Talkin’ ’bout My Girl (Carol)
“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May
Well I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin’ ’bout my girl (my girl)“
The “Redchero”
I am now the fourth caretaker of this 1966 Candy Apple Red Ranchero, with previous owners having resided in Oklahoma, Michigan, and New Hampshire. She has 45K original miles on the clock and retains her factory 289 A-code motor and 4-speed Toploader transmission. She was rotisserie restored to former glory in 2008 and driven fewer than 200 miles since. I fully intend to bump up that last statistic considerably! Is it truly a Falcon? One could make a case either way, so let’s talk about it next time we meet. It is sometimes said that the word Falcon does not appear on a 1966 Ranchero, but that is not quite correct. Check out the last photo in this gallery.
Falcons I Have Known and Loved
I had long admired the round body Falcons, thinking they resembled scaled down Galaxies of the same era. But I wanted V8 power, which came late to round body Falcons. That is how I came to own two late model 1963 Falcons while living in Madison, WI during the 1990’s. On the left is my ’63 1/2 Sprint convertible and on the right my ’63 1/2 Ranchero, both 260 V8 4-speed cars and both now in the hands of new owners.
Each car earned its long distance stripes in a different way. I struck a deal on the Sprint while attending a technical conference in San Francisco, then canceled my return flight and drove the car back home to Madison. In 1998, the Ranchero and I completed the 2100 mile round trip to Breckenridge, Colorado for the Falcon Nationals.
My “Other” Ford
1950 Ford Custom Deluxe Club Coupe in Sheridan Blue with factory overdrive transmission and turn signals (yes, they were optional)
At Rose Tree Park in Media At Valley Forge Park
Original interior features blue/grey striped mohair upholstery Legendary Ford Flathead V8 packs a whopping 100 horsepower