1963 FORD GALAXIE 500 XL CONVERTIBLE NO 30
“A magnificent professional concours quality `Body off restoration’ with `No expense spared’. Outstanding paint with glass like luster and depth on this laser straight Rangoon Red XL with an absolutely gorgeous matching red interior. Everything is new. Even all the floors wear a coat of brilliant Rangoon Red paint.”
Arizona rust-free car
Engine Displacement: 390 CID Trans: Cruise-O-Matic 3 spd Automatic
Exterior Color: Red Interior Color: Red
White Power Convertible top Kelsey Hayes wire wheels
Fender Skirts Red Bucket Seats w/ console
Power Steering Power Brakes
The Ford Galaxie 500
The Ford Motor Company learned valuable lessons from the poorly planned and executed introduction and subsequent crash of the Edsel in 1959. The smooth introduction and sales success of the Falcon line in 1960 showed that the lessons had been learned. The robust sales of the Falcon, Thunderbird, and the full sized Ford and Mercury lines allowed the Ford Corporation to be prepared for the future.
The backbone of Ford new car vehicle sales during the period of the late `50’s and early `60’s was the continued strong sales of their full sized models. The Ford Galaxie was the full sized car that was built by Ford for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models 1958 through 1961 with the name derived from and designed to be marketed in response to the US space program. Beginning in 1962 full sized Fords wore the “crossed flags” Galaxie badge (from Ford’s NASCAR experience) with “500” and “500 XL” side mounts denoting the higher, more expensive, series. These beautiful, simple badges continue to set these cars apart from the competition and look great even down to this day
This 1963 Galaxie 500 XL is powered by a Ford FE 390 cid V8 engine. The “FE” is said to have stood for “Ford Edsel” however there is some discussion about this. Some sources maintain the “FE” merely stood for “Ford Engines” like the “FT” truck engines used at the same time stood for “Ford Truck.” Make up your own mind.
The FE was developed to replace the post war so-called “Y” engine and was designed to provide room to grow as Ford Vehicles got bigger and heavier. The FE powered Ford vehicles from 1958 to 1976. It was manufactured to be either a top-oiler or a side-oiler and featured displacements between 330 cid (5.4 L) and 428 cid (7.0 L). Both the FE and FT engines are themselves Y-block designs – so called because the cylinder block casting extends below the crankshaft centerline, giving great rigidity and support to the crankshaft’s bearings. In these engines, the casting extends 3.625 in below the crankshaft centerline, which is an inch below the bottom of the crank journals.
The 390 cid in the 1963 Galaxie 500 XL provided 300 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 427 ft lbs of torque (579 N-m) at 3200 rpm and moves the car along admirably to this day.
The main competitor for the Ford Galaxie in the market place was the Chevrolet Impala. This was true on the streets of North America and the tracks of NASCAR. The Lang Collection is lucky to have a concourse ready, pristine example of both of these beauties from 1963 for you to enjoy.
By the way, the faster of the two vehicles is the . . . now you didn’t really think we would actually tell you, did you?