The Race Breaker

1964 Ford Galaxie



Today’s Fords, while competent and popular, just don’t have that “certain something” that their forebears had in spades. Witness: The classic round Ford taillights. Were they sharp? You bet they were. Ford was pretty smart to make a taillight so distinctive; even at night, when the rest of the car was hidden from view, you could definitely tell that the car in front of you was a Dearborn dreamboat. Sadly, this most excellent tail lamp would appear on full-size Fords for the last time in 1964.

1964 Ford Galaxie Taillight


1964 was a big year for Ford. All their car lines, from Falcon to Fairlane to T-Bird, were completely redesigned. The full-size Ford was particularly attractive, although the family resemblance shared by the 1961-63 Fords was gone with the ’64– except for those trademark taillights. All two-door hardtops featured the semi-fastback styling that had been introduced on the “1963 1/2” Galaxie hardtop with an eye toward NASCAR competition. Aerodynamics aside, it was a sharp roofline. With the vinyl roof covering and chrome “top seam” as shown above, it could pass as a top-up convertible with ease.

1964 Ford Galaxie Engine

There was a full lineup of full-size Fords. The Custom was a fleet/cheapskate special that came equipped with hubcaps, no chrome trim, rubber floor mats and a 223 cu in, 138-hp six-cylinder engine with a single-barrel Holley carb. The Custom 500 was only marginally fancier, with carpeting, chrome windshield and backlight trim, and  abbreviated chrome side spears.

Interior

Naturally, interiors were much dressier, with most of them featuring two-toning. A wide variety of colors, including aqua, red, blue and white, were available–bright (in more ways than one) alternatives to today’s drab graphite, black and putty color selections.



The most glamorous ’64 full-sizers were the Galaxie convertibles, which were available in Galaxie 500 (bench seat) and Galaxie XL (buckets-and-console) versions. Not a stand-alone option package, the 500XL was instead a separate series of vehicles at the top of the line. They had all the Galaxie 500 features and also included, in addition to the aforementioned bucket seats and console, special door panels, door courtesy lights and a standard 195-hp, 289 cu in V8. Ford built 37,311 Galaxie 500 and 15,169 XL convertibles  during the 1964 model year.

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