1967 Ford Galaxie 500 390 Barn Find, 26k original miles, Marti Report, 2 Owner

Description

Allow me, for a moment, to take you back to Friday, February 3, 1967. Lyndon B. Johnson was President, “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees topped the Billboard charts, and “A Fistful of Dollars”, starring the gritty Clint Eastwood would claim the top spot at the box office that weekend. Meanwhile, in London, an up-and-coming Jimi Hendrix was in the studio recording the song “Purple Haze”.

On this same day, in the small town of Mocksville, North Carolina, my grandfather would trade in his black and white 1960 Ford Galaxie 500 for a brand new candy apple red 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 from Reavis Ford. He would finance the car through the Statesville, NC branch of Northwestern Bank. The car was purchased primarily for my aunt to have a car to drive, but also as an extra car for the rest of the family to use as needed. As the years went on, the car saw less use, as my aunt purchased a new Ford Fairlane in 1970, which then became her primary vehicle. Eventually, as other vehicles were purchased over the years, this 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 was taken off the road. The car was last inspected on February 21, 1976 (expiring in February, 1977), and the odometer reading at the time was 24,431. With only 25,663 miles, the car was driven into a barn on the property, where it would remain until September 24, 2016. For those interested, I have public videos on YouTube of the car, both prior to and after removal from the barn. I even have a video showing the actual removal of the car from the shed.

This Galaxie 500 has been in the same family since new, and while it is “officially” a 2-owner car (by inheritance), for all intents and purposes, it is basically a 1-owner car (that being my grandfather). In 2016, while working on another section of the building the car was stored in, we decided to see what we could do about obtaining a title for the car, as the original title had been lost. After making some phone calls to the DMV and waiting a couple weeks while they looked through their old files (since no title transfers had occurred with this car since 1967, the car was not in the DMV’s computer database). Once that was completed, we were informed that the title was still showing a lien against the car by Northwestern Bank (long defunct). Obviously, the lien had been paid off, but the proper paperwork was not filed through the DMV at the time, so before we could obtain a title, we needed proof that this lien had been cleared. We were able to ascertain that a large, national bank (whose name you would know) had directly or indirectly taken over Northwestern Bank, and after getting in touch with them, we began a process of sending various paperwork back and forth for the next couple months. Finally, in August, 2016, we received the lien release for the vehicle and filed for a clean and clear title for the car, which we now have in hand, ready to be signed over to the next owner.

As for the condition, the car does need restoration. The biggest issue would be that the H-Code 390 V8 engine appears to be locked up and needs a rebuild, along with some of the other mechanical systems on the car. There is some rust throughout the car, but this is mainly surface rust. There are some rust holes in the rear section of the car, particularly around the trunk area. The two largest holes I have found are a large hole in the decklid itself, and a smaller 2.5" x 2.5" rust hole on the driver's rear quarter panel (see pictures). The floorboards in the cabin of the car are solid, and probably about 99% of the trunk floor is solid, except for some small rust holes/soft metal at the far edges of the sides of the trunk (not where you would typically store anything in the trunk, but where the trunk floor and the rear quarter panels meet- see pictures). The body is overall very straight. It does have a dent on the roof over the driver’s side rear quarter window (no damage to the window, but it appears that something of light to moderate weight may have fallen on the car while it was being stored in the barn- see pictures). The front bumper has a small ding and doesn’t fit 100% straight (see pictures). This is very easy to miss, but was noticed when climbing under the car to load it onto a trailer and when cleaning up the front bumper. It appears the car was repainted at some time prior to being parked in 76/77. With the car having been in my family since new, I do know the trunklid was hit at one point and repaired/replaced (again, all prior to the car being parked), so I know the trunk is likely repainted, but it appears that perhaps the entire car was repainted at the same time. As for the paint, the car has a rather unique patina to it that only 40 years in a barn can produce authentically. Since the car was driven forward into the barn, which left the rear near the opening of the bay it was parked in, the rear section of the car was exposed to sunlight and precipitation blowing into the barn over the years, which has created some interesting fading on the trunklid, emblems, trim, etc. The rear bumper also has some rust (and two tiny rust holes- see pictures), but most of this rust could likely be removed easily. I left it as is in cleaning it up to preserve the authentic patina, should the next owner wish to incorporate that look into his/her build of the car. The car is missing the 2 “0’s” in the “G-A-L-A-X-I-E 5-0-0” emblems on the rear driver’s side quarter panel, and is also missing both “390” fender emblems. I have one of the “0’s” and both 390 emblems, which will be included with the car. Both doors shut solidly, as you would expect from a 26k mile car.

