365 replies to this topic

[Phil Hackett]

AJ, you're in Colorado... they'd get it if you put a ski rack on top and a Volvo nameplate on the back... no waves to relate to, just slopes.

[raisin27]

Jairus, I love the old wagons and Raisin and I share a passion for the 1960 Ford. When I found out that they still made the 2 door body style in 1960, I started looking for my "surf wagon". It took 15 years but I found it (where else?) in Hemmings and bought it sight unseen, flying one way to South Carolina (the guy had about 25 '60 Fords in his yard) and dragging it back to CA behind a moving truck with a dolly. He said he found this one in a barn and had been in there for about 20 years, all the parts and mechanisms worked, it was blue, had a (seized) V8 and a manual transmission - everything I wanted! The glass was original and astonishingly clear for a car that age.

 

I spent over a year scraping the SC clay off the bottom (preserved the electrocoat!) and rebuilding it, painting it a three-tone blue, put the shifter on the floor behind a modern 302 V8 with headers and the lot. We named it "Vigo" (the CARpathian, from Ghostbusters II, "You are like the buzzing of flies to Vigo!") and I even put the trim letters from a VIGOr in place of the FORD letters on the tailgate.

 

I saw a picture of it on the internet taken by a member of the Fairlane club at a pizza joint. (That's an original '60 Starliner next to it.) I did a little bit of Photoshop magic on the image (to get rid of some dents, expand the rear glass, fender skirts, removed door handles, drop it to the ground, etc.) as shown below:

 

Wagon1960-radchop.jpg

 

My wife drove the kids to school every day in So. CA - absolutely a daily driver, and we used to take it to the beach often. People in So. CA "got it" and knew it was a surf wagon. I drove it to work here in CO and people that saw me drive up in it asked me if I was homeless (they don't "get it").

 

One day, I would like to follow through and finish customizing it properly, with air ride, a proper aluminum big block (man, it will fit easily!), 6 speed manual, and hardtop doors (a Ford Nomad?).

 

Keep the shiny side up and the grungy side down,

 

AJ

 

AJ, is that a skymist blue 60 Starliner parked next to you in the pic?  I thought for sure I had the only 60 Ford in Garden City until I was riding my bike one day and saw a white 60 Fairlane in a garage a few blocks away. Maybe they aren't so uncommon after all...LOL/

 

Raisin

[Jairus]

AJ, I love 60's and yours looks like a fun daily driver!  Bet you get thumbs up from watchers where ever you go!
I know I do.
 

[Gator Bob]

[A. J. Hoyt]

I love the '60 because it was the year the Fords got "low and wide", breaking the 50's and earlier "tall and narrow" look. Also, Ford had that fine 300HP 352 PI option (only available to law enforcement agencies!) so it was a genuine "muscle car". It didn't have round tailights so I guess it was "not Ford enough" for some and, sadly, became a forgotten body style. A lot of people don't recognize it as a Ford at all!

 

The lines of the wagon are just special to me - I think I must have had one of the 1/24 Ford dealer friction toys as a very young kid - I still see them on eBay once in a while and it "trips" certain memories. The "fastback" lift gate is really unique because you can lie in the bed of the wagon and look straight up at the stars at night (honest, I wasn't homeless at the time!). It is so distinctive that I recognized that the tailgate and rear roof of the wagon was used as the roof and access windshield of the Deora custom truck the first time I saw it! I have yet to see a full rendering of what the lift springs look like and how they are anchored to the roof structure - they must be massive to lift that thing!

 

AJ

[Jairus]

AJ have you joined Stationwagon Forum yet?

 

They are a great bunch of guys and we even have t-shirts!

[raisin27]

I love the '60 because it was the year the Fords got "low and wide", breaking the 50's and earlier "tall and narrow" look. Also, Ford had that fine 300HP 352 PI option (only available to law enforcement agencies!) so it was a genuine "muscle car". It didn't have round tailights so I guess it was "not Ford enough" for some and, sadly, became a forgotten body style. A lot of people don't recognize it as a Ford at all!

 

The lines of the wagon are just special to me - I think I must have had one of the 1/24 Ford dealer friction toys as a very young kid - I still see them on eBay once in a while and it "trips" certain memories. The "fastback" lift gate is really unique because you can lie in the bed of the wagon and look straight up at the stars at night (honest, I wasn't homeless at the time!). It is so distinctive that I recognized that the tailgate and rear roof of the wagon was used as the roof and access windshield of the Deora custom truck the first time I saw it! I have yet to see a full rendering of what the lift springs look like and how they are anchored to the roof structure - they must be massive to lift that thing!

