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Those of a certain age will argue that Ford and Chevy were at their respective bests in the early sixties.  Count me in that camp.  Chevys usually won the sales race in most of those years, but there were other competitions going on that were equally exciting.

The Chevy Impala won the NASCAR Cup Series from 1960-1964.  In 1960 Speedy Thompson drove a 1960 Ford to his 19th and 20th career wins.  In 1960 Chevrolet won 13 NASCAR races, while in 1963 Ford won 23.

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But maybe the more important competition was for America’s heart.  Auto manufacturers took great pains to place their products on TV where they could be viewed in circumstances other than just 60 second commercials.  It’s believed that every denizen of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show drove a Ford product.  Meanwhile, on Route 66 anything that wasn’t a Chevrolet was relegated to a background shot.  Sheriff Taylor himself drove a brand new Ford squad car every season, despite the relatively small tax revenues seemingly generated by the city’s small downtown.

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From 1960 to 1964 full sized Fords and Chevys ruled the land.  ‘Compacts’ had been introduced at the very beginning of that time period, and intermediates soon followed.  But the first four years of the 60s were still dominated by the belief that “bigger is better” and there seemed to be a full sized Ford and Chevy for every budget.  From the lowly Custom 300s and plebeian Biscaynes at the bottom of the food chain, all the way up to the decked out Galaxie 500s and Impalas at the top.

That was beginning to change in 1965 when the full sized offerings of both makes were all-new, but the showrooms were bursting with other models trying to capture those sales.  Falcons and Novas, Fairlanes and Chevelles all fought for attention.  Mustangs and Camaros would too in the future.

But from 1960 to 1964 the full sized cars were still King of the Road.

Essentially, the Fords and Chevys of those years were each just updated versions of last year’s model.  But Dearborn and Detroit were talented at making them look new and improved every year.  And, I suppose they were.  But underneath the new and flashy sheetmetal the basic cars were carryovers.

All new for 1960 (as has been detailed in previous stories), the full sized Fords were new inside and out.  Wider, longer, and heavier than the 1959 models they replaced, that same basic package would serve the company well till the end of the 1964 model year when the all-new for 1965s would debut.

There is a school of thought that generally the first and last in a series of anything tend to be the best.  There may be something to that.  The 1960 Ford full sized models, particularly the Starliner model with its new-for-1960 sloped roofline was a vast departure from the boxy ‘59s of the previous year.  The horizontal fins and half moon tail lights took the place of the jet tube details and flower pot taillights and caused a stir.

Top much of a stir, some would say.  For 1961 Ford kept the Skyliner model, but returned to more conventional lines.  The massive horizontal fins were gone.  Smaller flower pot round tail lights were back.  Up front, the grill was full width with dual headlight at either end.  Small fins sprouted up on the rear fenders for the last time.  It was enough to give Ford the Top Sales position for that year.  That wouldn’t last.

The following year sales increased again, but not as much as the competition.  For 1962 Chevrolet was again King of the Hill.  The full sized Ford lost the Skyliner model, the fins on the back end, and any kind of a style advantage they’d held over Chevy.

For 1963 Ford set a new record for sales at over 1.5 million cars, it’s best year since 1957.  Unfortunately, Chevrolet did even better and beat Ford’s total sales output by 600,000 units.  Fewer of those Ford sales were full sized Galaxie models as the market continued to shift to intermediates and compacts.  The following year there would be an even bigger reason to consider something smaller.

The new Mustang dominated the year in 1964, even though it was technically a 1965 model.  The 1964 version of the full sized Ford, now in its fifth year, was arguably the most attractive, or tied with 1960, anyway.  Author Tim Howley was quoted in Special-Interest Autos magazine that “it stands alone as the ultimate Total Performance Ford.”  Motor Trend named the entire Ford lineup “Car of the Year”.  The styling had been carefully dictated by aerodynamics in an effort to gain every advantage on the racetrack.  However, the design worked well on every single model from the lowly Custom 4-door sedan to the top of the line Galaxie 500 XL Hardtop.  The fuselage styling and the carry over faux convertible roofline looked sexy and fast, even if it was just parked in front of the Piggly Wiggly.  The 1964 Country Squire was as attractive as any station wagon offered in the sixties.  Chevrolet still outsold Ford by over 700,000 cars.

The buying public probably wasn’t aware that the 1964 Fords were dressed up 1960s.  They’d get a whole new Ford the following year that was radically different.  It was changed in too many ways to count.  Some said it looked like the box the 1963 Pontiac came in.  Whether a fair assessment or not, the torch had been passed.

The one pictured here checks all the boxes.  Vintage Burgundy.  427cubic inch V8.  The four-speed manual transmission, a black vinyl roof, front bucket seats, a center console, power windows, a retro-style stereo, and dual four-barrel carburetors round out the package.  While I love the 1960 Ford, especially the Fairlane 500, I can’t think of a better note to go out on than the 1964 updated version of the same basic package.

This thing would look as good on Route 66 as it would in downtown Mayberry.

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