Throughout the 1960s, Chevrolet and Ford netted the most car sales with the latter maintaining second place—a situation that was typical throughout the preceding few decades. These were the entry-level cars that the vast majority of people could afford to buy. My dad, Bill Temple, was one of those who bought Ford cars during that decade. We talked about the cars he owned back in the 1950s and 1960s, and I recall most of what he told me. However, I will never know how he started with a Ford as the first new car he bought as I never asked.

Dad had owned Chevrolets while in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1954, and he and my mom got a 1957 Chevrolet as a used car while living in Little Rock, Ark., around the time he graduated from pharmacy school in 1959. His choice to ultimately buy five Fords in the 1960s was driven by circumstance, no doubt, rather than by some loyalty to the brand. He also owned a one-year-old 1965 Cadillac Calais for a while, so I know he liked cars made by General Motors, too.

For whatever reason or reasons, while still living in Little Rock, he purchased a 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 four-door sedan powered by the 292-cid V-8 and automatic transmission. My guess as to what led to this selection is that a customer of the pharmacy where Dad worked was a Ford salesman. By then, Dad had been working for about two years as a pharmacist. Not long after getting that car, he found an opportunity to be a partner in a Walgreens with another pharmacist from Arkansas in the East Texas town of Longview. He and Mom moved there in the summer of 1962 and one year later, they had a house built. The associated expenses likely kept Dad from buying a 1963 Ford, or any other make of car. My birth one year after that, though, did not keep him from buying his next new car, a 1964 Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop.

Two spins with a 1964 Galaxie 500

The ’64 was a demonstrator before being sold to my dad. The dealer came into the store one day and gave my dad the old pitch that went something like, “I have a deal for you. If I can’t sell this car to you, then I just can’t sell a car.” It was Pagoda Green with a 390-cid V-8, automatic, factory air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, a radio and a remote mirror. My dad didn’t even realize it had a 390 and its power took him by surprise. He noticed the fender-mounted “390” emblems after a few days and thought, “No wonder it has so much power!” He sold it to his boss and friend before buying it back one to two years later. Regardless of just when, it was definitely back in the garage before mid 1967, when I was three years old. Otherwise, I would have no memory of that car other than seeing it in a home movie and in the background of photos in the family album.

A brief jaunt with a ’65 Galaxie 500

After the ’64 was sold the first time, a 289-powered 1965 Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop took its place. It was Raven Black with black upholstery, but without tinted glass nor air conditioning. Dad had the dealer install air conditioning as it’s needed to survive summer in Texas—especially in an all-black car! The car did not even have an outside rear-view mirror, which remained an option at that time, although it had the extra-cost rocker panel extensions along the quarter panels and an all-vinyl upholstery, an extra-cost upgrade over the standard-issue cloth-and-vinyl combination. That is all I know of it other than it being in an accident in which the entire front end and radiator had to be replaced. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

A 289 ’66 Galaxie 500

Next time, Dad bought a Wimbledon White ’66 Galaxie 500 two-door, also with a 289-cid V-8, automatic transmission, factory air and tinted windshield, though still with a black vinyl interior because “black interiors look luxurious,” Dad said. That is all I knew about that car until recently when, by happenstance, I found an ad Dad had placed in the local newspaper while I was searching through old newspapers via an online service. The ad was in a May 1966 issue of the newspaper, thus revealing the ’66 was not kept more than several months. Why so short an ownership I do not know, but suspect Dad had finally bought a Cadillac, a car he had long wanted to own. Back then, Cadillac was known as “The Standard of the World” and I guess Dad felt that was true. His Cadillac was a blue 1965 Calais four-door hardtop. He said it was a year old when he bought it, so my theory seems reasonable.

A keeper ’67 Galaxie 500

In mid-June 1967, my parents went shopping for a new Galaxie 500. Dad had one he described as “palomino” in color, but there was no such color that year. Therefore, I can only assume the car was Pebble Beige, the closest match to Palomino which, by the way, was a 1964 Mercury color. This car was equipped with a 289 and very likely had factory air conditioning and definitely an automatic transmission. However, Mom was looking at a Candyapple Red car equipped with a two-barrel 390 and a black vinyl top. She liked the color combination. Dad was not enthused about the extra costs of the 390 and the vinyl top. While he was frugal as the result of growing up in the latter years of the Great Depression, he was also practical. Dad bought what Mom wanted! (At the time, he did not know this would be the final new car he would buy until 1988, when he purchased a Mercury Cougar for my mom (red, of course). So, he really got his money’s worth out of the purchase.)

