My 1963 Falcon Project Car

Do you remember the first time you ever saw a Ford Falcon? I do. I was 10 years old when my dad came home from his buddy’s house with this gray primer ’64 Falcon Futura. I thought,  “This car is awesome!” It had a 351w with a C4 tranny, a 9 inch rear with 411 gears. That car was fast. Ever since then I’ve been addicted to Falcons.

Here’s a picture of my ’63 Falcon that I got from my dad. It took me 5 years to get it, but I finally did.

My 1963 Falcon

The car is a 1963 Falcon 2dr. hardtop. The original 260 V-8 and 2-speed automatic are long gone! So far in the past year I have mini tubbed the car and painted it with a great buddy of mine. As for the drive train, it now has a 347 stroker with a world class T5 tranny. It also has a 200hp shot of nitrous. The rear has a Mustang 8.8 with 3.55:1 gears with 31 spline Moser axles and an Auburn pro locker posi unit. We had the cowl hood made about 6 years ago. The car does have air conditioning as well. I love to go fast, but at the same time I like to stay nice and cool.

So far about 85% of the parts have come from Auto Krafters. Be looking for some interior shots as well as the disc brake conversion I am in the middle of doing right now.

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What about the Ford trucks, huh?

Ole Yeller

There seems to be a lot of blogging about classic Ford cars. How about let’s hear from you Ford truck owners out there. Auto Krafters has three catalogs covering Ford pickup trucks, ’53-’72, ’73-’79 and ’80-’96. A lot of parts from Ford for the ’80-’96 trucks are going obsolete now. Check out our catalogs if you are having problems finding parts for your classic Ford truck. 

I had a 1979 Ford F-150 4WD. It was the best truck ever! A friend of ours was a big GM guy and one night he and some friends of his were four wheeling in a rather muddy field with his Chevy and a few Toyotas. One got stuck, then another and the one left, a Toyota, couldn’t pull them out. Our friend called us late at night and asked if we could bring “Ole Yeller” down to get them out. It took all he had to make that phone call. My husband took our ’79 down and pulled them all out. Didn’t hear much about Chevy vs. Ford after that from our friend. Please GMC, Chevy, and Toyota fans don’t be offended or get too defensive. I don’t want to start a war. We probably had better tires or my husband was a better driver than the others. 😉 It just makes a good story to tell now and then.

From the President’s Desk: TV Fords

Mission Impossible

Most of us grew up in the 1960s watching black and white TV. Living in rural south central Nebraska, and until 1968, we only received 2 channels. It was quite a treat to get a new Sylvania color TV in ’68 and also install a large roof top antenna that allowed us to finally receive NBC. Prior to the antenna we used rabbit ears and received only ABC for many years, followed by CBS about 1965. For those of us who like old Fords, we are fortunate that Ford Motor Company lent cars to many series of the ’60s for promotional purposes.

Here are a few of the series I remember as having primarily Ford automobiles in them. I must add here that for several years I have collected old TV show on VHS and now DVDs so I get to watch these shows frequently. Everyone has seen the Andy Griffith show. The shows featured full size Fords as Mayberry’s police cars and lots of Comets and Falcons showed up as well around town. Rich tourists drove T’birds and when Barney bought a used car, which turned out to be lemon, it was a 55 or 56 Ford convertible. You would think Ford would have required them to use a Chevy for that episode. 😉

Here is a partial list of shows that used Fords and/or Mercurys. I am sure you will think of others.

• Perry Mason (went back and forth from GM to Ford)

• Arrest and Trial (Starring Chuck Conners and Ben Gazzara)

• The FBI (in COLOR!)

• Hawaii 5-0

• Highway Patrol (Used a lot of Buicks and Plymouths, but also used Mercurys)

• 77 Sunset Strip

• Mission Impossible

• The Streets of San Francisco

• Starsky and Hutch

• Cannon

• Dragnet

• Hunter

• Charlie’s Angels

Here is a interesting link from Ford about it’s current movie and TV cars. http://ford.digitalsnippets.com/tvandfilm/

Got any more additions?

And the Oscar Goes to…

The Oscar Award

 

Car movies. They are some of the most exciting films ever made. Who can forget the chase scene where Steve McQueen catches some air on the streets of San Francisco in “Bullitt”? Or what about the chase scenes in “Gone in Sixty Seconds”? Remember some of the great vehicles in “The Fast and the Furious”? What about the great Ford convertible used in the movie “Grease” that they named the Greased Lightning?

Some of my favorite movies have featured chase scenes that get the heart racing. Since the Oscars are awarded on Sunday, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some great movies that have featured some fabulous cars.

First off is “Bullitt”. It won an Oscar in 1969 for Best Film Editing. If I had to film that ’68 Mustang GT fastback careening off those streets, you’d better believe it would deserve some type of award.

