Galaxie 500



Can't pass this one up:

You take the dog,
I'll take the Galaxy 500.
You get the cat,
I get the cats you don't want anymore.

You take the fish,
I'll take the bowl.
You take the dishes.
While you're at it take my soul.
But things ain't so bad,
Cause I got a Galaxy 500.

You get the house,
I get a cheap motel room.
You get a friend,
But that should not matter to me anymore.
You have a date, he's just a friend.
I can't believe that this is the end.
But things ain't so bad,
Cause I got a Galaxy 500.
Galaxy 500,
In a Galaxy 500,
Galaxy 500.

I'm in my own Galaxy, 1973,
In my own Galaxy.
You probably would have wanted this too,
But it's not air conditioned.
No, it's not air conditioned.
No, it's not air conditioned.
No, it's not air conditioned.
It's not air conditioned.

Open the trunk,
All of my dirty laundry.
All of my junk in the yard,
And scattered out into the street.
You have the thing with my old guitar.
I can't believe that you took it this far,
But things ain't so bad,
Cause I got a Galaxy 500.
Galaxy 500,
In a Galaxy 500,
Galaxy 500,
In a Galaxy 500.

Reverend Horton Heat
Galaxie 500
Lucky 7, released February 2003

[reh321]

In just thinking about it, I have a hard time putting "Galaxie" and "Art" in the same paragraph

[RGlasel]

Hey Racer, maybe you can help me out. Didn't some Galaxies and Fairlaines in the early sixties have a sliding (up and down) rear windshield? By the way, the nameplate in this photo is in great shape.

[Racer X 69]

Hey Racer, maybe you can help me out. Didn't some Galaxies and Fairlaines in the early sixties have a sliding (up and down) rear windshield?

No, it was a model of Mercury.

The 1963 Mercury Monterey Breezeway.

A similar setup was used on the 1957-1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, and the 1958-1960 Lincoln Continental.

[RGlasel]

The 1963 Mercury Monterey Breezeway.

Thank you very much! I don't ever recall seeing the Monterey nameplate, but apparently Meteor didn't replace Monterey in Canada until 1964, so perhaps I saw the Breezeway rear window on a Lincoln, or perhaps Wikipedia isn't 100% accurate or perhaps my memory of cars that I saw nearly 50 years ago isn't 100% accurate either. I'm sure it was a sedan that I saw though, dark blue if my memory serves me correctly. My uncles probably owned 200 different old cars over the years, mostly Fords so they could give my dad a hard time for favouring GM products.

[SSGGeezer]

No, it was a model of Mercury.

The 1963 Mercury Monterey Breezeway.

A similar setup was used on the 1957-1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, and the 1958-1960 Lincoln Continental.

I thought the Comet had it also but since I was just a little kid, Grandma's car was probably a Monterey since I remember that power window. It was cool but Grams liked to drive 80-90 Mph on the straight roads of Eastern North Dakota so it was up most of the time!

[RGlasel]

Grams liked to drive 80-90 Mph on the straight roads of Eastern North Dakota

With narrow bias tires and hydraulic shocks, the roads had to be straight because there was no way those 2 ton land yachts were going to stick to curves at speeds above a brisk trot. I had a friend who collected Falcons, they might have been lively, but would never be considered luxurious, so I wouldn't expect to see any kind of power window in a Comet.

[RobA_Oz]

With narrow bias tires and hydraulic shocks, the roads had to be straight because there was no way those 2 ton land yachts were going to stick to curves at speeds above a brisk trot. I had a friend who collected Falcons, they might have been lively, but would never be considered luxurious, so I wouldn't expect to see any kind of power window in a Comet.

In the 1960s, a local driver, Norm Beechey, used to punt a Galaxie 500 on the major Australian racetracks. It was highly-modified to help it around the corners, but a Mini Cooper S driven by a rival (Peter Manton, I think) would always take him on the inside line. Nothing could match the Galaxie on the straights, but the Mini often pipped him by sheer cornering ability.

[lesmore49]

Nice pix. Reminds me of other Fords I 'knew' in the '60's.

My uncle was a manufacturers agent (had his own company) and his route was across western Canada (prairies) where the roads are long and relatively empty. Lots of farms and ranches. Back in the 1960's he would usually get a new Ford Galaxie every year...he put on lots of miles in a short time. Invariably the Galaxies were four door sedans or four door hardtops and always with the 300 hp, 390 (cubic inches) FE V8's . They were reliable, durable could handle a big load and maintain heavy schedules on the road.

My FIL was a farmer who used to commute about 70 miles to his farm. He drove a 1966 Meteor (Canadian market, full size Mercury) two door (fastback) hardtop. He had the 428 FE V8 with 345 hp and a heavy duty C6 automatic transmission. First time I went with him, I remember thinking...boy this big Merc is moving along very briskly. I caught a look at the speedo and saw he was nudging 85-90 mph down the highway. He could drive and was a man who liked big V8's.

