For some reason, despite being smack-dab in the Midwest the Quad Cities are rife with Curbside Classics. I see stuff all the time, and now that I am a camera-carrying driver, I notice even more. It makes me wonder what I missed in the past! But I was still surprised to see this ’65 Galaxie 500 one frigid afternoon a few weeks ago.
Judging from the backlight, this one doesn’t have the rear window defogger. Or perhaps the owner just got underway and is waiting for it to warm up?
I caught up with it at the light; fortunately, it was in the turn lane, letting us see its chiseled flanks. Yes, it is even a hardtop coupe! Wags may call it the box the ’63 Pontiac came in, but I think ’65 full-size Fords are cool.
Do they salt the roads in your neck of the woods? Whether they do or not, I can understand the Ford driver’s dilemma: He’s tired of just looking at that car, and he wants to drive it, weather be damned!
Yeah, it’s frustrating…I’ve had a “Good car” and a “Winter car” for over 25 years.
But…especially when it’s an old beauty; and ESPECIALLY when it’s an old FORD with its pre-rusted surface sheet-metal…you do not, repeat NOT get it within even SMELLING distance of road salt.
I’m not kidding. When the roads dry up, and the salt crusts…traffic picks it up. In Ohio we used to have utility-pole fires from arcing from salt-dusted insulators that dampen up in the next misty period.
That same crap will settle on a car parked in the driveway or even under a carport. INSIDE, or FAR away.
That poor sap will learn; but it will be too late.
Yes, they do, but we have not had much snow; maybe four times since Thanksgiving. The storm we had around Dec. 20, though, was a doozie.
You got that storm, and it missed up almost completely a mere 130 miles away. We paid for it with ice a week or ago and finally got our inch of snow (official) yesterday.
Yes, they rather heavily salt the roads in northern Illinois. This guy may have garaged it and cleaned it regularly since it was new, and may drive it very rarely in the winter. I am a bit surprised it doesn’t have AV-plates instead of the normal passenger car plates.
Curbside Classics can be found in a lot more parts of the north than one might think. I’ve seen several here, on the other side of northern Illinois during the summer. There’s even a Ford Model A meet that goes on up in St Charles in addition to the dozens of classic car cruises that take place during the summer.
Road salt is probably one of the reasons why companies like Dynacorn do such brisk business selling reproduction bodies.
My ’77 Chevy Monza is currently sitting in an outdoor storage facility in El Segundo, Ca- fairly close to the beach. Plus it leaks somewhat.
That knowledge, plus the fact that GM’s H-bodies were apparently welded together from old cookie sheets and soup cans to begin with, make me fear for its survival if I don’t do something soon.
The roads look clear . . . plowed . . . and there doesn’t appear to be an salt granules on the road . . . and because it’s so cold, there no melting runoff to splash up onto the car. If it were me under those conditions, hell yeah, I’d take it for a spin. I spent five years in Cleveland and another few in Alaska so I’m familiar with those conditions. Guys in Cleveland who had vintage iron would, on a super cold, clear-plowed road condition day would take their nice wheels out of the garage just to run ’em a little bit before putting them back to hibernate (with Sta-Bil in the tank).
I’ve never lived beyond the Hot & Dry climate zone, so pardon my ignorance for asking if there’s any way to prevent or forestall salt-induced rust, e.g., hosing off the car’s underside after ea. trip?
To the question: No. Just EXPOSURE to brine (water/salt mixture) promotes rust. Even if it’s rinsed off right away, the corrosion accelerates at warp speed on any exposed surface.
And there are always a lot. Scratches; paint chips; places that rub. Places where the metal flexes and the paint lifts away, even if only microscopically.
AND…a COMPLETE wash, removing ALL salt, is impractical. You’d have to almost immerse the car with fresh water; and repeat many times. And hope there weren’t hidden leaks such as door skins, window weatherstripping, the trunk lid…that allowed salty water in.
No…a car such as was built in the 1960s, is impossible to preserve in a road-salt environment. Today, with epoxy paints, immersion coatings and hot-dip treatments and plastic liners and often whole panels…cars last more than twice as long in that environment. But even modern cars can rust out – although expensive systems failures often lead to the rig being scrapped before failure from rust.
Thanks for the detailed answer, that’s what I feared. This must explain what I long assumed was the wasteful practice of buying a new car every several years. Does anyone track model corrosion-resistance in the manner of Consumer Reports? Strange that they seem to omit this, at least as a separate statistic.
Again, no.
But you can get an idea of how well models hold up, by looking at resale values in the KBB or NADA guides.
Cars that hold up, that people have confidence will last, hold their values. There’s exceptions, of course: Jeep CJs and Wranglers are cult cars; even though CJs rusted as quick as any Ford, they kept their value until completely destroyed.
