Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Chevrolet and Ford waged a fierce battle in the full-size automobile market. And – more times than not – the Chevy Impala beat out the Ford Galaxie for the top sales spot, including the 1968 model year. This ’68 Galaxie convertible is one of about 18,000 produced in both 500 and 500XL garb. It’s been parked for 28 years, mostly in a garage but also in the yard under a tree. Located in Bellevue, Ohio, this rough project is available here on Facebook Marketplace where the price has recently been lowered from $4,500 to $4,100 OBO.
Ford’s full-size cars (Custom, Galaxie, LTD and wagons) were still operating off the 1965 platform in 1968. Styling had been updated over 1967, the most noticeable being a shift back to side-by-side headlights instead of stacked (the former dropped after 1964). The taillights had the same vertical rectangular look but were better defined. The Galaxie 500 still came with a six-cylinder engine as standard, but the new 302 cubic inch V8 replaced the 289.
As the story goes, the seller’s grandfather bought this Ford new in 1968. It may have stayed in the same city/town all of its life. He drove it until 1984 when it was parked for the next 11 years. The seller got it going again in 1995 and drove it for two years when it was sidelined again, though started periodically for the next eight turns of the calendar. So, since 2005, apparently nothing has gone on with the drop-top and it’s time for someone else to “take the bull by the horns”.
We don’t know if the engine or transmission are healthy, but probably not. At a minimum, some brake work is needed, and rust repair is required in the rear quarter panels and floorboards. Also, the convertible top is toast and may have contributed to some damage to the interior. This looks like a project that’s been overlooked far too long, and it needs to either be restored or parted out. Thanks for this latest tip, “Ted”!
Poor Galaxie. Being a convertible might be about the only thing going for it. I’m not too optimistic there is anything here worth the effort. The vintage of the Ohio license plates matches the story.
Watching the video, I couldn’t help but think…. Based on the background in the video, I presume Bellevue is the typical Ohio small town, populated by regular folks who keep their houses in good shape and their yards trimmed and attractive. If this car has indeed been sitting out under the tree for decades, the neighbors may be tempted to take up a collection to pay you to haul it away.
Politely said.
Want does it cost just be a member.
The car showing will take 1000s of dollars to fix and who knows how good the motor and transmission is.
I used to have one of these.
That’s to bad it got to this condition before they decided to sell other than I would love the opportunity to get it running I think it’s to far gone for what I want to tackle.
i guess the seller could not air up the tires to give this convert at least some dignity. shame it’s not a 390. i am sure that grampa is rolling in his grave see how this convert has been slapped down to this state. real shame
This one will probably cost more to restore than you would ever recover selling it, unless you have skills, tools and time to do the work yourself. Still it’s a shame to see a grand old gal like this slowly rusting back into the iron ore from which it came. I hope someone takes this on, because these are getting rare as hen’s teeth and it deserves better than being stripped for parts before a trip to the crusher! The stock 302 is a bit light for a big, heavy car like this, but hey, it could be worse, it could be an I6 lurking under the hood, LOL!
One way to save this would be as a restomod, particularly if the frame rot is too far gone to repair. Put an aftermarket frame under it, with a crate motor in it, and assemble the frame with the brakes, suspension and drive train while you send the body out for major surgery. Ford makes a 460 crate motor based on the 351 small block, or a 572 based on the old 460 big block, and there’s always the Coyote options for those so inclined. All it takes is a lot of big checks written against an even larger bank balance to make it happen, LOL!