1960 Ford Falcon - A Perfect First Classic Car

I share the story of my falcon and my thoughts on why I think these old cars make the best first classic cars.

[@535tony]

My Uncle had a 60 Falcon. He bought it used and rebuilt the engine in his garage. Simple and reliable. Easy to work on too! You got a nice one.

[@78SilverBronco]

They are great little cars. Very easy to work on!

[@frankfrankenstein5933]

I’ve always loved the Falcons! Simple, functional, reliable, fun car’s to drive! It’s a Mustang in disguise at a fraction of the price! 😊✌️👍🇺🇸

[@78SilverBronco]

Absolutely!!

[@davidwhocares3293]

Killer cars but not cheap anymore....I have been looking for an affordable minimal/no rust one for a while now...had a few in the past and let them go like a dummy....😢.....would love to have another one ....yours is awesome !

[@HawklordLI]

My dad bought a new Falcon in 1960, straight six, three on the tree, manual brakes and steering. (I don't even recall if it had a radio). My most vivid memory of that car is when my mother took my siblings (4) and myself on a round trip from KCMO to Vancouver BC in 1965. When we were going through the Rockies she had to stop and put it in first gear and crawl up the hills....but the old beast made the trip with no issues.

[@78SilverBronco]

Those are the best memories! And I bet you were at elevation too! I've had to do that very same thing on a few steep inclines, its quite embarrassing with traffic passing you at 40 or 45 while your doing 30 up a hill. But hey, reliable!!

[@tomscotttheolderone364]

I just saw this. What a pleasure! I bought a 1960 that was the same color, but with bench seats in late 1973 for $250. It was a life saver at a time when I was starting to come out of a financial crisis. I ran it pretty hard for 2 years and finally got rid of it when the rear axle broke. While that was repairable, it had other issues that made it not worth repairing at the time. Anyway, I still remember it very fondly as a reliable, solid little car.

[@78SilverBronco]

They really are great little drivers. Its so great to hear the memories people have with them!

[@enoch327]

Brings back memories of my Grandfather's Falcon. His was a four door 1960 pale green car. He did his own oil changes. They were very easy to work on.

[@78SilverBronco]

The pale green on falcons was a really nice color, probably one of my favorites. They are so easy to work on, oil changes are such a breeze. They take maybe 10 minutes tops!

[@pattyeverett2826]

I have had a 1963 four door Falcon for 47 years, ever since my dad bought it for me. The only option it had was the 170 engine over the 144. I have added a radio. I have restored some things myself and had other things restored over time. I do like driving it, but around here-Austin Texas, it is very hard to find a road with light traffic. There is a Falcon Club of America and I am a member.

[@78SilverBronco]

That is so great to see you've kept it all those years. The 170 is a nice upgrade over the 144! Does the Falcon Club of America do any meets or cruises?

[@freemarketjoe9869]

Make some more video's. I like watching them.

[@knitterscheidt]

brings back memories, these were the cars most Americans drove, used hard and wore out, I remember my dad's 60 Ford F100 panel truck, I6, 3 on the tree, ran forever

[@78SilverBronco]

They are sturdy old rigs. I love to see them still on the road. The inline 6's were tough as nails. Slow, but dead reliable.

[@solarwave]

My first car was a red '63 Falcon Futura Convertible. Got it in 1976 and did a lot of my own restoration/maintenance. It was a fantastic car!

[@78SilverBronco]

Thats awesome! Couldn't ask for a better first car!

[@benfleminc]

A great video, sir. I have been looking into either one of these, or a Corvair, to get into the 1960s compact car world. I have a few other cars, but these little Falcons just seem like a lot of fun!

[@78SilverBronco]

Thank you! They really are a blast. And its such a great way to get into older cars as they are so easy to work on, but also very light and fun to drive. You wont set any speed records, but if you find one in good mechanical shape, they wont let you down!

[@devster52]

The second car I owned was a 1960 Ford Falcon four door with the 3 speed transmission. I believe I paid $250 for it in 1969. It was the same color as yours. I beat that poor thing to death. It was a great car. I remember replacing the starter on it without even getting underneath the car. I let it sit for awhile once and when it didn't want to start I looked at the glass fuel bowl on the carburetor and knew the needle and seat was shot. I went to the parts store and bought a carburetor kit dirt cheap and just used the new needle and seat. I don't think I even took the carburetor off the intake manifold. Wish I had taken better care of it.

[@78SilverBronco]

3 bolts and about 5 minutes and the starters come right out! They are super simple and easy to work on. Your lucky you had the glass bowl carb, those are hard to find these days! Most of these poor cars rusted into the ground but if you can find them in decent shape, they are still pretty affordable.