That’s true of most trucks, too. But it’s a place to start…Toyotas today hold their value as used cars partly because people know that they have long lives. Chevrolets, not so much…one model might in fact be rust resistant but experience gives no confidence.
Another place to try, is to look and see HOW MANY of a given model are for sale in road-salt areas; and look at the pics. See what those cars look like; and if they’re being sold as “work cars” at a fraction of their new price.
Finally, you can do web searches on individual models. If you search on the Pinto, you’ll find that rust was its biggest problem. On the Rabbit, not so much.
Hope that helps.
My Rabbit rusted so badly that the rear twist beam suspension ripped away from the monocoque leaving the right rear wheel somewhat adrift. I could also see the tarmac from the driver’s seat due to a rusted out floor pan, and this was in Maryland. But all of this was after 16 years. I was ready for a new (used) car.
Right.
Very few Pintos – or Mavericks or Torinos – lasted more than seven years when used on salt-treated roads.
I had three Pintos years 1972 to 1974; my old man had a Maverick; my mother a Gran Torino and before that a Galaxie 500. Only my Pinto Squire, my Houston Ghetto Cruiser I picked up there for $750…only that one lasted and only because it spent six months of every year laid up.
Those cars rusted fast enough you could HEAR it on a quiet night!
Most Fords from the early 1970’s were terrible, although the 1965 Ford was known for the frame rusting severly. I know if I owned that old Ford, I wouldn’t even think of driving it until all the salt is off the roads.
My father who always kept his Torino stored away in winter, otherwise it would have been long rusted away. After his 1965 Chevy Impala was virtually falling apart from 7 years of use, he took no chances when he bought the Torino. And good thing, becaus the Torinos were terrible for rusting. I live in an area that gets nasty harsh winters and we get a serious abount of road salt. There are almost 0 Fords from about the mid 1960’s to the mids 1970’s around here, other than Mustangs (which often are brought in from warmer climates, or fully restored). The GM’s and Chrysler held up a bit better, but they still rotted like crazy compared to modern vehicles. I love old American cars, but many they were not built to last in harsh climates.
The only solution to keeping rust off vehicles that seems to have worked is oil spray rust proofing. It’s dirty, and you have to re-apply every year, but it works. My father’s ’76 Malibu saw numerous winters but to this day is virtually rust free thanks to the rust proofing and has meticulous car. Thankfully the car is now my brother’s hobby car and hasn’t seen a winter in years.
Funny story, Kevin! I was in Guam in the early ’90’s – riding in my supervisor’s “Boonie Car” (Marianas for “work car”) . . . a six year old Nissan Sentra. Passengers side was a Flintstone car. Never got to see the road below me before. Interesting!!
JustPassinThru is correct, yet there is another factor to consider. A lot of states, counties, road districts, etc., use more than just “salt” or sodium chloride. Some will use calcium chloride or magnesium chloride; I can attest to CaCl2 being much more corrosive than is NaCl. Both are used to lower the freezing point of water lower than what sodium chloride (table salt) can do.
Not only does this corrosion attack cars but it enjoys the steel in bridges, also.
My neighbors ’60 Pontiac, a very nice looking car, started rusting two years after she bought it. In those days, in southern Michigan, the rust often started as small surface spots throughout the fenders and doors. Cars frequently were junk within 5 years.
The Galaxy was another great looker,not quite as good as the 64’s.
If you like the ’64 better, I did a CC on one last summer: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1964-ford-galaxie-500-say-goodbye-to-those-jet-tube-taillights/
Thanks Tom I enjoyed reading that,well done article about a great car
Until my dying day I will claim that Ford should have grafted a modern version of those taillights and the Galaxie name onto the 2005 to 2009 Ford Five Hundred/Taurus and they would have sold an extra coupe of 100,000 of them over the life cycle of the design.
Maybe.
How many people even remember Fords of that era? You don’t – you’re interested for other reasons. Not many folks are, at least fixated on that generation and genre.
I remember – dimly. I was seven years old. Now, had things gone more naturally for me, I’d be long out of Ford territory; looking at a Buick or a Mercury or Mark XVX Brougham.
What I’m saying is, not many have the memory; and of those who do, not many are going to be motivated by it.The Ford was a few steps above an entry-level car; a choice for young families or someone climbing the ladder. Or for a Company Car…there were lots of those in many positions when that car and I were young.
As the PT and HHR taught us, nostalgia is not always a winning recipe.
JustPassingThru, many of your comments make me think of this cat… you are our resident crumdgen and I love you for it.
My first car in 1973 was a 65 Galaxie 4 dr HT. I only had it two weeks due to it being hit parked in front of my parent’s house. It was top of the line, very luxurious when new. An eight year old car, amateur rust repair abounded. Pop rivets all over the bottom. The paint was old and faded. Supposedly, it had 50K on the clock, had a valve tick, and the whole car squeaked and moaned.
