In the world of vintage Ford stock cars, John Craft is of the more knowledgeable authorities of the genre. Craft has authored several books on the subject, the most recent being an excellent biography of the über-talented Bud Moore. Nevertheless, being an expert automotive writer/photographer hardly makes one a talented wrench-turner—except, in the case of Craft, he clearly is.

Featured herein is Craft's 1964 Holman-Moody Galaxie, for which he performed every phase of the reconstruction/restoration, save for the final body prep and paint. As you'll learn, the effort required plenty of sleuthing, parts chasing, fabrication, and hard work. Despite being the only car of its kind, Craft's intent is to race the Galaxie with the vintage stock-car group once it's fully sorted.

Original 1964 Sheetmetal?

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A more complete explanation of the Galaxie's unique nature is that this is the only 1964 Holman-Moody Galaxie known to exist that is wearing proper 1964 sheetmetal. "Holman-Moody built 21 Galaxies in 1964 based on the R-code 427 chassis, with full vehicle identification numbers. I found this car in 2011, and it was really just a remnant of its former self. The body was shot. It was mostly stripped, but the frame was complete, and it still had its important Holman-Moody VIN plate," Craft explains. His honesty in describing the car is refreshing, as too many vintage race enthusiasts get Pinocchio Syndrome when describing how original their cars are. "You have to understand that it was typical, even expected, for stock-car teams to take the prior-year cars and update them with new-model sheetmetal. Then when you consider the multitude of wrecks that occurred, precious few vintage stockers made it through the gauntlet wearing original body parts."

Craft isn't certain if the remnant 1964 metal he found with his car was original, and it really doesn't matter—it was too far gone to reuse. Instead, Craft located a 1964 Galaxie hardtop in Arizona that donated its sheetmetal for the project. Being a consummate enthusiast, Craft has spent the better part of his adult life collecting vintage Ford stock-car parts, and his inventory paid off big time when the time came to resurrect this car from the dead. Some of the big pieces that were missing—like the sandcast aluminum gauge surround, HM forged spindles, double center 15x8.5-inch steel wheels, and original Firestone Stock Car 800 tires—Craft had stored away in his stockpile.

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1964 Ford Galaxie: NASCAR Roots

The history of the Galaxie goes something like this: In 1964, it was a Holman-Moody "house" car, meaning it was reserved for guest or celebrity drivers rather than the team's regular pilots, which included Fred Lorentzen, Fireball Roberts, and Bobby Johns. The car debuted at the 1964 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, where Skip Hudson wheeled it to an eighth-place finish. USAC regular Bobby Marshman was the driver a few weeks later at the Daytona 500, but made it only 17 laps before being sidelined with an overheating problem. Larry Frank drove at the Atlanta 500 and dropped out after a wreck on lap 110. The car finished the 1964 season with a number of USAC appearances, and then was sold to NASCAR rookie Jabe Thomas in advance of the 1965 season. Thomas raced it several times in some 1965 NASCAR events, but didn't have any notable outcomes. Arguably, this Galaxie's single biggest racing accomplishment was when it was rented by Ned Jarrett for NASCAR's 1965 Music City 200 in Nashville, after Jarrett's car was damaged during transit to the race. Jarrett scored important points with a second-place finish and went on to win the 1965 Grand National championship several months later.

See all 57 photos A scene from Craft's Galaxie's debut race at the 1964 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside shows Skip Hudson in turn 6 sandwiched between Fireball Roberts in another Holman-Moody Galaxie and Dave MacDonald in a Bill Stroppe Marauder. Dan Gurney won the race in a Wood Brothers Galaxie, Roberts finished third, Hudson eighth, and MacDonald with a DNF.

Beyond the typical NASCAR and USAC competition, Craft's Galaxie was also driven by Augie Pabst in a 250K international sedan race prior to the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring, which it won. Following the 1966 race season, owner Thomas stripped the car and left the remnants at his crew chief's farm in Wirtz, Virginia. After sitting for more than 40 years, Craft discovered the car, bought it, and has worked diligently to get it back on track.

1964 Ford Galaxie Restomod Design Details

The level of detail in the restoration is fantastic, and it's no stretch to say the car is finished to a higher level of fit and finish than when it was originally built. Craft built his own 427 High Riser engine, duplicating the original effort in almost every respect. NOS cylinder heads were mated to a period-correct, center-oiler 427 that was punched 0.030-inch over and filled with 12:1 JE pistons. Max horsepower is 501 at 5,150 rpm when using the current parts that include a traditional flat-tappet solid cam. There's no doubt the power could be greater if the build was more on the ragged edge or employed modern practices such as roller cams, lightweight valvetrain parts, and svelte reciprocating components, but the build replicates what was done in the day, keeping in mind that 500-mile durability was more important than max power.

