As recently as 1988, this Galaxie 500 XL Hardtop was a beautiful car that graced the cover of magazines. When the car’s owner became ill, the Galaxie was parked and forgotten in a shed. It has now been dragged from its resting place and is looking for someone who is willing to return the car to its former glory. The Galaxie is located in Aiken, South Carolina, and is listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has now reached $3,500, and the reserve has been met.
In its glory days, the Galaxie proudly wore its beautiful Rose Beige paint, with a black vinyl top. Time has not been kind to the car, and a full restoration is now most definitely in order. However, in spite of its tattered outward appearance, there is plenty of good news with this car. The first piece is that the rust in the Galaxie appears to be confined to a couple of areas in the rear corners of the trunk pan, and a few spots under the lower edges of the vinyl top.
The rest of the body looks pretty reasonable, and while the owner does talk about those rust areas, he makes no mention of any issues with the floor or frame. The second bit of good news is that in spite of indications to the contrary, the Galaxie is complete. The owner includes a couple of photos of parts that come with the car, and it looks like not only are all of the trim pieces that aren’t actually attached to the car present, but they look to be in good condition.
Powering the Galaxie when it was alive and well was the 300hp 390ci V8 engine, while shifting duties were performed by the 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission. To take the hard work out of maneuvering the Galaxie in the tighter spots, it is also equipped with power steering. It appears as though the engine bay of this old Ford has remained untouched since the car was parked in the 1980s, and there is plenty of evidence that more than a few rodents have called this space home over the past three decades. It isn’t clear what state that the engine is in, but hopefully, it isn’t locked. Still, even if it isn’t, there will be plenty of work to undertake before the car is capable of moving under its own power again.
In its heyday, the interior of the Galaxie must have been quite a sight. Black vinyl trim, bucket seats, a console with a shifter for the automatic transmission, and air conditioning, would have all conspired to make this a pretty special place to spend some time. The trim has survived remarkably well over the years, but there is still some work to be done before it returns to its best. As with other aspects of the Galaxie, the interior does appear to be complete, and while there will be some trim items that will need to be replaced, a lot of items should respond quite well to a good clean. My only worry is that with the mountain of evidence under the hood of rodent infestation, I wonder if any of the little guys found their way inside the car. if they did, then the next owner might face some work in eradicating the “Eau-De-Mouse” scent that they can leave behind.
As you can see from this cover photo of the Galaxie that was taken in 1988, this really was a stunning looking car. In reality, it could be again, because it does appear to be both relatively solid, and complete. I hope that someone is willing to take the restoration of this car on, and if they do, then I really hope that they are rewarded with an end product that looks just as good as it did 30-years-ago.