'62 Ford Galaxie

[Dirtman]

IMG_0016 by Rett Rundell, on FlickrIMG_0012 by Rett Rundell, on FlickrIMG_0009 by Rett Rundell, on FlickrIMG_0007 by Rett Rundell, on Flickr
Finally got this one done! My car from 1971. Satorious decals (I screwed up the ones of my name so had to improvise. This was a fast car but, I blew the 390 motor early in the year and had to call it quits. I had just bought a house and couldn't afford anothe motor. BTW, it was the only professionally built motor I ever ran! I put the body on before I took pics so I don't have any of the inside. A lot of work there too, darn it!

[john2]

  Very nice, Rett.  Sorry things didn't work out with the big one.

[Volzfan59]

Great looking replica of your race car.

[TarheelRick]

Good looking build looks very convincing. Bet it was fun to drive.

[BobD]

Good job Rett! Always liked those early 60s Fords!

[Brian Conn]

....Looks like you have been busy getting some stock cars built ....really like your choice of colors on the '55 and the Galaxie replica build looks spot on

[Maineboy]

Rett,

      Nice looking car and great job capturing the essence of that era. I gave it up in 1968 for the same reasons as you, wife and family.......and no money.  I have been a Chevy guy most all of my life. But I have a place in my heart for those big block Fords......and the old Flathead motors too. Learned a lot on them when I was only about 14 and wondered how motors worked.

     The 390 was a nice motor with good power, even in stock form. I pulled one from a wrecked Shelby Mustang and put into my 76 F 250 4 wheel drive pickup. We were into horses then. Silly me! Gave up stupid race cars and invested my efforts into AQHA horses? Horse owning could swallow more money than car racing!  The old 390 never saw a hill it could not wait to drag a heavy trailer up over. But it just couldn't wait to make love to the nearest gas pump after. My college room mate bought a new Mustang with the 390 in it during our junior year. He had saved a lot of money just for that. That car could fly. I drove it a few times. Sadly he totaled it that  summer. Had another buddy that had one in a 59 Ford two door sedan. That made a pretty good drag car.

     I miss those days when thrills were affordable to most of us. And most anyone who wanted to do so could own a race car, even if it only raced at the local dirt track.......it was still "racing" and we all loved it. It was our life until we ran out of money. As you say, by the early 70's the costs were moving beyond even what a man with a pretty good job could afford. How much did a professionally built motor cost in the early 70's in your part of the country?

MB

[Dirtman]

Well said Mainboy! There were, and still probably are, a lot of guys like you described. I only quit for that year. Came back in '72 and had a great year.

Rett

[Maineboy]

Rett,

     A couple of times a week I find myself wishing I could go back to those days again. It seemed like a lot more people were having fun and in Maine it was a family affair. Your whole family would turn out Sunday afternoon to cheer you on, even grandma, who probably could not tell the difference between a 36 Chevy and a 40 Ford but she cheered mightily for that car with your number on it.

     Once it became more about how much money you had to spend, then how skilled you were at car driving, I could see the writing on the wall and lost interest. Thinking about, and building models of these old cars helps me to remember those days when it was an awful lot of fun and you didn't have to borrow against your house to get the money to build an engine. NASCAR today I have absolutely no use whatsoever for. Can't tell one car from another.

MB

[421sd]

Rett, is this the body I found for you? I really like it. Did you use a '60 Ford frame? It is SUPER NICE!

[Bob P.]

Nice build Rett, well done.

Bob