Tag: 1961

Ordered New and Later Restored, This ’61 Galaxie Starliner Has Become a Family Heirloom – Jim Black @Hemmings

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In the late 1950s and early ’60s, it was the full-size cars offered by the Big Three manufacturers that kept enthusiasts coming back for more. By 1960, the intermediates were still a few years away from entering production and Ford was now offering the less-than-thrilling compact Falcon, but with models like the Galaxie Sunliner and Starliner, there was still plenty to get excited about within the Blue Oval camp. When Robert Fuchs, a self-employed farmer from Arlington, Nebraska, first began seeing ads for the Ford Starliner, it was love at first sight.

“I graduated from Arlington High School in May of 1961 and decided to treat myself to a graduation present by ordering a new Starliner,” Robert recalls. “Dad and I went to Diers Ford in Fremont, Nebraska, and we were told that the assembly plant was ending production, so they probably would not be able to fill any more orders for the remainder of the ’61 model run. I was really disappointed!”

Not to be deterred, Robert and his dad pushed harder on the salesman, who soon said that the dealership had placed an inventory order for one in white with a red interior and that he might be able to make some last-minute changes. “I wanted a blue one instead, and the salesman said he would call the Twin Cities plant and call us back later in the day,” Robert says. “True to his word, the salesman called back in an hour and said they had six Starliners left on the assembly line, and he had made arrangements that mine would be the last one assembled and as I had ordered it, in blue with a blue interior.”

*In the summer of 1962, Robert installed a Borg-Warner four-speed kit from Ford and was running bare steel wheels, which were in style at that time*

As promised, this 1961 Ford Starliner was the last car off the assembly line at the Twin Cities, Minnesota plant for the 1961 run, and Robert took delivery on July 3 of that year. The Starliner came equipped from the factory with the 352-cu.in. V-8, three-speed column-shifted manual transmission, 7.50 x 14 Goodyear white-sidewall tires, hub caps, backup lamps, cloth and vinyl bench seats, padded dash and visors, full carpeting, tinted glass all around, cigarette lighter, clock, push-button AM radio, and the all-important Cambridge Blue exterior paint. Base price was $2,730 and with options and destination charge the final MSRP was $3,056. Robert was given $600 in trade for his 1952 Ford Victoria, his high school car.

With all-new styling for 1961, the Galaxie Starliner (a two-door hardtop with semi-fastback roofline) was more rounded, sleeker, and much more cleanly styled than the previous year. The model retained a few of the 1960 design cues such as the lower beltline trim, bright-metal rock guards behind the rear wheel openings, and the signature trio of star emblems on the C-pillars. Although the Starliner still had rear quarter fins that were popular in the late ’50s, they were much smaller and clearly understated

The car’s real beauty, however, stood out in the rear, with jet-age-styled taillamps that contained backup lamps centered within. All Starliners rode on a 119-inch wheelbase and used upper and lower A-arms and coil springs up front and a live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. Just 29,669 Starliners were produced in 1961, making them a rare sight today.

*The original 220-hp 352-cu.in. V-8 did not require a major rebuild, even though it had over 213,000 miles on the clock before the restoration began.*

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The luxurious 1961 Ford Country Squire contributed to Dearborn’s dominance in the station wagon segment – Matt Litwin @Hemmings

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Without question, Ford was once America’s biggest builder of station wagons. From Ford’s station wagon debut in 1929 through 1960, the automaker sold 1,970,785 wagons in total. Concurrent to this family hauler’s rise in popularity, its market segment went from 2 percent of the U.S. industry in 1950 to 18 percent in ’59. It kept rising through ’61, thanks to Ford’s 256,597-unit output, including this Country Squire.

While use of “Country Squire” first surfaced in Ford’s 1950 ads, the emblems weren’t secured to sheetmetal until ’51. It instantly became the division’s top-tier wagon, furnished with equipment that was otherwise optional on lesser models. Further setting it apart, the Country Squire was adorned with faux wood paneling in homage to its origins without the expensive upkeep.

That exterior trim remained on the updated 1961 model, decorated with mahogany-look panels framed with fiberglass maple woodgrain strips. The rest mirrored the upscale Galaxie series, including the concave grille, crisp tailfins, and circular taillamps. Cabins were equally Galaxie-based and, for the first time, the Country Squire was offered with six- or nine-passenger seating.

Coachwork and cabin were supported by a 119-inch-wheelbase chassis, the critical element being Ford’s “Wide-Contoured Frame” that offered, “more flexible inner channels for less harshness and a more gentle ride.” Bolted to it was a “swept back, angle-poised ball-joint” front/rear leaf-spring suspension system. Hydraulic shocks, drum brakes, and 8.00 x 14 tires fitted to 6-inch-wide steel wheels completed the ensemble.

