The biggest difference is more choice – the ’64s offered a wide choice of body styles, colors and, especially, powerplants. The 1964 Fords were quite different from today’s models. But at the same time, you could load options onto any model, whether a basic Custom or top-drawer XL. If you bought a Custom or Custom 500 with no options, what you got was more or less a four-door F-100 with a trunk and rear seat. As had been the case with Detroit iron for years, most power and comfort items (most of which we now take for granted as standard) were optional. Popular options included power steering ($86), power brakes ($43), AM radio ($58) and that ubiquitous dress up item, white sidewall tires ($33). If we’re talking 1962-63 Fords and Chevys, however, I would have to sit down and think about it. While the admittedly nice 1964 full-size Chevrolet might be more frequently seen at car shows and cruise-ins these days, I prefer the Ford. Ford built 37,311 Galaxie 500 and 15,169 XL convertibles during the 1964 model year.Īll in all, the Galaxie 500 attracted plenty of buyers, with over 326,000 finding happy new owners. They had all the Galaxie 500 features and also included, in addition to the aforementioned bucket seats and console, special door panels, door courtesy lights and a standard 195-hp, 289 cu in V8.
Nineteen sixtyfour audio series#
Not a stand-alone option package, the 500XL was instead a separate series of vehicles at the top of the line. The most glamorous ’64 full-sizers were the Galaxie convertibles, which were available in Galaxie 500 (bench seat) and Galaxie XL (buckets-and-console) versions. The four-door hardtop, dubbed Town Victoria by Ford, sported a totally different roofline than the pillared Town Sedan.
A wide variety of colors, including aqua, red, blue and white, were available–bright (in more ways than one) alternatives to today’s drab graphite, black and putty color selections.Īs the volume line, Galaxies came in more body styles than the Customs, including two- and four-door hardtops and a convertible. Naturally, interiors were much dressier, with most of them featuring two-toning.
Nineteen sixtyfour audio full#
Galaxies had lots of chrome trim, including chromed fender-top ornaments, window frames and a full length chrome strip whose aluminum front section contained Galaxie 500 badging. A second aluminum molding, which also featured a Galaxie 500 script, decorated the space between the taillights. One step up from the Custom 500 was the far more appealing Galaxie 500 which, in the upwardly mobile mid-’60s, was the most popular series. The Custom 500 was only marginally fancier, with carpeting, chrome windshield and backlight trim, and abbreviated chrome side spears. The Custom was a fleet/cheapskate special that came equipped with hubcaps, no chrome trim, rubber floor mats and a 223 cu in, 138-hp six-cylinder engine with a single-barrel Holley carb.
There was a full lineup of full-size Fords. With the vinyl roof covering and chrome “top seam” as shown above, it could pass as a top-up convertible with ease. Aerodynamics aside, it was a sharp roofline. All two-door hardtops featured the semi-fastback styling that had been introduced on the “1963 1/2” Galaxie hardtop with an eye toward NASCAR competition. The full-size Ford was particularly attractive, although the family resemblance shared by the 1961-63 Fords was gone with the ’64– except for those trademark taillights. All their car lines, from Falcon to Fairlane to T-Bird, were completely redesigned. Nineteen sixty-four was a big year for Ford. Sadly, this most excellent tail lamp would appear on full-size Fords for the last time in 1964. Ford was pretty smart to make a taillight so distinctive even at night, when the rest of the car was hidden from view, you could definitely tell that the car in front of you was a Dearborn dreamboat.
Witness: The classic round Ford taillights. ( first posted ) Today’s Fords, while competent and popular, just don’t have that “certain something” that their forebears had in spades.
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