Wegs’ 1965 Ford Galaxie is Car of the Month

A51-PIC-2-Car-of-Month-Weg-GalaxieThe Canyon Lake Car Club congratulates Hans Weg for having his Ford Galaxie chosen as June Car of the Month.

With regard to this particlar car, Hans says, about five years ago, he was looking on eBay for a convertible from the 1950s or ‘60s when he came across.a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500.

“There were about a dozen pictures and the car looked like all I had to do was put gas in it and drive it to a car show,” Hans says. “The price was reasonable, so I placed a bid on it. A minute later someone outbid me. With about 30 seconds left on the bid, I placed another bid and a window popped up saying I had won.”

Hans pondered what he was going to tell his wife Linda. When she got home, he said, “Guess what, Honey, I bought you a red convertible.”

A week later, when the car arrived, he realized it didn’t look like the pictures and actually needed a lot of work. However, when he drove it, he enjoyed the ride and the way it handled, and the engine seemed to run well. He began restoring the car by taking off all of the chrome and stainless steel trim, doing body work and getting it painted. He also got the interior redone. Overall, he says, he did not need to spend a lot of money.

At a car show in Temecula a couple of years later, an older gentleman looked over the car and asked Hans to open the hood. After checking the engine, he told Hans, “Do you know you have a rare car here? This car was assembled in Canada, and I helped put it together.”

Ford had an assembly plant in Canada in the 1960s where the man worked on the assembly line putting together convertibles. He said there were not many convertibles made with bench seats and 3-speed column shifters. he said the engines installed in Fords in Canada were pickup truck engines, which were better than the car engines installed in the U.S.

Hans says, “I was sorry later that I did not get his name. I should have had him sign the dash.”

A couple of years later Hans found a 1960s pedal car, which he restored to look like the Galaxie. Then he had a brainstorm to find the rear three feet of a 1965 Ford Galaxie to make a matching car couch.

“Learning of a junkyard (Turner’s Salvage) outside of Fresno, with 111 acres of old cars, Hans contacted the owner and was told he had five 1965 Ford Galaxies in the yard. The owner thought cutting off the rear three feet to make a car couch was a great idea, so Hans drove up and hauled the section home.

“A few months later, and a lot of work and money, the couch was completed,” says Hans. “It was a lot of fun in the making and a great garage couch. Even Santa loves sitting on it at Christmas!”

Hans says he and Linda have taken the Ford Galaxie convertible to a lot of car shows and cruises and have won numerous awards. At first Hans says Linda wasn’t pleased about his eBay purchase; but now she says it is her favorite of the cars they own.

To learn more about the Car Club, visit www.canyonlakecarclub.com.




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