The 1967 Galaxie 500 also came with “Special Equipment Group M” consisting of all-vinyl (black) interior, Select Shift Cruise-O-Matic, 815×15-4 whitewall tires, power steering, wheel covers and bodyside moldings. Other options present were an electric clock, Selectaire Conditioning, AM radio and tinted windshield. With the trade-in of a 1960 Continental for a $150 credit, Dad recalled the sale price was $3,210. The window sticker, which Dad kept, shows more than $3,800. In later years, he claimed that when the car was once again worth what he paid for it, he would sell it, but he did not.

Mom drove the ’67 for many years, including taking me to grade school in it. (That car seemed to stick in the minds of some classmates; those I later encountered remembered the car.) Dad drove the ’64 Ford for a while, but how long I do not remember. I do recall him having a number of used cars at the house, such as the ’60 Continental he traded in, which he repaired as needed and flipped for a profit. I also remember a gold late-1960s Cadillac that must have been owned for only a brief time. There were no more Ford products bought for personal transportation until the aforementioned Cougar.

Eventually, the ’67 Ford became used less and less; around 1979, it was driven only 300 miles for the entire year. However, my dad decided to start driving it as his go-to-work car. The vinyl top had deteriorated and needed replacement so a white one was installed. In August 1983, it became mine. By this time, the old car bug had really bit me after attending my first car show a few months earlier. The Galaxie served me through my college years and well beyond. During that time, the front suspension was rebuilt, the rear main seal, timing chain and U-joints were replaced, dual aluminized exhausts were installed and the vinyl top was replaced with a black one, thus giving it its original appearance again. I also added additional options and accessories such as Styled Steel wheel covers, headrests, deluxe seat belts, AM-FM radio, etc. Additionally, an NOS bodyside molding kit replaced the original oxidized and somewhat dinged units.

I drove the car on trips to visit my grandparents in Arkansas; twice to the Petit Jean (Arkansas) Swap Meet; Memphis; Galveston, Texas; Ft. Worth; and elsewhere. By mid 1995, the old Ford’s 390 was tired after 143,000 miles and rust had infected the roof panel. Dad passed away that year and I inherited his 1982 Riviera, which I drove for nearly a year before getting a new car. The ’67 went into storage until late 1999 when it was hauled to R&R Restoration for major body work that included not only a repaint, but a roof transplant. A vinyl top was not installed this time. Several years later, the transmission was rebuilt using an NOS taxi-type valve body. (It shifts quickly like a shift kit would do.) Axle seals, wheel cylinders and wheel bearings were also replaced. Recently, major mechanical work has been performed, including a new 390 using a slightly used standard-bore block along with NOS cam, lifters and timing chain. The earlier rebuild had been poorly performed, making the block nothing more than scrap metal. All that is left of the original engine is the crankshaft, heads, front cover and intake and exhaust manifolds. It is ready for another 100,000 miles, though it probably will not be driven that many more miles.

My interest in cars ultimately lead to a writing career which includes authoring five books, among them, “Full Size Fords: 1955-1970.” Who knew some old Fords could lead to that?

Cars I Wish Could Have Been Kept

My father had a sideline of selling used cars. He partnered briefly with a man in 1967 to form Gregg Motor Co. (I suppose “Gregg” was for Gregg County, because neither was named Gregg.) Sometimes my dad brought home a car for minor repairs. The partnership dissolved by early 1968 when dad’s partner suddenly died. However, my dad continued to sell used cars as a sideline, but from home.

Among the cars I recall were a blue 1962 Impala, a 1963-’65 Riviera and a turquoise 1965-’66 Bonneville four-door hardtop. My sole memory of the Impala is not a good one. My dad backed it over my pedal car, thus totaling my first “car.” (At least I still had a tricycle!) However, the Riviera and the Bonneville fascinated me; I recall riding in them on just one occasion each, but those memories stuck with me all these years. One day, probably about 20 years after the fact, I mentioned those two cars to my dad. He said, “The Riviera burned too much gas,” and the Bonneville was “too big.” However, I loved them!

The 1964 Galaxie 500 my dad owned twice is remembered by me from the second ownership. I was brought home from the hospital in that car after my birth. I was probably three years old when I saw what must have been the first flat tire I had ever seen. My parents and I were going to go somewhere in it, but the car’s left front tire was flat. That is my one memory of the car, but seeing it in a home color movie and in the background of family photos, plus the story of my mom driving it at 80-85mph on the highway, left an impression on me, plus the 1964 model is my favorite full-size model of the decade.

