Looking back on 1966, it was a year of change. Two years after Mother’s passing, our home in Morris Plains still felt different and emptier than before. Perhaps that was one reason why Dad felt the need to move away from those memories, event if only a few miles away. So, in the that summer of 1966, we found ourselves in Morristown, NJ, in a somewhat smaller home befitting our now-smaller family.
It also seemed time for a new family car, as well. The ’64 Galaxie, while a perfectly reliable and dependable vehicle during our ownership, also carried with it bittersweet memories of the past. Given our good experiences with Ford ownership, it was only natural that we should return to the Blue Oval for my father’s next daily driver.
Readers of COALs #4 and #6 may recall that we were repeat new-car customers of Laurie Ford, our local dealer. Established in 1925, the friendly, family-run dealership remained in its original location on Speedwell Avenue, the main drag running through Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Laurie Ford in the mid-1930s. Source: Morris Museum
By the mid-sixties, the northern New Jersey suburbs were growing dramatically, with major highways such as Route 10 and Route 46 attracting commercial establishments of all sorts, becoming shopping magnets for many folks who had largely patronized their hometown businesses.
Ford management, it turned out, was not unaware of this trend. They strongly suggested that Laurie Ford should move from their cramped small-town location to a more modern site on one of the highways noted above, where a new, larger showroom would surely attract more traffic and increase sales. (That suggestion may actually have been more of an ultimatum.) I’m told it resulted in the Laurie family patriarch telling Ford in no uncertain terms what they could do with their franchise. Unfortunately, it also resulted in their loyal customers being forced to shop elsewhere for their new wheels.
So it was that we found ourselves at Dawson Ford in Summit, New Jersey. Perusing their used-car lot, our attention was attracted to a low-mileage ’64 Thunderbird in Dynasty Green with a similarly green interior. Dad had never before expressed a specific liking for T-Birds, but for some reason this car held his interest long enough that a salesperson soon approached.
The ’64 T-Bird, like the Mustang, violated Ford Engineering’s “no sheet metal below the bumper” edict. Source: thebirdnest.com
Once the sales guy took a look at our pristine Galaxie 500, I’m sure he envisioned our Raven Black over red two-door hardtop sitting in a prime front-row spot (presumably with a prime asking price attached, as well as his resulting commission). Soon, however, the deal was done, and I have to admit that despite the lure of the T-Bird, leaving the Galaxie at Dawson’s felt like losing yet another part of the family.
This graphic rendition captures the ’64’s unmistakable square-rigged presence. (crwpitman/deviantart)
We continued our usual weekend-afternoon “spins” from our new home base, an enjoyable few hours listening to Dad providing commentary on the small towns we drove through, or stopping at some particularly picturesque roadside scene, the view through the T-Bird’s windshield constantly changing.
Didn’t we all dream of piloting our own private jet in the mid-60s? Source: Hemmings.
The thin-shell front bucket seats, unique wraparound “lounge” separated rear seats, and countless other finely-designed amenities gave the T-Bird a much more modern look than the Galaxie it replaced. The horizontal speedometer with gauges in their own binnacles below, courtesy lights and sliders deployed aircraft-like below the center of the dash, all evoked a jet-setting, space-age image. And with its road-hugging weight motivated by the 300-HP 390 V8 under the hood, the T-Bird was a faultless highway cruiser, if a bit thirsty.
It was also the first car I actually “drove”, if one could call it that. One of our late-Fall weekend “spins” took us to the home of one of Mother’s ex-Doubleday colleagues in upstate New York. At length, when we were ready to head back home, Dad threw me the keys to the T-Bird and asked if I would “warm it up” and move it down the driveway.
Remembering to secure the steering wheel and making sure the transmission was still in the “Park” position, I hesitantly keyed the ignition, pressed the brake pedal with all the force I could muster, and selected “R”. My first drive encompassed no more than 100 feet or so, but it left a lasting impression that I’ll never forget!
I never had to use the Dynohub in a fallout shelter. Source: sheldonbrown.com
Suddenly, my three-speed Raleigh seemed hopelessly inadequate. Now, even though it was still a couple of years away, I couldn’t wait to get my learner’s permit and start Driver’s Ed., an appropriate topic for the next COAL…
As a kid, was intrigued with the sequence tail lights. Some Ford engineer spent some sleepless nights engineering the idea and campaigned like hell with the bean counters to get in included in the final draft.
I was reminded of this when I was stuck in traffic behind a recent model Mustang which displayed the sequence indicator. What a throw back!
