For today, let’s check out three images from a distant autumn. They capture what seems to have been a happy time; a new ’63 Galaxie 500XL, a trip to gather produce in comfort at speed, and absolute satisfaction. These folk captured the perfect memories to preserve. Particularly, for those of us who are automotive-inclined.
Further reading:
CC Driving Impression: 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 – Simplicity Its Virtue
Very pretty pictures ! .
The seat cover is nice too .
-Nate
If it was a four door, I would have assumed it was Jason Shafer’s car in its youth.
That’s no joke. Champaign, as Ford called it, does not seem to be a common color on these.
This example even has a 352.
We had a baby blue one. I was a young kid and ran down the battery playing with the electric seats. I think my little brother narced on me. Fast forward to .71 and I took my driving test in that beast. I think the state trooper felt sorry for me trying to parallel park that thing. The first time I got to take it out was a couple of weeks later on the night of our spring training football game. We had 4 couples in it with room to spare.
Do these cars have the “Ford door sound ” , or did that start later ? My brother’s ’72 LTD wagon had it , so did the Tempos , and the Crown Vics. I think the Taurus had it too.
I always liked those rear grilles that were briefly popular in the early 1960s. I find this trend a bit puzzling though, as that was also near the peak of rear-engine car popularity in the US, and most of those were low-buck imports. Though many rear-engine cars had their grilles or air intakes in the rear fenders rather than between the taillights.
’63 was my favorite year for those early ’60’s Ford and Chevy full-sizers. Plymouth? Uh, no.
Looks like the dealership on the trunk lid says Hackensack Ford. Must’ve have been freshly bought, and the owners were proud enough to pose it for pictures in the middle of their back lawn.
Awesome automobile…just like my 63 ..500XL Convertible…390..4speed bucket seats.
I have one for sale for a very fair price. $16,000.00
Can you send some pictures
Anybody know what the red box is on the firewall next to the master cylinder?
My guess is added electronic ignition.
The 352 was probably the best engine choice for an earlier production ’63. The. base 352 could run on regular gas and deliver the kind of smooth low RPM torque well suited most family car drivers.
The old 292 was replaced by the new 260 as the base V8. That was not a happy combination in such a large car. The 289 was a mid model year introduction though for whatever reason, the 260 continued to be offered.
The 289 was a far better match for the larger Ford than the modest displacement bump would suggest. It was the first time Ford had a small block that was really competitive with Chevy.
The base 352 continued for a few more years despite having little advantage over the 289. The introduction of the Mustang and the increased popularity of intermediates took so much of Ford’s small block capacity that many of the large Fords continued to be shipped with low performance FE engines – often as a no cost or discounted sticker credit option to encourage buyers.
Many people dissed these low performance FE engines as not offering any performance advantage over a small block Chevy despite the greater displacement. What sometimes gets lost in this analysis was that the low performance FE engine was never aimed at a performance market. It was a temporary strategy intended to buy time for Ford to increase capacity to produce more modern small blocks in the quantities needed to satisfy demand across their full range of models.
At least this is what we mechanics were told by the Ford factory reps that periodically visited our dealership for training purposes.
Red box is MDS ignition box
Isn’t it actually a 63 1/2 ?
Had one my Father bought in Key West, while on Base! 390 4v Chrome Thunderbird dress up kit, 4sp buckets red red interior white Convertible top! Made the trip to Jesup, Ia. Dec 24, 66 after his passing, about a month or two later tranny troubles, not quite a teenager, I pleaded with Mom to keep it, I would work on it, as we loved it, but by Summer she was gone one day after home from school!
I actually haven’t seen any with the Chrome pkg, hardly any Convertibles!
Lovely Car!
I am not sure I have ever seen one of these painted this color with a black painted roof. White roofs were fairly common, but black seemed to be fairly rare.
Also, not so many of these early hardtops seem to have survived. It was the later 63 “sports” roof hardtop that got all the love from people who preserved and restored these.