Barn Fresh: 1963 Ford Galaxie 406 4-Speed!
Update 3/4/20 – Bidding got up to $17,544 but it wasn’t enough to meet the reserve. The car has been relisted here on eBay with a lower buy it now price and hopefully a lower reserve.
From 2/28/20 – There’s nothing quite like the red clay in Texas. This 1963 Ford Galaxie was pulled out of long-term storage in Forth Worth and as you can see, it’s covered in it. It can be found here on eBay with a current bid of over $11,000. The ad doesn’t say how long it has been stored, but it was just pulled out in the daylight recently. It features a high-performance V8 with a 4-speed transmission and looks like a solid project. Take a look.
The burgundy interior upholstery is a great color. If the dash, steering wheel, and column were the same shade, it would be great. Clearly the carpet needs to be replaced. The ad says the interior is from the late 60s or 70s. You can see the shifter for the 4-speed sticking through the floor, which makes this car all that more fun to drive I’m sure.
I bet this 406 V8 was a show-stopper before the rust and dirt took hold. The chrome valve covers are still a bit shiny under all that grime. You can see the long oval-shaped air cleaner and tell-tale fuel distribution that tells you this is a tri-power set up. According to musclecars.howstuffworks.com, the 406 “Thunderbird” high-performance V8 was only available in the Galaxie. A $380 option starting in 1962 it came standard with a single Holley 4bbl carburetor. A “Super High-Performance” option included three Holley 2bbl’s and was rated at 405 horsepower! The seller says the car has 63,000 original miles and the engine turns over, but they haven’t started it.
Here you can see the car has been cleaned up. The seller says if they don’t sell it from their eBay listing, they will get it running and driving and take it to a swap meet to sell. What do you think? Would you be a buyer now, or would you rather have your project running and driving?
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Comments
According to eBay it’s @ $30k as I write this. SOMEBODY feels it’s worth a roll of the dice apparently unless it’s another one of those that some of the BF readers have alluded to as having a “shill” in place..
Regardless, this an interesting car and would be a head turner in the right crowd once it’s restored!
The listing still shows a high bid of just over $11,000 with a BIN of $30,000. Sometimes the “shill” bids are nothing more than people trying to find out what the reserve is so they can make the seller an offer. That happened to a friend recently when he was auctioning a 56 Ford F100. Two seperate bidders of ran up the bidding then retracted their bids prior to making offers. He had a starting bid of $500 and a reasonably low reserve because he didn’t know how strong the market was at that time and wanted to protect his interests. He wound up taking one of these guys offers and ended the auction on its second day.
Steve R
Learned something new-thank you, Steve R. I’ve wondered the “whys” about that for awhile. Every marketplace has its gimmicks I suppose.
Make sure there is a “g” in the v i n.
3U66G160024
Pic of the VIN tag is in the Ebay ad, looks legit.
In 1976, I had the opportunity to buy a 1962 Galaxie that was equipped just like this, for the asking price of $500. My older sister and brother in law had went along with me, and didn’t think that was the appropriate car for a 16 year old, with his learners permit. Looking back, they was right.
Sometimes it’s awful, being loved.
I have a ’63 Galaxie 500XL convertible with the dealer installed tri-power on a 390 with the 4 speed. $30K for the car listed here seems optimistic to me in that condition. Great car to start from, but maybe closer to $20K?
Absolutely bad, in a good way! The 3×2 intake, solid lifters, large bore 406, all of it really, only out done by the 427 dual quad mill. That would be a blast running it through the gears!
I’m thinking the 406 was a one year option, the 427 came out the next year. As a kid I dreamed of owning this exact car, to bad i haven’t hit the lotto !
Am i wrong thinking 62 was the year for the 406, and 63 was the 427 ?
I think 1963 was the last year for the 406
Early 63’s had the 406 then they switched mid-year to the 427. When they came out with the 427, they were available with fiberglass hoods and doors (Sport Special Tudor fastback only)! However, they quickly realized that the fiberglass doors were probably not such a good idea if the cars were driven on the highway, so they discontinued after a run of only 20 cars. (I don’t know if those cars were recalled or if there are actually survivors with fiberglass doors? I’ve never seen one.)
I would love to own and restore this car, but it’s bad timing (it seems like I’m always a day late or a dollar short). I hope it finds a good home.
