FRESH & CLEAN FALCON, NICE RESPRAY, BUCKETS, 302 V8, AUTO, LONGTUBES, GR8 DRIVER

This pretty 1963 Ford Falcon is one of those cars restored all out of proportion to its sticker price. Extremely well finished, work like this is common on cars costing tens of thousands of dollars more, but with this car you get all the performance of a Mustang combined with a unique shape that has aged particularly well.Blending economy, performance, and style, the Falcon really was a do-it-all kind of car. You could outfit it to suit your tastes, and apparently someone want this to be a slick little sleeper that was comfortable for cross-country jaunts. You could paint it some flashy color, but the silvery blue finish on it today is far more interesting, don't you think? The tidy hardtop bodywork was treated to a makeover that gives it the look of a -scale Galaxie and the detailing on the fenders and through the quarter panels is quite good. Gaps and panel alignment are decent and the year-old paint shines up beautifully thanks to modern materials. And this was no stripped-down base model, either, and as a result it's dressed up with plenty of jewelry, ranging from the arrow-shaped side trim to the beautifully sculpted bumper that frames the taillights, to the neat little "bombsight" fender ornaments up front. Nothing was modified or deleted, once again suggesting that someone restored this car because they loved it, not because they were trying to make money from it.Light blue bucket seats give the stylish interior a far more upscale look than you'd expect from Ford's economy car. The pleated seat covers look fresh and flank a correct center console with bright lid, so there's a bit of contrast in the otherwise all-blue interior. Simple door panels recall just a touch of the 1950s with their shiny materials and lots of polished trim. The familiar instrument panel is in decent original condition and there's a modern tach down low on the B&M shifter, as well as a set of auxiliary dials under the dash. The factory-issued AM radio is long gone, replaced by a later AM/FM/cassette head unit, but that's OK because this car was built to cruise. The trunk is nicely detailed as well, and includes a reproduction plaid mat, a vintage spare tire, and the remote-mounted battery.Stuffing a 302 cubic inch V8 with upgraded 351 heads in a lightweight car works really well; just ask Carroll Shelby. In this Falcon, it makes for entertaining acceleration around town and it's a lot of fun to play with that flexible torque curve on the street. An open-element air cleaner from Edelbrock adds a racy look, with matching finned valve covers that aren't exactly stock but look pretty darned cool. Ford Blue engine enamel pops against the satin black engine bay, and you can see that a lot of the work is quite fresh (only 700 miles on the motor since rebuild) and the sucker runs great. Long-tube headers with cut-outs sound awesome, but the newer stock exhaust makes for mellow cruising speeds. A quick-shifting automatic transmission and highway-friendly gears make it mild-mannered on the open road and they've thoughtfully added a set of subframe connectors to reinforce the structure. A slightly lowered stance and chrome wheels with baby moon hubcaps give it just a bit of attitude, and it rides on fat BFGoodrich T/A radials all around.This is a neat little car that shows quite well and runs great. Falcons are seeing some new-found appreciation these days, and I wouldn't expect nice ones like this to remain affordable forever. Call today!