Our Buckeye State Barn Finder Ted may have just found something to keep all the Ford fans on the site awake tonight. Not only is it a 1961 Galaxie Starliner, which was a beautiful car straight from Ford Motor Company’s assembly plants, but it is also tastefully customized and modified with some of the best parts that Ford had to offer. The only botch in the work (to a Ford fan only) may be the color: It looks an awful lot like GM’s beautiful 1965 purple, called “Evening Orchid” in Chevrolet’s parlance, “Iris Mist” in Pontiac’s. Only the most true blue Blue Oval fan would hold that against what looks to be a wonderful restoration that is currently 25 years old and still looking great. Ted found the Galaxie on Marketplace in Medina, Ohio, with an asking price of $37,500.
An original 390 car, this Galaxie now has a “Center-Oiler” 427 block with a 428 crankshaft. The 428 had a 3.98-inch stroke compared to the 427’s 3.78 inches, which means that the big FE now displaces about 454 cubic inches (depending on bore size). It also has a pair of aluminum cylinder heads (brand unspecified), a Comp solid roller camshaft, and a factory dual-quad intake with two Quick Fuel carburetors (although they look like Holleys with Quick Fuel secondary vacuum diaphragms to me). With factory 427 exhaust manifolds (in cast iron) and Flowmasters, I can’t even begin to imagine how mean this big Ford sounds.
The interior has also been completely restored with a “full reproduction interior,” a powdercoated dashboard (!), and even a ’60s aftermarket tach on the steering column. The transmission is a rebuilt Cruise-O-Matic (no comment if that means a cast-iron Cruise-O-Matic or something like a C6).
All that FE power is directed to a 4.11-geared 9-inch differential, which will certainly assist you in getting a hole shot on your buddies. Although the car was the recipient of a “body-off” restoration that was completed in 2000, it’s been driven very little since and has obviously been stored with care. It did have some metal repair to the “lower quarters and trunk floor” during a prior restoration, but it was done well enough that it’s still holding up. The “chrome has been redone” and “the stainless trim has been straightened and polished.”
To me, this looks like a perfect mid-1960s street machine with a subtle rake, a cool custom (perhaps GM) color, Torq-Thrust mags, whitewalls, and a white roof. With a little extra muscle under the hood, you’ll cut a dashing figure at your local car events or anywhere you happen to drive. The new owner may decide to swap those 4.11s out for a set of 3.50s for calmer cruising, but maybe that’s missing the point. Whatever your goal is in owning a Starliner, this is a Ford that fans of any brand can appreciate.
Wow. Fast Ford. Nice call on the gears ⚙️ Toth. If this baby was staying mostly in town close to home those 4.11s be a hoot. 🏁
Looks like the one they used in The Hollywood Knights with Tony Danza and Fran Descher. Great film with a lot of classic
cars and poor Dudley trying to figure out how to get laid. And if you like the oldies, the music track in this film is to die for.
But I seem to recall the 405HP 406 being the top engine you could get in a Ford for ’61 and ’62. And as for the tranny, gotta be a C-6. A C-4 wouldn’t hold up to the torque and pony
show that a 427 side oiler can dish out, let alone that fire breathing 406 I just mentioned. And if you could find it, you could also get a 401 HP 390 in ’60 and ’61. Just imagine what a ride this would be with a top loader 4-soeed and a posi rear. Instant rocket ship for sure. AMT made a 1/25th
scale model of this car when I was 13 or 14 years old and it was a convertible too. I need to find that kit again as it’s the only way I can afford something this nice.
You may already know this, Kenneth, but C4 and C6 are the first two letters of Ford’s part-numbering system, which means that they were introduced in 1964 and 1966 respectively. The 1961 models used a cast-iron transmission that was completely different from either of those and really wasn’t considered a performance transmission. Of course, the owner has done a lot of modifications, so who knows what’s in there.
Oh, the 406 was introduced in 1962, and it indeed had a 405-horsepower option (with three two-barrel carburetors). The top engine in 1961 was a 401-horsepower 390 (also with three two barrels).
According to your supposition that C4 and C6 are part numbers for the transmissions, they would not have been available for any early production vehicles. Late ‘63, or late ‘65. Also, the C3 transmission was introduced in the ‘70s, I believe; and the C5 was introduced in ‘82. How does that work?
Bunky, I found this from CarTech Books:
https://www.cartechbooks.com/blogs/techtips/fordc4c6transmissions?srsltid=AfmBOorksNujrfxwGuPJwIEdsNM5-wZ6x3xd4JGwKkCwuFLTVdeVIKh2
Ford can be inconsistent, just like almost everybody. Their numbering was based on model year, not month of introduction.
No 406 in ’61!
I’d lose the cheesy torque thrusts and set this thing on some chrome reverse wheels with spider caps for a period correct look.
That’s Rose Metallic,a genuine 1961 Ford Lincoln Mercury colour..as to whether it’s this car’s original colour or not?..who’s to say..it’s a masterpiece of car design and the colour looks great on it.