Thanks guys, i always loved the fastback of 63, and the 406-405hp was something special !
Late response, Lance answered best, 406 was ’62-63, replaced by the big bore 425 CID Ford called a 427 at some point in ’63. For high performance it went 352-390-406-427 and later the bore size of the 406 was combined with a long stroke making the 428. All great engines when Ford put their mind to it but the 427 was brutal. Knew a guy growing up that had a 427 SOHC in a full race Galaxy like this one, ran 10’s at 140+ which he considered slow ’cause he still couldn’t get full traction through the traps (!!!) and broke parts regularly. I’m partial to the early Galaxies for that reason alone…..everytime I see one I think of that drag car.
The 427 came out in the middle of 1963 I know because I bought one. I ordered it in feb and it was delivered6weeks later.it was called a 1963 1/2. It was black on black on burgundy . It had a borg Warner T10 4 speed 411 rear non posi.It was stolen a year later a week later they found it with no Motor trans or rear . Im76 and I still miss that car. By the way it was a convertible. 3249.00 brand new.
0
Humming the song in my head, I can see why the Beach Boys didn’t decide to write a song about this particular Ford engine….just doesn’t have the same ring to it…
She’s real sick my 406???
“Left him in a ditch in my 406!”. Nah, don’t work with the song.
On a technical note, it’s a 1963 1/2, and the first fastback. I wonder if it’s a factory 4-speed? I have one and I’m not near it at the moment, but I think the tunnel is different?
Since it is a G code 406 car it would have only been available with a 4speed.
Man, do I ever love the lines of the 63.5. Drop dead sexy.
One of my favorites.
Ford’s NASCAR rear window conversion for Freddy Lorenzen, Dan Gurney and others. The following years with the 427 top oiler and then the side oiler that followed helped make NASCAR great to watch. I’d like to see this restored as a tribute car. Great looking beast of a car.
Tiny Lund made it famous for the Woods Bros at Daytona in 1963. Tiny lost his life when I was at Talladega in 1975. A fun guy to be around. Never was an autograph hound, but I do have a picture I took of him and Ray Elder talking and lookin in the engine bay of Rays 71 Charger at the Charlotte 600 in 71.
I was at Elders house when Earnhardt died in 2001.
So many stories from that era Nascar forgot about. Remember when drivers were fat and tires were skinney!
Cool Joe!!!! Always in the action baby!
Big fan of Tiny Lund.in ‘50 and’51 I watched him race at Playland Park in Council Bluffs, IA on Friday nights. A short dirt track. Tiny was a consistent winner. Drove a #55 black and white ‘39 Ford Coupe for Bud More
Team was from Harlan, IA.
The ’63 fast backs were designed for nascar, all the track cars had 427’s. They were going against the Plymouth’s and Dodges. For drag racing they had the Galaxy’s with the 427, special cars called the “white elephants”. All were white with red interiors no sound deadner with econoline seats, all 4-speeds. Fiberglass hoods,fenders,trunk and bumbers, and will cost a bunch if can find one.
This one is rare. Looks complete, restored will bring money….should go high.
Correct Dave, I only know as I had a black 63 1/2 4 door sedan black with red inside….just a beater but I was in 11th grade in High school and I loved that old boat. I think it was a 352?? Not sure, am 63 now and memory isn’t great. Love this site, and love all the comments…except the negative dudes….but they are everywhere.
In high school, I had a 63 four door sedan with 352, too! It was my grandparents’ old car. (If memory serves, I lost my virginity in the back seat.) It was the rose beige color. A couple years later, I owned a 63-1/2 fastback with a 390 two barrel. For the life of me, I can’t remember the color of that car.
I also like the cool yellow Grand Torino behind it in the shop!!!
Now, if you had a 63 Falcon and transplanted that 406 and 4 speed into it…funny that nobody at Ford thought of it.
wouldn’t fit in a Falcon … but they DID put the 427 in the Fairlane body, the Thunderbolt
FORD did build a test mule, 63 Falcon with a 406 to test automatic transmissions.
Even with an automatic bets are it passed a LOT of tests!!! 1/4 Mile, 0-60, Corvettes, etc….
As a kid I remember mr. Ford man down the street put a 428 in an early Falcon Ranchero,, that lifted straight axle project took him several years to complete but what a freakish ride! Had three deuces, big cam, and custom built fender well headers….he drove it real careful like with potential disaster under his right foot.
