Tag: Ford Galaxie

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

Advertisements
Photography by Jim Black

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 GalaxieSunliner 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.

Read on

My Very Brief Hollywood Film Career – George Holt @Hemmings

Advertisements

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. 

Read on

Six-Passenger Starship – 1961 Ford Starliner – David Conwill

Advertisements

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.

WATCH THIS: A Galaxie far, far away – Dan Stoner @Hemmings

Advertisements

Red Dawn!

The muscle car world is in a real state of change right now. Can you feel it? We know we can: there’s so much great stuff going on and so many amazing new go-fast goodies being designed and unleashed on our poor, overheated credit cards that we can barely stand it. If you hear anyone say that this ain’t the Glory Days of muscle cars, tell them to come see us and we’ll get ’em some religion.

And what does all that literal tonnage of new speed parts make us want to do? Go find a killer, old carrying case to bolt it all into, of course! So, when we see a kid pull something like this ’64 Ford Galaxie out of a backyard, get a buddy to drag it onto a trailer, get another known accomplice to help, all the while fully-geeked that he actually owns the thing, well, friends…it just warms our little black hearts.

Whoever said that the kids don’t care about old cars is either not hanging out with the right kids or just isn’t paying close attention. In the words of Ricky in American Beauty, “…it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world.”