The Ford Galaxie is a full-size automobile that was sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America from the 1959 to 1974 model years. Deriving its nameplate from a marketing tie-in with the excitement surrounding the Space Race, the Galaxie was offered as a sedan within the full-size Ford range throughout its production run. In the full-size segment, the model line competed against the Chevrolet ImpalaOdin, L.C. A concise guide to the Ford and Mercury full-size automobile production 1969–1978. Belvedere Publishing, 2016. ASIN: B01HE91Y4K. and Plymouth Fury.
The model line was assembled by Ford in multiple sites across the United States; four generations of the model line were produced. The Galaxie was also produced locally by Ford Australia and Ford Brasil, adopting commonality from the third-generation 1965 design.
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Nameplate usage In 1958, a concept car was introduced called "la Galaxie" which incorporated the headlights into pods inline with the grille and a reduced front profile.
For 1962, all full-size Fords wore the Galaxie badge (replacing the Fairlane entirely), as higher-trim series took on Galaxie 500 and Galaxie 500XL badging. For 1965, the higher-content Galaxie 500 LTD was introduced as a flagship model. For 1966, the nomenclature was revised slightly. Alongside the introduction of the higher-performance Galaxie 500 7-Litre, the Galaxie 500 LTD became the Ford LTD, with the Galaxie now becoming the mid-level full-size series (above the Ford Custom/Custom 500). For 1967, the 500 7-Litre was phased into the Ford XL; along with the LTD, the Ford XL was slotted above the standard Galaxie/Galaxie 500.
The Galaxie remained slotted as the mid-range full-size Ford into the 1970s between the Custom and the LTD (the XL was discontinued after 1970). After the 1974 model year, Ford dropped both the Galaxie and the Custom in favor of consolidating its full-size sedan line to the LTD (the Custom 500 remained in production for fleet sales).
1959
The 1959 Ford range was introduced in late 1958 with the Fairlane 500 as the top trim level. During the 1959 model year, the Galaxie was added to the range as an additional trim level, assuming the top position from the Fairlane 500. The Galaxie was offered with the same sedan and hardtop body styles as the Fairlane 500 whilst the Sunliner and Skyliner convertibles were moved across from the Fairlane 500 range. Styling varied from the Fairlane 500 with the addition of a Ford Thunderbird-style C pillar on all but the Sunliner. Although a separate series from the Fairlane 500, 1959 Galaxie models carried both Fairlane 500 and Galaxie badging.
In keeping with the era, the 1959 Galaxie was a chrome and stainless steel-bedecked vehicle with optional two-tone paint. It was the very image of the ostentatious late-1950s American automobiles, though somewhat tamer than its Chevrolet and Plymouth competitors. Ford advertised "safety anchorage" for the front seats. The parking brake was now a pedal. Seat belts, a padded dashboard, and child-proof rear door locks were optional, while a deep-dished steering wheel and double-door locks were standard.
Among the models was the Skyliner, moved up-market from the Fairlane 500 and featuring a retractable hardtop that folded down into the trunk space. This feature was complicated and expensive, and left very little trunk room when folded down. Power retractable hardtops have since been used by luxury manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Cadillac, but none of these had rear seats, necessitating a much smaller top mechanism than the Skyliner's. It was not until 2000, when the Peugeot 206cc arrived, that a retractable hardtop with a rear seat arrived. This was joined by the Peugeot 307cc in 2003, and later also by the Pontiac G6 convertible and Volkswagen Eos.
A fixture also was the previous year's 352 V8, still developing .
1960–1964
1960
The 1960 Galaxie introduced all-new design with less ornamentation. A new body style was the Starliner, featuring a huge, curving rear observation window on a pillarless, hardtop bodyshell. The thin, sloping rear roof pillar featured three "star" emblems that served as the Galaxie signature badge for all 1960 - 62 models. The formal roofed 2-door hardtop was not available this year, but the roofline was used for the Galaxie 2-door pillared sedan, complete with chromed window frames. It had been the most popular body style in the line for 1959, and sales dropped off sharply. Contrary to Ford's tradition of pie-plate round taillights, the 1960 featured "half-moon" lenses turned downward. The "A" pillar now swept backward instead of forward, making entering and exiting the car more convenient.
1961
For 1961, the bodywork was redone again, although the underpinnings were the same as for 1960. This time, the tailfins were almost gone; the small blade-like fins capped smaller versions of 1959's "pie-plate" round taillamps once again. Performance was beginning to be a selling point, and the 1961 Galaxie offered a new version of Ford's FE series pushrod V8, which was available with either a four-barrel carburetor or, for higher performance, three two-barrel carburetors. The latter was rated at (gross). The 352 was downgraded in favor of the 390; it was equipped with a 2-barrel carburetor and single exhaust. The Starliner was again offered this year, and Ford promoted this model with luxury and power equipment, but it was dropped at the end of the year, as the re-introduced square-roof hardtop coupe, the Galaxie Club Victoria, took the bulk of sales.