Another car he had to sell, which I do not recall, was a blue 1965 Galaxie 500 with a four-barrel 390 and four-speed. He told me a young guy came to look at it, but the car would not start. The problem was a simple one; the tachometer had shorted out. Dad did not think the guy would return, but he did. He gave it a test drive and bought it. Incidentally, the car had come from Hawaii.

Lastly, my father mentioned having for sale a 1967 or 1968 Camaro with a four-speed. He said it was tremendously fast. I suspect he had some fun driving it, but I do not believe he would have ever admitted it.

Love Galaxies? Here are a few more articles for your reading pleasure.

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The green Galaxie is a former FBI car with the 390 Police Interceptor engine.

The red Country Sedan belonged to the Willard New Mexico fire department. They used it as their ambulance. I’m the 2nd owner.

The White Country Squire has factory installed bucket seats, console (1 of 758) and 352 engine with a factory installed 4-speed. I’m the 4th owner.

These are only a few of his treasures. He also stated he owned the following:

– Ford 300 police car. Originally owned by the Columbus, Georgia Police Department. I has a 352 with a factory installed 4-speed Country Sedan. He’s the 2nd owner.

– Galaxie 500 XL (bucket seats, console) convertible. 390 and factory installed 4-speed. Was a Ford show car.

– Galaxie 500 XL (bucket seats, console) 4-dr hardtop. 390 and factory installed 4-speed. He bought it from the original owner’s family.

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When Irene Firestone offered Larry Van Marter her 1960 Ford Galaxie Starliner for free, Van Marter should have been tipped off that the car wasn’t as he remembered. But love can be blind, and when Van Marter had first spotted the Light Aqua/Aquamarine Starliner eight years earlier, in 1964, he was head over heels.

“I liked the fins and I liked the style,” Van Marter said. “At the time, I was driving a ’62 Galaxie four-speed car. My dad had Fords and my whole family had Fords. When I saw the car it seemed like it had a different body style with the different tail lamps and the fins on it.”

Van Marter first encountered the Ford while he was dating Firestone’s niece, Mary Balck. He soon proposed marriage to Mary, as well as a purchase offer for the Starliner to her aunt. “I told her if you ever want to sell that car, let me know,” Van Marter said.

The call came in 1972, when Firestone realized she would never again drive her 12-year-old Starliner. The car was intended to be Firestone’s last — the one that would take her to church, the grocery store and the beauty shop. And that’s exactly what it did until one day, when she made an important phone call.

“In 1972, she called from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Green Bay and said, ‘I’m a woman of my word, so here’s the car.’ I said I can’t have that car for free — I have $175 in my pocket [to pay for it.]’”

That price was considerably less than Firestone had paid, but not out of line for a 12-year-old used car with 32,000 miles. It also seemed like a solid buy for Van Marter since he knew the car’s history back to day one.

“Irene told her family she was taking her husband’s life insurance check and buying a car that would last the rest of her life,” Van Marter said. “She went down to Van Drisse Motors in Green Bay and bought the car in June of 1961.”

The 1960 Starliner was a new leftover, stuck playing second fiddle to the headline-robbing new compact Falcon and the always-popular four-seat Thunderbird. By 1961, a new Thunderbird was unveiled in coupe and convertible forms, which dated the 1960 full-size Ford even more than the smaller-finned 1961 full-size Fords. You can bet Firestone got a very good deal on that unsold ’60 Ford with a sticker price of $3,324.05 in the summer of 1961.

More than a decade later, when Van Marter went to pull his new purchase out of storage, he learned it was no longer the brilliant 1960 Starliner he first saw in 1964. 

“We took it out and I was disappointed,” he said. “It had been sideswiped and the moldings and trim were gone on the passenger side.” There was also rust. “We got it home and used it as a second vehicle, but we had to get the door fixed,” he said. “I saw a ’60 Ford in a field in Berlin [Wis.]. I talked to the farmer and asked if I could buy the door. We paid $15 for it and it was the start of the restoration.”

Noticing there were few 1960 Starliners on the road, Van Marter and his wife parked the car in the mid 1970s and began accumulating parts, but it wasn’t easy work.

The Galaxie Special Starliner, as Ford officially called it, was the sole hardtop in the full-size Ford line, and only 68,641 were built, of which 65,969 were V-8 powered, like the Van Marter’s 352-cid, two-venturi car. Compared to the Chevrolet two-door hardtop, the Starliner’s main competitor and a car for which 204,467 were built, the 1960 Starliner was a rare bird. The parts hunt took the Van Marters on many adventures, including to a private salvage yard in central Wisconsin with an interesting owner.

