Back before vehicles had too much technology, too many screens, and a dangerous amount of distractions, came this 1963 Ford Falcon 2-Door Sedan. This car is from a simpler time – Cold War and ducking/covering, notwithstanding. This Falcon is as simple as it gets, and it’s posted here on craigslist in Yakima, Washington, and they’re asking $5,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
This car is so simple that it doesn’t even have the new-for-’63 optional backup lights. No backup lights, no right side mirror, ahhh… I’m romanticizing the era of simple vehicles too much; I don’t know if I could go back to daily-driving a car like this Falcon as much as I fantasize about the good ol’ days. Maybe if everyone else had vehicles like this and no smartphones, but not in today’s world.
The backup lights would have been in the center of those jet-age taillight lenses. The rear bumper looks like a former owner could have used backup lights rather than backing up in the dark by feel, as when they hit the brick wall. This car needs a lot of work if you want a jewel box, but maybe there are buyers out there who want a simple car, one that was found in a field and has been brought back to life.
Those seat covers aren’t original, but they look nice, at least until someone takes the interior to another level. The first-generation Ford Falcon was made from late 1959 for the 1960 model year until the end of 1963, and then it lost its classic roundness. Make mine a ’60-’63 every time, no matter the trim level or body style. The seller found this car in the “weeds” a little over a year ago and replaced the front floor boards, the gas tank, seats, new carpet kit, fuel pump, fan belt, carburetor, battery, and cables. The trunk looks good from what we can see, and there’s the new gas tank.
The seller thinks this is the original engine, and they list it as a 144-cu.in. OHV inline-six with 85 horsepower and 138 lb-ft of torque. With a three-speed manual on the column, this would be a fun car to own for neighborhood errands, but may not make sense to restore it, since it isn’t a Futura model with a V8. Would any of you drive a car like this basic Falcon on a daily basis?
Scotty, the theme of your write-up hit the nail on the head for what I think of when I see an early Falcon: how simple they are. Almost excruciatingly so. It might be an interesting exercise to list out the mechanical, electrical, and technological items on current cars that this Falcon doesn’t have.
This one isn’t bad. Sounds like the current owner has done enough work to make it drive-able and respectable. Three on the tree is fine with me. Red wheels on the left and white wheels on the right. Lots of these were in my small blue collar town when I was a kid.
I like it. I’ve always liked the style of the early 60’s Falcons and also Rancheros too. The red is a nice change of pace too. And I think the original dealer emblem is on the trunk. ( If I did restore and paint it, I would put it back on.) Small 6 and a 3 on the tree is perfect for this one. As for the lack of mirror on the passenger side, I think many of us remember Mom or Dad flinging their head to look to the right real quick for traffic before changing lanes. Heck, our ’70 Olds Ninety Eight didn’t even have a passenger side mirror. It just was a different time. I think they did a nice balanced job on this one. Got it out of the weeds. Got it running and driving, and even though it’s not original, the seat cover looks nice. In the late 80’s there was a teacher in my H.S. that had a black 2 door. Much like this one. He drove it everywhere. Always saw him smiling. I know its an economy car but the early Falcons always looked classy to me, just look at the hood. They could have left it plain and flat, but they didn’t.
These are excellent little cars, they were built for one reason, transportation. You could opt for a radio or even an automatic transmission, but not much else as I don’t remember seeing them many other ways. Wasn’t till they got a V8 that power steering was added. No there is not a padded dash, airbags or auto braking! You had to drive this car. Those days are gone with the amount of distracted drivers out there now be careful in this little jewel. I am sure it can produce some smiles per mile.
A car you can work on with a leatherman!. I love it – you don’t see them often wearing what looks to be the original Ragoon Red. fair price I say.
What a wonderful gettin’ around town rig! I live in a mostly rural area where limits rarely go above 35 or 40, and this would be wonderful for heading to the store, out for a beer, or just puttering about. Unfortunately, I’m already maxxed for projects : ( Good on the seller for saving this and congrats to the lucky buyer
Tip of the day: If you tell the wife you want another project and she says “I don’t want the driveway looking like a used car lot!” the correct response is NOT “Well, the car will be on blocks for a while, so it’ll look more like a salvage yard.”
you don’t need a tool box – just a leatherman. Looks like the original Ragoon Red – love this car despite the 144cui turd.