I drove it a number of times and I believe it had a 3 to 1 final drive axle...it didn't launch quickly for the power it had (highway gearing)...but once it hit 30-35 mph it really took off...all that torque (460 lbs, ft. +) started to come on very strongly. He use to run it on farm use purple gas and knew where the Mounties were.

When I drove it, I kept to the speed limit.

---------- Post added 07-16-18 at 07:46 PM ----------

With narrow bias tires and hydraulic shocks, the roads had to be straight because there was no way those 2 ton land yachts were going to stick to curves at speeds above a brisk trot. I had a friend who collected Falcons, they might have been lively, but would never be considered luxurious, so I wouldn't expect to see any kind of power window in a Comet.

I dunno. Equipped properly a big Ford, Chevy or Mopar in the late '60's back then might surprise you. The police package had heavy cooling cooling, heavy duty suspension, HD disc brakes ...in other words like the Blues Brothers said..cop tires, cop shocks, cop engine...except a lot more 'cop' stuff than Jake and Elwood alluded to...

The available highway police interceptor engines, were great...Ford 428 FE- 360 hp...Chevy 454-390 hp...Mopar (Dodge/Plymouth) - 375 HP.

Many don't know about police packages which were available to police agencies from about the late '50's on. But you could also get heavy duty , performance suspension components on big Chevies in the late '60s' . When you filled out the order form, check the F 41 box and you got it, also order the disc brake package or before disc brakes were available, order sintered metallic brake linings for drum brakes.

Interesting story about famous racer, Dan Gurney who brought his '61 Chevy Impala 409 that he used to drive to different Formula One races in Europe back in the early '60's He entered the Impala in a big British Saloon car race, that usually Jaguar saloons (sedans) cleaned up in these races, with Mini Coopers nipping at their heels in the corners. Well the '61 Chevy 409 just walked away from the Jags and the other competition in this road race...till the 2nd from the last lap....when one of the Chevy's wheels broke and he DNF.

He was preparing to enter another race and was told that he couldn't as the car was banned . Reason why...race officials said that Gurney was going to put on GM Taxi/Police reinforced wheels which were flown out to him from the states. Even though those wheels were on thousands of Chevy taxis and police cars...they were deemed...not stock.

Many domestic cars did have standard suspensions..due to that's what most customers wanted..a cushy, floaty ride. But slap some HD shocks and suspension components on and voila...what a difference. I recall the British and European cars back then were't exceptional....unless you were driving something like a Mini Cooper, not a standard Austin Mini. The Cooper had a performance suspension, tuned engine, up rated performance suspension, etc...the standard Mini did not.

[RGlasel]

Equipped properly a big Ford, Chevy or Mopar in the late '60's back then might surprise you.

Trust me, the difference between bias and radial tires in a road car is so huge, it doesn't matter how many horses you have under the hood. If you're doing 200 laps in an oval, you never have to turn right and you never drive over a pothole, you can build bias tires that give you lateral traction by constantly scrubbing off rubber and you can set up your suspension to keep those tires pressed hard to the track, but on public roads the old muscle cars were woefully inadequate in putting power to the ground and holding tires to the road after going over a bump, regardless of how stiff the springs were. The nitrogen gas in gas shocks keeps the oil from foaming, which makes a huge difference in dampening rebounding springs. So even if you ordered a Super Bee with a rear spoiler and bucket seats (so your car didn't lift as it pushed a bigger bow wave of air the faster it went and the driver didn't have to counteract centrifugal force to keep control), the first time you couldn't power steer through a curve, you were going in a straight line for the weeds.

I recall the British and European cars back then were't exceptional

They were gutless wonders, but with a better balance of power and grip, drivers didn't have to slow down as much on curves and depending on the course, tortoises sometimes beat hares.

I got my drivers license in '77, when North American automobiles were their absolute worst, for performance, reliability and looks, so just about any car from the Sixties makes me smile. But if it doesn't have modern tires and shocks, it is strictly a parade car.

[RobA_Oz]

They were gutless wonders, but with a better balance of power and grip, drivers didn't have to slow down as much on curves and depending on the course, tortoises sometimes beat hares.

Gutless wonders? Baby Austins, Simca Arondes, VW 1200s and the like, perhaps, but Alfa GTAs, Lotus-Cortinas, Jensen FFs, Fiat Arbaths? I don’t think so.

[FozzFoster]

Galaxie 500



Can't pass this one up:

nice shot! could be used as a poster! good one Racer

[Racer X 69]

nice shot! could be used as a poster! good one Racer

Thanks again Mr. Foster!