DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!!! Boyz n gurls we gots us a winner. In it's day, doing the job it was meant to do, they nailed it. They inspired the bloodthirsty hoards to take to the streets in their cars sporting a "don't fuck with me..." attitude. I saw it on everything from Impala fastbacks (65-7, and a favorite) to early Econoline vans. What our man Ukrop gave us here was one of the seeds that perhaps transformed all versions of modified cars. It said DRAG RACER in giant neon letters. It brought the look of our favorite 1/4mi rulers to the streets and drive ins nationwide. Other than the beloved kustom most every hot rod emulates drag racing. I'll bet we'd have fingers n toes left were we to count notable Indy car or oval track inspired cars. Even "Saint Deuce Hiboy" harkens back to straight line speed contests. Now we could say all of that is bullshit but that's living in denial. The old "Pro Street" look came into vogue a few years after Pro Stock became a household word. Some early attempts at the gasser look were around before the current crop of top heavy freaks we've seen in the new millennium. The point is right in the title. A bitchin stance rules and it doesn't have to be drag race inspired to get it right. The Galaxie shown in the ad is a "blonde", perhaps low in the back is a "redhead", and sky high a "brunette", but get any of it right and it stimulates the senses.
I have to agree that the Galaxie at the center of this discussion needs more tire up front. That said the stance is great. I just don't think the empty wheel wells up front do it justice. My belief is that cars should be driven and I am not sure the short and narrow tire on the front of this awesome Ford would make it much fun to drive. Of course the one thing we all must remember that it is always up to the owner when it comes to how his or her personal car rides, drives and looks.
I'm a little biased but I think my little F100 helps argue the point that wheels, tires and stance make the ride. This is a cheap little beater with cheap steel wheels but I think I got the tires and stance right. I tried to fill the wheel wells with as much rubber as possible and think it turned out alright. I do get a lot of people that like the truck and I know it's due to the stance 'cus it sure isn't for the great paint job!
Yeah, I believe you are correct Fred. Back in 63, how much tire could you get onto a 4x15 rim? 5.60 -15 or 165 off of a VW? It's supposed to be about the new 4x15 tt wheels, at least that's what the picture was to showcase.
I would have to agree both that for me the Galaxie needs more front tire and drop, and that as shown would have been correct for the period. I have been accused of being obsessive about wheels, tires, and stance - but to me it makes the vehicle - Hot Rod or OT daily driver. I have always gotten positive comments from people I wouldn't consider "car people" about my DD trucks - and it is nothing more than taking a new black truck, pulling a bit of trim, and dropping it down a little over the right wheel / tire combo. To me the perfect stance is sneaky . . . "right" but not slammed . . . with a very subtle rake.
I just got an old Popular Hot Rodding in the mail and that Galaxie was featured in the Honest Charley ad, I had never seen that car until then and it shows up on the HAMB the next day. Weird.
Nailed it! You turned a beater into the coolest truck around with just an "altitude adjustment" and a new pair of shoes.
I'm not super familiar with this style truck, so forgive me. Is the track width really narrow up front on these? For the life of me I can't see how this turns without rubbing the fenders. And if it does , I want to see the stance from the front straight on.
i'm a bit surprised by some of the responses in this thread. i was there; then. a lot of you folks were, too. anyone that had a car like this back then would have been king of the hill. i bet most of you that think that the front fenderwell needs to be more filled up are younger folk. that car had it in spades then; and in my older and more feeble eyes, still does. joey, thanx for the blog; it's gotten a bunch of people thinking, which always is a good thing.
Thanks a lot Joey! I am now in the market for a '63 Galaxie and vintage Torq-Thrusts....bastards....all of ya'....
My buddies 63' Fairlane I'm helping build, borrowed my tall 16' chrome reverse rims and put more air in the air shocks. And my 59' F100 static drop..
