Big Fords of the 1960s are always a hit on Curbside Classic, and many readers have specifically expressed their love of the 1967 Ford; therefore, what could be better than a Candyapple Red 1967 Galaxie 500 Convertible? Still owned by the family of the original owner, this Galaxie was purchased new in Orlando, Florida, where it’s being offered for sale on eBay with an asking price of $23,495 or best offer.
When I asked if anything could be better than a Candyapple Red 1967 Galaxie 500 Convertible, I might add one thing: a 390. This car has the 200-horsepower 289, a fine engine that is somewhat taxed by the Galaxie’s 3,704-pound curb weight. This lightly optioned convertible has power steering but no power brakes, a common combination on 1960s cars with four-wheel drums. Anyone who’s driven four-wheel-drum-braked cars with and without power assist knows why; power-assist cars tend to have brake pedals that are touchy and hard to modulate, because drums are (and it’s almost law to mention this) self-energizing. Why spend the extra money when the brake pedal isn’t that hard to push anyway?
The engine compartment is unbelievably clean, although some will scoff at the “universal” upper radiator hose. In my experience, it’s getting harder to find molded hoses for 1960s applications at the local parts houses, so sometimes you do what you have to do.
The interior has been treated to so much product that you know you’ll slide across that broad bench seat the first time to take a turn a little too fast, but it’s still in excellent condition. There’s that weird steering wheel Ford used in 1967, and the standard Galaxie 500 did use woodgrain and brushed trim sparingly. The few visible options are an AM radio, a clock, and an automatic transmission, which is probably the X-Code “FX” automatic that backed the 289 in full-size Fords with the optional automatic (the seller unfortunately hasn’t posted the door tag for reference). The FMX, by the way, didn’t come out until 1968.
The rear seat is the proverbial “never been sat in,” and aside from the speakers cut into the side panels, looks almost new (if not somewhat shinier).
The trunk has an original mat (reproduction, most likely) and seems to be missing its spare tire, but you can see the new stainless steel dual exhaust exiting from just past the rear bumper, which will add some real-world oomph to the little 289 up front. The seller says that all the chrome is in excellent condition, and although there are no undercarriage pictures posted, the seller says that the “floors are frame” are “solid,” and cars in Florida tend to rust from the top down anyway.
Speaking of the top, it’s new, and a power top was standard on 1967 Galaxie 500 Convertibles. The one thing that a new buyer might consider doing is to replace the 1970s Ford wheel covers with a set of 1967 originals, but that’s done easily enough. Ford sold almost 20,000 Galaxie 500 Convertibles in 1967, so they were quite a popular choice, certainly among sun worshippers in Florida. If you are a fan of the 1967 model and have a big, empty space in your garage, maybe this is the car to fill it.
Related Reading
COAL: 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible – Chapter 1, In The Beginning (by JP Cavanaugh)
COAL: 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible – Chapter 1.5, Long Ago In A Galaxie Far, Far Away (by JP Cavanaugh)
Curbside Find: ’67 and ’64 Ford Galaxie 500s – A Pair Of Frozen Galaxies, In A Trio Of Fords (by Rich Baron)
I will agree with your description of unassisted drum brakes. They are easier to modulate, from a light touch to lifting yourself off of the seat and literally “standing” on the brakes.
In engineering school we studied the self-energizing concept of drum brakes and actually had to do some design calculations on the forces involved. This was in 1975 or 1976 and the text books (and professors) hadn’t yet caught up with the disk brake era.
I disagree with the statement “cars rust from the top down” here in Florida. They rust from the bottom up. Coming from Calif it blows me away how the climate here destroys cars.Usually the floors are the first thing that goes.
A nice car screaming for a 428/C6.
Those wheel covers bear more than a vague resemblance to the ones used on the early 70s Fords 🙂
I was wondering about them as well. Need some of the “67”, editions or reproductions. These look ok, just out a time period.
The correct turbine covers, with red center, would look a lot better. Also the correct exhaust would look better. An exhaust shop putting straight pipes out the back, with the round opening, is just cheapening out. I see someone went through the engine compartment to refresh it’s paint as everything, except the engine, is black now including hinges, springs, and power steering.
An FE would be nice, but there’s plenty of potential in that 289
I had a high school friend that had a 67 Galaxie with this drivetrain. He abused the hell out of that thing including reverse drops and it never complained. Dark green and he put a full set of duals with straight thru Trush’s on it. Cold midwestern winter day he would start it up and immediately blip the throttle. You could hear it right in school. Much respect for these cars.
As the former owner of one of these, I have spotted a couple of other issues beyond the obvious wheel covers (1971-72). First, this is a much hotter and brighter red than Ford used for Galaxies after 1965. Second, the seats have been reupholstered in a non-original style and material. These cars had a patterned vinyl band that went across the seat backs which is missing here (and, in the owner’s defense is probably difficult to find or match) and the vinylhad a much more pronounced grain. Finally, that hood looks a little bent down in the middle of its prow.
I think these little things would irritate me too much to be happy with this otherwise very nice car.
Well it is being sold, by the second owner, which is a classic car dealer out of Florida. So what you noticed, along with all that Armor All sprayed over every nook and cranny, would mean buyer beware and to put real eyes on the car.
Nice big boat .
I remember these well, fun cars if not really able to handle at high speeds .
No undercarriage pictures on a Florida vehicle usually means rusted badly .
-Nate