2 Ford Galaxie 500

While General Motors had become a motorsport-free zone by the mid-’60s, Ford was actively promoting its products on track, and the spectacle of Jack Sears in the Holman & Moody-prepared ‘R-code’ Galaxie 500 would have been etched in the minds of any early ’60s race fan. No surprise, then, that Lincoln Cars – Ford’s official UK importer – decided to introduce a right-hand-drive Galaxie to British roads. Built in Ford Canada’s plant in Oakville, Ontario, the 500 (named for its success in 500-mile stock-car races) used a 300bhp 6.4-litre V8, which powered the two-door behemoth from 0-50mph in 7.7 secs and on to a – for the time – jaw-dropping 120mph.

You can only imagine what a swathe the ’64 Galaxie would have cut through a typically British parochial street scene, casting aside Morris Minors and Ford Prefects with ease. But Motor Sport’s

Bill Boddy was a fan: ‘If luxury means quiet-running and very real performance effortlessly unleashed… such vehicles cannot be despised.’ And at £2154, why would you? Especially when a Jaguar Mk2 would have cost broadly the same, but with 80bhp less and two fewer cylinders – and nowhere near the exclusivity of the Ford. Anorak fact For fuller-framed customers, Ford offered the Galaxie with an optional ‘Swing-away’ steering wheel for easy access