Ford debuted the Galaxie 500XL line in 1962. The best way to describe the car would be to say it was the Ford equivalent of Chevrolet’s Impala Super Sport, which took the market by storm that same year. The 1963 full-size Fords were a styling evolution of the ‘62s and may have been the best-looking of these cars over the entire decade (IMO). Ford built nearly 95,000 500XLs in 1963 compared to 153,000 Chevy Impala SS models, so the Chevy domination continued.
One thing the Galaxie 500XL offered that the Chevy Impala SS did not was a 4-door hardtop. Otherwise, they were evenly matched with 2-door hardtops and convertibles. The seller’s ’63 drop-top is one of 18,500 built in 1963, but you seldom see them anymore as most have already gone on to that great junkyard in the sky. Though the red paint on the seller’s Ford is a tad faded (per the seller), there is no rust, and it presents well at 20 feet. We assume there are bucket seats for the passengers, but no photos are offered of the interior.
With a 390 cubic inch V8, the XL should get up and move. We assume it has an automatic transmission and the steering, brakes, and windows are all power-assisted. The seller says the Galaxie runs and drives quite well, so it should be turn-key ready for your own adventures. The tires, top, and seat covers have all been replaced in the last couple of years. As an interesting point, this Ford was built in Canada, so the VIN is different than the ones you’d find on U.S. editions.
Though the car resides in Kokomo, Indiana now, it spent much of its life “north of the border”. Not shown in the photos are a set of fender skirts for the rear that will come with the deal along with a boot for the convertible top. It’s being offered here on eBay where the current bid is $15,000, but you’ll have to do better than that to crack the reserve.
What a beautiful survivor car!
Looks similar to the convertible in the opening credits of Hazel. Various Ford product sprinkled through the episodes. I watch way to many re-runs.
+10 for a Hazel reference!
Andy Griffith show used all fords too
Unfortunately Andy Griffith had bare bones stripper 4 door sedans, not a gorgeous red convertible.
Better written scripts,and acting than today. So don’t feel guilty. I love the car though, would make a great cruiser.
Nice car. The 500 XLs ended my drag racing by being put into the same class as our Olds powered ’40 Ford. They were flat out fast.
Were the station wagons Galexies ? My dad traded in a 59′ Ford wagon for a new 63′.Same front and rear.
Well Mr. Dixon I disagree with you, for me the 63 and 64 models were far better looking than the 62. Back in the late 60’s& early 70’s I owned several of them. In those days they were $100.00 used cars. Even less for a beater, but you could buy a nice one for a weeks pay check. Now in these present days of my retirement age, there are no more weekly paychecks and you certainly can’t buy a nice one on even a months retirement allotment. For me anyhow, would be more like 6 months income if I didn’t eat or pay any other bills. Not that I’m complaining, I should have died years ago by the way I lived my life. And I do have my 64 Buick Riviera to play with.
God Bless America
Why assume it has bucket seats? My first car was a ’63 Galaxy convertible, 390& automatic, bench seat
The “500XL” models included bucket seats, David. I ordered a ’64 red ragtop 500XL with a black interior and a 352 up front. I bought it because it was the first full-sized (and great-lookin’) convertible with a glass rear window. The first thing I did when I finally got it was to replace the stock mufflers with glasspacks. I left the little resonators under the back bumper to preserve that little bit of extra character…
early muscle w/’57 Chrysler 300, the cheb a few pic over (’64?), thunderbolt, etc. All fine rigs but archaic compared to today… Still, I like seein them, thnx!
Russ,
You really don’t like Fords, do you?
I have one of these that I restored. Triple black 1963 ford Galaxie 500 XL 4 speed convertible. I live in Canada and mine was built in Oakville too. There were many more US cars built like this then there were in Canada. In 1962 there were only 1,900 Galaxie 500XL convertibles built and I imagine that number wasn’t too far off for the 1963 year. These Canadian models are true survivors given the amount produced.