Country Squires came with a 135-hp, 223-cu.in. Mileage Maker Six, or the Thunderbird 292 V-8 rated for 175 hp—power from either was sent through a column-shifted three-speed manual. Two V-8 powerplants were optional, beginning with the Thunderbird 352 Special; its high-lift camshaft and 8.9:1 compression helped produce 220 hp. The other was the new-for-’61 Thunderbird 390 Special, which was essentially a fine-tuned 352 enlarged to 390-cu.in. Equipped with a true dual-exhaust system, higher 9.6:1 compression, and a Holley four-barrel carburetor, it made 300 hp.

A three-speed manual with overdrive was optional, as was the Ford-O-Matic two-speed automatic, available with all but the 390. So, too, was the Cruise-O-Matic “dual range” automatic, offered only against V-8 engines. Other options included power steering and brakes, A/C, radio, electric clock, hood ornament, spotlamp/mirror, and a power tailgate window.

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My Very Brief Hollywood Film Career – George Holt @Hemmings

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I’m the proud owner of a 1961 Ford Galaxie Town Sedan. In 2011 I got the chance to drive my car in a major motion film shoot on the streets on Manhattan. Sounds exciting, right? Well it was, but also nerve-wracking

My Galaxie is an all original, full-size 1961 base model: four doors, 6-cylinder, manual steering, manual brakes, no air. The one and only option is the two speed Fordomatic transmission.

The paint is faded, but there is no rust or dents. The speedometer/odometer cable broke at 53,000 miles which must have been at least the second time around.

A semi successful conversion from generator to alternator by a previous owner left not one gauge or warning light working on the unilluminated dash.

In all, a fun driver that I have been taking to local shows on Long Island since 2006 with my local club Empire Galaxies.

When I do go, I never go on highways. Driving from my home in the New York City Borough of Queens, I would stick to local secondary streets. It doubles or triples the drive time, but the car is a handful to maneuver and stop so high speeds and heavy traffic need to be avoided.

A notice from a film production company was sent out through my Galaxie club for anyone with a late fifties to mid-1960s car that would like to be in a film.

The production company specified they wanted “average used” cars not modifieds or concours winners.

Since mine is definitely an average used car from that era, I sent in a photo of my Galaxie and was accepted.

The film turned out to be “Not Fade Away” written and directed by David Chase who had recently completed his HBO series “The Sopranos”.

The new filmed stared James Gandolfini, John Magaro, Jack Huston, and Bella Heathcote. It was a coming-of-age story set in suburban New Jersey in the 1960s a group of friends form a rock band and try to make it big.

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Did the 1961 Pontiac Monte Carlo concept foretell the Pontiac Firebird? – David Conwill @Hemmings

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The GM Y-body senior compacts (Buick Special/Skylark, Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass, and Pontiac Tempest/Le Mans) were practically sized cars with some interesting mechanical innovations, including an all-aluminum V-8.

The Tempest/Le Mans sported a flexible driveshaft and a rear transaxle.When they came out for the 1961 model year, one thing none of the three offered was a convertible body. Buyers could choose from a sedan, hardtop, or station wagon. The hardtops were plenty sporty, of course, but up to that point two-seat open cars were still the ne plus ultra in performance.General Motors had a two-seat open car, of course: the Corvette.

Despite its newfound performance reputation, Pontiac did not. Nor would it get one, but not for lack of trying. Later in the decade, John DeLorean would attempt to get the two-seat Pontiac Banshee into production, but instead the division got its own version of the F-body—the 1967 Firebird.The Y-body was also the predecessor of the famed GM A-body, so arguably here is the spiritual predecessor of the Banshee, the Firebird, and the GTO.

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Six-Passenger Starship – 1961 Ford Starliner – David Conwill

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You sit somewhat low in a 1961 Ford Galaxie Starliner. The seats are a touch shallow and your legs stretch out before you. The driving position seems to suit the car’s rakish lines, however, which puts you in the role of potential astronaut rather than mundane commuter. From the broad grille to the ribbed stone guards and the afterburner taillamps, the big Ford seems eager to gobble up miles on the brand-new and growing interstate system of its youth—or potentially to ferry First Class passengers on interstellar vacations.

Gear selector offers three positions in the Cruise-O-Matic and allows manual shifting. Drivers in 1961 found the seating position somewhat awkward, but modern drivers feel at home. Broad pedal controls “truck-size” 11-inch power drum brakes.

