The Ford Galaxie is a full-size automobile that was sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America from the 1959 to 1974 model years. Deriving its nameplate from a marketing tie-in with the excitement surrounding the Space Race, the Galaxie was offered as a sedan within the full-size Ford range throughout its production run. In the full-size segment, the model line competed against the Chevrolet Impala and Plymouth Fury.
The model line was assembled by Ford in multiple sites across the United States; four generations of the model line were produced. The Galaxie was also produced locally by Ford Australia and Ford Brasil, adopting commonality from the third-generation 1965 design.
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Nameplate usage
In 1958, a concept car was introduced called "la Galaxie" which incorporated the headlights into pods inline with the grille and a reduced front profile.
For 1962, all full-size Fords wore the Galaxie badge (replacing the Fairlane entirely), as higher-trim series took on Galaxie 500 and Galaxie 500XL badging. For 1965, the higher-content Galaxie 500 LTD was introduced as a flagship model. For 1966, the nomenclature was revised slightly. Alongside the introduction of the higher-performance Galaxie 500 7-Litre, the Galaxie 500 LTD became the Ford LTD, with the Galaxie now becoming the mid-level full-size series (above the Ford Custom/Custom 500). For 1967, the 500 7-Litre was phased into the Ford XL; along with the LTD, the Ford XL was slotted above the standard Galaxie/Galaxie 500.
The Galaxie remained slotted as the mid-range full-size Ford into the 1970s between the Custom and the LTD (the XL was discontinued after 1970). After the 1974 model year, Ford dropped both the Galaxie and the Custom in favor of consolidating its full-size sedan line to the LTD (the Custom 500 remained in production for fleet sales).
1959
The 1959 Ford range was introduced in late 1958 with the Fairlane 500 as the top trim level.
In keeping with the era, the 1959 Galaxie was a chrome and stainless steel-bedecked vehicle with optional two-tone paint. It was the very image of the ostentatious late-1950s American automobiles, though somewhat tamer than its Chevrolet and Plymouth competitors. Ford advertised "safety anchorage" for the front seats. The parking brake was now a pedal. Seat belts, a padded dashboard, and child-proof rear door locks were optional, while a deep-dished steering wheel and double-door locks were standard.
Among the models was the Skyliner, moved up-market from the Fairlane 500 and featuring a retractable hardtop that folded down into the trunk space. This feature was complicated and expensive, and left very little trunk room when folded down. Power retractable hardtops have since been used by luxury manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Cadillac, but none of these had rear seats, necessitating a much smaller top mechanism than the Skyliner's. It was not until 2000, when the Peugeot 206cc arrived, that a retractable hardtop with a rear seat arrived. This was joined by the Peugeot 307cc in 2003, and later also by the Pontiac G6 convertible and Volkswagen Eos.
A fixture also was the previous year's 352 V8, still developing .
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File:1959 Ford Galaxie Town Sedan.jpg|1959 Ford Galaxie Town sedan. 1959 Galaxies carried both Fairlane 500 and Galaxie badges
File:1959 Ford Galaxie Club Victoria (24534739636).jpg|1959 Ford Galaxie Club Victoria
File:1959 Ford Galaxie Sunliner, front right - Småland, 2018.jpg|1959 Ford Galaxie Sunliner
File:1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner (42417065564) (cropped).jpg|1959 Ford Galaxie Skyliner, showing the roof retraction.
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