1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sprint Convertible

Okay...by now you already know that I have this "thing" for cars built in 1963, as well as a "thing" for Ford Falcons, so it should come as no surprise to you that today's car is a 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sprint Convertible. (...well. Maybe ONE surprise: that I haven't done this car sooner.)

The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura was the undeniable hit among the Big Three's new 1960 compacts. It was cheap to buy, cheap to run,and extremely conventional.  But though Falcon made big money as a "consumer" car, Chevrolet's radical Corvair Monza quickly uncovered an even bigger market for sporty compacts with bucket seats, floorshift, and quicker acceleration.

As luck would have it though, Ford was thinking sporty as well , so the Falcon was dressed up when Monza sales quickly took off. The first result was the 1961-62 Futura, a two-door sedan with a mini-Thunderbird buckets-and-console interior. Then, pushing harder for 1963 was a separate Futura series with new convertible and hardtop coupe body styles. Both of these came two ways, in a six-cylinder standard and, at mid-season, a V-8 Sprint. The Sprint package added $130 to the regular ragtop's $2470 base price, but was worth every penny. The reason was Ford's year-old 260-cubic-inch Challenger V-8, a peppy, modern design with 164 horsepower as opposed to the 101hp for the mainstay 170-cid six. Even better, the V-8 could team with Falcon's first four-on-the-floor manual. Nice!

Sprints also came with good-looking wire wheel covers, tach, and bright engine rocker covers. A mid-year introduction limited convertibles to just 4602 (there were 31,192 standard Falcon Futuras), but the Sprint was a potent image boost for Falcon, especially as the basic 1960 styling was still intact. Adding even more shine were the Sprint hardtops that competed with distinction in European rallies during 1964-65.

But the Sprint wouldn't last beyond 1964. The reason being that Ford introduced an even sportier compact that year: the wildly successful Mustang. But one cannot deny that the Falcon Futura Sprint was one cool little ride. The photo I included shows just how awesome they can look with just the simple addition of aftermarket rims and a nice seat of meats. Love it!