[@alanpardo8117]

Awesome video! Makes me want to drive my falcon!

[@78SilverBronco]

Thanks Alan, these are great old cars!

[@abigailhurley8711]

This is really awesome to see! I’m looking at either a ‘60 or ‘64 to use as a daily here in Salem. Will be a car for me to learn to do my own maintenance on (I also have a ‘56 Chevy) and love the Falcon as well as tbe Amazon. Great to see you drive it year around!

[@78SilverBronco]

Your not too far from me! I highly recommend one. The later cars are a bit easier to find parts for. I know a fellow up north in longview. He has tons of parts for these old falcons, he might even have one or two for sale. His name is Steve Avery. He used to run a VW shop called "Avery's Air Cooled" In Kelso. Might be worth giving him a call (If you call the shop, they will get you his personal number since he is now retired). Good luck!! The falcon community is a very supportive and friendly group!

[@queenslander954]

Good vid mate , US Ford Falcon’s were imported into Australia by the hundreds of thousands back in the 1960’s , & Oz made & designed versions only finished up production a few years ago .. cheers fella , great car.

[@78SilverBronco]

I always loved seeing the falcon popularity in Australia. Such great cars with lots of capability!

[@cluricaun78]

That was a great video, thanks for the ride!

[@78SilverBronco]

Thanks!

[@timothykeith1367]

Falcons, Ramblers, Valiants, Chevy II, even Studebaker Lark. In high school I knew two others who bought '60 Falcons for $50 and they were in nice shape. Not anymore! The prices aren't too bad - but Ford produced a huge number of Falcons.

[@78SilverBronco]

Thats very true. They were always seen as a throw-away car. They are still fairly affordable, but getting harder to find in decent shape. Especially the wagons!

[@freemarketjoe9869]

The nice thing about these cars is you can pay 5000.00 for one, drive it for 3 years, then sell it again for 6 to 8 thousand, as they keep going up in value. Unless you go crazy with restoring costs, trying to make them perfect, you will get your investment back. The one thing that makes it both challenging and fun is finding parts. Every year it gets a little harder and tire choices keep dwindling. It really gives you an interesting perspective on time passing us all by. The support infrastructure of these old gasoline powered cars is disappearing. The old timer car guy i bought my car from said "They are trying to outlaw these old cars, to have them all crushed and gone forever" I agreed with him and it's fallen to groups of people like us keeping these cars going now. I love these old machines and by the reactions of so many people around me as i drive by...we are not the only ones who love them!

[@78SilverBronco]

Your exactly right. Keeping them going and on the road and you'll get tons of fun driving them around and you won't feel like a martyr to it because the investment is so low. You'll actually be able to use it, drive it and enjoy it! And you are certainly right, people love watching these old falcons motor by. I get more people talking to me about my falcon than my ratrod chevy. You are right about parts being tough to find, I know a few guys that sell parts for these cars. Steve Avery in WA and Wall to Wall Falcon in California.

[@freemarketjoe9869]

Like your video. Getting me exited. It's true, as you say, the mid level drivers are hard to find. 5000.00 for a basket case or 15,000.00 for someones restoration. I just wanted a functioning driver. I just found, bought a 63 with a 170 c.i. 6 in it for 3200.00 and feel lucky to have found it. It runs, no rust, decent shape all around. Dreaming of driving some back roads in it like you are doing. Now that's fun!

[@78SilverBronco]

Very good find! No rust is a huge start. Is it a runner/driver?

[@freemarketjoe9869]

@@78SilverBronco Just registered it and drove it 60 miles from the guy i bought it from. He bought it dead, covered in pine needles, sitting since 97. Got the Engine running with new plugs, a new gas tank and fuel line and a brake line section. He couldn't find a stock 14 gallon tank so he put a 16 gallon Mustang tank in it by dimpling it to get clearance by the exhaust pipe. I will investigate this further in the spring as hot pipes and gas tanks are not good neighbors. He was a cool old timer though and knew cars, having a gorgeous 49 Packard and a 40 Chevy pickup up on blocks in his garage. He advised me to "Get rid of those damn seat belts...i don't use them" the car came with. He said 6 other people called wanting the car and wished he'd asked for more (I rushed down to pay cash as soon as i talked to him, thank God, and got the title before the interest in the car came) Next day my wife drove me down with plates and i drove it home without a hitch. Runs a little rough ("Throttle it home" was the guys advice out the door) but amazing for a car sitting 25 years. I absolutely love it!

