I was trolling cars.com looking for stuff. I came upon a 63 Galaxie SEDAN in Oregon that is awesome driver quality. I looked at the data plate and coded it out, and became VERY confused. Bult in Virginia in July, Mint Green with fugly matching interior, and it has a G CODE MOTOR, paired to a 2 speed ford-o-matic. Everything else matches up. Plate denotes its a 4 door sedan, right color, right interior... but a 406 in a sedan with a 2spd????? Should I be wary of this? Why would this configuration go in a sedan!? Where are the smart fellers at? Help.
Could have been special ordered that way,remember back then special options you wanted weren"t that hard to get or very expensive.
Lots of "pursuit" cars for state patrols...but I agree....a 2spd auto for a hipo 406? Doesn't make sense to me...although...if you're the guy with the pen and the blank purchase order, I guess the 'big three' would pretty much do whatever you wanted. I've seen weird stuff from the 60s also - just easier back in those days...no "packages" that required this option or that option. Had a 58 Merc 2dr sedan with a 430 in it...all black with a "police" speedo in it. Gas guzzler for sure, but it was a highway hauler. dj
Thats what i was thinking. I've got pics of an original, untouched 62 belair wagon with a dual quad 409-4 speed combo.. And read an article on another all original 62 impala 4 door sedan that was ordered as a 409 3 speed. I own an original 63 Impala 2 door hard top, non SS bench seat car with an original 409, column shifted 'glide and factory posi. Strange combo. Back then it seemed like you could order just about anything.. This Galaxie sounds similar. Tony
Maybe check out the FE forum? I'm trying to buy my neighbors 390 tri power 63 and it has a three on the tree. Also has 406 emblems on it but not a G code.
There was a '62 Ford 300 2dr sedan on the auction site lately that got alot of attention because of a supposed 4-speed on the column. There was a car here in town with the exact same setup. All stock 390/3X2 car with a 4-speed on the column. It was an undercover state trooper car, ordered that way. The reverse lever was under the dash. I drove it, and know for a fact it came that way. So.... Stranger things have come from the factory than a 406/2-speed 4 door. If the data plate says it, it probably was ordered that way.
I can't find a g code for 1963 a 63 406 is a b code and a f.e. Motor would have a 3 speed cruise-o-matic. Hope this helps tom
Those were the days when you could order what you wanted and write a check, no packages without changes, just what you want. Can you say "Sleeper"?
Maybe. Except its wearing its original mint green paint job. And its not a P code car... I was thinking maybe some sort of other agency where they wanted to drive REALLY fast, but with very economical gearing! My buddy has a Falcon Sprint with a 260 and a 2 speed that ive seen WHOOP up on some bigger and better cars. Who knows.
The only problem with the open list ordering was that any exterior color could be ordered with any interior color......
http://www.mercurystuff.com/1963-galaxie-vehicle-identification.html Domestic Special Orders, Foreign Special Orders, and Pre-Approved Special Orders have the complete order number recorded in the "DSO" space. Also to appear in this space is the two-digit code number of the District which ordered the unit. If the unit is regular production, only the District code number will appear.
When I was building my '66 Rambler American Rogue (top of the American line), I found an American 220 4 door sedan (bottom of the line) with a factory 290" V-8 and 4 speed in a junk yard. Got the pedal assembly and some other stuff from it.
you could pretty much order whatever you wanted and ford is famous for throwing whatever parts were within reach into some cars. sounds like a good find. the strangest combo i owned was useless, 64 custom 500 with a 223 six and the brand new for 64 c-4 auto, it was only slow when you took it out of park.
------------------ Jeeze, that's a freak for sure! I can't imagine there were too many - if any other ones at all - ordered like that. If the car was at all savable, maybe you should have bought the whole car and done a restoration. Mart3406 =========================
Some old guy ordered it thinking it would be good for towing his house trailer......Got a hitch on it?
20 years ago there was a 4dr 406 4spd 4dr cheapo sedan at the Charlotte spring meet. It was a documented low mileage odd ball. Rare but not appealing to my tastes. This leopard can not change his spots no matter how rare it is.
Excellent. Or an old guy that simply didn't want to shift gears. Possibly ordered up by a big wig with a government agency; Senator, mayor, etc. Maybe an official (i.e. Highway Dept. chief engineer) that did a lot of yearly miles driving to out of town staff meetings and wanted to hammer lane it on the freeway or have plenty of passing power on 2 lane highways.
I've seen some 4 dr 406 and 427 cars over the years. I recall a few being FBI cars I think. I had a '63 Galaxie 2 door box top, p code, 4 spd manual with bench seat... white and blue two tone on cragar ss, anyone seen that car lately? sold it in the mid 90's.
My 64 ford custom is a 2 door sedan p code car with 390 tri power and had 3 on the tree. but now has a 4 speed. It eas a border patrol car from aizona.
chevy dealer I worked at as a kid owner had a 69 caprice 4 door with hidden headlights and a tri power 427 under the hood from the factory was his personal toy ever herd the term C.O.P.O.
Todd drove his 1930 Stutz Versailles to coffee today just so happens i had the camera A rare Stutz Coach Work was by Weymann The green fabric covering to reduce weight it is not paint The Stutz weighs over 5,000 lbs has a 322 cubic inch motor holds 12 quarts of oil I did a search to see if i could find more 1930 Stutz http://www.trombinoscar.com/stutz/3002.html found this link showing the Exact car Todd now owners
Not to hijjeck the thread, but Wow. The Ford and the Stutz are very, very rare. The engineeing in the 322-CID Stutz with dual overhead cams is pretty amazing.
yeah, I have heard of guys ordering thier 409s with 3spds because they were actually stronger than the T10...more rpm drop, but stronger....I have no idea if this is true...Hans
When I began working at a R.I. Chevrolet Dealership (End of 67'), there was this old guy named Arthur, he looked about 60 but was 74. Anyway, he asked me to pull his car around back to change the oil. He also asked me to drive it a few blocks, to get the oil circulated. I grabbed the keys for this beautiful 66' Caprice Custom (Not Fastback) with bench seats. I went to back the car up and noticed it had a floor shift. Damm!....it was a 4 speed and it screwed! When I pulled it onto the lift I popped the hood (Even though I wasn't working in it). The car had a Tri-carb 427/435 engine in it! I went back to ask him about the car & why he had such a car. He said he always had fast cars and always will! I asked him if it came like that from the factory and he said yes. I asked him how he was able to get that power combination and he said that he has been working for GM Dealers since he was a kid. He also mentioned that he knew someone named "ED" in Michigan... that's it. Could that have been Ed Cole?
A Fordomatic 2 speed would hold up with a 406 engine? Didn't all the FE's use a 3 speed Fordomatic? Just asking, I don't know much about Fords ...
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