-twin of my Galaxie–same color, but no vinyl top, no J. C. Whitney side trim, and a black vinyl interior. I had been looking for just a good old car that was solid and wouldn’t need a lot of work, something for drives on nice Illinois days. Mine has 48k on the odometer, and though it is an Illinois car (suburban Chicago dealer sticker on the trunk) the body and frame are rock solid. Story told to me by the guy I bought it from was that the original owner had diabetes, and lost a leg shortly after he bought it, so couldn’t drive it–but garaged it for 40 some years rather than part with it. Whether or not the specifics are true, it was surely garaged (there’s even a dent on the roof from something being stacked there as will happen in those situations!) A few rust bubbles at the bottom of the rear window, a few nicks and scratches, some pitted chrome, and a 1″ tear in the front seat vinyl. That’s it. Only options: automatic, AM radio, power steering (no power brakes; my spring project is to upgrade to power/discs). When you take it for a ride, especially with the windows up, you still get that advertised Ford quiet, nary a rattle. It came off the line here in Chicago and they did a great job–when I picked it up from getting new tires put on it, I got caught in the heaviest downpour I can remember. Not a drop inside.
I could never have afforded a 1960s hardtop or coupe. But luckily, I have a thing for “old man cars” as I call them, since they remind me of the ones my grandfather used to drive. And when you’re taking your friends out for a spin on a summer day, I assure you they don’t care how many doors there are. Thanks for this great find.
“no J. C. Whitney side trim”
If you are referring to the long chrome strip that runs the length of each side from the headlights to the taillights, that was a factory option. Every Galaxie 500 got the lower trim but the upper was available. My 67 convertible had it and I quickly learned in my junkyard searches back in the late 70s that some cars had it while others did not. It was great for protecting the bodysides from door nicks.
That optional chrome trim strip on the character line really looks odd – like the space in between should be filled with fake wood or something. I had two neighbors with ’67s growing up – a brown Galaxie sedan, and a triple-dark green LTD 4 door hardtop. Neither had this trim, and both were the better for it. Of the ’65-’70 full size Fords, these were always my favorites.
I’ve always wanted to “rescue” a car from the salvage yard such as the 1967 Ford. While in high school I worked Saturdays on and off in a salvage yard (M & M Salvage) in Belton, MO. I saw so many worthy, decent late 40s to mid 50s cars that were piled up awaiting the shredder. One in particular was a cream-colored 1948 Plymouth Convertible with oxblood leather seats. I had no idea, back in 1961, how rare it was. Even now, I think about searching the salvage yards for a worthy candidate, bringing it home and doing what is needed to put it back on the road. Cost effective….absolutely not, but what price does one put on the pride of driving it?