Three-On-The Tree! 1968 Ford Custom
Here’s an interesting find. It’s advertised as a Galaxie but it’s really a 1968 Ford Custom two-door sedan. It’s interesting because Galaxies and XLs comprise the bulk of full-size Ford finds. Customs? Not so much so. Beyond that, it’s a surprise that this claimed 45K mile example has survived the test of time – it’s not the trim level that has been favored for longevity. Located in Detroit, Michigan, this Custom sedan is available, here on craigslist for $12,000. It’s also featured here on Clasiq for a current bid of $2,300.
Besides the LTD, Galaxie and XL, Ford offered both a Custom 500 and Custom trim level for two and four-door sedans, as well as station wagons, in ’68. With a total production of 1.7 M vehicles that year, it was a standout performance for Ford but not good enough to dethrone Chevrolet’s 2.1 M number one mark. According to the Automobile-Catalogue, Ford built 18K, V8-equipped two-door Custom sedans in ’68.
OK, so I’ve given part of the story away already, this Custom is equipped with a new for ’68 210 gross HP, 302 CI V8 engine which works through a three-speed manual, column shifted transmission. The only mechanical comment made is, “There are no signs of weeping and leaks, even the original stickers are still in place“. Other than the spark plug wires, the engine compartment looks original as well as complete.
Outside we find Ford’s popular “Royal Maroon” hue being worn by an attractive two-door sedan body style. I suggest attractive because full-size bodied cars don’t always wear a two-door sedan arrangement as well as they do a two-door hardtop style. Yes, it’s subjective but I believe Ford pulled it off quite well in this case. Anyway, for what is presumably a life-long Michigan resident (it was assembled in Wayne, MI) this Custom has survived beautifully. Specifically, there’s no sign of rust! The chrome is sharp, no noted body panel dents and the missing stainless trim isn’t really missing, it’s just detached but included in the sale.
The interior is typically reminiscent of what would be found in a taxicab or fleet car from the era, it’s a no-frills, all-business environment. But, it looks good, no rips or wear spotted though the front seat’s backrest is showing some discoloration. Lots of exposed steel describes the dashboard and the instrument panel is one of those “just the facts” arrangements. The door panels check out and the carpet is in surprisingly good nick.
Ok, so now it’s what to do with it time. My answer is nothing! It’s great just the way it is; you just don’t find cars like this, so equipped and in such nice condition. That’s my two cents, what’s yours?
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Comments
Unusual yes, value is debatable. Three on the tree, wonder how the bushings are doing on the long linkage. Any one else ever drive one that you have to open the hood and pull it out of two gears. Car won’t move and line the arms back up to get moving again. Never drove anything this new with a column. I like the 2 Dr sedan and this one looks very well kept for the rust belt area. Surprising it wears full wheel covers.
Those wheel covers are actually `67 Ford items, not `68. My guess is this car left the factory with dog dishes/blackwall tires. A “door buster” special.
They look like 1966 wheel covers to me.
Hello Will, but pardon me…may I correct you on those wheel covers; they’re from a 1966 Ford Galaxie. I grew up in a Ford dealership. Just sayin’. Have a great day.
We had a 1965 Ford Wagon 3 on the tree. My Mom used to have to occasionally open the hood and pull it out of two gears. Your comment brought back memories.
I had a ’56 3 on the tree and same problem. You’d think Ford would have fixed it by then.
I really liked driving with the 3 on the tree, had a 66 ford half ton 352 with the 3 speed and over drive all was well if you lifted up to nuetral and then pushed down and up for second, if not then you had to open the hood and yank it out of first to get things lined up again, I never had much trouble but just about everyone in my family did. My dad finally killed the tranny after getting it hung up and kept releasing the clutch. Had to put a floor shift in then. Around 1980 dad bought a 59 GMC 3/4 ton that had a 6 with a 3 speed that was such an awesome truck to drive
Here we are 10 months after this post and I just “found” this beauty yesterday, in the flesh. Looked solid under the tree sap and yard debris but couldn’t see much else. So I come home and look up the Galaxie on the innerweb (was advertised as such on Marketplace) and I see this article and car. Looked the same but I had no idea what a beauty was before me!
A comment by Todd Zuercher asked:
I’m always curious how a car like this survived in the heart of the Rust Belt.
I will tell you how. A car needs to be owned and loved from day 1. This one was, the car diary in the glove box proves that. It details every gallon of gas, tire rotation, and set of points this car ever wanted.
Detroit may be smack dab in the blue collar rust belt but it’s the best place to find a guy like this. With him as your man neither your Royal Maroon paint or Lt. Parchment Cloth an Pastel Parchment Vinyl would need to worry about salt, an errant rock, bullet, or uncupholdered coke.
Thanks for the follow up story!
