2 for 1 Garage Finds: 1961 Ford Galaxie
When the seller bought a house and some property, he/she got two old Fords thrown in for good measure. The “good car” is a non-running 1961 Galaxie Town Sedan (4-door), and the “parts car” may be its twin. If you decide to take a bite of the apple, you should bring two trailers as the automobiles are a package deal. Located in a garage in South Glastonbury, Connecticut, these two Fords are from the period when the “Space Race” was full own and car manufacturers would capitalize with their naming conventions. Available here on eBay, the current bid for the whole enchilada is $1,225.
The Galaxie nameplate arrived in 1959 and was Ford’s response to the snappy Chevrolet Impala. When Ford’s full-size cars were redesigned in 1960, the car gained flat tailfins that you could launch a tiny airplane off. All that was toned down in 1961 before the cars took on a rounder shape in 1962. The 1961 model year was a good one for Ford, helped by the fact that the new and popular Falcon compact was in its second year. Out of 1.34 million Fords built overall in ’61, 350,000 of them were the more upscale Galaxie and the 4-door (aka Town Sedan) would dominate at nearly 142,000 copies. Two of them appear to currently reside in this New England garage.
Though a bill of sale from 1961 resides in the glove box of the “good car” we don’t know if the original buyer is a descendant of the seller, i.e. was this a one-owner car? We suspect this was an all-or-nothing proposition when the seller bought the house and the cars got a free ride in the deal. Neither automobile will move with effort for various reasons. One has locked-up brakes and the other has some kind of structural damage. In addition, one of the rear leaf springs is broken on what appears to be the better car.
We’re told the good one has a six-cylinder engine, which would likely be the base 223 cubic-inch “Mile Maker” paired with Ford’s 2-speed automatic transmission. When running, it would be good for just 135 hp, not a lot to propel a full-size 1960s automobile. The odometer reading on the good auto is 36,000 miles, but we don’t know how close to accurate that might be. The seller was hoping to get at least one of these cars running, but the house needs more work than he/she can take on. So, come and get ‘em!
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Comments
Thanks Russ. I find these real “Barn Finds” to be interesting, especially if there is some history to be traced. The dealer sales document is fun to study: “TT&L” looks to be right at $100, while the deposit was a whopping $50. $2748 would be about $27,400 today. The license plate looks to date to the 80’s (?). I checked the dealer address, I think it is a parking lot today.
These were attractive and popular cars for their day. Maybe someone can make something out of this pair.
@Bob_in_TN , you leave so many positive comments, much appreciated. Your posts make BarnFinds.com a nice place to visit!
Thanks for the kind words 4spdBernie.
I enjoyed your video. Any car with a three-on-the-tree is fine with me. I haven’t driven one in decades. Yours looks like fun.
The plate number itself dates from at least the late 1950s ; my mothers old plates on her 58 American were 490 707, and that car was purchased by my dad in 1960 .
The most memorable thing about the Fords of this ere after a few short years the neutral safety switch or linkage would work loose. Remember more than a few older Fords we serviced at that Shell station you would have to pull up on the shift lever to crank it. The one looks fairly decent, won’t be anything you want to jump on the interstate today, but will get around town just fine.
A friend of mine owned a ’64 Galaxie 500 convertible with a console automatic tranny. The starter refused to crank one day, so I got a call and headed on over to see what was (not) going on. I got it to crank by setting the parking brake, putting the shifter in Neutral and she fired right up.
Mayberry PD tribute cars are in their future…
Here’s a driving vid of my ’61 Galaxie 4 door with 390 stick overdrive, no 223 6 cyl, lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26pQioiKaOs
Outstanding Bernie!
That is some driving and what a car!
Love the Police tribute.
I had a ’67 Ford Custom police int. as my 1st car, favorite car, back in ’77.
428 with factory open air filter, C6 auto. Ran great – and had the spotlight that I could turn back on anyone that would not dim their brights.
Good on you with your awesome ’61.
Hey Bernie, that’s some car you’ve
got there! Do you still have it?
Always loved the styling of the 61 Galaxies. The Starliner was probably the best looking full sized American car out there.
A buddy had a black ’61 Galaxie with a 352 and 3-speed on the tree, with duals with glass packs. It sounded great! It almost killed us when we dropped the tranny to install a floor shifter. It was our first experience with a cast iron box.
Sold for $1,700.
Finally cars sell for a price that reflects their reality. :) Good for the seller!
Really liked Bernie’s video of the Galaxie. What a terrific example. That’s a great Galaxie and I add another car to my 4 door exception list :) The design of those Fords really lent itself to 4 doors.
I too had the tune from Andy Griffith wandering through my head as he showed his car. So funny his friend started whistling it.
You know its a great thing about car folks of a certain “experience”. In a fragmented culture, constantly torn apart by the need to assert some different aspect of an ancestors culture, car folks can always relate to a common memory that relates to cars of a certain era..and even older ones. It’s what makes being around car folks so enjoyable no matter the other things that set us apart.
Not a big Ford fan, but the 61 full size cars were one of Dearborn’s more aesthetically pleasing efforts. Understated and clean lined, these were a really good looking car. Go and slow were under par for the time, and Ford would not make their cars easy to work on for a few more years. But they were good looking and a car you do not see very often today. I would own one.
Agreed, for what it’s worth, Burger.
I’m not a Ford aficionado, either. Yet I think the ’61 Ford and–I would add–the ’62 Ford are among the company’s most aesthetically pleasing products in the modern era.
I had a ’61 Galaxie 4 door, baby blue, 352 cu.in., with column automatic. The timing chain had to be replaced during my short ownership, at the age of 18.
i raced a 1961 Meteor [Fords Canadian cousin] in a hobby class oval dirt.it was the widest car made for that era[had to pass]…lol
Wow my first car was a hand-me-down 61 Galaxy my mom had. It smoked so badly the police told me to get it off the road. Rebuilt motor in high school shop for less than $100. I hated that car and thought it was the least cool car imaginable. Sold it to buy an MGA. Sold that to buy a 65 Chevelle with a 350hp 327 swapped from a Vette. The Ford was ancient history.
Someone got a good deal, $1,700. The one definitely had taken a hard hit to the passenger side front.