Ford styling in 1961 said spaceship, but Ford’s marketing said sports cars—which is the phrase most used for performance-oriented vehicles before the muscle car era. One brochure illustrated a Starliner parked at the power boat races. The big rooster tails implied speed, and the car’s fashionably dressed owners were clearly people who appreciated power and handling. That same brochure says the 300-hp V-8 and Cruise-O-Matic transmission are the “going combination” for Starliner buyers.

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I Was There: How I got to be a part of the split-window Corvette design team @Hemmings

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Joe Feko Junior Detailer

Chevrolet Engineering Center

In the fall of 1961, I was an engineering student at General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). The school offered a cooperative education program that had me alternating between classes in Flint, Michigan, and work assignments at the Chevrolet Engineering Center in Warren, Michigan.

At Chevrolet, I worked on the drawing boards as a junior detailer. Detailing is the final step in the process of creating engineering blueprints for the manufacture of parts and components for new vehicles. Vehicle design starts in the design studios and, in those days, when a concept was finalized, the entire vehicle was drawn on large metal plates called layouts. This contained all vehicle information including all parts and sub-assemblies. Detailers took information from layouts to create individual parts drawings.

As a junior detailer, I was usually assigned to relatively easy tasks such as making drawing revisions, minor drawing corrections, and various drawing updates. Experienced detailers worked closely with the engineers and handled the more difficult and complex parts. They often made design-improvement suggestions during the detailing process. Detailers made design refinements and added the information required to make a finished engineering document. Detailing also served as a review process where parts were examined for conformance to design and manufacturing standards.

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Not a Barn Find Customized 1961 Ford Econoline Shop Truck – John Gilbert @HotRod

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Not a Barn Find Customized 1961 Ford Econoline Shop Truck

There’re just some people that don’t know where to draw the line to stop when it comes to putting out quality automotive work. Harold Clay owner of Harold’s Hot Rod Shop is a perfect example. Harold has been doing quality work on cars and trucks since 1979 when he first opened the doors to Clay’s Collision Center in Enid, Oklahoma. Forty years later Harold still has a hand in day-to-day operations at Clay’s Collision, but if you want to find him it will be past the 12,500-square-foot collision shop and at the very back in an 8,500 square-foot building enjoying his true passion building high-end hot rods.

Not a Barn Find Customized 1961 Ford Econoline Shop Truck

Two-years ago I visited Harold in Enid while he was building his 1961 Ford Econoline 3-Window pickup to use as a shop truck. I didn’t have the heart to tell Harold at the time, but he was already taking things too far if he wanted to throw car parts in the bed. The economy in the name Econoline meant the little trucks were bare bones and the unibody beds are of single-wall construction.

Not a Barn Find Customized 1961 Ford Econoline Shop Truck

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Honda Restored A Chevy Truck Because History Matters More Than Brand – Christopher Smith @Motor1.com

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Honda Restored A Chevy Truck

It was done to help celebrate American Honda’s 60th anniversary.

Mention Honda to the typical Motor1.com reader and you’ll probably get a response relating to the Civic, Pilot, or possibly the NSX. That should be no surprise because these days, Honda is among the most successful automobile manufacturers in North America. In 1959, however, things were a bit different. Back then, the manufacturer was just beginning its American journey, and it didn’t start with cars. It started with motorcycles, and to get them into brand new Honda dealerships opening across Southern California, the company bought a small fleet of Chevrolet pickup trucks. You probably see where this is going.

Honda Restored A Chevy Truck

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Related – 100 Years Of Chevy Trucks

Midwest Moxie – 1961 Studebaker Champ – Mike McNessor @Hemmings

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1961 Studebaker Champ

Drive somewhere in a Studebaker Champ and you can expect to put smiles on people’s faces. This is a truck that hits every happiness-inducing high note: It’s an old pickup, it sports quirky Jet Age styling, it’s unusual, and it’s the progeny of a beloved American independent.

But the Champ’s backstory is more of a tragedy, like the plot of that tear-jerking 1979 movie with which this truck shares its name. A great boxer, slightly past his prime, steps into the ring for one more bout, wins the fight, only to die in the end. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite as sad as Ricky Schroder bawling over a lifeless Jon Voight in The Champ, but you get the point. By the time the Champ squared off against Detroit’s commercial heavyweights, Studebaker lacked the resources to compete in this increasingly fierce arena. South Bend’s Champ was like a battery of scrappy combination punches, thrown furiously by a staggered Studebaker, that were too little too late to save the storied company.

1961 Studebaker Champ

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