Todd, I know your comment was rhetorical but the article didn’t mention the diary…
Interesting find. Wish we knew its history: likely fleet/municipal, but perhaps one or more ‘older’ owners who preferred a bare-bones model and drove it sparingly. To me, just as interesting as a well-equipped XL (which I also like). By this time a three-speed manual must have been unusual, a Marti Report would be fun to see.
By 1968, VERY few people in the private sector would buy a car like this. Options were cheap and just about every car had at least something. This was more than likely a company car, that someone jazzed up with full wheel covers and whitewalls, but no doubt a salesman or service rep. Sometimes, the employee can buy the car, and probably what happened here. It’s bare bones, I think many people would be horrified that this was once what we called transportation. Oh, how did we ever manage? Neat find. Bill Gannons private car?
Howard, I got a chuckle out of the Bill Gannon reference. I think it is noteworthy how a reference to Bill or Joe or Dragnet often works its way into our comments, usually when a full-size or intermediate Ford of the era is featured. That Fairlane they drove is burnt into our memory banks.
Love It Howard. ~Fairlane Fanatic
I agree with Bob. This was ordered by a quirky, older person that wanted a three-on-the-tree, V-8 and not much else. Municipal or company car wouldn’t be a two-door manual transmission and would have been driven year around through the slush and salt. Somewhere along the way somebody decided to jazz it up with used wheel covers.
I’m always curious how a car like this survived in the heart of the Rust Belt.
Michigan is probably near the neck or the skull of the Rust Belt LOL.
Wow – talk about a taxi spec – minus two doors. No power anything and a 3 on the tree. About a basic a stripper as they come.
And yet they paid for the V8 when a 240 Six was standard.
I had a great uncle that ordered a Chrysler Newport in 67 with a 383 and three on the tree. No a/c. You never know what people like
I could do with this Custom 500 it brings back memories. As far as stuck shift linkages go I only experienced that in a Chevrolet. I bought a 64 Custom with 2 extra doors with 130,000 miles on it in 69. Punched out the worn out 289 put a crane cam and flat top pistons and added a 4 speed tethered to a 300 / 9 inch. So yes I have a certain attraction to Custom 500s
yes having a car with 3 on the tree left you with greasy hands from pulling the linkage back in place. Do check the frame real good, 68 was a bad year for rotten frames. Humor me–install a 4 speed with the 302. Could be fun to drive. Good luck and happy motoring!
Cheers
GPC
As far as sales in those days I knew many old men that would buy this bare bones car with the v8 for a little more get up and go. There were still a lot of folks that had lived through the depression and squeezed every penny. I know one old fellow that called his son in Dallas and said I need a car, pick me one up and bring to me. He got a 1970 Ford Maverick, six cyl. three on the tree and was pleased with it. I knew another man in his twenties that bought a LTD in 1970 with a 302 with three on the tree. It had A/C, ps and pb. you could order about anything back in the day.
My next door neighbors dad had a 1970 Ford Torino Wagon with the 302 and a three on the tree. The most bare bones wagon , next to my Pinto.
I had a bare bones “64 Impala and a new ’69 Impala. Both 327cu with 3 on the column and no power anything. Never had any linkage traouble and back in the day both were rocket ships.
Has there been a four on the tree?
Yes. Mercedes sedans had 4 speed column shifters for awhile.
I have seen it in Fiat and Datsun/Nissan for sure but not any American cars
Datsun abandoned them before Toyota, at least on the US market. I could imagine Mr. K having a hand in that, telling management that Americans associated manual column shifts with cheapskatery and considered four-on-the-floor upmarket and a bit sporty. Between that and floor shift simply being the norm in Europe (even Fiat was moving away from column shift) there was no point in engineering a column linkage for left-hand-drive 510s.
4 speed column shift was very popular in Europe. I had a Ford Cortina with a 4 speed on the column. I drove an IH truck that was a 5 speed on the column. The whole reason they went with a column shift, I read, was get the shift lever off the floor, making more center passenger room. Like the flathead 6s they were hooked to, it worked for years. The problem was the rods wore, and moving the lever caused both R-1 and 2-3 rods to move, binding the linkage. Just about anyone that drove cars with column shift, they were usually beaters, knew full well how to get going again.
HI Howard, I’m a little to the conversation, But i’m a little surprised nobody mentioned the early Econolines. A few (very few) had a 4 on the tree. I saw one in the wild once, an Econoline pickup on a used car lot. The top of the shifter was flat and was etched with the pattern. Also Saabs had a four on tree. There was a Saab dealer in my area and they were pretty popular.
The worst shift linkage I ever experienced was the four-on-the-tree in an Austin A135. The only way you could be sure whether you were in first or third was by whether your knuckles hit the windshield.