This is actually a cute one. The insides looks nice and with minor work as in repaint the panel under the trunk and a new bumper in the rear and a.rechroming of the front one would spiff it up nicely without making it a ” i don’t wan’t to drive it it’s to nice “. The engine bay is worth a week-end of decent work to be nice. It’s as basic as it get’s with manual everything and three on the tree, probably has a manual choke also. Would almost be scary to take it out on the highway.with almost 85 ponies under the hood but lets remember this was probably the family car that did all then grocery getting, off to work and trip to grandma back then if it survived that era it can now also.
I can just see grandma driving this to church in her Sunday best and pillbox hat. She would have liked the size and racy red paint and would have granny shifted it all over town.
Perfect sleeper dream car
Drop a tune 289 in it
I would absolutely daily this fine Falcon. I learned to drive in a 61 four door Falcon, and changed the oil and valve cover gasket. Bought for $100 cash money in 1989, I was 14.
That’s a nice little car, for sure. I’d drive it as is.
Bought a 1960 in 1964 for $300.00. Same engine but with 2-speed automatic. car ran great but could not pull the lid off a milk bottle. Drove it until 1969 with one job of installing new rings. Engine drank oil. Drove it to collage 600 miles away 3 others with luggage for 4 years. like ie so much I bought a 1965 falcon in 1970. It was a 289 2V with a 4-speed. what a difference the 1965 was fast.
Honest, no-frills machine. And look at the competition- funky-style Valiant, 6-cyl. VW-ish Corvair, the VeeDub itself. All were way off what Yanks were accustomed to in styling and engineering. It’s no wonder why Ford sold boxloads of ’em.
Got a sneak peek when I saw the first one roll off the truck at Westwood (NJ) Ford just prior to being stashed behind papered over showroom windows.
Already gone
I had a 1962 Falcon salesmans car. It was a complete stripped model, no back up lights, heater, defrosted, carpets!?, it had rubber mats, lol. The front and rear floorboards were entirely rusted out, it went about 55mph on a good day, but handled like a slot car. Being a salesmans car, it had signs painted on the doors, so we sanded them off and spray can painted the doors a Canary Yellow. It was known as the car with the bright yellow doors! LOL For as much of a POS as it was, I really enjoyed it.
I never worried about any bumps or bruises.
My first car … similar, a 62? First loves the best? So began my interest in automobiles and motors. I took the engine apart, barely understanding the principle of the four stroke principle.
Despite our administrations claim to the contrary, it is hard for someone making $20 per hour to afford a new car to support the USA manufacturing.
The falcon was made to appeal to low-ish income people back when car loans required 20% down and only financed for 3 years.
I wonder…. If Ford or GM or what is left of Chrysler were to announce a model that looked like the last 63 falcon, it had an overbuilt full frame (collapsible on severe impact) body on frame, airbags all around, stick shift or auto, maybe a streaming radio — otherwise stripped down with only the Engine control module and sensors, one engine choice, super soft suspension and some kind of new tech to soundproof it, and announce that they don’t plan on changing much ever … that is, announce the USA version of a beetle … would us low income people buy a stripped down model that was safe and quiet? (Or pitch another model like say a 61 Chevy get the same treatment)
New cars are out of reach for most people and manufacturers have now introduced plastic engine parts and gizmo’s designed to fail at warranty-end installed in nearly imposssible to fix locations with incredibly complex interconnectivity. New cars are fabulous during warranty but as soon as paid off they become unreliable and break with incredibly expensive repairs needed.
A 2026 Falcon, (or 2026 Ford galaxy) shaped like the 1963 models… could a stripped down model be manufactured to be both profitable and affordable for those who now earn only $15-$20 per hour? Der peeples kar … only bigger, quieter, simpler, under powered. a cult car?
