Back in June, I decoded a GM Protect-O-Plate I found at a local antique store, and found that the original owner had bought a conservative but highly optioned Buick Electra 225 four-door hardtop and lived in a fairly tony part of Midland, MI. Although Ford didn’t use a Protect-O-Plate, they did copy the car’s data plates and original owner’s information into the car’s owner’s manual. Fortunately, I found this original manual at one of my local antique stores. Living in Saginaw, MI, which is about 20 miles from Midland, the original owner of this car preferred a little more flash in his daily transportation.
Like the owner of the Buick, the owner of this new 1962 Ford bought his car well into the model year, March in this case. He bought it from Rick Ford in Hemlock, MI, a dealership that still exists under the same name.
Here’s an overhead view of Rick Ford today.
Vintage Fords are fairly easy to decode using the VIN and the data plate, both of which are found on the driver’s side door of 1960s models. The VIN breaks down as follows:
2 – 1962
G – Chicago Assembly
65 – Two-Door Convertible
Z – 390 cubic inch V8 with four-barrel carburetor
166230 – unit number
All right, original owner! He bought a brand new 390-powered Galaxie 500 convertible – good choice.
The rest of the data plate gives us more specific information about colors, trim, and driveline options.
76A – Two-door convertible (the XL model with bucket seats would be 76B)
J – Rangoon Red (nice!)
35A – Red “Crush” Vinyl (whatever that means)
260 – Probably a typo, this is the scheduled build date, date and month. “O,” however, was not used in 1962.
35 – This is the District Sales Office; Lansing, MI, in this case; the same as my ’65 Mustang.
1 – 3.00 open differential
4 – Cruise-O-Matic transmission (too bad – this car cries out for a four-speed)
Maybe the original owner was influenced by the advertisements and brochures for the ’62 models; after all, he ordered the swankiest Ford one could buy short of a T-Bird (or the XL pictured here), a red-on-red Sunliner.
It showed up in all sorts of materials…
…including ads that mentioned the word “scat.” I clearly remember compilations of Chevrolet commercials on videotape as a kid that claimed the new models would “scat up and go.” That is not an enduring phrase, perhaps for obvious reasons (an exception being Dodge’s “Scat Pack” Challenger – I guess I stand corrected!).
Several commenters in the previous article expressed interest in the car’s owner himself. In this case, it also seems that the original owner lived a long life, and perhaps most interestingly, had a long career with General Motors. I wonder how a new Ford went down in the parking lot at the plant.
If the internet is to be believed, the owner would have been a man in his mid-to-late-20s when he bought his Sunliner. In 1962, short of ordering an XL with its bucket seats, and perhaps a four-speed behind that 390, it would be hard to top driving around in a sporty Ford like this, even if it meant putting up with some looks of derision as you pulled into the parking lot at work.
I remember bringing this manual home several years ago and being really excited that it originally sat in the glove box of a truly interesting old car. As always, I wondered what happened to this Galaxie, knowing that Michigan’s salty landscape most likely rendered it a flimsy shell of its former self by 1968 or so. Regardless, it’s always nice to think that it’s still hanging out in someone’s garage or barn, and I’m glad to have a small piece of it if it is.
The booklet’s cover doesn’t do justice to the clean and conservative lines of this beauty .
-Nate
For comparison purposes: The original info on my 1958 Ford. Car still exists; runs, drives.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147108383@N02/33137681046/in/album-72157689631373894/
I love the Blue Coral Wax Job…
I love the story behind the car–this from my earliest years of knowing all the Ford models, engines, options, etc.
“Crush vinyl” shows up in 1960s-70s newspaper advertising for autos, upholstery, handbags, etc….also as “crinkle vinyl”—–its got the grained, leather-like look rather than just a perfect surface sheen:
Looks good – I love the red on red. Thanks for the sample, George.
You’re welcome—-thanks once more for the nice writeup!
I shall never do a big restoration job (or buy a car completely done to as-new), but it’s cool that there are firms like SMS who have this stuff, sixty years later….
March must have been a good month for buying Fords, my Dad picked up his ’62 Fairlane 500 sedan in Chestnut brown from Towson Ford that month. Then in March ’64 a Dynasty Green Custom 500 sedan at the same dealer… our first car with air conditioning…always nice to have a shiny new car for Spring!
Ah, I thought I remembered that “76” code being associated with the convertible – this from decoding the data plate on my 67 Galaxie 500 convertible many moons ago.
This would have been a really sharp car, but I wonder if the guy regretted pulling the trigger when the 63s were announced, as they were surely considered much better looking, both inside and out.
Maybe he bought one of them, too! GM factory jobs in Saginaw paid pretty well back then; I can’t list all the factories they had, but my dad briefly worked at Saginaw Steering Gear while he was in college (and he always drove Fords, too). I know they also had some foundries, such as the Nodular Iron plant and the Grey Iron plant.
Perhaps he bought it for GM to dissect it.
Perhaps he bought the car before he got the GM job?
I just thought of this (and mentioned it above in my reply to JP), but my dad worked at a GM plant in Saginaw and always drove Fords. In fact, he was probably driving his ’63 Galaxie convertible to that job. I totally forgot about that until just now.
Looking at a specific photo of the Galaxie in one of the brochure shots (the 3rd image up from the bottom of the post) I was struck how similar some of the basic moves were to the 1962 Chevrolet – particularly the slope of the rear fascia, which to me was such an identifying design element of the Chevrolet.
Arguably Chevrolet achieved a more consistent overall design execution by sloping the front fascia back as well. The Ford ended up looking much heavier. But the similarities are notable.
https://www.pjsautoworld.com/vehicles/389/1962-chevrolet-impala
There must have been quite a bit of “cross-pollination” back then. Judging by the styling department histories I’ve read, designers swapped jobs regularly back then. Who knows how many styling exercises found new homes across town?
The ’62 Chevy is probably my favorite of the ’61/2/3/4 range, but I like the Ford a lot too.
Interesting example of model designation erosion, as XL in the current Ford lineup is the most basic pickup trim.
Here’s an interesting counterpoint on the styling of the ’62 full-size Ford: https://www.indieauto.org/2021/11/17/did-the-generic-2018-21-expedition-trick-chevy-buyers-into-ford-showrooms/
First paragraph: “The 1962 Ford Galaxie was the long-reigning champion of the Generic Ford of the Century Award. This was a remarkable feat when you consider the stiff competition. However, year after year the car was judged to possess the most colorless, odorless and anonymous design to ever come out of Dearborn, Michigan.”
I don’t necessarily agree with this premise, but the both the ’61 and especially the ’63 models are far better IMO.
The owner’s manual for my 1968 Cougar is filled out pretty much in the same manner with my father’s name and our address in Canoga Park April 20th, 1968. I believe it is the same on my 67 Parklane.