Most enthusiasts peg the beginning of the Musclecar era to the introduction of the pontiac teMpest le Mans gto in 1964. the gto’s role as the “first Musclecar” May be coMMonly accepted, but serious cases can be Made for a host of cars that preceded it, especially the white-hot chrysler 300 letter series, the 1957 aMc raMbler rebel, and early-’60s full-sized 2-door sedans and hardtops like the 409 chevy iMpala, and super duty pontiacs.

Underappreciated full-size powerhouses like Frank Bulot’s13,000-mile ’63 Galaxie are finally coming into their own. TexT and phoTography by richard Truesdell

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W h i l e exper ts of all stripes can debate such things, we’ll be content to just present the evidence. This month’s cover car, a 12,000-mile, R-code (twin 4-barrel carb) 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 2-door Sports Roof hardtop is just such a musclecar that falls outside of the 1964 to 1974 time frame.

The owner of this gem is Frank Bulot who, with his wife Carolyn, lives in Hemet, California, about 90 minutes east of Los Angeles. Bulot is the service director at Moreno Valley Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Honda (now that’s an interesting combination of brands), located a mere four miles east on CA 60 from the original

site of Riverside Raceway (where Dan Gurney won the first of five

Motor Trend 500s in a real stock car that bears more than a passing resemblance to Bulot’s, in stark contrast to today’s breed of look-alike spec racers).

pampered FordBulot, whose daily driver is a 1965

289 4-speed Falcon Ranchero, related to Musclecar Enthusiast that his car had four previous owners that he’s aware of, all of whom were big-name Ford collectors. The last of these passed away while owning the car. The Galaxie then passed through the hands of Doug Rand and Keith Mills who freshened the motor and put the car in roadworthy condition after decades of

museum display. They then consigned it to Classic Investment Automobiles, who sold it to Bulot in July 2003. When he bought the car it had 10,900 documented miles and today (July 2005) Frank struggles to keep the total mileage under 13,000 miles overall.

“I was looking at a 409 bubble top ‘62 Chevy, another throwback to my teenage years cruising Colorado Blvd in the Pasadena area,” related Bulot, in a conversation with Musclecar Enthusiast at California Speedway at the annual Shelby American national meet, from inside his fully-equipped 29-foot motor home that pulls his Galaxie in an enclosed 24-foot trailer. “I looked seriously at three cars, all 409 Chevys; one bubbletop and one

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ragtop together and a second bubbletop 409. Finally, on the Internet I saw the 427 63 dual quad, which had the then-new fastback 2-door hardtop roofline. Other than the pictures and reputation of CIA, I bought the car virtually sight unseen. The first time I actually saw the

car, it was rolling out of a transporter on my doorstep.”

Given its totally original condition, Bulot really hesitates to take it on the road

much, possibly exposing it to other careless drivers, but says it’s a total throwback to drive. “One of the reasons that I passed on all three of the 409s is that in that era, there’s no way to denote on the car itself (other than with an authenticated build sheet or window sticker) that the car is

the real deal. But in the case of a Ford, the VIN, which is far more difficult to fake, clearly established this car as an authentic R-Code, thus my willingness to ultimately

buy this car.”Bulot notes that in the case of an R-

Code Galaxie such as his, there’s a few ways to spot a fake. Beyond the obvious — things like big brakes, springs and fuel lines — there’s one often overlooked detail found on the clones. “On a real 427-equipped Galaxie the front brake lines run across the front crossmember; all other Galaxie run under the engine crossmember. If you should ever encounter a 427 full-size Ford and the brake lines run under the engine, you know for sure that you’re looking at a clone. No one knows for sure why Ford made this running change on the 427-equipped cars but it’s logical to assume that if one was to blow up an engine, positioned like this, it’s much less likely that it would

In 1963 Bulot was 16 years old and to this day he remembers standing in front of a Rangoon Red R-Code fastback on the

showroom floor at Miller Ford Sales in Monrovia, and knew that someday he would own one.

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take out the brakes, than if they were run under the engine. In 1963, Fords had yet to equip their cars with dual-circuit master cylinders.”

a noisy lincolnWhen asked to describe what’s it’s

like to drive this rolling piece of Kennedy-era history, Bulot had this to say. “Going down the highway it’s like driving a very noisy Lincoln. It handles like a new 40-year old car and drives like a new 40-year old car, the exception being the clacking of the 16 solid lifters. If one was to park this car on a regular basis you’d need arms as big as Popeye’s as it has manual steering.”

Looking over his car, he’s made just a few, reversible concessions to his personal

taste. The first is the substitution of the standard full disc spinner hub caps with OEM, NOS ribbed Ford pie plates and the installation of the ultra rare factory AM/FM radio (originally a $129 option that set him back a cool grand on eBay). His original hub caps and AM radio are now sitting quite comfortably on a shelf in his garage along with the 710 x 15 bias ply Firestones and the original Kelsey Hays 15 x 5.5-inch wheels.

Bulot mentioned that when he got under the car he noticed something that looked funny — the hole through which his 4-speed linkage protruded up through the floor appeared to have been flame cut. His first thought, after knowingly buying a documented, fully original car, was that he was a clone victim. It wasn’t until he saw

photos of a rotisserie restoration done by noted Galaxie expert Greg Donohue, that the second car exhibited the same characteristic. In a call to Donohue he related that when any 4-speed car rolled down the line, they cut the hole with a template and torch, so his car was factory-correct.

In 1963 Bulot was 16 years old and to this day he remembers standing in front of a Rangoon Red R-Code fastback on the showroom floor at Miller Ford Sales in Monrovia, and knew that someday he would own one. It’s really great, especially in this era of stratospherically priced musclecars that a true enthusiast like Bulot was finally, after 40 years, able to fully realize that dream. Our only advice — drive it and enjoy it! ■

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