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1963 Falcon Convertible For $2,000

falcon

Obviously, you can’t expect perfection in a classic Ford convertible for only $2,000. This Falcon has some challenges, but may be the right car for the right person. Thanks to Jim S for this great find! Located in Niagara Falls, New York and listed for sale here on eBay for a buy-it-now of $2,000, there are some good and some bad points about this car. For example, the engine is locked up and partially taken apart – not good. On the other hand, the seller has the trim that’s off on the passenger side door and says the car was a west coast car and that the subframe rails (a known rusting spot) are good. There are some floor holes that are pictured in the listing, and obviously some surface corrosion as well as some more serious rust in the rocker and quarter panels. The car has been sitting for 14 years! I can see swapping another Ford six-cylinder in, if efforts to free the original are unsuccessful. Then I’d make it safe, put a new top on and drive it for the summer, then perhaps work on it more over the winter, but that’s just me: what would you do?

Comments

  1. Avatar RayT

    I can console myself by saying “it’s not a Sprint” and therefore not be too sad that someone else will get it.

    I do hope whoever does is up for a proper wash-and-brush-up. While I share the appreciation for “patina” displayed by so many commenters here, there comes a point — reached by all too many “barn finds” — where “patina” gets confused with “grungy.” This Falcon is grungy. I’ve spent enough time perched on worn, torn seats while staring at cracked dashboards and sniffing the aroma of musty carpet to endure it again for any extended period.

    Get the mechanicals in shape — that 170 six is darn close to bulletproof — and make it safe, then do the rest as time/budget allow. Even though I’d do paint, upholstery and chrome, I wouldn’t worry that much about perfection. This strikes me as potentially a nice driver, not a concours-winning show car.

    Oh, yes: I’d replace the top, too. I sometimes drive in the rain.

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  2. Avatar Mike D

    I think the seller bit off more than he could chew. while nice in its day, it is showing its age, most likely one wouldn’t get out of it what was put into it . While I don’t know how complicated it would be to swap In a more modern V/6, upgrade the suspension ( it would need it anyways after sitting for more than 14 years ) the body panels should be easy to find . fresh maroon paint, it would garner a lot of attention . It wouldn’t be a pavement melter , but, then it wasn’t meant to be

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  3. Avatar David Church

    I think this car for $2,000 is a steal. Yes it needs the Full Monte – a frame off restoration. But chassis-wise it could easily be up graded to Shelby 350 GT specs, or even better. The interior details are marvelous “Futura” stuff.

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  4. Avatar don

    sorry think $2000 is to much for a non-runner and with all the rust repair it will need, floors/quarters etc…

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  5. Avatar sparkster

    Putting a $ 200 dollar car on Ebay doesn’t make it worth $ 2000. It appears he collects old Fords.

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  6. Avatar Matt A.

    Frankly, if I’m going to go for an inexpensive plain-Jane early ’60s convertible it’ll be a Studebaker Lark VIII. Fairly dull-looking, but better-looking than this.

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  7. Avatar Rocco

    It sure does have a lot of rust for being a “long time west coast car”. It does have a Michigan title, so, does that mean it was brought from the west coast in ’73-75, and driven for the next 25yrs. in salty Mich., then stored until now, and THAT makes it a WEST COAST car. hmm.

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  8. Avatar Karl

    The really attractive thing about this car is its close relationship to the first Mustangs, so it would not be technically difficult to upgrade it to V8 power. You would have to replace all the running gear, but that’s pretty much bolt-in. Even the floorpans are probably interchangeable with the Mustang. Plus there’s plenty of Falcon-specific repro bits available from the aftermarket, so you could build your own Sprint tribute. It might not be cheap–in this hobby, what is?–but definitely doable for the driveway mechanic.
    So yeah, I think it’s worth $2,000 to get in the game. For reasons of marital bliss, I’m glad I live half the country away.

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    • Avatar Rocco

      The early Mustang ’64 1/2, was a derivative of the ’64 Falcon, not the ’63. Many ’64 Falcon parts were used in the making of the ’64-’65 Mustangs, with some modifications.
      The ’63 Falcon shared some mechanical parts(260ci. eng. & the 6cyl. eng.). That’s about it. There wasn’t a Toploader 4-speed ’til ’64 or a C-4 auto ’til ’64. The Mustang never had a 2 -speed auto trans. The 4-speed in the ’63 Falcon was BW T-10. There were some T-10’s in ’66 Mustangs with 289 2V eng. because of the lower HP(195HP)but never behind a 271HiPo eng.

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      • Avatar Karl

        The ’64 Falcon and the ’64-1/2 Mustang were both derived from the ’60-63 Falcon; two parallel branches off of the same tree. Under the sheetmetal the three cars are almost identical–Ford saved a lot of money by using the same components again and again, and continued to do so with this platform into the ’70s with the Maverick and to a lesser extent with the Granada. Years ago, a friend of mine converted a early six-cylinder Mustang to V8 power by using the driveline components of an early-’70s Maverick. It was a very easy, bolt-up conversion.
        You might also note that the first Falcon Sprint V8 was offered to the public in this exact bodystyle in 1963, and those performance parts were carried forward to create the Mustang GT. If you can go forward, you can go back, too.

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  9. Avatar Larry S

    The biggest problem with this car is there aren’t many parts available for it. There is almost no restoration parts companies making parts for a 63 Falcon : / so given the amount of rust you better be darn good at fab work to bring it back to life…

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    • Avatar Karl

      You’re right–I erred above when I said there’s a lot of Falcon-specific stuff available. I googled a couple of Falcon websites, and while they have lots of little doodads, emblems and such, with the exception of the gas tank and bumpers there was very little sheetmetal available. Still, I feel pretty optimistic that this project wouldn’t be too difficult to source parts.

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  10. Avatar Braktrcr

    I’m thinking aa fox body mustang is just waiting to donate a drivetrain to this car, and it would be a great daily driver semi sleeper. It’s 51 years old it can have a little rust

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  11. Avatar Phil

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