I find it incredible that if you take the time to go hunt, that you can still find cars that are forty-five or fifty years old that are still in very decent shape for a few thousand dollars. I’m not even concerned with what it is…just the fact that it’s that old, yet still stock, still relatively unmolested, still in decent condition and is probably a once-over away from taking a road trip of the continental United States blows my mind. Sure, knowing where to hunt for a car is part of the problem…you surely can’t pull this trick off in the Rust Belt…but the deals are still out there for the taking.
My love for 1968-1973 Ford full-size machines is pretty well documented here. In two-door form, they pull off big-car musclecar better than either GM or Mopar did, and having a movie like “White Lightning” doesn’t hurt the desire, either. They look good, are an easy big-block score, and you get all the perks of a classically full-sized car: namely, a trunk you can live in and an overstuffed interior that could double as a Parisian house of ill repute. Now, take this emerald gem we found up for sale on Craigslist: 400, automatic, new fuel tank and sending unit, and an odometer that reads 94,xxx. If all you have to deal with is a seam splitting on a bench seat and some minor paint work after all that time, you’re doing just fine. Especially when you can score the car for under five thousand dollars right now.
How hard is it to make a 400 scream? This thing, set up like an old-school stocker, would be just about perfect.
Craigslist Link: 1972 Ford Galaxie 500
Every time I see one of these Galaxies, my thoughts lead to one thing, “White Lightning”! Watching Gator rows thru the gears of that turd brown 4-door makes me want one!