Craft's Galaxie is a vivid reminder of the way things used to be done in stock-car racing, when the cars closely resembled what was seen on the streets of Anytown, USA, and what won on Sunday really did sell on Monday. We miss that era as much as anyone, which is why cars like this Galaxie really light us up.

1964 Holman-Moody Galaxie Engine Details

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Ford's notorious 427 High Riser is often thought of as a drag-race engine, propelling lightweight Galaxies and Fairlane Thunderbolts down the 1,320. However, it was also the engine of choice for NASCAR rides beginning in late-1963 when it replaced the 427 Low Riser for racing purposes. This particular build used a center-oiler 427 block, NOS High Riser heads, JE 12:1 forged pistons, LeMans rods, a 1965 427 forged crank, and a Crower flat-tappet solid cam featuring 290/298 degrees advertised duration, and 0.549/0.561-inch lift. Horsepower peak is 501 at 5,150 rpm.

More Technical Information

Exhaust: We're amazed stock cars were still using stock exhaust manifolds in 1964, but Ford's massive cast-iron 427 units are said to flow nearly as well as tube headers. Craft tells us that headers became commonplace on the Ford teams in mid-1965. The rest of the exhaust consists of 3-inch tubing that is routed through the frame and out the side of the body per original. This practice was outlawed by late-1964, perhaps because a good-sized hole in the frame didn't do much for strength.

Transmission: Ford's new Top Loader four-speed saw its first use in 1964, and Craft's is a beefy big-in/big-out close-ratio unit.

Fuel System: The tank appears stock per late 1964, but inside is an 18-gallon ATL fuel cell, which is indicative of Craft's plans to actually race the car. A factory 427 pump, filter, and 3/8-inch lines feed race gas to a modern Holley 750, retrofitted with period LeMans fuel bowls.

Ignition: Ford 427 centrifugal advance distributor with Pertronix ignitor and coil, and a hidden MSD6AL spark box.

Rearend: What else, but a Ford 9-inch? In this case, it's setup with a nodular case, Daytona bearing retainer, Holman-Moody full-floating hubs, double-splined Speedway Motors axles, Detroit Locker dif, and short-track 5.29 gears.

Suspension and Brakes: Brakes consist of the period-correct four-wheel drums, 11x3.5 inches up front and 11x3 inches in the rear. Likewise correct are a set of four NOS Monroe tie-rod end shocks, the Holman-Moody hubs and forged spindles, Holman-Moody drag-link and tie-rod ends, Holman-Moody modified upper and lower control arms for improved camber/caster and screw jack access, and a reproduction Holman-Moody front sway bar. Front springs are from Speedway Motors, and the rears are custom-built leafs that duplicate the Holman-Moody originals.

See all 57 photos Holman-Moody used 15x8.5-inch double center steel wheels for extra strength, and the tires are original Firestone Stock Car 800s.

Wheels/Tires: Steel 15x8.5-inch wheels were Holman-Moody standards of the day, specially built with doubled centers for strength. Craft notes the rims were manufactured by Firestone or Kelsey-Hayes, the inner center by Kelsey-Hayes, and the outer center by Ford subcontractor Dearborn Steel Tubing. These are originals, as are the Firestone Stock Car 800 tires, which measure 29 inches tall and 8 inches of tread width.

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Interior: The interior is all business, featuring a custom-bolstered 1963 Galaxie seat, 1-3/4-inch/0.090-wall mild steel cage, a brace of Stewart-Warner and Sun gauges, and a period-correct fire extinguisher.

Exterior: Beginning in late-1963, Holman-Moody began painting its team cars with George Barris custom colors as a way of drawing even more attention to the successful racing operation based in Charlotte. This car was originally sprayed in Candy Tangerine, a color that moves between orange and red, depending on the light. Craft found PPG's three-stage Indy Red to be as close as you'd hope for and had Phil Smith lay down the different layers: a copper-colored base, red-tinted clear, and a final clearcoat. NASCAR Hall of Fame historian Buz McKim did the hand-painted lettering.

See all 57 photos McKim did a fantastic job with the period-style hand-painted lettering and numbers, using original photos as a reference (see photo on the floor).