 

AJ

 

AJ,

 

The 300 horsepower 352 was fairly common, that's what my Starliner has. I believe you might be thinking of the 360 horse 352 mill. One of these in a Starliner went 157+ miles per hour at Bonneville that year. It was the first Ford to feature the cast iron headers that later became famous on the 427's. It is kind of a forgotten engine in the Ford lineup as it was a one year only mill being replaced in 61 with the hipo 390.

 

Sometime back in the late 80's Muscle Car revue magazine set out to determine what the first true musclecar was. They decided on what qualifications make a car a "musclecar" then set out to find the first production car that met the criteria. They named the 1960 Ford with the 360 horse 352 and 3 speed manual transmission as the worlds first musclecar!

Attached Images

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[A. J. Hoyt]

Raisin,

My observation was based on the "official" engine option list. This is a page from the "special vehicles" brocure (Police Interceptors, ambulance, etc.) and I thought the 300HP engine option was special (T-bird 352 was only 235HP)! Especially when it says it is only available to law enforcement agencies!



As usual, you are the Ford "guru". I have never found you to be wrong (except for the '73 Torino Talledega - inside story).

I would like to know more, like engine codes and such. I imagine this was a late year offering, maybe even a "COPO" - like option, where, if you knew the code, the dealer would order it. Like one of those clandistine engine options for NASCAR racing...

And, you say your Starliner has the 360HP engine...and that there are lots of PI engines around (they must have suspended their "law enforcement agencies only" to the right buyers...).

Maybe we should take this offline, to PM, but I wanted to share the page with others here in the 1:1 car forum.

Good on ya!

AJ

[TSR]

Well,

I drive quite a few cars because of my media affiliation, but my fave personal car, the one I kept the longest so far (over 30 years now), is this minty 1957 Mercedes 220 coupe. A true sweetheart that has been faithful to me for so long. Here she is shown on front of one of the most advanced GT cars on the planet, as I was surrendering its keys back to the McLaren store in Newport Beach. The contrast between driving the McLaren that I had for a week to tool around (and tooling, I did!), and the old lady is quite phenomenal, but incredibly and if I was given a choice, I would leave the Mac and take the old girl home. Maybe it's crazy, but the Mac is simply just too much for today's traffic.

 

 

 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Full size Tin Toy car ...... have ya got a Tin of the Merc too?

[TSR]

Yep, more than one! 

 

 

 

 

Love'em all! 

[Gator Bob]

Well,

I drive quite a few cars because of my media affiliation, but my fave personal car, the one I kept the longest so far (over 30 years now), is this minty 1957 Mercedes 220 coupe. A true sweetheart that has been faithful to me for so long. Here she is shown on front of one of the most advanced GT cars on the planet, as I was surrendering its keys back to the McLaren store in Newport Beach. The contrast between driving the McLaren that I had for a week to tool around (and tooling, I did!), and the old lady is quite phenomenal, but incredibly and if I was given a choice, I would leave the Mac and take the old girl home. Maybe it's crazy, but the Mac is simply just too much for today's traffic.

 

bertha_mclaren_contrast.jpg

 

 

 

How much did you have to put in the parking meter for the old lady?

[TSR]

Not a cent. I don't patronize fascists.

[SlotStox#53]

Love the Merc , such a beautiful car   What was it like tooling around the in the Mac? anygood?

[TSR]

Freaky awesome, except for visibility out, not as bad as a Murcielago but still, not quite what you need in tight traffic. On the open road, it's faster than just about anything, out-handles about anything, out-brakes about anything and goes stratospheric in incredibly short time. It''s supposed to go over 200 but the most I saw was 155 briefly because of available space and the fact that I need to not spend the night in jail. It is like driving a Porsche GT3RS that would be on steroids and that would have bought a magic carpet.
 

it's quite comfortable and relatively quiet inside. Controls are designed just like made for me (I am 5'7" and 155 lbs), everything fell in perfect place. Seats are great and really hold you without being too constrictive. We did a couple of 0 to 60 times with an on-board computer, the best I could do because of some wheel spin was 3.1", It can do better with a bit of time, like 2.8"...

Physically, you feel the strain and at my age it counts. We did not have an opportunity to do track time, that will be for next time. I did about 400 miles of driving overall in small roads in middle California and it attracted minimal attention, it is a rather discreet machine compared to a Ferrari or a Lambo...

