With the continued migration to Suburbia, smaller cars came into favor in the late 1950s. Studebaker and American Motors got there first, but Ford made the biggest statement in 1960 by rolling out the Falcon. The unibody small car found 435,000 buyers in its first year, and another 2.2 million by the end of the decade. The seller’s 1960 Falcon 2-door sedan has a ton of new parts to go along with its rebuilt engine. So perhaps the auto’s cosmetics are next up. Located in Yakima, Washington, this wannabe VW Beetle-killer is available here on craigslist for $4,500.
The standard engine in a 1960 Falcon was a 144 cubic inch inline-6, hardly a barn burner, but easy on gas. Many of them were sold with a “3-on-the-tree” manual transmission. We don’t know if the seller’s car has the 144 or the optional 170 (or something else), and it has an automatic transmission (2-speed Ford-O-Matic?). Much of the seller’s asking price is likely tied to all the other new parts and the motor.
New to the Ford are the carburetor, brakes, starter, fuel pump, exhaust, and various odds and ends. 13-inch wheels were standard on the Falcon, but this one has 14-inch rims with new tires (wonder if the wheel pattern was upgraded from four lugs to five?). About 40% of first-year Falcons were basic 2-door sedans like this one. We’re told the seats and door panels have been redone, but the limited choice of photos does not help.
The seller reports that the overall condition of the vehicle is good. We can tell the paint has run its course, but what about the body? Corrosion plagued these early unibodies. The odometer reads 15,000 on this Ford, so we’re guessing that a “1” goes in front of the 15. If it were not for the Ford Falcon, there never would have been a Mustang “pony car.” Which ironically put a crimp in Falcon sales in the late 1960s. A nod goes to “Curvette” for yet another tip.
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