Keep You Eye on the Falcons Going By - One of My Favorites from the Past

1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero

Back in 1963 - almost 30 years out of high school - my Dad bought his very first NEW car. It was a light blue Ford Falcon wagon. I learned how to drive on that car and took my driver's test with it. Today I bought a 1963 Falcon - same color - but this one is a little pickup truck. It has an 800 pound payload rating.

I found this one of Craigslist about 70 miles east of Tallahassee. So Wednesday I drove the Prius over to see it. The owner is the electrical engineer for a small retirement community. He built the car for his son to take to college. The son needs money now more than a hot rod.

I would like to say that the truck is restored - but it is more of a hot rod. Instead of the little 100 horsepower six cylinder engine - there is a Mustang 302 V8 engine in it - pushing out 265 horsepower. The engine has a few chrome parts on it - it is connected to a top loader 4 speed transmission with a Hurst shifter. It has headers pushing dual exhaust through two Flowmaster mufflers.

The car rides smoothly and quietly on the highway. One forgets how it was to drive with no power steering - no power brakes - and no air conditioning. Do you remember the little movable vent windows? That was our air conditioning. The tires are new and the it has the little chrome baby moon hub caps and chrome trim rings on the wheels - this was before mag wheels.

The Everhart's owned 6 Falcons - 9 if you include the Mustangs and Mavericks - the same basic car with a different body. My Dad liked Fords and Falcons were cheap. One time Lulu and I bought a junker Mercury Comet wagon - it was simply a Falcon with chrome dash knobs. We never registered it and used to ride around the stripping roads between the deep holes. I remember pushing it over a cliff - only to have my friends Matt and Timmy shimmy down the edge to take the engine out and hoist it to the top. They then went to vo-tech school and rebuilt the engine and put it in Matt's car. We were all experts working on a Falcon 6.

I am not quite sure what I am going to do with it - I guess I can always run for lumber. Honestly - I will probably sell it when the vanity wears off.

Since it is 50 years old - I can put an antique plate on it.

The car cost $1898 new. Supposedly it is worth $9000 to $32,000 in the NADA book.

The seats are not stock - they used to come with a bench seat that sat three people across. They didn't have seat belts then - but the one does now.

The 1988 Mustang 302 V8 has been "cobra-ized" a bit. It has an electronic ignition - an Edelbrook carburetor - and bits of chrome here and there. It is amazing how few wires and hoses are under the hood. The engine bolted right into the old mounts - there seems to be plenty of room.

It has a new paint job on it - I did the magnet test all over the body and it is all metal.