The American Aero-Style or Detroit Baroque: Ford Galaxie Fairlane 1959

Ashot Saroyan is one of the few car enthusiasts, whose hunt for a retro car almost always ends with success. Only recently, he has succeeded in acquiring three fantastic cars: 1940 Buik, 1959 and 1967 Fords. And this is only the beginning of building up a valuable collection of retro cars.
In this article I will introduce one of Ashot's latest acquisitions, namely his enormous Ford Galaxie Fairlane produced in 1959. Although Ashot bought the car two years ago, he only quite recently unveiled it to the public at the Annual Retro Car Show in Yerevan. He found the car in the US and, as he mentioned, loved it at first sight. 

The 1950's American car was generally considered as a symbol of success and obviously differed from the cars of previous decades. In those times, American cars were designed in so-called aero-style, which was also known as Detroit Baroque.

In 1959, by celebrating its 50.000.000th car, Ford Motor Company designed the jubilee model Galaxie 500. Our today's hero is also the product of that celebration.
This 55-year-old sedan amazingly retained its original appearance. Every single detail is the original. The factory-furished salon can astonish anyone with subtle harmony of colors. Even the small floor mats are in perfect harmony with the salon atmosphere.

This Galaxie, like any other Ford produced in 1959, stands out for its beautiful, symmetric and subtle body lines. In 1959, all the models of Galaxie series received a gold medal for unique body styling. In accordance with that era, the Galaxie was decorated with chrome and stainless steel; the body was painted mainly in two colors. It was an image of the American dream. The Galaxie was designed for six passengers, and therefore can be considered as a family car.

As for the engine, in 1950's it was ridiculously inappropriate to own a car with an engine, the volume of which was smaller than 5 liters. The models of Galaxie series were equipped either with 4.8 L or 5.1 L V8 engines with capacity of 200-300 HP. Those engines were supported with 3-speed manual or 2-speed automatic gearboxes.

It is to mention, that the car still demonstrates perfect riding qualities and provides incredible comfort for its passengers. The owner, however, believes that the car will demonstrate better results after some little restoration works.