In the 1960s, Ford and Chevrolet competed head-to-head on almost every level. Ford’s Galaxie 500 was the equivalent of Chevy’s full-size Impala. And the Galaxie 500XL was akin to the Impala Super Sport. Galaxie 500 convertibles from 1969 aren’t a common sight, but the seller has two of them, with one being an XL. Both have been treated to some recent work but will need more attention. From Denver, Colorado, you can have your pick for $14,900 OBO here on craigslist. A nod of the ball cap goes to Mike F. for another fine tip!
Ford’s Galaxie 500 arrived in 1959 as an upscale Fairlane and was a product fixture through 1974. Perhaps in response to the Impala SS, the Galaxie 500XL was added in 1962 (XL stood for “Extra Lively”). After 56 years, the difference is minimal with this duo as both have 390 cubic inch V8s and neither came with bucket seats (which the SS had). Ford’s full-size cars had a new platform in 1969, while Chevy’s beasts had new styling based on the 1965 platform that saw sales top one million units.
In 1969, Ford built some 14,300 Galaxie ragtops, split almost even between the 500 and 500XL models. The red 500 seen here seems like it might be the nicer of the two and has new brakes, carburetor, and exhaust. On the other hand, more may have been spent on the white XL, which we’re told sits on a new frame, and parts like the shocks and brake lines are new. One convertible has 42,000 miles (142k?) while the other reports 93,000.
Picking which one to take home may boil down to personal preference. Both are said to carry a bit of rust, and the red car has a better interior, though both need new dash pads. Since they’re mechanically the same and run (automatic transmissions in both), I’d be inclined to take the title to the red 500.
I doubt ‘XL’ ever referred to ‘extra lively’, ‘extra luxury’ would be more likely. More likely still, it spawned from an advertising executive’s fertile imagination as a generic term embodying ‘excel’, ‘the mysterious X’,or, ‘X marks the spot’. Whatever, whomever at Ford should go down in the annals of advertising for inventing one of the most popular product names in history, for everything from automobiles to shaving razors. Not sure about the latter, but if not, expect them soon. ‘Deluxe’, so popular in the 50’s, used to serve as XL does today. Just my observations, so if anyone has a different opinion I would like to hear it.
Chris .. Ford sure didn’t mean extra luxury on their XL pickup line.
Years ago XL referred to an experimental vehicle- think rocketship. Obviously, it doesn’t refer to that anymore, but the “cool” connotation lived on, at least for awhile. Ford has a terrible history of driving names into the ground. Case in point; the lowest model of F series truck is now an XL.
There are plenty of original Ford advertisements from the time where they use the term “extra lively” for the Galaxie XL… it was a phrase they used, believe it or not.