This beautiful 1960 Ford Fairlane 500 is a replica, a tribute to the fine folks that protect us every day. The builder of this car must have had a ton of respect for those who put their lives on the line for us. This car is listed on MJCClassicCars.com and it’s in New York.
This perfect car has only 40,000 miles on it and it should be in a museum, it’s literally that nice.
The seller says that it’s a “rust free survivor” and it’s been painted in this classic black and white Police car scheme and it has an original “period siren, new red flashing roof light, dual spot lights and period grill “STOP” light complete the look.”
The interior is as perfect as everything else is. It has a new “blue vinyl interior and factory floor mat”. Even the back seat has been restored perfectly. The only thing I see is that it could use a new trunk mat, but what a beautiful car!
This is the original “292 cubic inch V-8 engine – two barrel carb” and this car also has cold “vintage air conditioning”, not to mention “power steering and power disc brake conversion”. This is a beautiful, fitting tribute to those folks who stick their necks out for us every single day. Please thank a Police Officer the next time you see one, or quietly buy them a coffee if they’re behind you in line, or pay for their lunch if you get a chance. It’s a great feeling to say “thank you” to our friends in blue and let them know that you appreciate what they do for us.
What a great series, can’t wait to see what you post next.
Posting these on my Facebook page as soon as I see them posted. Great commentary on the first two.
Thanks Rich!
This Galaxie looks all wrong. Cop Cars of that era had no chrome exc for bumpers. Nice car, but it does not look like a cop car period correct.
I’ve never seen a Ford sedan of this year come from the factory in blackout/body color grille, headlight/taillight surrounds, etc., and would like to see a correct example if that is true. The only one that I remember being really severe was the Studebaker Scotsman, so bereft of chrome that an Old Order clan member could drive one without modification.
Now that’s funny!
There’s a great FB group called vintage police everything. They have an offshoot group called vintage police nothing to cover bad replicas like this.
Found an example of possibly the real deal. Looks like they really did have plenty of chrome.
http://collectorcarpricetracker.com/auctions/detail/221174879153/
Thanks for posting Steve, that guy got a great deal.
Didn’t Andy Griffith drive this car in his tv show ?
I’m pretty sure you’re right, at least for one year. Ford must have been a sponsor as it appears that Sheriff Taylor had himself a new car approximately every year, either a Galaxie or a Fairlane.
I agree with boxdin, I think the restorer was torn between doing a cop car, but retaining what a nice original this must have been. The 1960 Ford was one of my favorite Fords. This one looks great. I see on other sites, this car was being touted as a Mayberry replica, however, I think, and Scotty can confirm this, ( both of us being huge AG fans) the 1st car we see Barney in is a ’61. Even though, it has many features not found on a police car, I feel, the single most thing to make it look real, would be to change the hubcaps. ( And now THIS car should have a whip antenna) In all honesty, I’d remove the police garb, paint it a beautiful blue and just have a very nice ’60 Ford.
I believe Andy’s first cop car was a ’59 Ford. I just read where a local Ford dealer supplied the show with a new car every year, then took it back and repainted it and sold it on the used car lot, not advertising it from the show.
ruined, one way to sell a 4dr I guess..
SO MANY CRITICS…I think the car is cool. It is a tribute car and the owner is not trying to pass it off as an original. Makes me wonder if the critics’ cars are “perfect”. Anyone is entitled to an opinion and to change items to make it “yours”, but why rip on someone else’s pride n joy? Isn’t this site for enthusiasts to have fun and learn?? Great site.
Ford did sponsor the program for awhile. Interesting trivia, Aunt Bea drove her personal car in the few episodes where she drove, which was a Studebaker!! Would that happen in today’s corporate money hungry world?
I remember the Turning Wheels write up about finding Francis Bavier’s low mileage car at the home she secluded herself in for her final decades. Interesting preservation story.
I know I’ll sound old… But she also “bought” a beautiful ’55 Ford convertible in an episode where she learned to drive.
Now this is one I really like and quite accurate. While the siren is ok and period correct, it’s chrome plated and belongs outside. Its under-hood counterpart, a Federal EG would’ve been more correct.
I loved the ’60 Fords. Our sheriff’s office ran a pair of ’60s Fords, but they were very plain-Jane. They only had a set of red lights on the bumper and a Federal 28 siren (larger than the siren on this one) under the hood. Also had a low band two-way radio that was on the old statewide channel of the day.
This is actually a 1960 Ford tribute police car for show as the 1960 police car would have been a Fairlane base car not a Fairlane 500. This would be fine to show and enter in parades, but to be an accurate redo would have to be another way to go. Who’s counting anyways?
Anyone whistling the Andy Griffith theme song?
Anyone?
Anyone?
The very reason I like watching Classic TV shows are for the cars and trucks .