Everybody had their dream car in their heads when we were all getting close to our driver’s license. Most of us missed the mark entirely. I wanted a Camaro, and though I had a few false starts involving a few Cutlasses and even a ’75 Camaro, my first car I owned with a license in-hand was a 1987 Monte Carlo. A miss, but not a bad one. Others…well, let’s say Stevie Wonder playing darts would’ve had a better chance of hitting the mark. One guy wanted an IROC Camaro badly…a baby-blue 1984 Thunderbird was his. Nice car, but it was no IROC. Another wanted a lifted square-body Chevy truck. He got an absolutely mint, babied, and loved 1978 Chrysler LeBaron coupe. I loved his car, but he thought he got shafted seven ways from Sunday on the deal. That honor went to the kid who wanted anything with the word “Mustang” on it and wound up with a Pontiac J-2000 sedan. That sucks, bro.
Note one thing about all of the desired cars on that list: Camaro, Mustang, Chevy truck. All are pretty solid, common choices. Nobody would’ve willingly looked at this evergreen 1972 Ford LTD and immediately broke down into full “I WANT IT” mode. In fact, all of us, myself included, would’ve taken one look at it and would’ve decided that maybe the ancient Gillig bus that ferried us to and from school wasn’t so bad after all. But to you older folks, especially those of you who hear “White Lightning” and think of a Burt Reynolds movie instead of jet fuel in a Mason jar, you’re looking at that car and wondering where you can find wide steel wheels to slap on it. This Galaxie isn’t a looker, but a 400 Ford under the hood isn’t a bad shot and honestly, different rolling stock will give this car such a personality change. Imagine wide and wider Cragar S/S wheels on white letter tires and some stiffer springs to calm down the pillow barge handling. Nothing radical, just a minor tweak here and there. Adults can see potential that younger gearheads miss at first. This machine has potential and is complete right now. Lots of people have Fox bodies…not many have a four-door with a big-block that has the room of a medium-priced hotel inside.
