NASCAR Naturals: The Galaxie Fastbacks
A fastback Galaxie driven by DeWayne "Tiny" Lund won the Daytona 500 for Ford for the first time in 1963. By 1965 the Total Performance Years were in full swing and the popular adage of "win on Sunday sell on Monday" proved to be true. Ford became ever more determined to be successful in NASCAR racing and they entered the all-new Galaxie for the 1965 season. Now, once again, a fullsize Galaxie fastback went to victory circle a second time in 1965. Driven by Fred Lorenzen, the car contributed to the outstanding record of 48 victories by Ford drivers during the 1965 NASCAR season. The engine in Lund's car was a 427ci FE medium riser. It was backed up with a four-speed top-loader transmission and 9-inch axle. Because the 427 FE had cross-bolted main bearing caps, it was particularly well suited to NASCAR racing, where the demand was for continuous operation at high RPM. The 4.23-inch bore size combined with the relatively short stroke length of 3.78 inches made for an engine that produced big power and wound up quickly. While almost identical in displacement, the 428 FE had the very different internal dimensions of 4.13-inch bore by 3.98-inch stroke. The longer-stroke 428 had two-bolt mains and was better suited to passenger-car use, producing lots of torque across the whole RPM band.
| ’65-’66 Galaxie Engine Options |
| Cubic Inches | Horsepower | Induction | Year |
| 223 Mileage Maker I-6 | 135 | 2V | 1965-’66 |
| 289 Fairlane V-8 | 195 | 2V | 1965-’66 |
| 289 Fairlane V-8 | 200 | 4V | 1965-’66 |
| 352 FE V-8 | 250 | 2V | 1965-’66 |
| 390 FE V-8 | 275 | 2V | 1965-’66 |
| 390 FE V-8 | 300 | 4V | 1965-’66 |
| 427 FE V-8 | 410 | 4V | 1965-’66 |
| 427 FE V-8 | 425 | 8V | 1965-’66 |
| 428 FE V-8 | 345 | 4V | 1966 |