1960 Ford Galaxie

The new-for-1960 full-size Ford models wore crips and clean bodylines that would last for a single model year, yet would influence Dearborn's styling direction with continual and gradual refinements and updates through 1964. The Galaxie was initially a subseries of the Fairlane 500 before becoming the top-life model for 1959. Ford had introduced the Fairlane for the 1955 model year, named after Henry Ford's mansion in Dearborn, Michigan. These mid-century Ford's were well received by the public and sold better than any Ford built since the war.

The 1959 Fairlane 500 and Galaxie models had similar designs and body styles, with the main difference being the Galaxie's use of a standard top with a Thunderbird style 'C' pillar on all body styles except for the Sunliner. Although it was its own model, the Galaxie wore both Fairlane 500 and Galaxie badging.

The styling featured plenty of brightwork and two-tone paint, with an all-new design introduced in 1960 with less ornamentation and smaller tailfins. Chrome was still used throughout the vehicle including on the window moldings, 'A' pillar moldings, and on the body side stripe. Body styles included a town sedan, club sedan, town victoria, starliner hardtop, and sunliner convertible. The Starliner was a new body style, featuring a large, curving rear window on a pillarless, hardtop body shell. On the rear sloping roof pillar were three 'star' emblems that served as the Galaxie signature badge for all 1960 through 1962 models. The previous formal roofed two-door hardtop did not return in 1960, however, its roofline was now used on the Galaxie two-door pillared sedan.

Galaxie script was located on the front fenders and on the trunk lid, and the Ford crest was on the hood. The taillights had 'half-moon' lenses turned downward, and in the front were twin headlights riding in a scalloped-square front clip. The Fairlane was now the base model in the full-sized lineup, along with the Galaxie and range-topping Galaxie Special. The Galaxie Starliner two-door hardtop was the company's choice for NASCAR racing.

All three of Ford's model lines for 1960 - including the full-size cars, the luxurious Thunderbird, and the economical Falcon - were introduced on October 8th of 1959. The company's association with the American Manufacturers' Association (AMA) racing ban, enacted in 1957, meant that performance was not given the same priority it held in the past. Early signs of Ford's performance revival included a powerful new-generation 'FE' (short for 'Ford Edsel') V8 engine family introduced in 1958 in 332 and 352 cubic-inch displacements. They were based on Ford's new 'thin-wall' casting process combining high strength with a lighter weight than competing engines. These FE-series engines would be used in Ford's top performance cars through 1971.

The standard engine in the Galaxie was an overhead-valve, 223 'Mileage Maker' cubic-inch six-cylinder unit with a Holley single-barrel carburetor, four main bearings, and delivered 145 horsepower at 4,000 RPM. Optional V8s included a 292 CID with overhead valves and 185 horsepower, and a 235 CID with OHV and 235, 300, and 360 horsepower depending on the configuration. Ford engineers had completely redeveloped the 352 cubic-inch FE engine for 1960, with the high-performance 352 Special (Code Y), factory rated at 360 horsepower at 6,000 RPM. It received strengthened internal parts to cope with the increase in power, including special cylinder heads with larger ports plus smaller combustion chambers raising compression to 10.6:1, a long-duration/high-lift solid-lifter camshaft, and a Holley four-barrel carburetor atop an aluminum intake manifold. There were purpose-built, free-flowing cast-iron exhaust manifolds (a factory high performance first) that exited exhaust gases to a dual exhaust system with low restriction mufflers. Cars equipped with the 352 Special received a low restriction open-element air cleaner including a chromed lid, plus aluminized valve covers and bold decals. The potent powerplant was intended for the street, NASCAR ovals, and the newly organized Super Stock drag racing classes.

In 1960, Ford built 205,667 examples of the Fairlane, 244,275 of the Fairlane 500, and 289,268 of the Galaxie and Galaxie Special. Within the combined Galaxie and Galaxie production, the town sedan was the most popular with 103,784 examples built. 68,641 were Starliner Hardtops, 44,762 were sunliner convertibles, and 40,215 were town victoria. A total of 31,866 examples of the club sedan were built.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2020