“This yard in Fremont [Wis.] supposedly had two Starliners in it, but it had a bunch of dogs leading up to the door. I walked up to the door and knocked. The owner asked how I got past the dogs and I explained I could see how far their leashes traveled and followed a path between.” Unimpressed, the owner told Van Marter to immediately get off his property. Van Marter never got any parts, and those cars were probably crushed.

While the Van Marters’ Starliner was laid up, Mary drove a 1966 Thunderbird, a car she always wanted, during the short Wisconsin summers. When one of their children approached high school graduation in 1987, the couple decided it was time to get the Starliner on the road.

“We made it road worthy and drove it to Iola that year without bumpers,” Van Marter said. After that, the car was torn down to its most basic parts for a complete restoration, despite its low miles. The engine was removed for a rebuild and the passenger side dents and the car’s general rust issues were addressed. Many of the parts Van Marter had purchased at swap meets such as Iola came in handy, but there were still bumps along the way.

“I had three front clips I had collected over the years… [and we] had to make the radiator core support from two,” he said. After the rebuilt engine was initially fired up, it didn’t run well. Van Marter learned the 352-cid engine, which was rebuilt with 390-cid parts whenever possible, was actually a late-1959 unit and needed an oiler. The rebuilder had also lost all of the vacuum lines and the profuse photos the Van Marters had taken during the tear-down were not clear enough — the lines still looked like spaghetti and installing new hoses required a trip to a mechanic to things properly connected. While there, the engine backfired, scouring the blue-painted firewall. Along with repairing the paint on the firewall, there was other body work to contend with.

“The first body guy got tired of rust and gave up,” Van Marter said. It was at that point Van Marter took the car to Valley Restoration, which started the body work over. “They redid the quarter panels, and I can’t begin to tell you how much they each cost,” Van Marter said. Each rear fender skin had to be made from scratch since reproductions did not exist. “Also, it needed new rockers and he had to make a new door skin — the field door I had bought earlier had been [poorly] patched once before,” he said.

While the restoration was professional and moved along rapidly, it cost more than the Van Marters expected. At the halfway point, the couple decided to sell the 1966 Thunderbird to pay for the work.

“We were at the point of no return,” Van Marter said. Then, the day before Christmas Eve in 1989, Santa Claus came early, but his present was too big to drag down the chimney. The Van Marters picked up their beautifully restored 1960 Ford Starliner from Valley Restorations.

“That year everyone knew our Christmas present was in the garage,” Van Marter said.

Since the original upholstery was immaculate — “it’s never had an adult in the back seat,” according to Van Marter — it was removed early in the restoration. After new carpet and a restored steering wheel were installed, the original door panels and seats were placed back in the car. Finally, the happy owners were ready to cruise around in the family Starliner, but there was one lasting problem — it was too nice to drive daily during the summer months as they had done with the 1966 Thunderbird.

“We thought we’d [restore] this car and have fun with it, but after the money we put into it, you just can’t take it shopping and park it,” Van Marter said. “It has 45,600 miles now. We just drive it to local shows.”

The Starliner has been a regular at the Iola Old Car Show’s Blue Ribbon section, where it’s the lone example of its kind. This year, the car had a new piece of real estate in the theme tent, where it represented Ford’s early-1960s full-size offerings with other “Sensational Sixties” theme cars.

Van Marter is on the modest side when it comes to denoting the rarity of the family Starliner, but he will make one admission: “I’ve never seen another one in this color.”
And thanks to him and his wife, most of us will probably never see another 1960 Starliner as nice.

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The 1967 Ford Galaxie had a new grille with a “W” shape.
Note the 1967 Illinois antique vanity plate. (John McILwee photo)

1967 was a disappointing year for the Ford Motor Co. Worldwide factory sales of Ford-built cars and trucks declined 20 percent from 1966 due to economic uncertainty in both domestic and foreign markets, and a two-month strike against Ford by the United Auto Workers. Together, these factors resulted in the loss of more than 600,000 cars and trucks from scheduled production. Sales of cars, trucks and tractors totaled 3,588,592 units, down from 4,525,170 in 1966.

The new Ford lines were introduced on Sept. 30, 1966, with 47 models available: Falcon, Fairlane, Ford, Thunderbird and Mustang. The flagship Ford line included 18 restyled models ranging from the economy Custom series through the intermediate trim level Galaxie to the XL, LTD and station wagons. The feature Ford of this column, a Galaxie 500 convertible, is one of 18,859 built with the V-8. There were also 209 assembled with the inline six.

