1959 Ford Galaxie 500 Club Victoria Two-Door Hardtop — Raven Black with 332 FE V8 and Cruise-O-Matic Why This Car Is Special The 1959 Ford Galaxie holds a specific and well-earned place in postwar American automotive history. It was the year Ford introduced the Galaxie name for the first time, using it to designate the top trim level within the full-size Ford lineup. Ford borrowed the name deliberately — the Space Age was in full swing, NASA had just been established, and American consumers were captivated by anything connected to the cosmos.

The Galaxie name stuck, eventually becoming its own standalone model line that would carry Ford through most of the 1960s. What makes this particular 1959 Ford Galaxie worth understanding before you even look at the photos is the way Ford structured the car. At the time, the Galaxie was technically badged as the Fairlane 500 Galaxie — a naming convention that reflected its position at the top of the full-size Ford hierarchy.

This car wears both Fairlane 500 and Galaxie badges, which is exactly correct for a 1959 build. That dual badging is a detail often misunderstood by collectors and makes first-year Galaxies particularly interesting from a documentation standpoint. The 1959 Ford full-size lineup was completely redesigned from the 1957—58 body.

Ford took a cleaner direction compared to the heavy chrome excess of 1958, resulting in a longer, lower, and wider car with a more restrained but still distinctly late-fifties character. The roofline on the two-door hardtop body style — which this car is — featured a distinctive thin-pillar design that gave the greenhouse an airy, open look without resorting to a true convertible. In hardtop terminology, that means no B-pillar between the front and rear side windows, a feature buyers paid a premium for in 1959.

The odometer on this car reads 72,262 actual miles. The floors are undercoated, the structure underneath is solid, and the overall presentation is consistent with a well-preserved driver-quality survivor rather than a show-circuit restoration. For a buyer who wants a correctly configured 1959 Ford Galaxie they can actually drive and enjoy, this is the right kind of car.

Features List - 332ci FE V8 Engine - 3-Speed Cruise-O-Matic Automatic Transmission - Dual Exhaust - Raven Black Exterior - Black and Gold Two-Tone Vinyl and Cloth Interior - Front and Rear Bench Seats - White Three-Spoke Steering Wheel - Padded Dashboard - Dashboard Clock - AM Radio - Windshield Washer - Cigarette Lighter - Quad Headlights - Chrome Front and Rear Bumpers - Chrome Full-Length Side Trim - Chrome Rocker Panel Trim - Rear Fender Skirts - Ford Hub Caps - Whitewall Tires - Dual Outside Mirrors - Exterior Antenna - Front and Rear Seat Belts - Sun Visors - Interior Dome Light - Undercoated Floors - Fairlane 500 and Galaxie Badging - Two-Door Hardtop Body Style - Drum Brakes All Around Mechanical Under the hood sits Ford's 332 cubic inch FE-series V8, finished in the correct Ford engine turquoise that is visible in the photos. The FE family — which stands for Ford-Edsel, a reference to the shared platform architecture of the era — was introduced for the 1958 model year and would go on to become one of Ford's most significant engine families of the 1960s. The 332 was the entry-level FE displacement in 1959, rated at 240 horsepower in standard two-barrel configuration.

It is a torquey, durable engine well suited to the weight of a full-size Ford body, and its parts availability today remains strong given how widely the FE block was used across Ford's lineup through the mid-1960s. Backing the 332 is the 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission, Ford's three-speed unit that was a significant selling point in 1959. The Cruise-O-Matic offered a manual-hold capability for the lower gears, giving the driver more control than a standard automatic while still being fully automatic when left in Drive.

The transmission selector on this car reads P-R-N-D-2-L