[@78SilverBronco]

@@freemarketjoe9869 That is so great. what a good deal! Its almost impossible to kill those little inline 6's. Old timer car guys are the best. Its great to hear your out enjoying it! Thats nice you have a little larger gas tank too, you should be able to run 250+ miles between fill ups! You may check the valve lash, i found mine was mis-adjusted when I bought it and it caused the valves to hang open when warm (my compression would be 0 in 3 cylinders when it was warm!). I fought that problem for a long time, thinking it was ignition or carb related. Nope, just the mechanical valves were out of adjustment. Also, being a '63 that should have the autolite 1100, those were known to be a little leaky out of the accelerator pump. If you can wrangle up a Holley 1904, those are a much simpler carb and super reliable. Very cool find! Any big plans with it from here?

[@freemarketjoe9869]

@@78SilverBronco I will look for one of those look Holly 1904 carbs. I have not had the car looked over by my mechanic yet, have it scheduled, but at 3200.00 even if i had to put another 2000.00 into it to make it perfect running, it's still cheap to do. That is amazing. I got glass coverage. Can my insurance company even find a new manufactured window for these things?

[@78SilverBronco]

@@freemarketjoe9869 Yeah exactly, thats a great starting price to get into it at. You'll find these are incredibly simple and easy to fix which makes owning them very inexpensive. Its pretty unlikely you'll find a glass company nowadays that will do anything with older cars. Most glass companies just do modern windshields. The one person here locally in Portland that does vintage auto glass doesnt go thru insurance. He's $250 a window but does great work. On these cars, the headliner tucks in behind the front and rear window, so its best to have the headliner done at the same time as the front and rear glass. Usually upholstery shops that do old cars will have a glass guy. You may call them, thats how I found the guy local to me. If you arent worried about headliner, installing glass in these old cars isn't too bad. Buy yourself some 3/16" nylon rope, a bottle of dish soap and bring a buddy. Gently work the inside lip of the old seal and press out the glass. Clean the sealing surface and paint/prime it if needed. Trim back any excess metal on the pinch welds (mine had a small ear of metal the caused a leak). Take your dish soap (mix with a small bit of water to get a nice viscous mix), and run it inside your new seal on both side and lightly around the frame of the window. Wrap the seal around the window first, use making tape to hold the seal to the window. Then slowly work your window trim into the seal (again using soap and water). Once that is done, wrap your 3/16" nylon rope inside of the sealing groove of the new seal. Be sure the two ends of your rope exit the top of the window. Set your window onto the frame perfectly centered. Have your buddy apply light pressure to the glass at the center of the windshield and slowly pull the nylon rope towards you to allow the seal lip to pass to the inside of the window frame. Once you do this, take a plastic trim tool and work the seal in so it seats flush to the frame. This will probably take you 80% of the time, working the seal to get it to relax. Once this is all done, let the seal sit for a week or two before applying the sealant.

[@patricksterling7389]

Well done sir.

[@davehibbs9111]

I had a 60' 144/6 automatic, the slowest car I ever owned! I paid $90 dollars for it in 77' at 16 only had it for 2 months! Traded in on a 68' Plymouth barracuda notchback coupe 318-230hp automatic + $750 dollars.. I miss the 68' barracuda but not the falcon 😂

[@78SilverBronco]

They are very very slow! Those barracudas are very neat cars, I like them, hard to find nowadays!

[@loveisall5520]

Falcons were sweet little cars in 1959 when they came out with the other '60 compacts, and they whipped both the Valiant and the Corvair. Oh, they had problems, particularly with the front suspension and that 144cid engine for the first couple of years, but back then all new models had similar situations--and with those short warranties! When I was growing up in the sixties I saw Falcons everywhere, every model except convertibles were rare.

[@78SilverBronco]

Its amazing how many they made. They sold nearly half a million during the first year of production, but you almost never see them on the road these days. Very neat little cars! I do have difficulty finding suspension components, the '60-early '61 used a different strut rod than the later cars. Every year they beefed up the suspension bit by bit. I've heard stories of fella's breaking them on nasty potholes. Fortunately, mines still hanging in there (knock on wood!).

[@loveisall5520]

@@78SilverBronco A neighbor of ours here in TX bought a '60. The front suspension broke when he crossed a railroad track. I count myself fortunate 'cause in my neighborhood we had all three--a Falcon, a white Corvair 2-door and a black Valiant...

[@78SilverBronco]

@@loveisall5520 Oh wow thats scary! You are very lucky! Im hoping if mine hasnt broken in the first 62 years it wont in my lifetime, I hope!! Ive been driving this old girl every day for 7 years now.

