Bob Brejack's '66 Galaxie 500
The '66 Galaxie 500 is a shining example showing Ford's mastery of fullsize automobile design. The pillar-less two-door hardtop made this beautiful body style slippery and a perfect choice for battle on the NASCAR front. In fact, the almost identical '65 body won the Daytona 500 for Ford that year driven by Fred Lorenzen. For street use, the design offered plenty of room and plenty of power, all the way up to the new-for-'66 7-Litre. This particular Galaxie belongs to Bob and Pat Brejack of Ramsey, New Jersey. Back when Bob was a high school kid, he owned a '66 Galaxie. He bought this car hoping it would take him back to the glory days. Bob says working on the car is a form of therapy for him, and he's done a lot since the Galaxie first rolled into his driveway as a basket case back in 1991.
After careful thought, Bob decided to restore and modify his car to offer modern performance and retain the classic styling. For the exterior portion of his project, he spent many hours combing through swap meets looking for original or N.O.S. Ford trim parts such as moldings, bumpers, and emblems. The interior has been customized to suit his taste in silver and gray, which complements the Bermuda Blue paint on the exterior nicely. Underhood, Bob went strictly modern performance using an ECC IV fuel-injected 5.0 HO engine borrowed from a '90 Mustang. He wanted his car to have a manual transmission and overdrive, so he got rid of the three-speed automatic transmission and column shift. Now, the smooth-running engine is connected to a T-5 five-speed manual transmission, which adds overdrive to the equation for freeway cruising. The original 9-inch axle has been retained and equipped with 3.70 gears to get the big car moving quickly. Massive front and rear Addco antisway bars help the big car stay flat in the corners.
With this Galaxie's smooth-running engine and flamboyant styling, Bob has indeed recaptured a part of his long-lost youth. He now gets to enjoy the look and feel of his original high school ride while enjoying the modern performance, reliability, and fuel economy offered by electronic fuel injection. Clearly, this car has reignited Bob's interest in classic Fords, and now it's a '65 Falcon two-door hardtop that keeps the midnight oil burning.