Nice it’s out and about….bet they didn’t pay peanuts for it – so hence the big price tag. Had a 64 with the 352 and three on the tree that was fun but ran across a 63 1/2 bench seat 4 speed that someone had put 428 top end and guts into along with those factory cast iron headers…..man she would rock…..and roll….
Arby, It should have said.— She,s real slick, My 406. LOL Just add the L.
Car poem from back in the day
Little Miss Muffett thought she could bluff it …with her big bad 409
Along came a 406 , the quickest of sticks …dug in and left her behind !
In my opinion, a little too much money to be wanting for the car with it’s condition. Maybe 10 to 15k would be better. There are some for less in some marketplace ads. One I found real quick is a nice black one that’s not bad looking. But it is a 352 engine. 406 was more like the 390 of the time. A friend of mine has a 406 one. I have seen some with the 427 engines for sale recently. And by the time you got this one in a good conditon, you might have 40 to 50k in it. Look at this one. >https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/274586793508312/<;
I found a couple more for comparisons. less money than this car and nicer by far. >https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2482916581793223/https://www.facebook.com/groups/2166643816925416/permalink/2564613010461826/?sale_post_id=2564613010461826<;
Similar car but fully restored and equipped with tri-power went for $65000. The original owner was selling and he said he had the 406 and a 427 of the same vintage and he raced them both. He felt the tri-power 406 was a better car.
I don’t think the car is overpriced. There is currently a restored R-code (427 dual carbs) for sale for $85K and another R-code for $83K. I wouldn’t be shocked if this car could be restored and sold for a similar price.
A sweet car. A friend of mine had a 62 with this drivetrain when we were in college. That car would fly!
Regardless of what a restored one is selling for, you have to take into account this one isn’t. I would think it would take 30 to 40 for a shop that does Fords to restore this car, then you are near that 85k if you have to pay 30k for this one. A wash job and some air in the tires isn’t restoring one to that caliber. I still think for this one in this condition, not running, you don’t know if the block or heads are good, a lot of things could be an expense. I saw a guy on a video today buying a car, a Shelby mustang(Cobra Jet 428) and after going through having a professional check it all out, the block had been replaced from a 428 to a 427. and so it didn’t have the original engine. His remark was that when considering a rare car, you have realize you are buying a bunch of parts, parts that need complete restoration. If these guys get it running and driving, that would be a plus. At least maybe guarantee it runs and the trans and gears are good. I’m sure there is a diehard ford guy with deep pockets who might be willing to take a chance on it. A friend of mine drag races a 63.5 with 427 in the super stock class still today. He does pretty good with it.
Check out this 427 Ford at Nostalgia Drags last summer…>https://youtu.be/o6ncojjeCFw
A while ago, it might still be available, there was a ’63 convertible 406 Tri power G code car for sale in Mexico. I never got the chance to go look at it.
He was asking a little more than this fastback was bid up to.
I can’t believe the prices people want for cars that need everything.
The reason for some of the prices being asked is because there are buyers out there who will pay these crazy prices.You look at the restored cars like this in the over 65000 range and prospect buyers think projects like this are a bargain.Many don’t realize the costs the bring these cars back to life.Its really gotten out of hand anymore.Ive had a resto shop since 2005 and some of the cars that have come in have been so-called restored cars needed thousands of dollars worth of work.Regardless of what the car is,you have to be vigilant and do your homework and research.
Right Joe, the cost to restore will surly surpass the buy price. If not done correctly, your value may go down. If you do all the mechs on it and get it right, you still need the 15K(low) paint job to finish it off. This one is a nice one……
Ummm… Is this the car mentioned in the country song, Red Dirt Road?
Yee haw! It’s back. Was just thinking of something and Ford experts will know this….
Didn’t the 406 use gold colored valve covers and air cleaner? Didn’t think of it when this was first listed. Thank you.
back in the early 80s a buddy of mine had one of these but a big old holley 4 brl. carb. he wanted a c note for it so I went and looked at it. I didn’t have a starter on it so you couldn’t start it so I passed on it( not a ford man ). he ended up taking it to the crusher. a friend of mine bought it from crusher and took the drivetrain out of it and put it in a 65 ford truck.