1963 Ford Galaxie 500 XL

Description

Let's not dance around the issue: if this 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 were an Impala, it would cost twice as much. Yet this freshly restored Galaxie offers equally handsome looks, full-sized comfort, and a thumping 390 under the hood, matted to a 4-speed, all beautifully restored to give it the look of luxury with the heart of a muscle car.

The first thing you notice about this big Galaxie is that wonderful all-of-a-piece look that only cars that have been well maintained for decades can offer. Look at how the light works on it, showing off the soft gloss of the black paint, bringing out the details and drawing the eye along its smooth flanks. The door tag says this car is wearing its original color combination, but this one is wearing a fresh coat, yet it looks wonderfully vintage and has been applied over 100% stock sheetmetal. It's all in very good condition and shows the work of guys who cared about what they were doing, and on a Galaxie, that's a lot of real estate to manage. Of course, a quality paint job is nothing without the details being right, and all the original Ford trim remains in place with a lot of shiny details that still look good despite being more than five decades old. And nothing says speed and performance like those twin jet-like taillights out back.

Neatly restored in beautiful black vinyl, the interior is pure 1960s style and performance. The door tag says the interior was originally red, so it's safe to assume that everything that's now black was either replaced or restored, so it's all pretty fresh. The factory instrument panel covers the basics of speed and fuel level, and it's nice to see that they kept it the way the factory built it instead of adding gauges under the dash. There's a big, white cue ball knob for the Hurst 4-speed shifter and there's really nothing cooler than a full-sized car with a console and a shift-it-yourself transmission. The original AM radio is still in the dash, and yes, it works! The trunk is pretty basic, but at least it's obvious that there are no nasty surprises waiting for you there, and it'll be easy to add value without spending a lot of money here.

In a big car, you need big power, and the 390 cubic inch V8 in this Galaxie doesn't disappoint. Nicely detailed, it's every bit the NASCAR-bred brawler that you'd expect. With a fat torque curve and a willingness to rev, the 390 makes this car feel 500 pounds smaller. Correct gold-colored valve covers and a matching air cleaner give it an OEM look, and once again, there were no liberties taken here; even the original expansion tank is still in place atop the radiator. It's quite clean throughout, with only the surface scale on the exhaust manifolds detracting from a very nice overall presentation. A vintage dual exhaust system gives the 390 a basso-profundo voice that will make your hair stand up, and you can hit those corners with ease thanks to the welcomed factory power steering system. There's also a new gas tank out back. Original 14-inch wheels with wire hubcaps and whitewall radials give it a low-key look that almost makes it a sleeper.

A great old-school performance car with big horsepower swagger, this cool Galaxie can still play hard with the younger kids. Call today!