I was 17 years old when I heard about a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible for sale. It was sitting in a shed in Bagley, Wisconsin, top down and completely dirty. The farmers who had it wanted $600 for it. That was a lot of money for a used car in 1975, but I always wanted a Galaxie this year. We had a family car when I was growing up and I never forgot it. I decided to go to the local bank to borrow the $600 I needed to buy the car.
The next day, two of my friends and I skipped school to look at the car with $600 cash in hand. When we arrived, I offered the farmer $600, but he said other people were coming to see the Galaxy. Worried that we were late, I was relieved when he said, “It comes first, you understand, so it’s yours.”
I now owned this top down full of dirt convertible. According to the owner, the roof was off because his dog fell through it while chasing a cat, and years of sitting like that had damaged the interior. But we hooked it up to the jumpers, hit the gas in the carburetor, and it fired up enough for me to drive it home.
The next step was cleaning. As it turned out, my uncle, who owned a body shop and used car lot, went to buy the Galaxie without realizing that it had already been sold: to me! When he found out I bought it, he came over and offered me $2,500, which I declined. I still have the Galaxie today. In 2023, it will be 48 years since he was with me. It has never been restored, has an original interior and only has one paint job. In 1975 I had to replace the top.
-Bryon M., Wisconsin
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