May 17, 2007

The 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 XL.

It's the Car of the Day here on the Althouse blog. It's not beautiful, but it's ugly in such a special way.

That side mirror is so rectangular:

Ford Galaxie 500 XL 1964

And that color. Painful! The upholstery seem to presage the "moon boots" kids had in the 1980s.

The grille is so pleased with itself:

Ford Galaxie 500 XL 1964

It's a very disturbing combination of stodgy and glitzy:

Ford Galaxie 500 XL 1964

Hop in...

Ford Galaxie 500 XL 1964

... and envelop yourself in shameless bad taste.

27 comments:

Anthony said...

Is too beautiful.

The Drill SGT said...

My grandmother had one just like that.

drove like and tank, and I know what a tank drives like. big throaty exhaust and quite a lag from the time you put the pedal down till the auto transmission produced power to the wheels.

lots of chrome though :)

pct said...

I believe envelope is only a noun. You want to envelop yourself in bad taste.

Ann Althouse said...

Pierre: Good point! Corrected.

Drill: Yes, it is a grandmother car. I can just picture the glamorously dressed grandma who've felt great having that car.

pct said...

"Notes on 'Camp'" was just published in 1964, so it was still possible to envelop yourself un-ironically.

Brent said...

Ugly . . . and yet . . .

I'm drawn to keep looking . . .

I . . . I think I want one.

Anthony said...

I can just picture the glamorously dressed grandma who've felt great having that car.

Unless it had the 427. Then it belonged to a man in a gray flannel suit who dragged 300's on the weekend.

Swifty Quick said...

We had one just like that when I was a teenager, except it was fire engine red.

Troy said...

The Reverend Horton Heat was glad to have his Galaxie 500.

John Stodder said...

Isn't there a scene in Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" involving a Galaxie? Someone says to Kilgore Trout that they're driving a Galaxie, which he assumes means they are in charge of billions of stars?

I could have dreamed this.

The thing about these cars that your photos really capture is the juicy monochromaticism -- blue on blue on blue.

Galvanized said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Galvanized said...

Are you KIDDING? I LOVE it! LOL Maybe it's just the quality of the pictures. Now I believe that I have bad taste.

Still...a Texan just might get away with this.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

My favorite Galaxie 500 was more musical!

Unknown said...

We had one of those. It was a bright canary yellow.

vet66 said...

What a fantastic muscle car! 427 cubic inches, 427 horsepower, two Rochester quad carbs, 411 rear end, 4 on the floor, dual exhaust with headers!!!

I need a cigarette...

peacelovewoodstock said...

And that's not all, I got the pink slip, daddy!

Infantry Dad said...

I liked the "62" hard top convert. better.

Tinsie said...

It may be ugly in real life, but the photos make it look beautiful & glamorous. Well done the photographer!

Inocentbystander said...

The Ford is gorgeous! I'd choose to cruise in that cloud anyday compared to todays cars.

meangranny said...

We have a '64 Galaxie 500 we are restoring, think it is just too sweet, having trouble finding right hand mirror. Any help on where to find parts?

meangranny said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Never had 427hp, had 425(under-rated). NEVER used Rochester carbs, only Holley, and the R code light-weight model would tare the quarter mile up. Owned 2. Yeah I do need a cigarette.

grapefan said...

I had two of these cars, I can assure you, a grandmother or grandfather never drove either.

Mine were FX cars. Stock configuration was a 427 lowriser engine(425 ponies) had a 4 speed toploader tranny, 29 spline axles, 4:11 rear end gearing hurst shifter and a couple other "things"

The car was an off the showroom floor 11 second rocket.

Yea, it wasnt made to run old country windy roads, but, it was definitly a king of the speedway, and a great cruising car.

Cant rememeber how many times I had guys in Mustangs and chevelles and mopars come up and rev the motor, only to see that 427 badging and they would slink away quietly.

grapefan said...

I had two of these cars, I can assure you, a grandmother or grandfather never drove either.

Mine were FX cars. Stock configuration was a 427 lowriser engine(425 ponies) had a 4 speed toploader tranny, 29 spline axles, 4:11 rear end gearing hurst shifter and a couple other "things"

The car was an off the showroom floor 11 second rocket.

Yea, it wasnt made to run old country windy roads, but, it was definitly a king of the speedway, and a great cruising car.

Cant rememeber how many times I had guys in Mustangs and chevelles and mopars come up and rev the motor, only to see that 427 badging and they would slink away quietly.

Unknown said...

The 64 was Motor trends car of the year ! What a thing of beauty. Especially in that color ! Who could ever call it UGLY ?!!

rampage said...

I remember well the 1964 Ford. In 427 NASCAR form it ruled, when GM and their 421 Pontiac's pulled out of racing.

The 427 425 horsepower Glaxie was not a good drag racer and was regularly beaten by the original muscle car the 1964 Temp;est GTO equiped with a 389 340 horsepower 389 with 3 two barrel carbs. The 427 Glaxie although a beautiful sleek design was a beautiful cruiser, it was a lead sled.

I wanted a red coupe with whuite interior, for speed with a 427 425 dual four barrels.

Peter said...

good taste- bad taste- who decides the criteria? I found this blog by chance wile looking for parts for a 64 Ford Galaxie. Seems strange to me, people talking about wether this is a good-taste-car or not- I think it is a good looking car. But more than that it is a timewitness for an era, when cars were invincible machines to bring us to a bright future. The backlights of it where designed to remind on the backfire of Jet Airplanes. And the 60s Galaxies where the fastest Cars of its era as well, winning NASCAR races on weekly basis. Not a grandma-car at all! Besides: The name of the colour on this car is "sea-foam". (Just to bring a few facts to this taste-or-non-taste talk)