“...A bit off topic, but does anyone here remember the Galaxie model that was made by Ford in the 1960s? One vintage car dealership in my locale some years back had a red 1964 one up for sale and it was just a gorgeous looking car. Any opinions on it concerning how it drove, etc?...”
I know a little bit..not much. I believe it could be had with a 289, 390 or 427 engine. The 289 was the base engine, I think. The 390 was the most common. The 427 was rare and the most of the Galaxy 500s were the 390. I think it could be had with a 4-speed manual, but most were autos. We used to cruise around in a friend’s ‘64 390 Galaxie 500 2-door hardtop all the time. Like almost all full-size cars of the ‘60s, it was a boat. Plush ride, poor brakes and hardly any corning ability. It was a competitor to the Chevy Impala and the Plymouth Belvedere. From what I remember, it was slowest of the three with comparable engines. Still, it was one heckuva cruiser. We had a lot of good times in that car.
I owned a 64 Impala SuperSport back in the mid sixties and remember both the 63 and 64 Galaxy well. Your exactly right re 390 ci engines and the rare 427 but I don’t remember ever seeing a 289 in a Galaxy.
In ‘65, the Galaxie engine options were the 240 (big six), 289 small-block V8, 352, 390 and 428 FE-series V8s - and a “police interceptor” 427 side-oiler V8 with dual 4-bbl carbs. Seems like the majority were built with 352 or 390 power, the smaller and larger engine cars were usually built to purchaser orders. I think front disc brakes were an option (possibly included in packages like the 7 Litre), otherwise you got 4-wheel drums.
1966 Muir (Ford Galaxie) leads Jim Clark (Lotus Cortina) with Chris Craft and Mike Young (Anglias) following at Brands Hatch 29-8-1966