Rare Species: 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint V8

Written by

Rare birds can come in a few different forms, but this Falcon Sprint survivor is a real automotive treat. The “Sprint” Falcons are very rare as it is thought that only a little over 10,000 of these factory V8 cars were built. Stored for roughly 35 years, this Falcon is a nice driver, and a great piece of automotive history. Offered for $8,900, this Sprint is hard to ignore. Check it out here on ebay out of Bountiful, Utah.

At the heart of this small bird is a 260 Challenger V8 that offers 164 horsepower. The only thing that could make this car better is if it were a stick shift, but alas, it is an automatic. Described as a solid runner and driver, this Falcon is a sweet little ride. The engine compartment has some minor surface rust peppered throughout, but as a whole has little rust present. There are a few stray wires in the engine bay that appear to be new, possibly signifying that some wiring had to be reworked after this Birds long sleep. Many of the standard tune-up items look new, so I would hope that this Ford has been fine tooth comb’d during its awakening.

With some minor discoloration, the interior is very reasonable for a survivor. The carpet is a bit sun bleached, as are the seats and steering wheel. The biggest issue with the interior is the dash pad, which suffers from several cracks and a burnt UV exposure appearance. Although not the end of the world, this interior is in fair shape, and could certainly be improved upon.

The majority of what appears to be factory paint is in place, with only a few areas of concern to make mention of. Mostly rust free, this Falcon does have a couple of rot issues. First of all the driver rear quarter has a small missing area lost to rot, and there are some rust blisters that migrate up the wheel arch from the rotted area. Also the passenger side rocker area ahead of the rear wheel arch suffers from rust, and would almost seem to be an old repair spot, as it would seem that there is body filler in this location, or at least thick paint. The seller is providing patch panels with the car, and beyond those two areas, there appears to be little else on the exterior to mention. Paint is chipping off in various places, but most of the paint is in place. Scarce, rare, and V8 powered, have you seen one of these awesome Falcon Sprint’s before?

Comments

33 responses to “Rare Species: 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint V8”

Oct 18, 2017 3:06pm
68 custom
love these early Falcons and being a sprint only males it better but I agree it needs a stick shift for real fun. I am wary of the rust issues though and not sure if it is worth 9k as is? but a cool find regardless!
0
Reply
Oct 18, 2017 3:11pm
Phil
How I feel at this moment….
1
Reply
Oct 18, 2017 3:16pm
Dan

I passed over one couple of years ago and was a one-owner 4-speed for $4500………sigh….
0
Reply
Oct 18, 2017 4:18pm
Jay M
My parents bought one brand new when they got married in 63. Convertible, too.
Black with a white roof and a red interior.
Great wedding car.
They traded it for a Country Squire big block wagon when I came along a few years later…
0
Reply
1. Oct 19, 2017 3:42pm
  John Lissandrello
  This is my 63 Sprint Convertible just like you described. Where did your parents get theirs?
  1
  Reply
Oct 18, 2017 5:45pm
RayT