Anyway, my thrill of ownership and excitement of driving my 61 (?) falcon was never exceeded. Entry level cars like my Cruze, Chrysler 200, Ford fiesta … although much nicer, they all are built to self-destruct.
Proof? This falcon runs good as new 65 years later!!!!
Rambler American was very similar to the Falcon. It also was bare bones basic.
Actually the Rambler American of the early 1960s was even cruder than this Falcon since it was actually a warmed-over 1950 Nash Rambler, complete with flathead engine and trunnion front suspension.
I’m from Yakima, haven’t seen this car though. I’ve driven a lot of miles in Falcons and Comets. Rode in them before I could drive. My sister bought a 2 year old Comet in ‘63. 65 mph was top speed on the flat when it was warmed up. Freeways were 70 mph, so the pedal was to the metal much of the time. Mom had a nice ‘58 Caddy to drive- but she’d borrow the Comet because she liked driving it. 🤷♂️
This car should be a lot of fun for someone. Daily driver- you betcha.
Yes. In a heartbeat.
At least long enough to sort out a mild 289 4spd swap including the necessary hardware upgrades.
No resto, just a simple upgraded daily driver.
Nice and basic 6 cylinder with a anti theft device 3 on the tree!!
When I was in HS – about the same time the Falcons were new cars, I worked for a drug store, and one of the things I did was deliver prescriptions in the store’s white ’63 Falcon station wagon – with this same size engine and 3 on the tree. That car was as bare bones simple as a car can get – not even a radio. It had the mandatory speedometer and fuel gauge, and I was surprised it actually had a water temp gauge with the rest being idiot lights. — The small 6 cyl engine and 3 speed standard tranny were well matched to have no problem moving that lightweight little wagon down the road.
It literally felt like driving a tin-can as every jolt and sound of the wheels going over rough streets and alleys transferred directly into the interior, which made me realize a radio would be useless.- The bare bones front and back bench seats were just a notch above the wooden seat of a horse-drawn wagon, but they got the job done too. By comparison; it made my ’57 Pontiac Chieftain feel like a powerful luxury tank.
I really enjoyed driving that stretched white tin can – and admired the design as it was just so perfectly utilitarian – all work – no frills – and when I first started driving it, I thought the fuel gauge was broken as I’d drive it for hours doing deliveries and the gauge would barely move – really good gas mileage.
The photos of its simple tinker-toy dash, those bare-minimum bench seats, and that simple rounded body really takes me back to those great days. — We really need something like the 60’s Falcon today – all work – no pampering – at a price anyone could afford.
As a carless 18 year old, I picked up a ’63 Falcon convertible with a 260 V-8 in 1968. It needed some TLC, but it ran great, I still miss that car to this day. It lasted for about 5 years. Had a drunk driver come around a corner on my side of the road and hit it just behind the drivers door. It peeled the body open to almost the taillight. So ended it’s life, sadly. Just too much damage to fix.
Neat little car! The only change I’d make would be a dual master cylinder. Otherwise, drive it and love it!
As an FYI, The back up light option was first offered in 1962, per the Ford Falcon brochure.
But that option, just like an outside mirror, a heater, a radio, windshield washers, everything was an option. In a way, I miss that. Cars today are equipped with heavily laden packages of options many buyers would not opt for nor need. It serves as a huge money maker for the auto companies. It is frustrating and costly when one wants for example, heated seats but that option requires the optional sunroof package to be added. Ludicrous
Late to the thread.
I have two seasonal cars, including a ’61 Falcon fordoor with the deluxe exterior trim and a padded dash pad. In season this is one of three dailys and typically sees a 50 mile round trip including freeway. Currently at 292k miles.
I started driving this car with my learners permit in ’74 – was the family car with about 100k miles and became the hand-me-down. Over the years, I have upgraded to a tandem MC, 200 cid to replace the 170 Special (according to the air cleaner label), 2bl Weber carb, underdash A/C, custom interior with buckets and custom 15×6 steelies that accept the original dog dish hubcaps.