This one is for 31Vicky. To answer your question, yes my truck has a pretty narrow track width up front so I have a ton of clearance for steering. This is kind of a funky picture but you can kind of tell how far the front tires are sucked in. It is running a Sid's 3" dropped axle and reverse eye mono leaf springs out front and the rear end is flipped on top of the springs along with a 1" lowering block and a small C-notch in the frame. The truck really isn't super low, I just tried to give it the illusion of being really low by tucking as much tire as possible. I'll try and shoot you a head on picture later.
Maybe, maybe not, but out here where we drop them a bit lower, that little bit of tire to fenderwell "interference" on sharp turns has always been an indicator of proper stance and ride height... Sort of a "right of passage" for the low guys!
The original post is a perfect example of a car that was built back then and unchanged by current trends. These are the cars I enjoy looking at. This is why I have a large magazine collection. Some people study Latin, because it is a language that has not changed to current slang. Please respect it for what it is and the time period it was built in. When building a traditional styled car,PLEASE resist the current 2014 traditional build style.
That Torq Thrust ad with the Galaxie has been a part of my mental library for years. I first saw it when I was nineteen, and had to race over to my buddy's house to show him the photo. We both agreed, that was THE take-no-prisoners stance to have. I wouldn't change a thing on that car. It's pure drag-race inspired curb appeal.
I guess i don't understand low and never will. To me, rubbing tires is a fuck up, always has been and always will be. I'd have to fix that while retaining the stance. I've also gone quite a bit out of my way to include track width as part of the stance, all 4 sides and 3/4 views should be spot on and mechanically functioning. Just me and I'm an asshole when it comes to that. Different back spacing on wheels, wheel spacers, narrowed axles, ball joint spacers, custom control arms, modified spring perches, dearch my own springs & what ever it takes. Form follows function I guess & in other words function first & form second. Mechanical simplicity usually leads to pretty cool stuff.
Nah, that was sort of tongue in cheek! Flat-and-Low would get it as he is a recovering VW guy and early mini truck kinda guy too. Truth is, I take a bunch of time to set things like tire sizes and track widths, back spaces, rear end widths and such when I am starting from scratch.
I agree with 31 Vicky with a hemi. Form should follow function. It's not the difference in tire sizes, or in the rake, it's the attitude of the builder in making something function within the parameters of what it's being designed to do. To me that means if you put more rubber in the back you do so because you have more horsepower under the hood than the OEM set up will handle. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what Gray Baskerville preached at Hot Rod and later at R&C, that 'stance is everything'. That said, however, as someone further up the stream has pointed out, this hobby has periods where things go a little weird and pointing fingers at stuff that was kosher 'back when' as not working today is ignoring the concept of fashion. Flattop hair cuts were also fashionable back then, and later bell bottom trousers, and so on. Perception and attitude is part of why people create certain 'looks'. Lowriders were once outre and now they seem OK. Education, based on a larger view, gives you more to work with. It allows you to understand what motivated the building of a car, and the why and wherefore. Personally, I like all the flavors through the history, and even though I have some favorite 'looks', I try to keep an open mind and allow other people to do their thing. Belly button motors are no worse than belly button stances. I stole this picture to illustrate my concept. This car would look stoopid with O-rings and donuts, and rake would create handling problems. If there is a moral to what I'm saying, it's this: build it to drive like you were going to race it, and it will have all the elements of being badass. Otherwise, you'll end up being just another poseur. Carl <center></center><table bgcolor="ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3" width="1020"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G information</td><td>Event : Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance</td><td>Image credit: © Conceptcarz.com</td></tr></tbody></table>
Thanks for the good words C. Hip (Needlouvers), if you had gotten my old Ford, you'd probably STILL have it, and it would still be "in the family"! That, that old Galaxie sits in someone's backyard wearing a crappy shade of purple primer is sort of a drag.....oh well. LOVE the opening pics of the '63. And yeah, I think there's something to the guy who said we are looking at that car through 2014 eyes. Whatever the case, it's bad ass. It was a dumped fastback '63 here in town (Phoenix) that INSPIRED me to grab the similarly topped '64 that I had. Funny thing about that car was, I'd get appreciative nods and comments from many different circles of car guys. Lowrider guys, old hot rod dudes, VW kids, etc.... Trying to manicure this Dart into a daily driver.