It did eat fuel, but even with the speed testing it could do 14 to 18 mpg, not so bad for such a machine. There are so many electronic gizmos and adjustments, you need a couple months to learn it all...

The story is for a French publication, I'll try to post it when it gets printed.

[SlotStox#53]

That does indeed sound an awesome machine!!! Thanks for the experience of driving it through your words... WOW!

[Gator Bob]

Not a cent. I don't patronize fascists.

 

Does FREE Parking and battery charges come with the faster car.

 

 

Freaky awesome, except for visibility out, not as bad as a Murcielago but still, not quite what you need in tight traffic. On the open road, it's faster than just about anything, out-handles about anything, out-brakes about anything and goes stratospheric in incredibly short time. It''s supposed to go over 200 but the most I saw was 155 briefly because of available space and the fact that I need to not spend the night in jail. It is like driving a Porsche GT3RS that would be on steroids and that would have bought a magic carpet.
 

it's quite comfortable and relatively quiet inside. Controls are designed just like made for me (I am 5'7" and 155 lbs), everything fell in perfect place. Seats are great and really hold you without being too constrictive. We did a couple of 0 to 60 times with an on-board computer, the best I could do because of some wheel spin was 3.1", It can do better with a bit of time, like 2.8"...

Physically, you feel the strain and at my age it counts. We did not have an opportunity to do track time, that will be for next time. I did about 400 miles of driving overall in small roads in middle California and it attracted minimal attention, it is a rather discreet machine compared to a Ferrari or a Lambo...

It did eat fuel, but even with the speed testing it could do 14 to 18 mpg, not so bad for such a machine. There are so many electronic gizmos and adjustments, you need a couple months to learn it all...

The story is for a French publication, I'll try to post it when it gets printed.

 

That Is a drivers impression .... and in the back of the seat too.

Dokk, does it have a Real Shifter or one for the handicapped driver?

 

 

 

  

[Jean-Michel Piot]

Dokk's Mercedes really is a beauty! How elegant!

 

As for myself: in addition to our 2001 S Type Jaguar (my wife's car but she never drives it, I do), here are my toys:

 

Pacific blue Lotus Elan M 100 S1 built in 1991 that I recently purchased in March 2013 and Norfolk yellow Lotus Elise built in 1998 (and ordered at the end of 1996... I'm the first owner).

 

I first though of selling the Elise but I revised my mind and will keep the two, using the Elise more as a track car and using the Elan as an everyday car (together with the Elise from time to time) whenever I will not need more than 2 places or a big boot.

 

[Champion 507]

About 8 months ago I traded in my 23 year old Buick LeSabre with 225k miles on it and got a 15 year old Mercury Grand Marquis very similar to this one with 84k miles. Mine had an almost new set of whitewall Michelins on it when I got it. I have 96k miles on it now. It has a 4.6L V-8 and I average 20 mpg combined driving.

 

 

My trade in looked something like this one, except mine had blackwall tires and a spot of paint pealing on the driver's door.

 

[Mopar Rob]

You guys are too old. Never watch the Fast & Furious movies?

2004 Dodge NEON SRT-4
2013 Subaru WRX

and a non-running Lotus Europa in storage

[TSR]

I drive my own "Fast and Furious" hot rod:

 

 

Those puny rice burners can always try...

[Champion 507]

Rob, I'd love to have something a little sportier and faster, but it's a little thing called $.

 

And, no, I've never seen Fast and Furious.

[TSR]

Doug, you did not miss much.

[raisin27]

About 8 months ago I traded in my 23 year old Buick LeSabre with 225k miles on it and got a 15 year old Mercury Grand Marquis very similar to this one with 84k miles. Mine had an almost new set of whitewall Michelins on it when I got it. I have 96k miles on it now. It has a 4.6L V-8 and I average 20 mpg combined driving.

 

merc (800x600).jpg

 

My trade in looked something like this one, except mine had blackwall tires and a spot of paint pealing on the driver's door.

 

buick.jpg

 

As a driver of panther based cars for the last 20 years I can tell you that with only 96k its barely broken in.

 

Raisin

[Mopar Rob]

I drive my own "Fast and Furious" hot rod:
 

 
Those puny rice burners can always try...

I'm sure you like your 16 year old PPG support vehicle, but I'd bet most kids would rather have a Honda with a big turbo, EVO, or a used Nissan GT-R?

Grab an extra set of underwear, dump 60K on a used GT-R a donate that old Mercedes to some museum or something.