5k: 1964 Ford Falcon Wagon; Fresno Beauty Queen

The 2nd generation Ford Falcon was sold in 1964 and 1965 on a shared platform with its cousin – the Mustang.  Unibody construction and a sporty (for 1964) suspension setup made the Falcon an instant success, but it was overshadowed by the sporty coupe/fastback Mustang and discontinued in 1970.  This was unfortunate because it offered a far more useable package with the Mustang chassis/powertrain.  We will conclude our Week of Wild Wagons with this 1964 Ford Falcon 4-Door wagon for sale in Fresno, CA currently bidding on ebay for $2,802 reserve-not-met with 2 days to go.

Fresno doesn’t have the famous car culture of a place like Los Angeles or Detroit, in fact it’s best known for being the birthplace of the modern credit card and the childhood home of Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline (aka K-Fed).  Those two major negative strikes notwithstanding, Frenso is surprisingly a cool place to visit.  It is one of those sleepy little central California valley towns that is littered with daily driven classic Detroit iron.  Some combination of a climate that isn’t Texas hot and never gets too cold equates to a typical family buying a 1964 Catalina for commuting instead of a new Honda Fit – and we approve!  The result is that the town has fewer big budget dealerships and more independent auto shops (for example K-Fed’s dad was an auto mechanic), customizers, and paint/body shops, which clearly this car has visited to acquire its current white/orange paint job.

This Fresno beauty queen was born with an inline 6 cylinder engine in San Jose, but has a recently rebuilt 289 V8 instead, probably putting out about 200 horsepower (maybe more or less depending on the build specs).  The wiring is a bit messy, but an aluminum radiator is a nice addition given the small square footage of the stock Falcon radiator opening.

Inside the Falcon shares many components with the Mustang – including what looks like the gauge cluster (although we could be wrong). Regardless of the current shape of this interior (it actually doesn’t look bad) new parts are available for a paltry sum of money from any number of online Mustang/Falcon/Comet parts retailers.  For the Fresnoian Falconer we recommend MustangsPlus in nearby Stockton – excellent service and great guys for random questions.

The only parts that need to be addressed on this Falcon are the bumpers which could use a straighten/re-chrome job (it may be cheaper to buy brand new pieces) and the tailgate window lift which needs some sorting. Overall, if the reserve is anywhere below $5k, we think this would be a good deal.

See a better Wagalcon for sale?  Is that a real word?  email us here:  tips@dailyturismo.com