You think so, Rob? I know color chips can fade, but the examples I’ve seen are a little browner than this Galaxie.
https://www.autocolorlibrary.com/pages/1961-lincoln#parentHorizontalTab2
Steve Miller band – Mercury blues
Some stories remain strong, stop me if you heard this one,’61 Starliner fans might need a nip of courage,,late 80s, S.Central Wis. junkyard, an employee was on a forklift, stacking cars on a flatbed destined for the grinder. He would take the forks, and “skewer” the sides, picking the car up, and crushing the car below it on the trailer. I watched in horror, as his next “victim” was a white ’61 Starliner, no drivetrain, but not much wrong otherwise. He was just about to skewer it, I said, “WAIT”,,”What ?”, he said. That’s a ’61 Starliner, don’t crush it. He said, you want it or don’t you? I said, well, I don’t but someone will. He said, no time, and with that put the forks through the side, I couldn’t watch.
In another story, a guy I knew many years ago, had a ’61 Starliner stored at his grandfathers. He was given the car in HS, and never drove it. It sat for 30 years, sunk in the mud of the garage floor. One of Fords most beautiful designs.
Ah, the ’61 Starliner! My favorite of the big Fords. Not too far from me, and has all the “right stuff” on it! Sadly, I can’t swing that ask right now.
Nice car!
Could be wrong but seems to me the later 427 Galaxies had reinforced frame and suspension to handle all the power. This one might not.
Nice car, I think it may have an FMX or cruise O matic as they were known. Certainly can take a fair amount of abuse. This one is just way too pricey for this old junkman.
I personally think this is one of the sexiest designs to ever come out of Dearborn, maybe Detroit too. There’s a dark blue one that I see at some of the local events that’s amazing to see. I’d love to have this in my garage! I wonder if our HOA would let me extend it so that it would fit!🤣
What is the red thing in front of the differential?
it looks to me like the ring and pinion carrier.
Wonder how many teenagers you can fit in the trunk to sneak into the drive in theaters if they were still around.
My car club friends east of me said there are about 30 per state in NY, Pennsylvania, Ohio and a couple other states I forgot about. They make for a great meeting place for car club type gatherings though the old speaker on the window glass has been generally been replaced with a localized FM broadcast or even Bluetooth now for better sound inside the car.
This FoMoCo special would draw a crowd anywhere it goes IMHO. Nice work
There are 10 Drive- In Theaters still active in Ohio! My parents would take us kids, dressed in our pajamas; because we would all be asleep before the movie ended!
I remember some of the speakers, that you hooked onto to window, would have heaters built in for chilly night viewings! There was always an unfortunate driver who would drive off, breaking their window, due to forgetfulness!
This car is just drop dead beautiful!! I owned one of these in 62. First— No 406 in 61. The big engine was the 390 rated at 375 hp with a dealer installed tri power that came with the car in the trunk as an option. That pushed it to 401 hp. Thats what I had. All 375 hp cars came with a 3 speed on the collum until the end of the run when a very few got 4 speeds that they were gearing up for the 62 cars. At that time the 62 cars were 390 cars as the 406 was a mid-year option. As far as the suspension goes If the car listed had the 375 hp engine ,t had the heavy duty suspension with 15 inch wheels, big breaks and a huge sway bar.
absolutely beautifull 🤩😍
Awesome car! I’m not a fan of the color, however. If it’s the original color, that would be a conundrum.
I am amazed there no 1/18 dicast of the 61 Starliner. the best looking on the road in 61!
Just my thoughts, while putting a 428 crank in a in a 427 block will work, the 427 crank is forged steel, while the 428 crank is nodular cast iron, which is inherently weaker. Also, with the longer stroke, you loose some high RPM ability. I’d much rather give up a few cubic inches, and have a stronger bottom end, than take a chance on destroying a good engine with a crankshaft failure. The cast iron Cruise-O-Matic transmission was never designed to handle the power of a built 427. A far better choice would have been a C-6 transmission. The C-4 transmission was designed for 6 cylinder, and small V-8’s. The C-4 came out in 1964, while the C-6 came out in 1966 for the big block FE engine series. I really don’t know why people are afraid to run taller gears on the street. Any engine that is correctly built, should be able to run at 3500-4000 RPM all day long, without any problems. However, the result would be lower gas mileage. People thought that I was crazy running 5.14 gears with a built 8-V 289 and C-4 on the street, but I could get around 12-14 MPG overall. It was like a rabbit out of the hole! Remember, performance or economy: choose one! For those who want the best of both worlds, Gear Vendors ( gearvendors.com ) is an overdrive unit that fits in the drive line, and greatly reduce engine RPM when on the just cruising on the street. Also, the was a unit called Hone-O-Drive, which was the same idea, but I think that they are out of business, but I have seen them on ebay, and other sites, occasionally.
I’m a GM man but that Ford has very nice body lines
I’m not a Ford guy per se, but always liked the Starliner, this one is sweet! I noticed the stock high beams were replaced with aircraft landing lights, just like I did in the late 60’s. I have them in two of my current cars as well. I had some Cibie driving lights on one of my Corvairs at the time, they were bright, but the landing lights made them look like parking lights. They have a cool look to them.