I can use the automatic transmission as an excuse not to get too excited about this. I’ve wanted a Sprint for more years than I care to remember and found a few that hadn’t been driven into the ground, but never pulled the trigger. Seeing this makes me wish I had.
It’s doubtful there are many people who would prefer a Sprint to an early Mustang, but (for entirely illogical reasons) I’m one!
1
Reply
1. Apr 21, 2019 11:59am
  Jim W.
  My first car in 1973 was a ’63 Falcon Sprint (all original, no rust, white with light gray/silver interior). It had a 260 V8 and automatic transmission.
  The owner wanted $150.00, but felt sorry for me. I got it for $125.00! I had it for five years and then sold it when I moved overseas for military service.
  For forty years I’ve wanted one another like it. Perhaps someday.
  0
  Reply
Oct 18, 2017 6:02pm
Kevin W
And to think it’s only 450 miles from me. If I wasn’t already knee deep in another project, and had the room, I’d be all over it. Great little cars, although the 4spd version would be nicer. The 260 never set the world on fire, but a hi-po 289 or 302 will bolt right in. Jay Leno has a gorgeous one, check it out sometime.
0
Reply
1. Oct 19, 2017 3:22pm
  philthyphil
  a 347 and t-5 will bolt right in
  0
  Reply
Oct 18, 2017 6:51pm
Mike Fagan
I picked up one for $100.00 when I got stationed at Ft. Hood, Tx. back in 1970 when I got back from SE Asia. really a fun car, good on gas and insurance, only had to do a major tune up after about 30 days of ownership, but it was a 6 cylinder, 4 speed convertible. Volunteered to go back and sold it 6 months later for $300.00. Been looking for an affordable one ever since. Guess I’m just a weird car guy, since I like them, Corvairs, Comets, and metropolitans, among others.
0
Reply
Oct 18, 2017 7:22pm
Loco Mikado
I had a 260 in ’63 Fairlane SW with a 3 spd on the floor and I never thought it was underpowered. Not a rubber burning pavement scorcher but perfectly good for normal driving. In fact I have driven a ’63 Galaxie with a 352 auto at the same time I owned my Fairlane and it felt slower than my Fairlane. It was owned by the same friend of mine who sold me the Fairlane for $65.00 with a bad transmission. I bought a used transmission with a floor shifter for $30.00 and I was good to go after swapping out transmissions and cutting a hole for the floor shifter. I can testify that the automatic drags down the performance of the little 260, I also a ’62 Mercury Comet with a 260 and auto before my Fairlane SW and it definitely slower.
0
Reply
1. Oct 19, 2017 7:34am
  LAB3
  The 62 Comet is a neat car, one of my favorites.
  0
  Reply
  1. Oct 19, 2017 8:17am
    Steve
    A few years ago I picked up a 62 Mercury S22 at a local wrecking yard. They have an ad locally that they buy old, abandoned, etc. They put any collectibles, vintage, etc aside. (Interesting note is they sold me the car with no title, bill of sale only.) The car had been wrecked on the right front corner and needed a passenger fender, gill and bumper. I also had to pull out the front apron some. They did not have keys for it but the engine (unfortunately only a little 6 cylinder (190 cu. in?)) would turn over by hand. The gas tank had a drain plug and had been drained. I bought it for $400, put another $400-$500 in it, another $400 for a bonded title. It was ocean green metallic, IIRC. clean little car, no rust, decent paint, interior had been redone, bucket seats, console, 3 ott, air even blew cold! I found out why the car was wrecked soon after getting it running. No leaking brake cylinders, but all of the adjusters were frozen up and the right front would lock up before the left. Must have pointed them right at an immovable object! If it would have had a v8 and a four speed I probably would have kept it. 6 cyl and 3ott made it pretty unexciting. Finding parts was not easy. I found a bumper locally, but the fender and pristine grill came from Desert Valley Auto Parts. (They even tried to sell me a nice 62 Comet Convertible, don’t recall if it was an S22 or not… I passed and after not being able to sell the S22 for $2k, I traded it to a guy for a 1967 Massey Ferguson 2200 Industrial tractor with a Perkins diesel, front loader and box blade. I think I came out OK. I ran across it several times a while back, with a “FOR SALE $6,000” sign. Yeaaa…
    0
Oct 18, 2017 8:21pm
Joe Howell
My “cool” aunt Margie bought a new one in 63, a convertible, red with a white top and 3 on the tree. Later she traded it for a new 68 Rally Sport Camaro. I remember the build quality on the Camaro was bad with poor panel gaps. I used to wash and wax them both for her so I knew them well.
0
Reply
Oct 18, 2017 10:36pm
Warren