1962
For 1962, the Galaxie name was applied to all of Ford's full size models, as the Fairlane name was moved to a new intermediate model and Custom was temporarily retired. New top-line Galaxie 500 (two-door sedan and hardtop, four-door sedan and hardtop, and "Sunliner" convertible) models offered plusher interiors, more chrome trim outside, and a few additional luxury items over and above what was standard on the plainer Galaxie models. Base Galaxie models were available in two- and four-door sedans as well as the plain Ranch Wagon. In an effort to stimulate midseason sales, Ford introduced a group of sporty cars along with a "Lively Ones" marketing campaign. These models featured the bucket seats and console that were popularized by the Chevrolet Corvair Monza, and included a Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe, and a Falcon Futura. The full-size line was available with new bucket-seats-and-console "Lively One," the Galaxie 500/XL (two-door hardtop and convertible). Ford stated in its sales literature that XL stood for "Xtra Lively."
The "Mileage Maker" 6-cylinder was the base engine. The V8 was standard on the 500/XL. The XL had sportier trim inside and out. This model was Ford's response to Chevrolet's Super Sport option for the big Impala, which was introduced the previous year and saw a significant rise in sales for 1962. A engine was available in single four-barrel or triple-carbureted "six-barrel" form. Tailfins were gone, giving the 1962 models a more rounded, softer rear end look. Taillights were set lower into the rear panel and were partially sunken into the newly sculpted rear bumper. Outside, XL models got a thicker body side chrome spear, along with a new "Galaxie 500XL" emblem on each rear fender (including the convertible, where this badge replaced the "Sunliner" script). An oval version of the Galaxie "star" emblem replaced Ford crests on the roof sail panels on hardtops. Front fenders shapes were the same as 1961; a slightly modified flat-face grille featured a large "star"emblem in its center for all 500 and higher-priced Galaxie models.
The 1962 models were overweight by comparison to the Super Duty Pontiacs with their aluminum body panels and larger-displacement engines.Kirschenbaum, p. 84 Therefore, late in the production run, Ford's Experimental Garage was ordered to reduce the weight of the Galaxie. It produced 11 "lightweight Galaxies", making use of fiberglass panels, as well as aluminum bumpers, fender aprons, and brackets; the result was a Galaxie weighing in at under . The base 2-door Club Sedan was .Flory, p. 169. It was an improvement.
1963
The 1963 model was essentially unchanged save for some freshening and added trim; windshields were reshaped and a four-door hardtop 500/XL was added. A lower, fastback roofline was added mid-year to improve looks and make the big cars more competitive on the NASCAR tracks with less drag and reduced aerodynamic lift at high speed. This 1963½ model, the industry's first official "½ year" model,Kirschenbaum, p. 85. was called the "sports hardtop" or "fastback" (it shared this feature with the for 1963½ Falcon). Galaxie buyers showed their preference as the new sports hardtop models handily outsold the "boxtop" square-roof models. The sports hardtop was available in both Galaxie 500, and Galaxie 500/XL trim. Mercury also received the new roofline (under the Marauder badge) in Monterey, Montclair, and Park Lane models. This year, a no-frills big Ford, priced around $100.00 below the base Galaxie sedans, was offered, badged as the Ford 300. It was offered for 1963 only, and was replaced by the Custom series in 1964. The "Swing-away" steering wheel became optional.
The Fairlane's newly enlarged "Challenger" V8 engine of replaced the Y-block as the entry level V8. Later in the year, the 260 was replaced with an enlarged version displacing 289 cubic inches. At the beginning of the 1963 model run, the 292 Y-block V8 was replaced as the base V8 engine with the Fairlane's new small block 260. The 260 proved underpowered for the heavy full size Ford and was replaced midyear (coincident with the introduction of the 63 and 1/2 models) with the 289 V8. The 289 was then the largest of the "small block series" that was first used (221 cubic inch version) in the 1962 Fairlane. The 260 was offered on the Falcon Sprint and later, in mid 1964, in the early version of the 1965 Mustang. By 1965 model introduction (in the fall of 1964), the 260 (which had disappointing performance in all versions including the Sprint and Mustang) was replaced by the 289 in all models.
Ford continued to offer the FE series 352 in the 1963 full size, as well as 3 versions of the 390 V8 (regular, high performance, and police). Five different transmissions were offered for 1963. A 3-speed manual column shift was standard on all models except the 406 V8, which required the heavier duty Borg-Warner 4-speed manual. A three speed manual with overdrive was optional, but rarely ordered. The two-speed Ford-O-Matic was common with the 6-cylinder and small block V-8s, while the majority of big blocks (352 and 390) were ordered with the 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. The availability of several different rear end ratios, along with 5 transmissions, and 8 different engines, led to a huge number of different driveline combinations for 1963. The most produced combination for the Galaxie and Galaxie 500 was the 352 V8, with Cruise-O-Matic and the 3.0 rear end ratio. Ford's "Club," "Town," and "Victoria" monikers for body styles were retired in 1963, replaced by generic labels, "2-door","4-door", and "Hardtop."
Partway through this year and in limited quantities, a new 427 replaced the 406 for racing applications. It was intended to meet NHRA and NASCAR 7-liter maximum engine size rules.Kirschenbaum, p. 88. This engine was rated at a (gross horsepower)Kirschenbaum, p. 85 caption. with 2 x 4 barrel Holley carburetors and a solid lifter camshaft.