Bobby Isaac

The Ford Galaxie is a full-size car built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race. For 1962, all full-size Fords wore the Galaxie badge, with "500" and "500/XL" denoting the higher series. The Galaxie 500/LTD was introduced for 1965 followed by the Galaxie 500 7-Litre for 1966. The Galaxie 500 part was dropped from the LTD in 1966, and from the XL in 1967; however the basic series structuring levels were maintained. The "regular" Galaxie 500 continued below the LTD as Ford's mid-level full-size model from 1965 until its demise at the end of the 1974 model year. Some Galaxies were high-performance, racing specification machines, a larger forebear to the muscle car era. Others were plain family sedans. 

Galaxie was available in different body styles, 2 door convertible & hardtop (includes 'fastback'), 4 door, & station wagon. It was also available with different engine/transmission combinations. Engine sizes ranged from an in-line 6 cylinder up to a 460 cubic inch V-8. Model pictured is a 1966 Galaxie 2 door hardtop.

The similarly named Ford Galaxy is a large car/minivan available in the European market. The vehicle's name is taken from the original Ford Galaxie.

This is a prototype from Racing Champions LTD in Hong Kong from the personal collection of Peter Chung owner of Racing Champions LTD, parent company of Racing Champions INC.

• Orange Body Color vs production being Red
• Front Windshield Straps are 3-16th" apart vs production version being 1-4"
• Rear Window is trimmed out
• Baseplate has NO text

With the failure of the 1969 Dodge Charger 500 on the highbanks of the superspeedways (tracks of a mile, or more in length), the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was created. It was intended to be a high-performance, limited-edition version of the Dodge Charger produced in the summer of 1969 for the sole purpose of winning high profile NASCAR races. It won its first race out, the inaugural Talladega 500 in the fall, although it was a rather hollow victory as all of the top names had left the track on Saturday in a boycott of the 1969 Talladega race. Buddy Baker in the #88 Chrysler Engineering Dodge Charger Daytona was the first driver in NASCAR history to break the 200  mph mark on March 24, 1970 at Talladega. The 1969 Dodge Daytona won two races in 1969 and another four in 1970 for a total of 6. Its successor, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird, won 8 races - all in 1970. (In a bit of irony, in 1969 a Daytona won at Talladega, and a Ford Torino Talladega won at Daytona.) These compare with 29 NASCAR victories for the 1969 Ford Torino Talladega, and 8 for the 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. The 1969 Dodge Charger 500 managed to win 22 NASCAR races over the 1969 and 1970 seasons; however, all but one of those victories came on the short tracks - several of which were still being run on dirt at the time. 

One of the four famous aero-cars, the Dodge Daytona featured special body modifications that included a 23-inch-tall stabilizer wing on the rear deck, a special sheet-metal "nose cone" that replaced the traditional upright front grille, a flush rear backlight (rear window area), a 'window cap' to cover the original Charger's recessed rear window, specific front fenders and hood that were modeled after the upcoming 1970 Charger, stainless steel A-pillar covers and fender mounted tire clearance/brake cooling scoops. The Daytona was built on the 1969 Charger's R/T trim specifications, meaning that it carried a heavy-duty suspension and brake setup and was equipped with a 440 CID Magnum engine as standard. Of special note to collectors is the optional 426 CID Hemi V8 engine, which only 70 of the 503 Daytonas carried. It had a corporate cousin in the "one year-only" 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

The "Winged Warriors", as they were affectionately known, did not compete for long in NASCAR's top Cup series. Because of their exceptional speed and performance, NASCAR subsequently changed the rule book, effectively banning all five of the Aero Cars from Dodge, Ford, Mercury, and Plymouth from competition by the end of 1970. See also Plymouth Superbird, Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II for additional information about the aero cars.