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Ford Muscle Cars of 1960
A New Decade and New Ideas
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Upon their introduction in the fall of 1959, the all-new 1960 Fords were a radical departure from
previous models, and were immediately met with mixed reviews. Gone were the traditional round
taillights, which had become a Ford trademark since 1952 (except in 1958). The styling was
extremely smooth, featuring long, flowing lines and a very low silhouette, replacing the squared-
off, upright profile presented by the 1959 models.
In the low-priced field, size continued as a critical sales factor, with bigger definitely being better.
The 1960 Ford advertising literature featured illustrations of leviathan cars with fashionably
dressed micropeople inside, always smiling. The entire body of the new model was only slightly
more than 36 inches high at the beltline, with an overall height of just 54.5 inches for the sleek
new Galaxie Special Starliner models, and up to just 56.5 inches for the station wagons. They
were more than five inches wider than the 1959 models, with the brochures proudly announcing
the tread width was now more than five feet! The new Fords were actually wider than the legal
limit in some states, although we know of no one receiving a citation for driving an “oversize
load.” With huge fins and wretched excess the current styling trend, the 1960 Ford’s fins were
very small when compared with the batwing 1959 Chevys, and the huge vertical fins worn by
most Chrysler products. The relatively conservative styling was a refreshing change from the
competition.
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Totally restyled for 1960, the
new Fords presented a
completely new appearance.
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All 1960 Fords featured a single chrome strip, which rose from the top of the front bumper to the
top of the front fender, the swept back along the beltline to the rear of the car, where it capped a
horizontal “fin.” Large, semicircular taillights were housed in an aluminum escutcheon panel
positioned below the fins. A semicircular feature was embossed into the rear bumper, which
“mirrored” the design of the taillights. Up front, a full-width mesh grille housed dual headlights. A
Ford crest was centered at the front of the hood on all models except the base Fairlanes, which
carried the FORD name in block letters across the front of the hood.
While the top line Galaxie Special models did offer luxurious interiors for the time, even the low-
end Fairlane models were advertised as having Luxury Lounge interiors. Once again,
emphasizing overall size was critical, and the brochures show a mother and her young daughter
inside a Galaxie Town Victoria, with the front and rear seats separated by about four feet. As
humorous as it looks now, these little tricks sold a lot of cars in those days!
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The styling was best worn by the top-line models, the Galaxie Special Starliner hardtop and
Galaxie Special Sunliner convertible models. Ford’s advertising brochures expounded the virtues
of the new fastback Starliner by saying, “If you’ve ever hankered to own a sports car—but your
needs call for six passenger room—you’ll know at first glance that this dashing, all new Starliner
was created for you! As your eyes drink in the beauty of this jaunty two-door hardtop, you’ll
realize, too, that here is a beautifully proportioned motorcar. Its flowing, sweptback lines give the
Starliner a racy appearance that is daringly different, unmatched by any other full-sized car on
the American road today. And it’s a car primed for action. Most Starliners are equipped with the
optional (300-horsepower) Thunderbird 352 Special V-8 engine that gives you power as you like
it—when you need it.”
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You either love or hate 1960
Fords. In either case, the
Starliner is one of the
smoothest models to emerge
from Detroit that year. This
particular example is equipped
with the ultra-rare High
Performance 352, producing
360 neck-snapping horsepower.
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The Sunliner’s advertising proudly boasted, “its sun-loving, fun-loving new proportions are a
beauty to behold. And there’s lively power to match the Sunliner’s breezy looks. Like the
Starliner, most are equipped with the Thunderbird 352 Special V-8, the very same engine that
propels the mighty Thunderbird itself. Hills surrender on sight!”
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The High Performance 352 was Ford’s first attempt at building a true high-performance
engine, from the block up. These engines were beasts, producing incredible performance!
