46K-Miles! 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 W/ 400 V8

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1973 was the second-to-last year for Ford’s Galaxie 500 name, and it fell between the Custom 500 and LTD, with the LTD Brougham at the top of the line. It seems like the Galaxie 500 nameplate was around longer than 16 model years, but that’s it: 1959 through 1974. This 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 2-Door Hardtop is listed here on Facebook Marketplace and is located in St. Paul, Minnesota (arrgh, tempting), and the seller is asking $6,000. Here is the original listing.

I originally thought this Bright Red two-door hardtop Galaxie 500 was a fire chief’s car or something, and in looking at this 1973 Ford colors brochure, it doesn’t look like this color (2B) was available in anything else than the Torino, Gran Torino, and Gran Torino Sport. I’m not normally a red vehicle person, other than maybe an old pickup, but I love this bright red color, whether it’s original or not. Or whether the original buyer talked the factory or dealer into painting it a Gran Torino color.

I can see this car attracting a lot of attention at gas stations (where you’ll spend a lot of time), grocery stores, and vintage car gatherings. A Custom 500 would make more sense as far as it being a former emergency vehicle for the fire department, which it isn’t as far as we know, but a Galaxie 500 is probably nicer to live with every day. The 1973 and 1974 design is my favorite for the Galaxie 500.

The interior is beautiful with these downright fancy “cloth and vinyl” brocade seats, which look perfect in the front, and that’s the only seat we see, unfortunately. The seller doesn’t show the back seat, the trunk, the underside, or, yes, the engine. They do show a small photo of this car with what appears to be aftermarket rear fender skirts, and as much as I love those on cars that had them from the factory, adding them to cars that didn’t have them doesn’t work at all for me. Some of you may like that look?

Here’s the engine, and it sure looks comfortable. Sorry, I couldn’t resist, I mean, it’s not that hard to pop the hood and get a quick photo, but Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace sellers are notorious for not showing engine photos. This one is said to be Ford’s 400-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had 171 horsepower and 314 lb-ft of torque when new. A 351 was standard. The transmission should be a three-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels, and speaking of the wheels, they’re just two years old, and this car runs “excellent.” Hagerty is at $9,100 for a #3 good-condition car and $13,600 for a #2 excellent car, so this appears to be a steal at just $6,000. Any thoughts on this one, as far as this being a factory Galaxie 500 color according to the ’73 Ford Colors brochure, or the asking price?

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Comments

  1. DriveinstileMember

    Nice full sized Ford. The first thing I have to admit I thought of was a fire chiefs car. But I think it would have been a 4 door or a wagon. Great shade of red on this one. Whether its original or not. Scotty I’m with you on fender skirts. I like them, especially on cars that were designed to have them. The skirts on this one, I’m kind of on the fence with. Either way, this looks like a solid old Ford ready to be enjoyed.

    Like 7
    • Jon Rukavina

      I’m with you and Scotty on the skirts. They look like they came off a Mercury Marquis and maybe they can interchange. These are almost as bad as the ones I’ve seen on early 90s Buicks.
      If this car lived in St. Paul its whole life, it’s mandatory to give it a good check for rust.
      My Dad had a ’73 for awhile that I thought handled terribly.
      This is a pretty basic Galaxie with AM radio, no a/c, etc.

      Like 2
    • Jon Rukavina

      Thus the 3rd time to post. GRRR.
      I agree on the skirts. Don’t belong on the car. They look like they came off a Mercury Marquis! Remind me of ones I’ve seen on early 90s Buicks. EWW!
      If ths car lived its life in St. Paul, a mandatory inspection for rust is required.
      My Dad had a ’73 for awhile which I thought handled terribly.
      Pretty basic car with no stereo, and no a/c, although like my Dad used to say living in N. Mn., ” we don’t need that (a/c) around here.” Lol!

      Hey Scotty, I thought you lived in
      Joisey. I’ll buy you a Caribou or other coffee if you’re interested.

      Like 1
  2. Atwood203

    A Marti report would reveal if this car had been special ordered with this color or not. I have saw a report or two that listed special order color. Sometimes a few FoMoCo vehicles were done that way outside of some non standard colors available such as fleet orders.
    If it is original, the breakdown on the report would give how rare it would be in comparison to the many thousands of full sized Fords built that year.
    And as much as I like the look of the vinyl tops that were so prevalent during the 70’s, this one (which would be sweet with a white one on it) has benefited from any rust problems that were common to having that option once the vehicle was several years old.

    Like 7
    • GarryM

      Several years ago I appraised at mid-Seventies Custom 500 painted in a special colour for a major oil patch contractor. As a result, there was no colour code on the pillar sticker. The owner had no clue, he simply bought the car from a neighbour. The neighbour was employed by the contractor and it was his executive car. Never left the pavement unlike some of the Customs in the fleet.

