By 1960 Ford’s Sunliner designation for a convertible was now eight years old and starting to wind down in popularity as the company introduced other models. In 1952 when it was introduced, the Sunliner was part of the Crestline series before shifting over to the Fairlane in 1955. In 1959 it made its last move, this time falling under the Galaxy marque.
In 2003 Frank Butler purchased a ’60 Galaxy Sunliner that had been sitting in a museum in California for a number of years.
“The thing about a car that’s been in a museum is that the body is beautiful but it doesn’t necessarily run all that well,” said Frank. That was true of his Sunliner.
Over the course of about a year he re-did everything mechanical from the brakes to all the rubber as well as everything under the hood.
In addition, he’s added some extras that weren’t on the car when it sat in the museum. “I’ve tried to get all of the options that were available,” he said, including skirts and a recent acquisition of the rubber bumper guards.
One touch that the car has is a decorative piece on top of the front fenders. "Those are pedestrian sights," Frank joked.
While the car had been sitting in a museum, Frank has taken a different approach in his ownership of the Sunliner; he drives it.
“I drive it a lot. It’s a nice driver. I put air conditioning in it and made it a nicer driver,” Frank said with a smile. He explained that even though this beauty is a convertible there are times “when you’re sitting in traffic, not going anywhere that the air conditioning is really nice.”
Frank owns six other Galaxies by confessed that this is his favorite. “It’s rare. You don’t see many ‘60s Sunliners around,” he said. Since he takes it to a lot of shows there’s a good chance that you can see it this summer. Keep your eyes open.
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