1963 Ford vs. 1963 Impala

[Pops]

Here is a heads up look at the two cars. Kinda fun to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDl2SnjUkkM

[LANDY]

Nice.......

[jerrym3]

I'm an owner of a 64 Galaxie, and I love Fords.

But, those 58 thru late 60's Impalas were really special cars.

Back then, nobody in our diner crowd even considered a Galaxie. A few had MoPars, but most full size cars were Impalas until the 64 musclecar era started, and then many shifted to GTO's, 442's, and Chevelle's. Even Mustangs were rare.

As a Ford employee in 1964, I considered a new 64 Galaxie convert, but wound up with a new 65 Vette instead. (Took some heat from my older Ford co-workers.)

But, when I got married in 67 and my Corvette days came to a screeching halt, I started buying Fords/Mercurys and never looked back.

[sailsmen]

Awesome Video.

I had the pleasure of following a friend who drove my Marauder and I in his 1962 Impala SS 409 Dual 4 Barrels and Muncie 4 Speed Black on Black with 70K miles.:)

[CBT]

Cool vid, I bruned some quality time watching a bunch of the other videos on the right hand side. Good stuff. :beer:

[Fourth Horseman]

I'd give my right ... uhm... I'd give a lot to own either of those cars, honestly. Love them both, and it's a big part of the reason why I love to hot rod big cars today.

[SC Cheesehead]

1963 NASCAR wins by manufacturer (Back in the day when they really were based on "stock" cars):

Ford - 23
Plymouth - 19
Chevrolet - 8
Pontiac - 4
Mercury - 1

http://www.theinsidegroove.com/charts/manuf_wins_49_71/manuf_wins_63.html

Gotta love them Fords! :up:

[TFB]

Ho-hum, saw that over 20 years ago(still it's no doubt cool), it's on a Dream Cars of the 50s & 60s video I bought back in late '80s... There are two tapes, can't remember if its on the 1st or 2nd...

I dunno for sure, but I think the Galaxie is running a three-duce 406 which was no match a dual quad 409... If the test had been with the dual quad 427 that came out mid year, the tables would have been turned...

[Jimimac43]

My first car was a 61 T-Bird. Pass everything but a gas station.

[Pops]

Ho-hum, saw that over 20 years ago(still it's no doubt cool), it's on a Dream Cars of the 50s & 60s video I bought back in late '80s... There are two tapes, can't remember if its on the 1st or 2nd...

I dunno for sure, but I think the Galaxie is running a three-duce 406 which was no match a dual quad 409... If the test had been with the dual quad 427 that came out mid year, the tables would have been turned...

ALso like to point out that the Chevy was 200 to 300 pounds lighter. This was not an independent test either as it was done by GM.:D

[SC Cheesehead]

ALso like to point out that the Chevy was 200 to 300 pounds lighter. This was not an independent test either as it was done by GM.:D

And that would make it biased? ;) -----> :D

[Vortex]

If given the choice, Ill admit Id take the Chevy. In fact, one of my fantasy cars is a 62 Impala bubbletop coupe. Love the 427 Fords back then but they just didnt look as cool as the Chevy to my eyes. I was never a huge fan of the big Fords til the Panther came out to be honest.

[TFB]

There ain't too many full sized cars cooler than the fastback '63.5-'64 Fords and Mercs... I do like all the '60s Chevys at least through '67(especially the bubble top '61 & '62, and '65 fastbacks)but IMHO none of them has the looks of the fastback Fords...

Back when Dick Brannon was racing the '62 Galaxies with a 406 and winning, he was accused of cheating... After so many times of having to tear down his engine after a victory, he finally started arriving at the races with the heads off the engine, after inspection he went out and kicked some Chevy ass again...

[Pops]

:burnout:This would have changed if it had been a 427 instead of a 406!

[jerrym3]

The problem we had back then is that very few of us young guys could afford the 406 Ford or 427 Chevy motors.

So, the choice became basically the Ford 390/4v vs the Chevy 327/4v. (Ford's 352 in 1963 was only available with a two barrel carb. 63 327's had 4 barrels.)

Manual trans 327's were tough to beat. Stock 390's were noted for being a solid engine with high torque, but not as quick as 327's revers.

[TFB]

Yeah I had a '64 Fastback that was 390 4v with three on the tree & 3.50 rear(I also ran T-10 four speed in it but was orig a three on three)... It didn't have any problem with the 327 4v, course most of those had a Powerglide in them, the extra gear made a huge difference... For a short while I had an identical '64 but was automatic with 3.00 rear, was a dog compared to the stick shift Galaxie...

[jerrym3]

In 64, I think 3:50 was the stock rear for the Ford manual trans.

I put a 3:50 rear in my 64 Galaxie automatic replacing a 3:00.

When that rear went bad, I found a 64 Ford Galaxie station wagon, three speed manual, in a wrecking yard.

Pulled the rear, it was a 3:50. Problem solved.

I think Ford went to 3:0 for 1965 manuals which hurt 390 performance even more.

Chevy stuck with 3:36 on auto and manual.