Rear View of Gregor Fisken and Christoff Cowens, Red and White, 1963, Ford Galaxie 500XL in the International Paddock at the 2023 Silverstone Festival
The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race. In 1958, a concept car was introduced called "la Galaxie" which incorporated the headlights into pods inline with the grille and a reduced front profile. The 1963 model was essentially unchanged save for some freshening and added trim; windshields were reshaped and a four-door hardtop 500/XL was added. A lower, fastback roofline was added mid-year to improve looks and make the big cars more competitive on the NASCAR tracks with less drag and reduced aerodynamic lift at high speed. This 1963½ model, the industry's first official "½ year" model, was called the "sports hardtop" or "fastback" (it shared this feature with the for 1963½ Falcon). Galaxie buyers showed their preference as the new sports hardtop models handily outsold the "boxtop" square-roof models. The sports hardtop was available in both Galaxie 500, and Galaxie 500/XL trim. Mercury also received the new roofline (under the Marauder badge) in Monterey, Montclair, and Park Lane models. This year, a no-frills big Ford, priced around $ below the base Galaxie sedans, was offered, badged as the Ford 300. It was offered fo For 1962, all full-size Fords wore the Galaxie badge, with "500" and "500/XL" denoting the higher series. The Galaxie 500/LTD was introduced for 1965 followed by the Galaxie 500 7-Litre for 1966. The Galaxie 500 prefix was dropped from the LTD in 1966, and from the XL in 1967; however, the basic series structuring levels were maintained. The "regular" Galaxie 500 continued below the LTD as Ford's mid-level full-size model from 1965 until its demise at the end of the 1974 model year.: 401–42 The Galaxie was the competitor to the high-volume full sized Chevrolet Impala[5] and the Plymouth Belvedere.
Size: 5386px × 3532px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1963, 2023, 500x, 500xl, 66, 7000cc, adrian, car, cars, christoff, circuit, cowens, drivers, festival, fisken, flux, ford, front-engine, full-sized, galaxie, generation, gregor, layout, pre, rear, rear-wheel-drive, red, silverstone, touring, towcester, transatlantic, trophy, view, white