      Like 5
      • Bob_in_TNMember

        Garry, your observation is correct. In the 70’s the field operation supervisors often drove cars, which as you can imagine were terribly abused. While the office and more senior managers drove similar cars, which never went to the field.

        Like 3
      • DriveinstileMember

        Thats really something else. I never knew that about the bumper fillers!! I didn’t even notice it until you mentioned that Gary. Thank you, I always say I’m learning something new on here every day.

        Like 2
  3. Anonymous1

    Nice old standard ford. The red and beige is a sharp combination, if unusual on a Ford full-size.

    Somewhere in the murky depths of my mind, I remember reading that Fords of this era with special order paint would not come with matching bumper sight shields. That the front’s is silver leads me to think this is one of them.

    Anybody else remember that?

    Like 4
    • Anonymous1

      Whoops. I take that back. The dome light switch in the door jamb is red on the driver’s side, partially oversprayed on the passenger side. I think it’s a repaint. Still doesn’t explain the silver bumper shields though.

      Like 3
      • Scotty GilbertsonAuthor

        Wow, good catch on the painted dome light switch on the driver’s side! I didn’t even notice that!

        I wonder if the bumper filler material is replacement material that wasn’t painted yet? That’d be my guess. Thanks for catching both of those. I missed them both! It also looks like the passenger door is a hair darker than the right quarter or right fender. This car is pretty close to me, I should check it out in person.

        Like 2
      • Scotty GilbertsonAuthor

        Here’s a close-up of the driver’s door. It appears to have overspray in a few spots. In any case, I love this red color, and it’s probably a Ford red, so all is well.

        Like 2
      • Anonymous1

        Ah, I see why you mean. And I agree, it’s red, it’s likely a Ford color, and maybe it was special ordered and resprayed in that color, but in any case it’s a nice car. I like it too – these Fords were solid cars.

        Like 0
    • John D

      I do remember something like that and have see maybe 2 with that silver/argent bumper filler. This one would need an in person look to determine if this was a color change paint job or a really nice repaint. I wouldn’t think someone would leave the filler and color change the rest of the car but who knows. Bright red is not my favorite but it doesn’t look that bad on this car, thankfully no vinyl top! I would loose the fender skirts for sure, I only like them when the car was designed by the factory for them otherwise they look out of place. This would make a nice cruiser , would have to add ac though.

      Like 1
    • Bob_in_TNMember

      Wow— your comment brought back the same recollection about the bumper filler being silver for all special order colors.

      Like 2
  4. Fox owner

    This looks darn close to the Thunderbird that year. Very nice but yeah, a lot of time spent in gas stations. A good candidate for a 3.5 liter eco boost swap.

    Like 2
    • Fox owner

      Wait did I say eco boost? I meant Coyote. Don’t listen to me.

      Like 3
  5. GarryM

    This generation of full-size Ford was such a pig back in the day. I had a used Custom 500 ex-RCMP highway patrol car with the 460 V8. Great on the open road between gas stations.

    If someone offered me the red Galaxie, I’d take it in a heartbeat. It’s just so mid-Seventies.

    Like 3
  6. Larry G

    Very nice car! I seem to remember that the grill on those was in three pcs. This one may be a custom grill .

    Like 1
    • John D

      Larry the LTD had the 3 piece grill, galaxies and customs had this one piece grill. Remember back then you could have bought an LTD with no fancy options or loaded up a galaxie or custom with all the toys.

      Like 1
      • Nelson C

        The same theme as the Torino/Gran Torino grilles. The premium trim got the segmented grille. Color resembles the lipstick red that would appear on T-birds. I love this big basic 2dr hardtop.

        Like 1
  7. AzzurraMember

    I guess put me in the minority but the red color just looks all wrong! There’s a reason Ford didn’t offer that color on the Galaxie that year. And that reason is that it looks way too loud for a sedate Ford.

    Like 1
    • John D

      Azzurra I agree on the red, I’m not a big red fan in general, it doesn’t look terrible on this but I sure wouldn’t have chosen it either. That said it’s appears to be really clean and for 6k if it passed an in person inspection I’d drive it. Heck you can barely by some parts cars for the price of this Galaxie

      Like 2
  8. DatsunDanMember

    If it runs drives and stops as it should, this is a good deal. Show up with $5000 and its yours. Looks lightly optioned with crank windows and base radio. 12mpg but at this price? Who cares? I might buy it!

    Like 3
  9. hatofpork

    Those fender skirts are probably a nod to the “diamond in the back” era-totally not adding anything. Big Fords of this era, if I recall correctly, weren’t noted for their handling prowess….GLWA

    Like 0
  10. Scotty GilbertsonAuthor

    Listing update: someone grabbed this great-looking car, the listing is gone. Bummer.

    Like 0

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