The 76A Galaxie 500 convertible had all the styling refinements, series ornamentation and special features of the Galaxie 500 hardtop models. Special convertible features include a five-ply, one-piece vinyl, rubber and cotton top with long-lasting “heat welded seams.” The top is power-operated and can be raised or lowered easily by a control switch on the instrument panel. The stacked top folds easily into a storage well with a top boot to provide a tailored look when placed over the “stacked top.”

The interior appointments include all-vinyl upholstery as standard with bright-metal side shields standard on the front seat and the back seat. The Galaxie 500 convertible also shares the luxury features of the Galaxie 500 hardtops and sedans, such as color-keyed nylon-rayon carpeting; pleated all-vinyl door panels; paddle-type door handles; glove box and ash tray lights; bright metal side shields on front seat and seat back; instrument cluster directly in front of the driver for easy viewing and accessibility; and wood-grained applique on the instrument panel with the “Galaxie 500” plaque.

The standard Galaxie powerplan was the 150-hp Big Six with Synchro-Smooth manual transmission. Four optional V-8 engines from 200 to 345 hp, and the SelectShift Cruise-O-Matic (automatic and manual combined) transmission, were available. Based on the production data, it’s clear that most buyers opted for a V-8 engine.

The base price of the Galaxie convertible was $3,003.23. Owners opting for the 200-hp V-8 paid an extra $106.72 and an additional $197.89 for the Cruise-O-Matic. A total of 39 items of optional equipment gave the buyer plenty of room to add to the comfort and convenience of his car and, of course, the price. For example, a six-way power seat cost $94.75, a Selectaire Conditioner $356.09, a push-button AM radio $57.51 and power steering an extra $94.95.

Tom McILwee of Itasca, Ill., owns a 1967 Brittany Blue convertible with the 289-cid V-8, Cruise-O-Matic transmission and a recently added dual exhaust system. It includes plenty of bright work, deluxe wheel covers, dual side-view mirrors (driver remote), color-keyed seat belts, power steering, an electric clock and an AM/FM push-button radio. Everything works and the paint, top and interior are all in exceptionally good condition considering the car is 42 years old.

McILwee said he first saw the car about 10 years ago at Roselle Ford (now Friendly Ford) of Roselle, Ill., when it was parked next to the service write-up desk during its annual summer check-up. It was sold new at the dealership on Nov. 7, 1966, and, according to the door tag info, built in Chicago just six days earlier. After seeing the car again over several summers, McILwee passed a note through the dealership to the owner, expressing an interest to be the first in line should they ever decide to sell it. A few years later he received a phone call that the car was for sale. The rest is history.

The original owner was ill when McILwee bought the car in 2001 from the owner’s second wife. She told McILwee that this had been his first wife’s car and that she had fallen in love with it the day she saw it on the showroom floor. Unfortunately, she died unexpectedly in 1969 and her husband could never part with it. He wasn’t a car guy, but was careful about its winter storage or it wouldn’t have survived Chicago in its near-mint condition. McILwee found an oil change sticker indicating that the car had 28,000 miles on it in 1969. When he bought it, the odometer read 31,446 miles. The Ford dealership where he first saw the car serviced it regularly and attested to the original mileage. When it was put away for the winter, its odometer showed 37,730 miles.

The antique Illinois license plate displayed on the blue Galaxie reads “Rapsody’ for George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” (Illinois antique vanity plates only allow seven letters). McILwee was captivated by the exceptional original condition of the car and its very appealing color combination.

“It looked like a vacation,” he says. “The color of the ocean. I found myself spellbound by the dazzling Brittany Blue paint and was swimming in it. The contrasting light-blue crinkle-pattern vinyl interior and the white convertible top (with glass rear window) were the perfect complement.”

McILwee drives the car sparingly. However, last summer, he drove it 550 miles round trip to the Indiana Region Shelby American Club meet at Brown County Park. To his pleasant surprise, the car won the Award of Excellence trophy at the event. He also owns a silver mink 1963 Ford Thunderbird sport roadster — one of only 455 built for ’63. It is a California car with 95,000 original miles and one repaint.

Author’s Note: I am indebted to the following for background information for this column: “Buyer’s Digest of New Car Facts For 1967”; “Ford Motor Company Annual Report for 1967”; “Standard Catalog of Ford,” fourth edition, by John Gunnell; miscellaneous Ford Motor Co. publications; and owner Tom McILwee.

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