'62 galaxie starlifter/lorenzen replica

btt

 

1962 Starlifter

 

T.KITCHEN,

When I was in high school, I was talking to my dad one day about cars and he told me that his 1960 Starliner would do 100 mph in 2nd gear (it is a 3 speed overdrive car). I said, "No way". We went back and forth for a while and he said..."go get in the car". He drove to the freeway and we hit 100 mph in 2nd gear in the Starliner! I couldn't believe it!

Mike

 

Thanks BAD ROD for the Starlifter ad that FORD put out/now maybe some others will believe me! Its in a couple of books but don't have one of those books yet. Two years ago I owned a '60 Starliner HiPo car that was/is White with a Blue interior that was in a magazine or two. My real good friend in Ft. Meyers, FL. (has a real '61 Starliner HiPo and a REAL T-Bolt)is restoring a '60 HiPo now and has an extra 352/360 HP complete motor he will sell. Is your dads car for sale?
Also look at some of my other Galaxies in another thread on Galaxies. Tom

 

Hi T.KITCHEN,

I found information on the Starlifter on a few websites.

http://racersreunion.ning.com/photo/1962-ford-starlifter-ad

http://www.fredlorenzen.com/Pictures.htm

http://www.62ford.com/registry/better_ideas.asp

I'm glad you posted about your Starlifter as I did not know about it before and I am an early Galaxie fan!

My Dads car is not for sale. He is the original owner and it is the only car he ever bought brand new in his whole life. If he ever did want to sell it (which is impossible), it would be in my garage.

Mike

 

By the way, are 1960 and 1961 Starlilner roofs the same? I see in the Starlifter information that sometimes it is said to be a 1960 roof and sometimes a 1961 roof.

Mike

 

The kit was to sorta kinda make the roof look legit to NASCAR...it was never detailed out for use as a serious piece for use by civilians. There was no accomodation for a quarter window fit, for instance, no problem for NASCAR but probably a serious deal killer for a new car on the street.

Any of you NASCAR freaks know anything about Clyde Lynn of Christiansburg, Virginia??
Local stock car racer who moved up into NASCAR in the ealry 1960's. He did very well for an independent in a time of factory supported teams.

In the early '60's when I was a teenager, his junkyard on Route 11 was my MECCA!
He had gathered acres of early Fords, mostly to support his stock car racing parts needs in his pre-NASCAR days. I was a poor and desperate kid, and he would let me roam around and eventually buy $5 of minor stuff, all I could afford. This was a once-a-year treat for me...we went by his yard every year when driving from Northern VA to the south for Christmas, and I had to persuade my parents to give me an hour or two there to hunt.
The last time I went there, there was a dead, thoroughly wrecked. '64 Galaxy NASCAR ride beside his garage, and a fresh one inside that they were tuning. They kept revving it while hunting some sort of miss, probably...the 427 went BOOM!! at each revving, rattling everything for miles. He was clearly a local hero in a tiny hill town...

 

I always thought the '60s and '61s roofs were the same, but I cut my roof off of a '60 Starliner and assumed I needed a '61 rear glass as the '60 rear glass "dipped". I found & bought a '61 rear glass and (after modifying the lower glass channel) we put the rubber/rope around it, only to find out the '61 glass was 2-1/2-3" too long! If you look close at the factory photos of the Fiberglass roof, it uses a '60 Starliner rear glass, probably due it being shorter and gave more structural support to the fiberglass?
I get ALL KINDS of stories when showing the car, but 3 people told me they did see a top for sale at the big Moultrie, Ga. swap meet a few years ago for $1,000 but no one was positive what it fit. Another guy worked at a Ford dealership in Parts and said they had a top "laying around" for years until they tossed it out!
On one of the previous replys, they were correct as to the practical function of the top as it is shown with the convertible top boot in place, so there must NOT have been a longer rear window retrofit available, so the "gap" would always be there with the top on.

 

Well, you lucky Texas guys get to see the Starlifter before long as I sold it and its on its way to the Fort Worth area. I had it at Moultrie, GA. meet this last weekend and have attached a few pictures of me/car and my Ford Club T-Shirt ( www.ford-freak.org )from a good friend in Finland. I sold him a '63-1/2 "Barn-find" Galaxie a couple of years ago and we have been email friends since. Isn't this a GREAT hobby!!! Tom

 

Barn find today!!!



http://picasaweb.google.com/custom500/FordGalaxieXL50063#5518652531614390722

 

You hit the nail on the head, Tom... this really is a GREAT hobby!!!
It was really good seeing you and Rich this weekend! By the way, make sure he stays on his meds, will ya? =)

 

Well, you lucky Texas guys get to see the Starlifter before long

Yep It made it to Texas last Friday. I'ts at my shop!! It is sure a neat car. Don't know how long I'll have it before the new owner gets it to Fort Worth but you guys can sure come see it if you get the chance to be in Ennis.

 

Glad to hear it made it OK. The driver of the transport truck was flagged down by someone? that said he ran against Fred Lorenzen and that car and had pictures! The driver didn't get his name or number!! Fred Lorenzen is not doing well with Alzimers and is fading fast per his daughter. They are donating most of his trophies and awards to a ? museum.
I am now back on my '57 T-Bird Battlebird with another "Fireball" SURPRISE project on the back burner that involves a HEMI he ran!! Tom. p.s. if you read the last thread reply under "any car clubs in Dayton, Ohio?",you can read some of my car background.

 

Truck Driver finally sent me his name, it was Bob Schmidt who ran the
"Milwaukee Mile" back in the day, said he knew Fred on a speaking basis and saw this car once or twice there! He is looking up documentation for me. Thanks to Tom for a smooth transaction and can't wait to see the exhaust system Shane installs!!

 

Well, the new Starlifter owner finally got to see his purchase for the 1st time!! He says he loves it and is looking for wider wheels and to make some more "under the hood" changes like they made to run NASCAR. Good Luck with the car Derik! It draws a crowd wherever it goes! T.Kitchen

 

Sweet repro. Glad that it's now a Texas car.
Hope to see it at some shows in the future.

 

Tom,
Did you ever investigate installing a roof from either a '63 1/2 or a '64 FB on a '62 body??? We had a project to do just like that when I was at H&M during the late '60's but the customer shut it down before it got off the ground. I remember there being a LOT of discussion on how it was going to be done.
I'm thinking about trying that on a '62 I have now. Stock is SOO boring !!!
Thanks, Rick

 

Fred was one of my favorites. He was king of the local paved high bank track in the late '50's, prior to going south.
I met him in the 1980's. He summed up his Nascar career-- "I went South with nothing, and I came back with nothing".
I did see the rings he received for winning several Nascar races

Phil