As if the Joshua Tree, California area wasn’t beautiful enough, this 1960 Ford Falcon lives there, adding to the beauty. I don’t know if I’ve seen a silver one before, especially one with wide white wall tires and full wheel covers. The seller says it was restored almost two decades ago. The seller has it posted here on craigslist. They’re asking $8,800 or best offer, here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
With an average of around 290 days of sunshine annually in Joshua Tree, CA, I’m already jealous, as where I live, there are fewer than 100 days where the sun comes out to play. No wonder I’m depressed all the time. Wait, did I just see that Joshua Tree only gets an average of around an inch of snow a year, and we get well over four feet? Now I’m really depressed.
Unfortunately, along with heat and sunshine goes paint (and skin) damage, and this restored Falcon is showing some aging over the last 19 years since it was restored. There appear to be some differences between some of the panels, and while I can’t imagine rust is an issue (they don’t mention rust in the listing), there is some rust on both bumpers, as seen here.
The interior looks surprisingly nice for a car that’s lived in the hot desert for a couple of decades, and the non-factory seating material looks great. For a car without air-conditioning, these lighter colors or tones are the best way to keep things at least somewhat tolerable. And, of course, put your windshield sunshade in every single time you park. We don’t get to see photos of the trunk or the underside, but what we do see looks pretty nice, and the back seat looks perfect. I don’t know where the restorer found that cool silver/gray brocade fabric, but I love it. They say this car was frame-off restored in 2006, and they speculate that it had some family significance; otherwise, why would someone put $30,000 (!) into restoring a six-cylinder four-door Falcon?
There’s the six, it’s Ford’s 144-cu.in. OHV inline-six with 90 horsepower and 134 lb-ft of torque. I’m assuming it was rebuilt during the restoration, but we don’t know for sure. One thing we do know is that the original owner paid an extra $159.40 for an automatic transmission. The seller says they bought this car for their daughter at an estate sale. They don’t say how it runs and drives, but they’ve been cruising it around town for a few years, and it’s just time to pass it on. Hagerty is at $5,900 for a #3 good car and $15,600 for a #2 excellent car. Given the work that needs to be done, what’s your offer on this Falcon?
The early Falcon, the definition of simplicity. This example has already been restored, but now twenty years later it looks like it could use Round 2. Why? A lower-quality restoration? Not pristine storage conditions? Or the basic passage of time? On the other hand, maybe just putter around town in it as-is.
Thanks Scotty.
Good question, Bob-what happened? But it would be a good one for grocery runs, a trip to see family in the next town over, and just a sunny Sunday afternoon putt. A little pricey for something that casual but every owner has their own unique parameters..
Thanks for the eyes on Rocco B. and to you Scotty for the pick.
My Uncle Ed had a ’60 Falcon that he bought new in a really
good looking Turquoise color.
We have a color slide of it & a small ski boat that he towed
up to Shasta Lake.I’ve thought that would be a great picture to
use on a Christmas card.
That would be a great picture for any occasion.
Cool car! You won’t be going anywhere fast though with the 144 cid six and two-speed automatic transmission. The claim in the ad that the car received a “frame off resto” is a bit odd seeing as how these are unibody cars. (Though possibly everything possible was removed for refurbishment.)
Quite a few years ago I drove through Joshua Tree National Park with a friend in his 1964 Rambler American, a car pretty much as basic as this one. Fortunately it was in the fall so temperature was mild. At least for those of us accustomed to the Northeast it’s like a different planet out there!
Went to Daytona Turkey run, saw more than once a sign on a car frame off restoration. Yep on a unibody car. They pay for the work and use the terms they have heard in the past. Clueless, I am glad they appreciate an older auto, but grease under the finger nail guys are disappearing.
I had a falcon like that out of 4 cars in our family it was the only one that started at 15 below zero
There’s really something charming about a car like this. Just so unpretentious and approachable. Of course, many wouldn’t be caught in such a basic vehicle. I would love to toodle around the area in this.
Overpriced for the amount of work the seller says it needs. There are a lot of other similar cars, 1960’s through 1980’s 4 doors, in better shape with more amenities for significantly less money that it’s competing with.
Steve R
They have “been cruising it around town.” What work does it need? Am I missing something? Beautiful car and perfect color.
It’s in the last line of his ad, paint, body and interior. It would be a good cruiser, at half the price.
Steve R
One of unsung heroes. Up there with the Model T, Model A, and ’49 Ford.
The Falcon was produced from 1959 to 1992, when it finished its run in Argentina.
It gave rise to the Mustang……and the Comet, Fairlane, Cougar, Maverick, another Comet, Granada, Monarch, and Versailles….and don’t forget, the one-year-only, Canada-only Frontenac!
Excellent point GeorgeB. Wonder what the engineers and designers working in 1957 on the upcoming Falcon would have thought if you told them the platform would still be in production decades later.
Thank you
I would put the Falcon up there with the 1949 Ford, the Mustang, and the Taurus as Ford’s most important post war products
Don’t forget that the conventional Falcon handily outsold both Chevrolet’s radical Corvair and Chrysler’s wacky Valiant
That is almost like the ’61 that I had. Except it was a white two-door with the hot rod 170 cid 6 cylinder.
I bought it from a family that was a good friend of my wife at the time. They had 4 girls and they passed the car from one to the other like hand me down clothes. When the youngest graduated from high school they didn’t have anyone to pass it down to so they sold it to me for $75 (actually $74.75 cuz that’s all the cash I had). Drove It for a few more years. It was like a tank in the snow. Loved the two-speed automatic transmission.