Collector Car Corner/Cars We Remember; Third in a series of Top 10 Muscle Cars; the 1964 Ford Galaxie 427 Hi-Riser R-Code

Here’s the third installment of my Top 10 Muscle Cars of all-time, with emphasis that the car selected was available to the general public to purchase at a corresponding dealership. This special Ford surprised everyone from consumer to Ford dealer with its up front, in your face, corporate blessing as revealed in the ad attached.

Further, the 1964 Fairlane Ford Thunderbolt 427 was not considered for inclusion because only 100 were ever built to adhere to an NHRA Drag Race rule. These “drag race only” Thunderbolts were sent to designated racing teams and dealers involved in the sport instead of being offered to the public. Unlike the 1964 GTO, which was available to the everyday consumer, Ford’s Thunderbolt was a once and done experiment.

Thus, it’s the full-size 1964 Galaxie 427s in Q or R-Code dress that merit a slot on our Top 10 accolades. The ’64 Ford Galaxie was a good-looking car featuring a buyer’s choice of the incredibly successful 427 Hi-Riser engine. Available in three versions, two were available to the public with the third being a NASCAR only race version.

The “normal” Q-code 427-cid Galaxie engine, which sold over 3,200 units to consumers, cost $461 for a 410-horse single quad version and $570 for the dual-quad, 425-horse setup. This street version 427 had a 10.7:1 compression ratio and was suited for daily driver status. These 427 street versions ran very well and were very affordable. However, these large Galaxies became the darlings of the drag racing world when the new R-Code 427 Hi-Riser found itself between the frame rails along with weight saving exterior attributes.

Before we get further into the R-Code, I want to re-emphasize why I selected the 1964 Galaxie 427 as one of our top muscle cars – and that reason is full company support.

Ford management knew that winning at the racetracks sold cars, so it quickly withdrew from the Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on factory-sponsored racing that started in 1956 of which Ford initially agreed to. Instead, Ford introduced its “Ford Total Performance” program in 1964, which highlighted its performance engineering abilities to attract both young and older race enthusiasts. Again, the “win on Sunday sell on Monday” theory was in high gear and Ford was not to be denied.

In response, General Motors had nothing like this to offer although Chrysler was ready to join Ford with its new factory-backed 426 Hemi. For eight long years, Ford and Chrysler dominated NASCAR with nearly a competitive Chevy in sight. In fact, Chevy wouldn’t find victory lane at a major NASCAR track from 1964 to 1971 when Bobby Allison finally won Atlanta in a ’72 Chevrolet. Prior to that, it was Ford, Mercury, Plymouth, and Dodge scoring all the big race wins.

This is the main reason I chose the 1964 Ford Galaxie as one of my top 10 muscle cars, with full awareness that the experimental Ford Thunderbolt Fairlane and many lighter models to follow.

Further, when a car company like Ford puts together a program that fulfills the needs of every performance enthusiast, from street to road course to drag to oval, it deserves  proper credit. That’s why in previous columns I mentioned the 390 Ford Tri-Power engines from 1960 and 1961 as forerunners of this 1964 Total Performance program, along with the 1962 and 1963 earlier versions of the 406 and 427. Today fanatics can expect one of the 1964 Galaxie R-Code drag car specials to go for $135,000 and up if one shows up at a Barrett-Jackson or Mecum Auction.

The attached ad for a 1964 Galaxie 427 Hi Riser Special shows the drag car was based on the lighter weight option that Ford introduced in 1963. This option featured fiberglass body panels, aluminum bumpers and other weight-saving ancillary items to lessen the car’s weight by about 300 pounds, which equates to about three tenths less in quarter mile times.

Notable is that the drag Galaxie came with the choice of a four-speed manual or an automatic transmission, the latter which the Chrysler team of The Ramchargers had perfected in their corporate garages. So, although The Ramchargers were given much praise for perfecting an automatic that could manage the power of 426 Max Wedge and 426 Hemi, Ford, too, deserves credit for what they were able to do hooking up that big Ford power without disintegrating the automatic. (If you ordered a 427 R-Code, the 4-speed was standard.)

Ford accomplished this three-speed automatic success using Lincoln heavy-duty gearing hooked to a Ford Cruise-O-Matic torque converter with a lightweight aluminum housing. Other smaller parts were needed to manage the huge torque, and if you check the attached ad, you’ll see just how fast and consistent this Lincoln automatic was. Back then, when you could run the quarter mile as fast as a 4-speed with a pro behind the wheel, this R-Code Lincoln’s tranny value spoke volumes.

The last of the three 1964 427s was not available for public consumption. It was the 427 NASCAR version, built to meet NASCAR mandates. It featured a single Holley four-barrel carb, and large, “big horsepower” cylinder heads that insiders say resulted in 525 horses.

Meanwhile, the R-Code 427 Galaxies’ Hi-Riser engine had special attributes the others did not. A unique intake manifold and cylinder heads raised the carburetors way above the valve covers, allowing for better airflow, more torque, and the need for a special bubble hood that helped feed air to the carbs. As for production numbers, less than 60 of the drag Galaxies were built, but still counted in the Q and R Code sales of 3,260 combined.

The list price for the 427 R-Code Hi Riser drag car was $4,150 for the automatic and $3,950 for the 4-speed, quite a bit higher than the standard Galaxie 500XL Q-Code 427. Although this R-Code V-8 could be dealer ordered, it was not really a street motor and would foul plugs after one night of slow cruising. Another negative was fuel mileage, estimated to be around eight per gallon city. In comparison, a 1964 Galaxie 500 2-door fastback had a base price of $2,794.

Notable Ford drag racers back then were Les Ritchey, Bill Lawton, Phil Bonner, Al Joniec, Gas Rhonda, and Dick Brannan. The late Bob Tasca also deserves special credit as his contributions to most of Ford’s drag race efforts came from his still very active Ford dealership in East Providence, Rhode Island.

Today, anyone that studies the who, what, when, where, and why of Ford high-performance, the 1964 year turns out to be what I consider its pivotal turning point. It was indeed 1964 that led to Ford’s overall success in the years to come, regardless of racing discipline.

In the end, had it not been for this corporate “let’s do it” in 1964 when it came to Ford Total Performance racing, there may have never been the movie called “Ford versus Ferrari,” which I still highly recommend to every car enthusiast everywhere.

(Greg Zyla writes weekly on cars and motorsports and welcomes reader interaction on auto nostalgia, collector cars and motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com.)