1963.5 Ford Galaxie 500XL, 390 Big Block, Auto, V8

After much consideration, it pains me to put up for sale my 1963.5 Ford Galaxie. I have owned this car for roughly 18 months, and was the first owner upon arrival into the country. I literally snapped it up as soon as I saw it! I bought this car with the intention to get it up to standard to be my own wedding car last year (which it was, and it performed perfectly), and also with the intention to keep it within the family for years to come. As always, life seems to have other ideas, and due to changes of circumstances, and the car not being used nowhere near as much as I would like to, the decision was made to part ways way sooner than expected.

The car is in great condition for its 53 year age, and I believe it may have had a mild restoration at some point in its life in America. The car has a full steel body with barely any rust what so ever, all panels and straight and solid. All the trim pieces are intact but slightly worn and weathered as to be expected. The chassis is in good condition and is also free from rot. I believe it still has its original 390fe Hi Performance Thunderbird engine, and nearly all the original parts seem to be in situ. I am not 100% sure on the exact mileage, the clocks state 38,703 miles, but the speedo has not worked since I have had it due to it needing a replacement speedo cable (which is included with the car, but not had the chance to change it), but there is a service sticker in the window from 28/2/2013 stating a mileage of 41,700 miles. So as I said, this I am not 100% sure of. The paintwork is in good condition, and may well have had a re-spray at some point in its life. It does have a few defects and cracks from its age, but nothing major. The interior also looks to have been freshened up at some point, with the vinyl/leather look seats looking near new, along with the carpets. The dash and controls show their age, along with some of the other metals, plastics and roof liner, but they are all present. All gauges work minus the speedo, and it also has an aftermarket rev counter fitted. Lights and wipers also work. At some point it has had an aftermarket stereo and speakers fitted, and the head unit from the stereo is missing somehow. The suspension is in good condition with no noises or creaks, and looks to have had the shocks replaced fairly recently. The engine bay shows its age, but all is working and accounted for. This is the only other area I would have liked to have refurbished should I have kept it, and would look great with some new covers, a new filter housing and some headers perhaps. It also has had what I believe to be an aftermarket mild steel exhaust fitted at some point in its life which sounds great! There are no holes in the system as far as I can tell. It also has an aftermarket Edelbrock 4 Barrel Carb.

The car has run and driven since the moment collected it, and over the time I have owned it we have tried to improve and rectify and problems that have arisen. These include:

- replaced belts.

- rebuild entire power steering system, removed from the car and replaced all hoses, rebuilt piston and control valve, replace ball joints, tie rod ends and rubbers.

- replaced radiator hoses and changed all fluids.

- refurbished all brakes including, new shoes, new drums (spares included also), rebuild kits, new master cylinder, and changed fluids.

- Brand new wheels and tyres (barely done 100 miles). American Racing Outlaw 2’s with BF Goodrich radials TA’s. Costing over £1000 for the set.

- replaced felt and rubber window weatherproofing strips, and window rubbers.

- replaced all wiring within ignition circuit, replaced voltage regulator, new battery, new battery cables, ignition wiring etc.

- Undersealed body

- Serviced including oil, filter, air filter, spark plugs and HT leads.

Since doing all of this last year, the car has served as my wedding car, and has been driven to brands hatch to attend the American Speedfest, where it was the only 63 Galaxie in attendance the whole weekend. It was also here that I was approached for it to be used by the discovery channel to film a short documentary about a serial killer from California in the 1960’s who supposedly had a similar car. The car is taken for sunny Sunday drives along the seafront from time to time, and is kept under a specially made cover when not in use.

So to sum up, this car is in great condition for its age, and it will be sorely missed. There are very few others in the country that I am aware of. Please be under no illusion that this is a flawless car, though it is definitely an honest, well cared for car. It shows its age in a few places, mainly the interior dash and trim, and the engine bay. It is ready to drive away, and hopefully someone can pick up where I left off and put the finishing touches on to what is already an amazing car, it certainly does turn some heads! It will forever be part of our family in our wedding photos and memories.

Please contact me if you want any more information, or any more photos, and I will do what I can to help.