At the Fabulous Fords Forever car show, held at Knotts Berry Farm, in Buena Park, CA, some 15 years ago, Craig Leszkiewicz saw a fully restored 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 Country Squire wagon at the event. He decided at that moment that he would one-day own one. The search was on...

Somehow a terrible driving stranger in a 7-Eleven parking lot totaled Long Beach, CA resident Ethan Gentile's daily driven Subaru by backing into the Subie. So, what did Mr. Gentile do really fast? He did what any American muscle car aficionado might do. He found a 1968 Ford XL sportsroof on a website called Offer Up. Ethan then proceeded to negotiate a sweetheart of a deal for the Ford and drove home in the car.

The Fabulous Fords Forever show made a triumphant return on Sunday, June 13, in Irwindale, California. Drawing more than 1,000 Ford cars, including Mustangs (Classic, Fox Body, SN95, New Edge, S197, S550), Falcons, Cougars, Thunderbirds, Broncos, and F100s, and thousands of Ford fans, the long-running So Cal show was a massive hit in it's first appearance at Irwindale Speedway!

Photos courtesy of Mecum Auctions, Inc.

Ford’s marketing team named the full-size Ford the Galaxie. This was an effort to capture some interest in the car with an association to the Space Race that held the attention of the U.S. during the 1950s and 1960s. For the 1959 model of the full-size Fairlane 500, the top of the line Galaxie name was added. The Fairlane models moved to an intermediate platform in 1962. Galaxie now encompassed the full-sized Ford offerings. Read on as we examine Ford Galaxie history across four generations from 1959-1974.