I don’t think the 64s had sequential taillights, the mildly changed 65’s brought them out.
From 1961 thru 1965, T-Birds and Lincoln Continentals had under the skin similarities, sharing certain things around the cowl area like their windshields. Interestingly, the 61-63 model years of both featured curved side windows, only to go back to flat glass in 1964.
The 1966 model year, this relationship between the two ended when the major redesign of the Continental went back to curved side glass while the T-Bird facelift did not.
Did that have anything to do with the T-Birds and Continentals being built in the same Wixom, MI plant due to their unibody construction…
” The ’64 Galaxie, while a perfectly reliable and dependable vehicle during our ownership, also carried with it bittersweet memories of the past. “.
That had to be very difficult to live in the home, and with the car, that your mother loved. The bittersweet memories of such a loss do not need the additional daily evoking of those memories through physical things. The move and the different car seem to have been wise decisions.
“The thin-shell front bucket seats, unique wraparound “lounge” separated rear seats … horizontal speedometer with gauges in their own binnacles below … lights and sliders deployed aircraft-like below the center of the dash …”.
YES. You hit the details perfectly. Starting with the 4 seater square bird in 1958 and continuing for many years of designs, the T-Birds of that era were sublime. People today are mostly unimpressed with these late ’50s to mid ’60s earth bound rocket ships, but if you were there… at that time … well, I guess you had to be there at that time. They were beautiful dream machines.
“Suddenly, my three-speed Raleigh seemed hopelessly inadequate … ”
For many years I looked at 3 speed “English Racers” with green faced envy. You see, my bike was a one speed coaster brake monster, great for hauling a heavy bag of newpapers, but with no gears to shift, nor cable actuated brake controls, it was a bike only a four-eyed doofus would ride. When we bought our first house in 1969, one of the first things we did was get an English racer for me and 10-speed bikes for my wife and son. Finally I had a cool bike. Or so I thought.
(COAL spoiler ahead) For me, the progression was from bikes to slot cars to real cars. That transition happened from about mid-1966 to spring 1969, when I got my “learner’s permit” as a result of completing a high-school driver’s ed. course.
Yes, in retrospect, the move turned out to be a good thing, though I didn’t fully accept it at the time…
I’d love to hear more about the slot cars…
I just found this great color photo of the Morristown Green, taken in the early ’60s:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/0d/fe/b70dfed0bfbca4ed06a094f71d1f1ed4.jpg
Thanks, Stephen, that truly is a great shot. It evokes lots of memories. When we moved from Morris Plains to Morris Township, we lived not too far south of the Green on Route 202.
By the way, your thoughtful and engaging posts were (and are) a major impetus in encouraging me to write for CC.
My dad was so interested in me having an English Racer. He very grudgingly bought us CCM knock-offs of Schwinn Stingrays. We did get the 3 speed Sturmey Archer hubs on them and there were Raleighs in the yard. No match for a Peugeot 10 speed though.
Almost coming around to these 1960s Thunderbirds and their rocket ship details. I’ve recently come around on the boat anchor Ford FE as well.
Never having had Driver’s Ed I look forward to that story.
It’s very possible that my dad never rode a bike in his life, but my mom had ridden an English diamond frame bike in her youth, so my first bike was a Schwinn Racer with Sturmey Archer 3 speed. This was when Stingrays were just coming out, all the cool kids had them and could wheelie and skid their Slik rear tires, and I was the dork on the so-called Racer which was anything but. Five years later I used my lawn mowing money (push reel mower that I dragged around the neighborhood, mowing lawns for a dollar) to buy a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed. That bike was liberating and I spent the summer roaming surprising far from home on that heavy steel bike with one piece forged crank and flywheel-like chainrings and steel rims. I did like these TBirds, they seemed like real styling standouts for the time, inside and out.
Must have been a very sad time, in the years following your Mother’s passing, at what must have been a very young age for you.
I encountered this T-Bird, a 1964, just a week or two ago. A source told me this one only has 29,000 miles on the clock. Very low usage for a 60 year old car. Here it sits waiting for parts as a mechanical restoration job continues.
Rear
Interior.
The Thunderbird dual cockpit interior design is so enticing. I will never forget the first time I sat in one at a used classic car dealership. Coming from my Spartan economy car interior the Thunderbird was like stepping into the fourth dimension.
I stumbled into the site below that has photos of early design versions of the ’64 TBird.
https://www.deansgarage.com/a-flair-for-the-all-new-64-thunderbird/