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In the author’s never-to-be-humble opinion, a 1960 Starliner is one of the most beautiful models
ever produced in the Dearborn styling studios, and the 1960 Sunliner so impressed me that it
became my first car. Any 0 to 60 runs in that particular 292/Ford-O-Matic-equipped Sunliner
could have been timed with a calendar instead of a stopwatch, and not once did a hill lie down
and play dead for us! For the rest of the public, there seemed to be no middle of the road
attitude toward the styling. Either you liked it, or you didn’t. Those who did not like the styling
seemed unanimous on their reasoning—”It didn’t look like a Ford.”
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Sunliners featured very comfortable
interiors, with brightwork on the
instrument panel and plush carpeting.
Unlike hardtop versions of the
Galaxies, the Sunliners used all-vinyl
upholstery, just in case you didn’t have
enough sense to put the top up in the
rain.
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For 1960, all Ford models featured a 119-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 213.7 inches, with
weights varying from 3,504 pounds for the two-door Fairlane business coupe (no back seat) with
the six-cylinder engine, up to 4,122 pounds for the V-8-powered Country Squire station wagons.
The Fairlane became the base trim level in 1960, and included chrome trim around the
windshield and rear window, two sun visors, a full horn ring, and armrests on all doors. Rubber
floor mats were used in place of carpeting. The Fairlane model designation, in script lettering,
appeared at the back of the quarter-panels, just in front of the taillights.
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The Fairlane 500 became the intermediate trim level in 1960, and included all the features found
on Fairlane models, in addition to slightly upgraded interior trim, which included carpeting, and
four small, vertical chrome strips positioned on the quarter-panel just ahead of the taillights. The
Fairlane 500 designation script appeared on the sides of the front fenders ahead of the wheel
opening.
The Galaxie and Galaxie Special series became the top trim level for 1960, and included chrome
trim around the windshield, side windows and rear window, a chrome strip along the side of the
body, ribbed aluminum stone shields (washboards) behind the rear wheels. A ribbed aluminum
escutcheon panel was positioned between the taillights. The Galaxie designation script appeared
on the front fenders ahead of the wheel opening, and on the trunk lid. The Galaxie script was
replaced with “Sunliner” or “Starliner” scripts on the trunk of those models.
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Unfortunately, the 300-horsepower 352ci V-8 and mandatory Cruise-O-Matic automatic
transmission, which constituted the top powertrain option, did little to reinforce the performance
image conveyed by the two top-line models. It definitely was not on par with the top
engine/transmission combinations offered by the various General Motors brands, and fell far
short of the big 413/Torqueflite combinations offered by Chrysler on most of their models. GM
had offered four-speed manual transmissions on all of its “performance” models since 1958, and
Chrysler was offering the French-built Pont-A-Mousson four-speed manual transmission in its top
performance cars in 1960. Early in the year, Ford saw the light, and sought to change this
horsepower deficit by developing the first true high-performance engine ever offered by the
company, designed from the ground up as a high-performance engine, and not as an
afterthought with the usual bolt-on parts.
Beginning with the basic 352ci FE V-8 engine, which had been around since 1958, Ford
engineers replaced the cast-iron intake manifold with an aluminum version for a 50-pound weight
saving, and topped it with a 540-cfm Holley four-barrel carburetor. The standard 352 hydraulic
valve lifters were replace with mechanical lifters from early 1958 352s. Compression was raised
to 10.6:1, and a special set of streamlined cast-iron exhaust manifolds led to free flowing dual
exhausts.
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With the high-performance 352 boasting 360 horsepower, Ford determined that the
Cruise-O-Matic would not withstand the increased power, and the only transmission choices
became the heavy-duty Borg-Warner T85, three-speed manual, with and without overdrive,
shifted from the column and not the floor, as with the competition.
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Ford knew the automatics
wouldn’t withstand the torque of
the HiPo 352, and they didn’t
offer a 4-speed, so the only
tranny choice was the T-85 3-
speed manual, with or without
overdrive.
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In an attempt to boost Ford’s sorely lacking performance image, the advertising types at world
headquarters announced that the new engine in a Starliner body would “probably hit 150 mph.”
