This week's post is close to my heart. I will be sharing my older brother Bob's classic car story about his 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 XL. Bob bought the car from a local ad he had seen in the Royal Oak Daily Tribune. He paid $2,800 for it in 1972.
His Galaxy was durable, reliable and surprisingly comfortable to ride in. For those of you bloggers that love to hear the specs of these cars here you go! 18 inch wheels, 233 6 cylinder with the 3 speed on the column, for being a Detroit owned car it had very little rust. 1964 was the fourth and final year for this body style.
Bob was a 17 year old junior at Royal Oak Kimball High School at the time he purchased this car.
We were living on a beautiful, tree lined street named BonnieView, in Royal Oak, Michigan.
On a sunny Saturday in July, Bob picked up his blind date, Karen and the two of them drove off, windows down, hair blowing in the wind in his 64 Galaxy 500, destination...Pine Knob to see Jefferson Starship perform.
Bob and Karen pulled into the parking lot, joining several of his friends for a tailgate party. Several cocktails later, Bob and Karen stumbled their way up the seemingly never-ending steps to the top of the hill at Pine Knob. Karen spread out a blanket and the two of them watched the sun set and the stars come out while songs from the warm up band filled the air.
Everything seemed to be picture perfect between Bob and his blind date. They realized they had a lot in common. They talked and laughed until Jefferson Starship came on stage. The quiet, romantic hill they were perched upon was suddenly rushed by hundreds of screaming, drunk, out of control Jefferson Starship groupies. Their blanket was trampled, covered in mud and beer. After an hour of getting shoved around and stepped on, Bob and Karen decided to leave the concert early.
They made their way back down the 150 stairs and out the exit. They couple made it to the Galaxy with little trouble, but when Bob went to start up the car, he realized the battery was dead. Turns out Karen had forgotten to turn off the dome light after she put her lipstick on and had killed the battery. For my younger readers, please understand, this was way before cell phones were around, so Bob went on foot to track down a security car to jump start them. After a half hour, Bob returned with help.
A quick jump and they were cruising out of the parking lot. Two short lights and they were on I-75 heading back home. Bob was showing off to his new girl, doing over 80 down the freeway, stereo cranked as loud as it would go, both smiling and laughing.
They had planned on driving to Pasquales, on Woodward for a late pizza. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for them. A mile before the exit to Woodward, thick grey smoke started billowing out from the hood of the Galaxy 500. So thick, Bob had to roll down the drivers side window and stick his head out to see where he needed to pull over on the shoulder.
Karen jumped out gasping for fresh air while Bob popped the hood to see what was smoking so badly. He was embarrassed that his blind date wasn't going so well. The smell of burning rubber filled the hot night air. Bob kept a water can in the trunk and poured some into the radiator, hoping that would sooth his sick, choking car.
After letting the engine cool down for a bit, they hopped back in and made their way to the Woodward exit. Bob could tell something wasn't right with his car, it was running rough, luckily Karen didn't know any better. They pulled up to the light at 11 and Woodward. It was Saturday night and all four lanes of Woodward were lined up with cars coming and going.
The light turned green. Bob hit the gas pedal, the Galaxy that usually jumps off the line like a horse at the Kentucky Derby, dies right in the middle of the intersection and in the middle lane too! Almost instantly, the sound of car horns begin a chorus behind them. Bob and Karen are both filled with embarrassment. Bob thinks fast and puts on his flashers, he has Karen steer and he pushes the dead beast into the gas station at the northeast corner of 11 and Woodward.
Karen had decided she had been through enough on this blind date and used the pay phone to call her dad to come pick her up. Bob never did hear from Karen after that night.
As for the Galaxy 500, Bob figured out that it wouldn't go forward in DRIVE but it would go backward in REVERSE. He had no money in the bank to fix his car. He knew the back roads of Royal Oak extremely well and ended up driving the Galaxy 500 all the way home BACKWARDS!!
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