The interior is in overall good condition as well. The red vinyl seats only have two tears, both at the back of the driver’s seat (one where the seat was sewn together, which can only be seen when the seat back is folded forward to let rear passengers in, and the other is on the back of the driver’s seat facing the back seat, and is a very small tear that undoubtedly was there when the car was still being driven, as you can see where a piece of tape was placed over the tear at one time. This tear is only about the size of a quarter or smaller). The seats have some patina to them too, but look very good overall. The dash top has some cracks, the headliner has some holes and tears, but is holding together well. A vinyl trim piece over the driver’s rear quarter window is falling down and may need to be replaced if it can’t be formed back into place. The rear package tray needs to be replaced, and the steering wheel has some cracks. The car comes with the period-correct Ranger Dimension 48 4/8 track player, which has been in the car for nearly its entire life (and is just about the only “modification” I can find on the car). From asking the few family members who knew the car well, it appears that this 8-track player was possibly dealer-installed, or, if not, was installed immediately after the purchase of the car (and upon doing some research on this particular model 8-track player, I found an ad for this model from 1965 or '66, so this model was already in production before the car was sold, so the timeline of the 8-track player being installed when the car was new fits). The carpet needs to be replaced, primarily from a patch torn out on the driver’s side- otherwise, the carpet seems to be in good condition elsewhere, but may have stains (could possibly be shampooed out. I simply vacuumed the carpets to get them in the condition that you see them, so I didn’t try to remove any stains).

Under the hood, the belts/hoses/etc are all left on the car as they were when it was parked. The engine bay has a good bit of surface rust and some parts are missing, such as the radiator cap, brake fluid reservoir lid, etc. The car was missing its starter solenoid and positive battery cable, so I replaced those with brand new parts just to complete the wiring system (the ground cable and starter cable are on the car, but are frayed, so they will need to be replaced). With a battery in the car (not included), most of the electrical system still works as-is, including the dash lights and AM radio (the knob to change the radio station doesn't seem to work, but the station will change by using the preset buttons). For what it’s worth, the engine still holds oil, and the oil that was left in the car when it was parked is still in it today (as I said, the engine seems to be locked up and likely needs to be rebuilt). Even 3 of the 4 headlight bulbs on this car have the “FoMoCo” logo stamped into them, which would have undoubtedly come from the dealership back in the 60’s/70’s (these are not reproductions; I do not know the condition of the bulbs though).

In preparing this car for auction, I have cleaned it up, but not “over-cleaned” it. As I’ve said, I wanted to leave the original patina for any buyers who would like to incorporate that into their build, but also show the potential of the car to be cleaned up and restored back to like-new condition. I have a framed Deluxe Marti Report that comes with the car, along with a framed copy of the ad for Reavis Ford published on February 2, 1967 (just one day before this car was purchased from that location) with a 1967 Galaxie 500 fastback displayed prominently. After going through years of copies of old newspapers, this is the only one I’ve found from Reavis Ford that showcases the 1967 Galaxie 500 like this, and the timing that the ad was printed in the newspaper just one day before my grandfather purchased this 1967 Galaxie 500 makes me wonder if he or my aunt saw this exact ad, and if that is what brought them to Reavis Ford the very next day.

As fate would have it, in a rather interesting coincidence, after deciding to begin the auction for the car on the 50th anniversary of its original purchase date, while researching the date itself, I discovered February 3, 2017 is National Wear Red Day for women's heart health awareness. Of course, this car proudly wears its Ford Candy Apple Red paint and red vinyl interior, but perhaps more significantly, my aunt, who was the primary driver of this car for much of the time it was on the road, passed away from a stroke several years ago. After discovering the significance of this date and what National Wear Red Day represents, I am further convinced this is meant to be and is the right time to sell the car. While I'd love to keep it and restore it, I have far too many projects as it is, and seeing this car go to a good home is the next best thing. As you can see, the vast majority of the repairs this car needs are simply a result of the passage of time itself and its time spent in storage. This classic, unmolested Ford Galaxie 500 is very much a time capsule of the era in which it was built, and now, 50 years after it originally drove off the lot of Reavis Ford brand new, it can be yours with the winning bid.

Please call 336-341-0560 to set up an appointment to view this 1967 Galaxie 500 in person.

On Feb-06-17 at 16:39:47 PST, seller added the following information:

I have taken a quick video to try to show any potential buyers the condition of the frame of the car. The frame has surface rust, as could be expected, but is solid. I apologize for the poor angles/poorly shot video, but hopefully this will help give a general idea of the condition of the frame:

I'm also including scans of two old photographs I found that show the Galaxie (it's in the background of the photo of the blue 73 Gran Torino):

On Feb-06-17 at 16:54:35 PST, seller added the following information:

Some pictures of the car prior to being removed from the barn (also, videos can be seen at my YouTube playlist linked to above in the description):