[@grayg9838]

I've own about 25 Falcons ... My latest is a 61 Tudor stationwagon , it's under carriage is 72 maverick it was almost a straight up bolt in project. 302 , C4 , 5 lug wheels , bucket seats outta a 89 mustang

[@78SilverBronco]

Thats rad! Id buy more if I had the land to store them. They are fantastic cars. How do you like the 5 lug from the Maverick? Did you swap in the 8" rear as well?

[@grayg9838]

@@78SilverBronco ; everything , it was almost a straight swap it took some 66 mustang a-frames to make it happen ! Steering column is 68 mustang driveline 89 Lincoln , bucket seats 89 mustang

[@78SilverBronco]

@@grayg9838 thats awesome! I bet it drives great!

[@grayg9838]

It at one time was my daily driver , it's been sitting so long it's due for an overhaul . At the moment I'm concentrating on my 79 Chevy 1ton once it's done though I may pull the ol' falcon outta the garage . it's buried out a mountain of crap .😕

[@78SilverBronco]

@@grayg9838 Sometimes our projects get away from us! As long as the mice havent eaten the wiring, it should come back to life. These old cars are hard to kill.

[@asteverino8569]

I got dizzy with you driving on that windy road.

[@deanadolph1922]

Sweeet Falcon ! Where did you get your new brake system parts ?

[@78SilverBronco]

Thanks! I got them from Mac’s auto parts online. Although Falconparts is a great vendor I’d order from again in a heartbeat. Very worthwhile to upgrade the master cylinder to a ‘67 mustang drum/drum master if your doing brakes.

[@88899hhyyhhjjh]

Hi, great video. I am 14 years old and I want that for my 18 years (in my country at 18 you are of legal age) to buy a falcon. It is my father's dream and mine too. greetings from Argentina

[@78SilverBronco]

That is great to see someone passionate about these cars at a young age! I believe the Argentina falcons have a lot of options for engines to make them faster!

[@capi6204]

@@78SilverBronco yes, they produced them here up untill the 92 and theres a bunch of tuning for the Ford I6 221, mostly because of the argentinian TC, these cars are awesome, im working my ass off to get one im at 19

[@78SilverBronco]

@@capi6204 Id love to find an Argentinian falcon engine to drop into mine. So many performance options! Thats awesome, keep working at it and you'll get one!!

[@capi6204]

@@78SilverBronco you need these things in mind if you want to upgrade your falcon's power and keep it 6cil: the 188 can be transformed into a 221 by swapping the crank and piston rods, the head can be either a max econo or SP (sprint) and the cam can also differ depending on the head, two variants as i said before, those things and a double carb or sequential double butterfly and you should be at 210 to 240 hp depending on carb, you could also just drop in a 302 from a f-100 idk your falcon looks great have fun

[@78SilverBronco]

@@capi6204 Are there any websites in Argentina that sell these engines? Very hard to come by in the US. Most falcon owners swap in 302's and a few import the Barra engines from Australia. I always thought the Argentinian falcons had the best power plants available!

[@henningandreassen1231]

It\s a great car i have a 1960 144 cid aoutomatic i love it

[@78SilverBronco]

The happiest cars to drive!

[@oreo10ish]

I believe that I sold you a strut rod for that nice falcon

[@78SilverBronco]

Yes you did! Thanks again Bill, very kind of you!

[@oreo10ish]

@@78SilverBronco great video

[@78SilverBronco]

@@oreo10ish Thanks!

[@tedwalker1370]

That may be a 1960 Falcon but it has a 1961 grill in it. Looks like it runs good.

[@78SilverBronco]

Yup, I swapped it out when I bought the car. Always liked the 61 grille.

[@donaldfrazier5244]

First thing I noticed ,my first car was a baby blue 4 door 144 automatic bought in 1970 for 90$. and it took 5 miles to get it up to 80 mph I drove the crap out of it!

[@martyhanson3700]

This is a 1961, not a 1960

[@78SilverBronco]

I put a 61 grille on it. Also you can tell by the dome light its a 60.

[@alloutoftime]

This Falcon is a 1961 model. You can tell by looking at the grille. The 1960 grille is flat.

[@78SilverBronco]

I swapped the grille to a 1961 grille when i purchased it. The dome light location shows you its a 60.

[@alloutoftime]

Ok. BTW, it's a nice car.

[@78SilverBronco]

@@alloutoftime thank you!

[@robertmoir5695]

Sort of a low rider