I'm not much of a FoMoCo person , but I still like the style of the 60's galaxies and the merc Marauders , the old man was a mercury man , his brother was a fairlane guy
I wonder if it's still got the original FoMoCo neuralizer kit in the trunk like the one in the MIB movie? Flux Congrats on his new sweet ride!
Ryan... One of the best cars I ever owned was a '63 Galaxie 500 Hd.Tp., 390, ps., pb., duals...fantastic machine in everyway ! Bought it in January 25, 1965. Kept it till I traded it in on my first new car a '68 Cougar XR7, March 27, 1968. Swapped stories with Jeff Myers & Travis Scanlan on their '63's. GREAT STORY !!! Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net
Mr. Tardel's a lucky guy, nothing like finding a 'new' 50 year old car, especially one as cool as a '63.5 Galaxie! If I remember correctly, your Riv. made the trip to Baltimore and home without any drama, but your friend Norm's had a few issues; multiple blow-out/flat tires, and sucking all the trans fluid through the intake........ but hey, I guess that's the stuff that makes for a great story.
I'll be watching this one. Tardel has an eye for things and I have a feeling it will be subdued on the outside but with plenty of power. My dad drove a 63 1/2 500 convertible, 352 auto, bench seats...still talks about it to this day and hes not a car guy. If ever ever make any decent money in my life, I like to buy him one.
Wow. Crazy lunatics always pull this stuff off. The guy who thinks it out ... alllll basses covered .... stranded in the fast lane during rush hour with my full gas can, trunk of tools ... and a no answering AAA service ... not helping a damn thing. Agony, and joy. Great stuff.
Road trips on a whim is right up there with an engine first fire in my book. Good times. And to see everything come together makes it unforgettable.
My long time dream vacation is to buy something like an original '47 Ford sedan (relatively cheap) in some far away place like Oregon and then fly in and drive it all the way home. So. Much. Fun.
cool beans, so proud you drove it away, and dude, I didn't know they still made cameras with actual film in them, ha ha
Man, I certainly hope it's not the 'drop it n put 20's on it' routine. An old Grand National look would be nice, numbered and lettered up. Hefty tires n wheels. But, then you're probably lookin' at a limited market. Anywho, nice car, I'll be watchin'.
MAN, apparently you are new or out of touch. Word of advice. Read up on Vern Tardel. There! I was nice boys.
Very cool story indeed, glad to see somebody's having fun. . Snowed here on the weekend, here in the northeast we are all getting ready to go into 'cave' mode.
I owned a 64 in Canary Yellow that also had the slide away steering option.Bought it in 1982 during my first year of college.The car was a 1 owner and had 18k.Some evil bastard paid me more than it was worth and took it away from me...story of my life
This post goes to show that good stuff does happen to good people! Keith is the perfect new owner for that car... So cool.
Sweet story and an awsome car. Risking to take the drive reminds me of similar stuff I did. Car in the avatar was driven a similar distance without knowing if it would make it. Took me some 6 hrs to get home. Congratulations.
Cool car and cooler story. Has one way back when with a 406/4sp. Great running, driving car. IMHO they were one of the best driving cars Ford ever built. Even with all the stuff on it we would put on our cars it still cruised like a dream. The only other car I miss more than the 63 was the 56 Meteor CV I sold to get it. Another one of my "what was I thinking" moments.
Sorry, guess you don't know sarcasm when you see it....officer. I'm sure the car will be just fine. Look boys, I was nice too. Geez....
63 1/2's were really good looking. A friend had a beautiful turquoise convertible & it was a stunning car that was hard to ignore. The round fenders & tail lights are probably Fords last aviation look as they imitated jet after burners. Everything of that vintage is toast here due to salt & snow. Best looking 63 car for sure. Nice to see one again. Thx
Back in '74, those cars were out dated relics, a guy at work asked me if I was interested in a 63-1/2 XL. His mother had bought it new, and after 8 years had sold it to another woman she worked with. It broke down and was sitting along a street in Portland. The good part was, it was a 406/385 hp, 4 speed with 91,000 miles, and I bought it for 50 bucks. I towed in home with a chain, and it fired right up, but the facing was gone on the clutch disc. There were some minor bumps and bruises, but by today's standards it would be considered pretty clean. At the time, the value to me was the parts, so I parted it out, and gave the body/chassis away. The cast iron 406 headers have been on my 65 F 100 for 40 years, and there are still some of the misc parts lying around here.
I have the same dreams!!! Ive come close a few times almost bought a 56 chevy out of washington for my father in law then drive home to him in california, called to pull the trigger and let the gentleman know id be by later that day with cash and he infrmed me that he sold it that morning. something pre 1950 would be such a fun adventure. Someday!!!!! Nice Score on the Galaxie by the way. a drama free car is a very nice and peaceful beginning to a great outcome.
Marty, that really is quite a coincidental story, and this is one I have told here before. Early 70's, I helped a mutual acquaintance, Dave Snyder on a couple of his drag cars, there was a guy who hung out there that had a 406/4speed Galaxy, also had tripower IIRC. This guy was kind of a mad man in this thing, always some high rpm street burnouts if he showed up. I don't recall if I actually witnessed this or just heard it second hand, but the clutch/flywheel in this car apparently had enough and decided to exit the belhousing, at the same time taking the back of the block with it. IIRC, he got a block from either Denny Aldridge or Larry Kalsch.
I know where there is one for cheap...... with a oak injected engine. Put a set of Kumho tires like on Tardel's Galaxy and you'll be good to go. The A/C works great too.....no freon recharge needed.
I bought a rolling shell from Butch Eaton out in Chatham Va around 1992, no engine or trans, busted windshield, Impala bucket seats, no hood, and a buggered driver's door, for the outrageous price of $100... Butch allowed me to scrounge a hood, bumper, seats and a door, even found an NOS set of engine mounts as they were out of production at that time.... The driver's door had a combo spotlight/mirror through it. The body was sound and straight with the exception of two dents in the ROOF from where Butch had stacked a CAR on top of it.... and I worked those out without taking out the headliner. I had intended to install a '73 429 cobra jet (means nothing, I know, ALL 429's were "cj's". It wouldn't fit right, so I started looking for a 390 since the car was a 390 unit to start with, and found a nice '68 LTD with a perfect 390/c6 combo in it, for $350... I still have the title to that car... I slipped that engine/trans right into the Galaxie and was satisfied... the dual exhaust under the car bolted right up! Another two years of scrounging parts ended up with the swingaway steering, power seats and power windows from a perfectly good fordor 500xl went into it, and the trunk was filled with extra pieces.... spring forward to 1995, wanted to sell it, I couldn't get $1800 for it. Today it'd bring 10k easy.......
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