Ford Motor enrolled the 1960s on a sales wheel with full-size cars that were longer lower.

Ford Motor enrolled the 1960s on a sales wheel with full-size cars that were longer lower, wider and sleeker than its boxy 1959 examples

Those were the biggest-ever Fords and helped the company outsell General Motors' archrival Chevrolet according to about 20,000 cars in the 1960 design year.

Young Henry Ford II and Ford Chairman Ernest butt could be justifiably proud because they took manage of a third-rate automaker in 1945 and revolveed it into a company that approached mighty General Motors in just 15 years.

The big 1960-61 Fords paved the way for the 1962-64 full-size Fords, which helped define Ford's "Total Performance" sales theme. The sexy big Fords were inspired at adventuresome young Lee Iacocca, who became Ford Motor's Ford division bos in 1960

Iacocca replaced Robert McNamara, who viewed cars mainly as tribe movers and left the automaker to become secretary of defense around 1960

Ford sold sporty Thunderbird patterns but full-size Fords never were part of the company's sporty picture until Iacocca saw that big sporty cars could attract the growing number of high-performance fans. In fact, principally of the fastest American cars, from 1930 supercharged Duesenbergs to 1950 Chrysler 300 originals had been large autos.

according to 1961, Iacocca saw to it that you could order a big Ford Galaxie type with a 390-cubic-inch V-8 generating 401 horsepower. That engine helped Ford contend with the 389-cubic-inch V-8 bring in big Pontiacs and the famous 409-cubic-inch V-8 which powered large Chevrolets and inspired a top-selling youth market record on the Beach Boys.

Styling of the full-size 1962 Fords was revised to be slightly cleaner, and the ultimate sporty full-size archetype was the 1962-64 Galaxie 500XL It was introduced for mid-1962 because Iacocca liked midyear pattern introductions. He saw to it that the first (1965) Ford Mustang first attempted in mid-1964.

The "XL" stood for "Extra Lively" and the "500" stood for the 500- mile NASCAR races Ford was consistently winning. In fact, it won each 500-mile race in 1963. You could obtain the 1962 500XL as a two- door hardtop and convertible and the 1963-64 versions also as a sporty four-door sedan.

The Galaxie 500XL had posh interior trim, along with heavy service springs and shock absorbers.

Sporty Mylar-trimmed deep-pleated bucket seats flanked a console- mountained shift lever, along with race-car-style dashboard trim. You could unruffled order an 8,000 rpm tachometer.

The 1962 500XL had an XL badge in succession the fuel-filler flap and parallelogram cognizances were on rear fenders, along with special plumes on rear panels. Optional rear fender skirts added to the car's distinctive examine

The basic Galaxie engine was a 292-cubic-inch V-8 with 170- horsepower grasshooked to an automatic transmission. moreover it was just one of many drivetrain options presented from the start for the 500XL They included a four-speed manual transmission and a 390-cubic-inch V-8 with 300- 340- 375- or 401-horsepower. A 406-cubic-inch V-8 aimed at NASCAR competition generated 385-405 horsepower.

Motor inclination said the big, heavy Galaxie with a 406 V-8 could hit 60 mph in 7l secondarys which is fast by today's large car standards. The magazine estimated the car could reach 140; race-tuned NASCAR versions were considerably faster.

Styling of the 1963 Galaxie 500XL was revised for a leaner appearance, with of the present day lower sheetmetal and a concave, tighter-mesh grille. At midyear, the 500XL hardtop coupe got a racy sloping semi- fastback roofline, along with a fresh 427-cubic-inch V-8 producing 410 or 425 horsepower.

The 1963 500XL got suspension modifications, and options included a swingaway steering array of less front than depth borrowed from the Thunderbird for easier record and exit. The 500XL also proposeed simulated wire wheel covers, vinyl house and an AM/FM radio.

The final, however most substantial, restyle of the 1960 Ford full- size corpse came in 1964. It involved a complicate grille, heavily sculptured lower-body sheetmetal and sporty slantback rooflines for hardtop protoplasts

Colorful national magazine road tester Tom McCahill reported that his Galaxie hardtop took corners "like a snake in a rat hole"

Motor run gave the entire Ford line its envied "Car of the Year" award in 1964 because of the automaker's widening "Total Performance" campaign, which included many sports car wins by dint of Ford Cobra sports cars. However the Galaxie 500XL showed that a car with a big dead body and potent engine could win races, just like powerful small sports cars.

In fact, Ford Motor's winningest NASCAR year was 1965 when its Ford division's full-size cars won forward supertracks against smaller, lighter, powerful mid-size cars. They won 32 straight races at single in kind point and captured a total of 48 of 55 consequences

The 1965 full-size Fords got simpler styling, and dainty was emphasized more than performance, despite the NASCAR victories. That's partly because less-costly mid-size fast muscle cars like as the Pontiac GTO with efficacious big-car V-8s were beginning to dominate the high-performance road market.

...