Long before there were Hellcats, Cobra Jets, COPOs, to anything else, the factory drag racing wars were fought on much more clandestine terms. Rather than lead with cars that had flashy names and garnered tons of public attention, the automakers slid their performance stuff into quiet option packages that only savvy buyers knew how to get. Take this 1963 Ford Galaxie for example. The car is a rare and sought after Q-code example meaning that it has the romping, stomping, 427 FE big block under the hood for starters and then the rest was up to the buyer. In the case of this car, the guy was absolutely ordering something to do battle on the drag strip with. No power steering, no power brakes, heavy duty suspension, and other stuff that Joe Public never even thought to look into.
The 427 in this car is the original mill that was delivered between the fenders. It was rebuilt 27-miles ago and the rebuild was done to factory specs which means solid lifters and all. 410hp was the rating that the factory gave to the engine. We have no idea how accurate that is or not. The only step above this car was an R-Code machine. Those are exceedingly rare and carried a factory rating of 425hp. More cam, more compression, more rowdiness, basically.
The most stunning part of this car to us? The color. Rangoon Red is the shade and we cannot imagine that there were many Galaxies painted in this shade during the 1963 model run. Sticking to the theme, the interior is also bright red and we think that is a good thing because what are the options?! White wold be jarring and weird, and black would totally not look right. With everything from the carpet to the wheel being red, it really completes the look. The four speed shifter comes up through the floor like it should and the whole package is just too cool for words. It also packs a punch on the price tag front as well. How much? $78,995 and it is yours.
Check out the photos below and then hit the link for this Q-Code Galaxie –
Simple – just turn it into a replica of the great Jack Sear’s all conquering Willment Galaxy that won countless races in the UK and famously gave battle to the Minis.
I’ve seen extreme off-road 4x4s with less ground clearance by the way…
The difference between the Q and R code 427s: Q= (1) 4BBL Carb while R = (2) 4BBL Carbs. All the internals are the same. The 1963 427s are top oilers. The 427 side oiler came in 1965
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BTW, the actual CID of the Ford 427 is 425 cubic inches.
Thanks for the info, Lee.
The Marion CO., IN Sheriff’s Dept. had at least one patrol/pursuit Galaxie with the 410 HP engine in the mid-’60’s. I don’t remember if it had the standard top or if it was a Fastback. I also don’t recall it being a 4-speed. C6, maybe?
The valve train was loud. I can’t imagine the shop crew having to maintain valve lash with the solid lifter engine.
Uh, I was taken for a ride in the car…
The county mountie seemed to know what it was.
The 390 Police Intercepter 330 hp engines were also solid lifter also.
Love ’63 1/2 Galaxies! I’m forever tormented about not having the opportunity to buy a R-code Galaxie back in ’81. My neighbor wouldn’t sell it to me. Being 18 at the time might have been a hindrence.
The C-6 didn’t show ’till ’66. Don’t recall being available with an auto at the time. It’s got the “kid” mod of flipped rear spring shackles lol. If you had big balls you could flip ’em with a pry bar. Sometimes one would correct itself while driving. Cars were so huge used to call them “galixie class star cruisers”.
Further ponderance suggests the car I got a ride in was likely a column-shifted 3-speed.
As an aside, it had a red-lensed spotlight as opposed to the single roof-mounted rotating beacon (search on “Andy of Mayberry Police Car”) that suggested the name of, “Bubble Gum Light”, that current younguns may have heard but not comprehended.
So many years have passed…
AFAIK, the 427 was only available with a 4 speed manual in all the years it was offered. The exception to this was in the 1968 Cougar GT-E which was the last car to receive the 427 though it was detuned to 390 HP and was only available with the C6 auto.
The reason why Ford called it’s 425 CI motor a 427 was due to the CID limit that NASCAR placed on all engines: 427 CI
Ford first called it’s 427 the “Thunderbird Hi Performance V8.” This was later changed to “LeMans V8”
You could get it with 3 sp overdrive it was BW T-85. I had one in my 63 1/2 Galaxie with the 390 PI 330 hp the Ford dealer Paul Harvey had a yellow 427 425 hp
IMO, the asking price is way too high. By about $10K to $15K. It’s a Q code in a Galaxie 500. Not an R code, not a 500 XL and not a convertible.