Mustang Dry Run: 1963 ½ Ford Falcon Futura Sprint
In many circles, the Falcon Futura Sprint is considered the forerunner to the Ford Mustang. A V8 engine became available in the Falcon for the first-time mid-year and is considered a 1963 ½ model. Like the so-called 1964 ½ Mustang being titled as 1965s, we assume all these Falcons were registered as ‘63s. This VIN on this car confirms a V8 from the factory, so it would be one of 10,479 produced in the abbreviated half-year. This one runs and drives and wears grey primer everywhere, suggesting it’s ready for restoration. Located in Bedford, Texas, the Ford is available here on eBay where the opening bid has yet to be cast. The reserve is somewhere between there and the seller’s $14,000 Buy It Now price.
Introduced in 1960, the Falcon would be Ford’s first successful compact car. The Futura came a little later to add a bit of sportiness to the automobile, but it was still a pillared sedan until 1963. Things finally got interesting when the Fairlane’s 260 cubic inch V8, good for 164 hp, was added to the mix. You got bucket seats with a console in these cars as the Falcon moved closer to becoming a Mustang. Much of the Sprint’s interior, chassis, suspension, and drivetrain components would find their way into the Mustang, in one fashion or another.
The seller’s Sprint isn’t original as there’s a later 289 V8 under the hood (that wouldn’t hit the Mustang until the Summer of 1964. Also, a 4-speed manual transmission is in place where a 3-speed would have been more likely. We’re told the car performs, but the seller doesn’t elaborate on how well these functions are performed. The body looks fair although we wonder if the rear wheel openings have been enlarged to accommodate bigger wheels and tires.
Since the seller says some “steel” will come with the deal, that implies there is rust that needs to be cut out and patches put into place. A spare windshield and an assortment of parts are also part of the transaction. We suspect that black paint resides below the grey primer and the odometer reading is 31,000 miles, but it’s a fair guess it’s turned over. In a sea of first-generation Mustang, a restored Falcon Sprint could be a breath of fresh air.
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Comments
Russ, I couldn’t agree more… “In a sea of first-generation Mustang(s), a restored Falcon Sprint could be a breath of fresh air.”
One of my all-time favorites would be a hopped up ’66 Falcon Sprint.
never made a 66 sprint.
Agree with 8banger…a refreshing look.
Amongst other things that car needs a haircut under the dash, under the hood, and in the trunk. Sparky, the wiring guru left stuff hither and yon.
And now the seller says it MIGHT need a floor pan. Parts availability for these???
Since the car seems not more than 75% original, making a new floor pan would be suitable and not too difficult, and very likely cheaper than sourcing a decent ready made one.
Parts availability for these is a mixed bag. Some of the interior parts and fabrics are available, mechanical parts are usually easy to find. Taillight buckets, exterior trim, and 63 grilles are nearly impossible to find. I’m currently putting back together two 63 Sedans that were stripped and used on the assembly line footage in the movie Ford vs Ferrari. I’ve been gathering parts for over a year now. I had to buy a damaged grille and have it straightened and re anodized, not a cheap proposition. Even living in AZ and being within an hour of Desert Valley auto parts hasn’t netted much results. The few Falcons they have are pretty picked over.
Contrary to the writer’s suggestion, the Sprints were available from the factory with a 4spd. My favorite Falcon, hope it finds a good home.
Needs a new floor pan but the price is now down to 12K. Current bid is 8K.
How much more rust is there?
If memory serves me, the 289 was available in the 63 also. My dad had a 63 Sprint and it was equipped with the 289 and he certainly didn’t put it there.
Obviously a ’63’ from the Sprint body style. Has a 62 grille though. That’s ok, I think it’s more aggressive looking. 63 thru 65 Falcon hard tops were very cool looking cars. Sorry that I sold mine.
The writer is correct – this was the stepping stone to the Mustang. The evolutionary interim step…I’m going to draw from David Halberstam’s work in his book on Ford and its management, “The Reckoning.”
