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Ford Galaxie 500 - the Goliath that showed the Davids how it's done

Name: Ford Galaxie 500 XL 1963
Brand: Ford

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Created on July 15, 2017

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

Bonhams

Balz Schreier

FabPetersson Fotografie

Adam Beresford - Courtesy Goodwood Festival of Speed

Jochen Frozenspeed

Michael Steele im Ford Galaxie 500 beim zweiten Rennen

Ford Motor Company

Antoine Dellenbach

Archiv

Bruno von Rotz

Bonhams

Balz Schreier

FabPetersson Fotografie

Adam Beresford - Courtesy Goodwood Festival of Speed

Jochen Frozenspeed

Michael Steele im Ford Galaxie 500 beim zweiten Rennen

Ford Motor Company

Antoine Dellenbach

Archiv

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - touring car with plenty of power

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - please note - no roll bar

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - built on the flatter hardtop model

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - long rear overhang

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - largely standard in appearance

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - View into the cockpit

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Red was the typical color for the white car

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - largely standard interior

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Mileage speedometer

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Labeling on the dashboard

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - ample displacement and power - around 400 hp were attributed to the 427

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Ford Galaxie 500 X/L (1962) - with many engine variants and the gear lever on the center console

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1962) - without tail fins and with new radiator grille for the 1962 model year

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Ford Galaxie 500 XL (1963) - as a convertible, the car would of course hardly have been suitable for the racetrack

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Ford Galaxie 500 XL (1963) - basis for the racing cars

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Ford Galaxie Cabriolet XL (1962) - wonderfully spacious convertible

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Ford Galaxie 500 X/L (1962) - "Lively Luxury" wrote the Ford advertisers for the 1962 model year, many engine options and manual or automatic transmission

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1961) - to be admired at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1961

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Ford Galaxie 500 Hardtop (1964) - the four-door version for the 1965 model year

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Jack Sears in his Ford Galaxie 500 in the 1963 British Touring Car Championship - premiere victory at Silverstone (taken at Becketts Corner)

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Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014 - Ford Galaxie 500 (1964) - Jack Sears in a Ford

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Marino Franchitti drove a Ford Galaxie 500 - St. Mary's Trophy - Goodwood Revival 2015

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Participant in the race for the St. Mary's Trophy at the Goodwood Revival 2013

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Jochen Mass in the Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - participant in the race for the St. Mary's Trophy at the Goodwood Revival 2013

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - in race 11 - 23rd AvD Historic Marathon - AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2013

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - at the 22nd AvD Historic Marathon 2012

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - AvD Touring Car Trophy for touring cars and GTs up to 1965 at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2012

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - in the R10 race for the AvD Touring Car Trophy at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2013

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Ford Galaxie 500 works racing car (1963) with starting number 207 at the Arosa ClassicCar hill climb 2011

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) at the Jochpass Memorial 2011 (start no. 100)

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - just barely fits in the parking space - Arosa ClassicCar 2012

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - at the Arosa ClassicCar hill climb 2012

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) at the Arosa ClassicCar 2014

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Arosa ClassicCar Hill Climb 2015

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- St. Mary's Trophy - Goodwood Revival 2015

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Ford Galaxie 500 (1963) - Bernina Gran Turismo hill climb 2016

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Stig Blomqvist in the Ford Galaxie (1963) - 25th Historic Marathon and Nürburgring Trophy - AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2015

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - 25th Historic Marathon and Nürburgring Trophy - AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2015

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Ford Galaxie XL 500 R-Code (1964) - at the Gaisbergrennen 2012 - sports car class

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Ford Galaxie 500 XL 427 R-Code (1964) - at the GP Brugger Schachen 2013

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Ford Galaxie 500 XL 427 R-Core (1964) - Participant in the Lignières Historique 2013

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Ford Galaxie 500 XL 427 R-Code (1964) - Participant in the Lignières Historique 2013

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Ford Galaxie (1963) - Tour Auto 2017 - Regularité (020)

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Summary

This article contains the following chapters

With an eye on racing
More power and less weight
Hardly any deviations from the series
An adaptable racing driver
Three different cars for the touring championship title
Survived
Further information

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

5.33 meters long, 2.02 meters wide and weighing over 1.7 tons, the Ford Galaxie 500 was not really predestined to win touring car races, but thanks to its more than 400 hp, Jack Sears crushed the competition in the 1963 British Touring Car Championship. The Ford Galaxie had been in production since 1959 and, as usual, was adapted to changing public tastes year after year. The car was available as a two- or four-door coupé, as a convertible and as a so-called hardtop version with two doors and a fixed roof. The latter also formed the basis for use in touring car races. However, Ford soon realized that the car was too heavy, too weak in terms of performance and not optimal in terms of aerodynamics.

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