This was a fairly tall order, but, the prototype was taken to Ford’s Romeo, Michigan, test track,
where it recorded a run of 152.6 mph, and a 0–60 dash in 7.1 seconds! Don’t forget, we're
talking about a car that topped the scales at 3,600-plus pounds and was running on hard, 1960-
vintage skinny, nonradial tires.
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Previous | Next
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This has been a sample page from
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Super '60s Fords - The Inside Story of the
Most Powerful Fords Ever Built
by John Smith
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In the ‘50s, Detroit built cars with style in mind . . . but as the
‘60s arrived, a younger group of car buyers had another
thing in mind: Performance! Ford Motor Company met that
demand with some of the fastest and most powerful cars on
the street. In this book, John Smith covers the entire Ford
performance story in the ‘60s, -- and not just Mustangs and
Cobras, but Galaxies, Torinos, Falcons, Fairlanes, Shelbys,
Mavericks, and every other Ford that got extra horsepower
stuffed under its hood in this fast-moving decade. Models are
covered year by year, from the Supercharged T-birds of
1957 to the last gasp of the muscle car era in 1973, and
everything in between. Performance engines and stats are
listed for each year, and an informative appendix includes
information on deciphering VIN tags and parts codes.
With 200 black and white and more than 100 outstanding
color photos, this book has the images and information that
Ford fans want on their favorite performance models, from
supercharged Y-blocks to Boss 429s.
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Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter.
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Chap. 1 -1957 The Foundation
Chap. 2 -1958 352 Big Block
Chap. 3 -1959 High Style
Chap. 4 -1960 New Ideas
Chap. 5 -1961 Back to Tradition
Chap. 6 -1962 Legends
Chap. 7 -1963 Fast Backs
Chap. 8 -1964 The First Mustang
Chap. 9 -1965 Big Changes
Chap. 10 -1966 Beat Goes On
Chap. 11 -1967 Changing Guard
Chap. 12 -1968 428 Cobra Jet
Chap. 13 -1969 Boss 302 & 429
Chap. 14 -1970 429CJ & SCJ
Chap. 15 -1971 Last of Breed
Chap. 16 -1972 - 73 End of Era
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This is without a doubt one of the best books about
Ford muscle cars ever written!
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Soft bound
8-1/2 x 11
160+ pages
200 b/w photos
100+ color photos
Item #SA25
Price: $22.95
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Click here to buy now!
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This is a book any Ford enthusiast will enjoy to read over and over.
Read the sample pages to learn more.
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Ford Thunderbird Performance Portfolio 1958-1963
The Ford Thunderbird was continually reinvented over the
years to meet the ever changing needs of the American
public. This book contains a collection of road and
comparison tests, model introduction articles, performance
data, consumer analysis reports, touring reviews, design and
specification data, technical study and history for the 1958 to
1963 Thunderbird including convertible, hard top, Sports
Roadster and Sedan. This is a great book and one that any
Thunderbird owner or enthusiast will love. Softbound, 8 x
10.5-inches, 140 pages and over 250 b/w photos.
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Price:
$
22.95
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Ford Galaxie & LTD Gold Portfolio 1960-1976
Ford's large cars have always proved popular. 1965 was the
year of the restyle, but the mosts important fact was the 427
engine. The Galaxie 500XL was for those who wanted a
sports car and the LTD was built for luxury. By the early
seventies the big cars were still grabbing a large part of Ford's
sales. This book is a collection of contemporary road and
comparison tests, specification and technical data, driver's
reports, long-term tests and new model introduction articles.
Models covered include Starliner, Town Sedan, 500, 500XL,
Fastback, Convertible, LTD, LTD 428, LTD 429, LTD 390,
Ford XL, Brougham, Wagon, Landau, LTD Town Car.
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Price:
$
29.95
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Payment, Shipping & Sales
Tax: Iowa
residents must pay 7% sales tax. Items usually ship
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business day of receipt of payment! Standard shipping is a flat rate of
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$14.95. Satisfaction is Guaranteed. Our store has a NO HASSLE RETURN
POLICY
within 7 days of purchase.
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