It was Lee Iacocca’s first attempt to identify, and solicit, what he came to call the “Youth Market.” The Falcon was Robert McMamara’s baby…his obsession, really. He was a severe, no-frills man, who didn’t understand the fashion side of the auto business; and in contrast to Ed Cole’s team at Chevrolet, MacNamara wanted a modern Model T.
As it happened, it sold. The same economy that sunk the new Edsel line, helped a cheap, spartan offering take off.
Iacocca, having moved from Engineering through Sales and into Product Planning, was disgusted. He called the original Falcon an “anti-car.” As a subordinate, he couldn’t aim a different course – not before he replaced McNamara, which in time, he did (McNamara becoming Defense Secretary under Johnson) but in the meantime, he wanted to experiment.
His colleagues and subordinates were interested and amused. The Futura Sprint hardtop was a flawed offering – sort of like a middle-aged librarian, dressed up in a miniskirt – but it, and the convertible version, succeeded well enough to suggest Iacocca was on to something.
It was on this basis that the Cougar project (original intended name for the Mustang) was launched. Behind HFII’s back.
I hope this one is saved. I personally favor the original concave-grille models, and I’d love to find a two-door wagon…but there’s history in this one, even if not all original.
The Sprint was the Sport version. It would’ve had the floor shifter so it’s probably an original 4 speed car. Most people back in the day wouldn’t bother changing the steering column. My Uncle had one with 250 inline 6 & another with a 289 Hi-Po salvaged from my dad’s totaled 65 Mustang. Both very quick.
When I was was in HS, my best friend Dennis’s brother had one like this that was absolutely ferocious! Dennis had to buy a new 67 SS 396 Chevelle to keep up with it.
This style of roof line is also a feature of the ’63 1/2 Galaxie, which helped Ford become a threat in NASCAR.
So you get across model family styling identity.
I had the privilege of owning a 63 1/2 Sprint in 1965. Great car, 260 V8, all synchromesh, 3 speed transmission. Very guick stop light to stop light. I surprised a few guys with the performance!
I presently own a 63 Falcon “Sport Futura” which is similar to the sprint options. My car like this one has bucket seats and a 4 speed transmission – all factory original. A real Sprint can be hard to identify but this one has some of the cues. Ford did not provide any specific sprint identifier in the Vin numbers. The Tach on the dash looks correct (can be worth $500 alone) The seat covers look correct as does the center console. The back panel at the trunk is hard to clone. My car has letters spelling “FUTURA” on the back deck. Only the Sprint had the letters “FALCON” on the back panel. With all different mounting holes between the two most people tying to clone a Futura as a Sprint don’t bother to change that detail. This body likely is an actual sprint and hence a bit more desirable.
When I was in 9th grade, at the time technically a freshman but still going to school at the Jr high, my friends and I helped get a ‘62 Falcon into good enough shape that it would pass inspection. Our buddy, Bill, got it for free from a family friend who wanted it out of his yard. It was a straight six, three on the tree and had rust on every single panel, the lower body was completely rotted away. I swear we used at least 10 gallons of putty trying to patch that thing back together. At the time, PennDOT said you couldn’t have a hole bigger than an adult’s hand in order for it to pass safety inspection, so we used copious amounts of screen and putty to get it in some semblance of the original body lines. Then we sprayed a case of blue rattle can paint on it and started working on getting it running.
Bill was the oldest of us, and he was only 15 when we finally got it started, so we used to all pile into it and drive it up and down his driveway, which was about a hundred feet long. When he finally got his drivers license, we ended up throwing a rod trying to race someone on the local backroads where we grew up. We spent more time trying to get it on the road than we did driving it before it blew up! But we learned a lot about how cars are built and how to fix them, so it was worth the time and effort.
I’d love to have a falcon sprint with a built small block and a 4 speed, these were light cars and were very quick with a few modifications.
very cool car but whenever I see anything is listed on Ebay,I stop looking…
SOLD for $10,000.