Interesting exhaust plumbing coming off the engine.
0
Reply
1. Oct 20, 2017 8:40am
  CATHOUSE
  I wonder how both pipes are connected to the manifolds?
  0
  Reply
Oct 19, 2017 2:50pm
RicK
I was already a car freak at the age of 6 when the next door neighbor brought home a brand new falcon Sprint 4 speed in spring of ’63, was vintage burgundy in color, anyhow he immediately put dual glass packs and chrome reverse wheels w/ baby moons (wheel like that were extremely uncommon in my neighborhood back in those days) anyhow he was quick to point out that the Sprint is a ’63 1/2 model, not a ’63. I still vividly remember how cool I thought it was. The neighbor ran with the wrong crowd however, and got arrested for stealing furniture and got locked up in the klink for 9 months and while he was gone the bank came and took the Sprint. But he redeemed himself in my eyesa couple of years later when bought a new Chevy II L79 4 speed, turned that into a race car that ran in the high 11s, which was really fast for a street car back in 1966. Nowadays its different, I’ve seen full size bone stock Audi sedans run in the 11s . . .
0
Reply
1. Oct 19, 2017 4:28pm
  Kevin W
  There is no such thing as a “half” model year. It’s just a way distinguishing models that came out at mid-year. Just like there’s no such thing as a 64 1/2 Mustang, they were simply early 65s. You will never see a title or registration that says 63 1/2 or 64 1/2.
  1
  Reply
Oct 19, 2017 3:13pm
craig m bryda
A guy in High School had a ’64 Sprint. 260 4 speed. I had weekly drag races with him in my ’64 Dart GT, Convertable 273 V8, Torqueflite. We took turns winning. Later on a friend of mine bought a new ’65 289 4 Spdarint. He would call out G T O ‘s and sometimes beat em. The gooood old days.
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 3:17pm
craig m bryda
uberA guy in High School had a ’64 Sprint. 260 4 speed. I had weekly drag races with him in my ’64 Dart GT, Convertable 273 V8, Torqueflite. We took turns winning. Later on a friend of mine bought a new ’65 289 Sprint. 4 speed. He would call out G T O ‘s and sometimes beat em. The gooood old days.
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 3:46pm
Chuck Simons
I had a 64. Loved that car, so did the cops. I almost jumped till I started seeing all that rust.
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 3:51pm
Peter Hollinshead
Add a Rallye Monte Carlo plate and the roof-mounted spotlight over the center of the windshield – and Jo Bonnier lives!
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 4:24pm
Vintageant
10,000 built – ‘very rare’ Ha-ha!
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 7:13pm
steve stevens
Such a shame that this vehicles owner or owners let it get in such bad shape…..this is a jewel and should have been taken care of as such….BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS…….Not worth the BUY IT NOW PRICE……too much money to be spent to make it like show room…..
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 8:31pm
lawrence
Rare as in not many around or left – original knocks those left in half….last one I had was a i – owner convert – automatic – if it had three pedals it would have stayed….like….
0
Reply
Oct 19, 2017 10:33pm
Reid Hall
My Dad had one of these, his was a 64 convertiable,edition, and pretty sure it wasn’t a sprint, but it had a similar factory engine and trans.setup. lt was factory white on black and believe automatic .Like the car pictured it needed some work. One thing to consider the car pictured seems to be a repainted rust bucket to me.Most of the time a car exterior body of this condition, has to be stripped down, sandblasted, pictures kinda look bad to ,and interior needs completely redone. Also rare ,but not ultra rare.
0
Reply
Oct 20, 2017 12:57am
Randy
They make Nice Gasser’s also
Lol
0
Reply
Oct 20, 2017 1:39am
Mike W H

Also welcome at any old Mustang shows….they recognize that the platform is the same.
0
Reply
Oct 20, 2017 3:04am
Bob
Saw this one at Lime Rock a few years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQE5yk4aQU&feature=em-upload_owner
0
Reply
Oct 20, 2017 9:37am
al leonard
video unavailable….:<(
0
Reply
Oct 20, 2017 9:53am
Marauder
Bountiful Utah has harsh winters with lots of snow. Double check for hidden rust. Otherwise, great classic even with an automatic.
0
Reply
1. Oct 20, 2017 10:17am
  Jesse Mortensen
  It’s not the snow that’s the problem. It’s the salt they use on the roads. Many of the cars I have looked at from down there have had serious rust problems.
  1
  Reply
  1. Oct 20, 2017 10:40am
    Kevin W
    It’s not only what they put on the roads, it’s a salty environment. They don’t call it Salt Lake for nothing
    0