Then we have “Grease”. It was nominated for and Oscar for Best Music, Original Song. OK, forget the smarmy music, the ’48 Ford was awesome.

“Gone in Sixty Seconds” did not win an Oscar, but it did win an MTV Movie award for Best Action Sequence. Admit it, the ’67 Mustang GT500, aka, Eleanor, was a hot-looking car.

You might have thought that “The Fast and The Furious” was nothing but a movie about import cars. It may have shown those predominantly, but did you notice that fabulous ’99 Ford Lightning? By the way, it also won an MTV Movie award. This one was for Best On Screen Team.

There are so many more movies that I could spend several more columns discussing my favorites. Ever gone Ford spotting with these movies? Try getting through any movies filmed in the ’60s and ’70s without seeing any, especially if you are a James Bond fan or Dirty Harry fan. My husband says it is a hazard of our jobs. He’s getting so good at it, that he when sees parked ones in quick scenes, he can give me a year and model.

So grab some popcorn, settle back into your favorite couch or chair and watch some great car movies this weekend. And while you’re at it, see how many Fords you can spot. (Even if your spouse insists on a Doris Day movie, you can still play spot the Fords. It will actually make you look like you are really interested in the movie.)

Classic Car Insurance: An Ounce of Prevention

Car show season is upon us and it’s time to think about showing off your classic Ford or Mercury treasure. One of the first things you should consider before even starting the polishing is your insurance coverage. When is the last time you did a review? Most classic care values will increase over the years, even if all you have done is minor restorations.

Here are a few things to consider when reviewing your coverage:

• Level of restoration
• Where the vehicle is primarily located
• An agreed upon value (please note that this can vary greatly. See the info regarding such an experience below)
• Spare parts option availability
• Comprehensive loss
• Mileage covered during a year
• Age of the driver or drivers

When having your vehicle appraised for insurance purposes, read what happened to one of our contributor’s, Roger, father. Roger’s father was having his classic Galaxie appraised by his regular insurance company. their appraisal came back at under $10,000. He then went to a classic car insurance company for a quote and appraisal. This time the Galaxie appraised at just under $25,000. Quite a difference. I’m not saying it isn’t worthwhile to check with your regular insurance company first when looking for classic car insurance, just be sure to check the classic car insurers such as Hagerty, American Collectors Insurance, Grundy, and Heacock Classic. There are many of them and we don’t endorse one over the other. It all depends on the level of coverage you need.

While it is not a comforting thought thinking of losing your classic car or truck, it is comforting to know that you are covered in case of the unthinkable.

Oh, and while you’re at it, it might be a good time to review your regular vehicle’s insurance coverage.

From the President’s Desk – Car Clubs

How many car clubs do you belong to?  One, two, three?  None?  If you answered none, then this note is for you.  

The reasons to join are many… but the most important, I think, is the many friends one makes and the knowledge gained from those friends.  

Don’t know how to remove the heater core from your Galaxie?  Someone in the club knows and will be happy to answer your questions.  Need to know what color to paint your engine in your Falcon?  Someone in the club will know.  Need a hard-to-find molding for your Fairlane?  Someone in the club has an extra one for sale for a reasonable price.

Most of the national clubs I belong to publish a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter or magazine.  In this age of the Internet, most clubs have a web site with tons of information about the cars they represent.  Many have discussion forums where you can hang out with guys (and gals) and talk about the cars you love.  Some have local chapters sponsoring local shows and other events (or you could start one).  Attending annual shows hosted by the National club are always fun.

And what is the cost to join these excellent information centers?  Most of the ones I am familiar with charge less than a dollar per week for an annual membership. Spend a dollar a week and get access to hundreds of dollars worth of benefits.  Quite a bargain I’d say in this day and age of economic woes.

Here are links to some of the clubs I belong to and recommend.  Feel free to add to the list via a comment.

Galaxie Club of America
Fairlane Club of America
Mustang Club of America
Falcon Club of America
Maverick Club

Classic Car Dreams

 

My Dream Car

My husband and I had a great conversation with a gentleman the other day. We found out that he is an avid Ford fan. He brought up an interesting point about the state of the classic car hobby here in the United States: No matter the state of the economy, the average person in the US will always want one of the iconic classic cars sitting in his or her garage. It doesn’t matter if it is a Ford, GM or Chrysler product, chances are one of them will be their dream car. Then we brought up the question, out of the classic cars from the past 40+ years, has there been a Japanese made car that has stirred the collective imagination of car enthusiasts in the US? I thought of the Datsun Z series, but have difficulty thinking of any others.

So, I’m asking you, out of all the classic cars since the 50s, which one do you dream of having in your garage and why? What about your choice makes your makes your hands itch to hold the steering wheel? There are no right or wrong answers, just our dreams.