Some months later, after I bought my 68 Fury, a co worker wanted me to buy a 68 Galaxie. For $ 700, it was a beautiful car. A blue 4 door sedan, mileage in the 20’s, and elderly owned, I should have bought it. It was the exact opposite of the car I had owned.
No car today could possibly have the wear and rust of my 65 Galaxie. The only way to avoid the premature destruction of early cars would be limited, elderly use. No salt or even rain driving. My Dad’s 64 Biscayne had big holes in both front fenders in 2 years, but that’s another story. Chryslers of that era seemed to weather better than GM and Ford.
The feature car must have led a charmed life. Good for it!.
Quite the opposite in Hawaii (in the ’70s) – the Japanese cars would look like swiss cheese inside of three years if one didn’t get it Ziebarted for Quaker State rustproofed. GM’s and Ford’s weathered especially well; Mopars . . . not so good. Oddly, there are a decent number of ’60s and early 70’s Satellites, Coronets, Darts and Valiants in and around Honolulu County with decent (but weathered) bodies. That’s because, as I found out later, the people who bought those new had them double-undercoated and rustproofed from new.
Snow sod that it was hot here and some awesome old rides were about today 56 Studebaker 58 Tbird 54 chevy all at the soundshell on Marine Parade coming to a cohort page near you real soon.
Bring it on Daddio!
Yesterday I saw a sparkling-clean bright metallic blue 1967 Mustang coupe that had chrome wheels and sounded like a six as it drove by. Then on the way home I saw the usual two or three late 60’s – early 70’s Ford pickups. I really appreciate living in an area where chloride salts are seldom used on the roads.
On a tangent, One of the things that strikes me as odd (at least in the US) is cars being marketed at least ostensibly somewhat based on nostalgia, but either haven’t been sold in the US or haven’t been sold for years here….for instance, I don’t think the original mini-cooper was sold (new) in the US since 1967…I know it is very popular since then in the UK and probably other countries, but since I rarely see one of the original mini-coopers in the US (and some of those have right-hand drive and I’d suspect were brought back from UK) I wonder how many Americans would have nostalgia for it (disregarding that it is an attractive car to many people in its present form). Likewise the Fiat 500, though I know Fiat has relationship to Chrysler, but I don’t remember that the original Fiat 500 was even sold in the US (I remember the 600 and 850 back when this was their engine size in CC) despite it being a very popular model in Italy back then. Maybe a retro- Citroen 2CV is next? (even though I don’t think that model went past the emissions imposed 1967 standard in the US).
Back to the original topic, though my Father bought GM and a size down (Fairlane equivalent) in 1965 (he had an Olds F85 that year) like everyone many of our neighbors had a Galaxy, Custom 500, or similar Ford from that year. We were living in Burlington VT at that time, and my memories include lying in the back cargo area of a wagon with rust holes through the floor at the road while their parents were driving us (somewhere)…guess we were lucky not to get asphyxiated or need tetnus shots from getting scraped on jagged edges of rusty sheetmetal. I’m old enough to remember it pretty well, it was the “standard” sized Ford from that time (back when “intermediate” and “compact” sizes seemed to be more easily typed than now).
Earliest rust memories of cars for me was when I was about six or seven visiting relatives in Missouri. Remember seeing lots of ’55-’59 Chevies with rusted out “eyebrows”. I don’t recall seeing many Fords of that era in that part of my childhood (this recollection would be around 1965/66), so that leads me to believe that although these cars had rust issues in that area in those days, that the Chevies were built better and were being driven longer. I do remember seeing older Mopars back then, but not fifties vintage in mid sixities Missouri. Now, back home in the Bay Area, there were TONS of 40’s, and ’50’s Mopars running around, along with lots of old Fords and Chevies.
I grew up in the 1970s, and, as I remember it, late 1960s and early 1970s Fords rusted the fastest, with the Mopars from that era placing second and Chevrolets on top (there were obvious exceptions – the Vega being one).
But it wasn’t as though the Fords were rusting within three years, and the Mopars within six years, and the Chevrolets within eight years.
It was more like the Fords were rusting within three years, the Mopars within four years, and the Chevrolets within four-and-a-half years.
If you really wanted superior rust resistance, you had to move up to an intermediate or full-size Oldsmobile or Buick, followed by any Cadillac or Lincoln.
That was one of the secrets of GM’s success through the early 1980s – moving up the Sloan brand ladder really did get you a better car.
Eyebrow rust was universal. There were usually no inner fender liners. After I bought my 20 yr old 59 Fury and got it home, I saw that there was a little rust trying to come through in that area. I stuck my hand up inside the fenderwell to see what I could feel. I dug out about 2 cups of caked dirt on each side from over the headlight well, and at that moment, understood why all old 50s cars rusted there. Keep steel watered and rust grows beautifully.