Saab had a 4 on the column, truly a pain
Saab also had a four speed in the Sonet lll, but I believe it was on the dashboard. A girl I worked had one and she and her girlfriend autocrossed it and did quite well
Saabs in the 60’s had a column shifted 4spd. My brother in law had one. Fun driver.
Saab also had a 4spd on the column in their old 99’s. My brother in law had one, loved driving it. Really cool cars that ran great.
Ha ha. Forgot I already responded to that awhile ago!
Wow, I love this car, bare bones with the V8 as probably the only option. I would get a Marti , original window sticker replicated and I’m guessing a set of original dog dish covers and drive it. Really amazing condition if it’s been in Michigan it’s whole life.
I like bare bones or completely loaded with option cars, it’s the strippers you rarely see.
I owned a 68 Galaxie convertible — jettisoned the full wheelcovers and opted for dog dish with body-colored steel wheels. Really stood out on the road, in parking lots (where I was offered money to buy it and accepted!). For some reason, our 67, 68 and 71 Galaxies liked to throw their full wheelcovers off in the ditch.
These were common family cars for the farmers in the great plains and the dry lands, although red was taboo. They were blue, green, gold or white. Red was for the farm implements and the infrequent emergency vehicles. They were also popular in the Deep South as used cars – after the depreciation knocked their value down. One old timer I knew used to load them up on his transport in Chicago and Northeast and drop them off in Mississippi for resale.
The custom roofline is quite nice and rare.
I had one in my early 20’s. White with tan interior. Made the mistake of driving into one of the not so great part of town. Cop pulled me over, thought I was impersonating a detective, asked me to leave because there was an active investigation going on and I distracted the suspect. i didn’t think twice. i didn’t want to get shot at.
Love this thing. Leave it a 3 speed but move it to the floor. Put dual exhaust on it with a little rumble and find a set of Magnum 500 wheels to set it off. Hang an aftermarket A/C system under the dash if you’re over 40 yrs old and are dragging wifey along. Guaranteed you’ll be the only one around with one like this.
Nice looking car. IMHO, 1968 is the best year for the Ford Galaxie/Custom since 1966 and 1964. I’d buy mine with a 3-on-the tree manual gearbox.
I like it… at 214 inches, manual steering, manual brakes and 3 on the tree- it has to be a handful to drive …all makes for great theft deterrent though
I had a ’66 Chevy C10 and a ’75 Dodge D100. Both were three-on-the-tree. Both would hang up. I did have the Chevy fixed, but didn’t keep the Dodge that long.
Cousin George had a 67 Custom,4 dr, 6 with automatic. He was a no frills kind of guy and he was very proud of owning a former Phila. Electric Co car.
I have a beautiful 68 Galaxy 500 convertible sitting in my man cave.. Love it..
Two guys offered to buy it on the spot.. One of them worked on the Ford assembly line building these 68s. I just couldn’t sell it.. Burgandy with a white top and parchment interior..
I had a three speed 71 Comet I had to untangle the linkage on if I hammered the throttle. A real pain at stop lights. This car would be a decent deal at 5-6k but that is at the upper range I think you could expect to get out of it. Being this car will never be a collector car I would get poverty caps back on it with some widened steel wheels, put a good four wheel disc brake kit on it, HD suspension, a fire breathing 428-429 or a SOHC 427 and four speed with full exhaust and some quiet as possible mufflers and go street racing with it. What a sleeper it would be.
Spot on Frank. But I’d leave the drums in the rear and put a single muffled tailpipe that one can hear, not loud but with a bit of a rumble.
Music of the road.
I learned to drive on three on a tree. Never had a problem with it.
Yea nobody’s gonna go through all of that hassle unless they have a flatbed😂
These big sedans need big v-8’s, and a 4spd in my opinion. Like the green 68 sedan on bf a week or so ago. Love the plain jane set up. Simple transportation to get from point a to point b. Just beef up the suspension and brakes as noted above and apply judicious throttle. Yes.
I also learned to drive standard with a 3 spd on the column, inline-6, plain jane 70 ford fairlane. Had a lot of fun with that car. Never once had to open the hood to mess with the linkage though. Lucky?, maybe.
My Dad’s ‘60 Chevy had three on the tree and once in awhile you had to get out and put a thumb on the linkage. I thought it was one of multiple unique quirks of car but I guess not. Also had to jiggle the radio knob to get it to work. My dad said they associated the floor shifter with the model A and viewed the column as more desirable.
The first car I drove with the column shift was a 64 Rambler American SW. I drove many more after that one and the only one to hangup was a 63 Chevy II 300. It was as basic as you could get and had whiskey dents all around but it ran and drove good
Howard A, the diary showed the owners business address in the Detroit financial district. I’m thinking a banker did this.