390 Cubes, No Excuses: 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 LTD

The 3rd generation Ford Galaxie was introduced in 1965 as a taller and larger full-sized Ford family sedan with the 500 LTD as top-of-the-line version.  These were big brutish cars that were terrible to drive with the Thriftpower-6, but would come alive if you picked the big block V8 on the option list.  It was a time when gas was cheap and tires were terrible, but if you want a big pillarless 2-door that typifies the mid-60s, the Galaxie 500 LTD is the one to get.  Find this 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 LTD here on eBay bidding for $9,900 with less than one day to go, located in Fallbrook, CA.

The '65 Galaxie is instantly identified by its twin stacked headlights and forward leaning face -- a corporate front end that was carried over to the mid-sized Fairlane in '66.  Surprisingly enough, if you jack up the rear end on the Galaxie you won't find a leaf spring setup (like everything else from the blue oval in that era) and instead you'll find a sophisticated three-link setup with coil springs.  

Under the hood you'll find a  Z-code 390 cubic inch V8 with 4bbl carburetor that was rated at 300 (SAE gross) horsepower and 427 ft-lbs of torque.  Mated to the 3-speed auto doesn't result in the fastest car on the block (especially when compared to modern things) but it will have a nice old-school squat-and-go action that you won't mind when you need to fill up the 20 gallon tank every 200 miles. 

See another example of Ford doing things right with full sized cars? tips@dailyturismo.com