Zach & Brenda Straits
Zach
is co-organizing a 50th Anniversary Reunion for the
1961 Galaxie at the 2011
Carlisle All-Ford Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Please click
on the document
below to view ( and print, if so desired) a pdf version
(if you don't yet have Adobe® Reader® installed on your computer, then click 
):
1961 Galaxie Starliner
VIN 1N53X116667, BODY 63A, COLOR J, TRIM 30, DATE 03M, TRANS 4, AXLE 6
Zach & Brenda Straits' 1961 Galaxie Starliner has been a labor of love. They first saw this Starliner stored in a barn in 1994, but the owner refused to sell it. With only 29,669 Starliners produced during the 1961 model year, the search to find a suitable restoration project wasn’t easy. After hunting for five years, they received a call from a friend who said his cousin had recently acquired a Starliner and it was for sale. Zach called and to his surprise it was the same car from the barn that they had tried to buy five years before! The car had a lot of dents and must have been in a hail storm or two, but it had very little rust and the floor and trunk pans where in great shape. They got it road-worthy to find any mechanical issues, and started accumulating parts for a complete home-done, frame-off restoration. Eight years and tons of hard work later, the Starliner is better than new. The Starliner was completed in a “retro-mod” style with 1970-era accessories. The 390 cubic inch, 401 horsepower, 3 deuce, Ford FE engine runs strong. The interior is a custom red cloth and black vinyl design based on the 1960 Starliner. The paint is DuPont basecoat-clearcoat in the original Montecarlo Red. The finish quality and attention to detail earned Zach & Brenda the National Timberland PRO "Homebuilt Heaven" award at the 2009 Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio (click here for the details), and the Detroit Speed Builders Choice Award at the 2009 Goodguys Southeastern Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the East Coast Indoor Nationals in Maryland, their car was awarded the Best Muscle Car award. The Starliner has also been invited to be displayed at the 2009 Roanoke MDA Car Show and 2009 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals (click here to watch a YouTube video about our car filmed at Carlisle). At the prestigious 2010 Autorama in Detroit, Michigan in February 2010, the car earned First Place in the '58-'65 Restored Class, as well as the ISCA Street Achievement Restored Award. An internet web site called Gearhead Haven has also done a feature on their Starliner (click here to read it). Click here to see many more pictures of their car.
Left click on the thumbnails below to view the full pictures:
Let's see what the VIN and production data tell us...
The VIN of 1N53X116667 decodes as follows:
1 = model year: 1961
N = build plant: Norfolk Assembly Plant in Norfolk, Virginia
53 = Body Serial Code: Galaxie Starliner (2-door hardtop), bench seats (29,669 produced during the 1961 model year)
X = engine: Thunderbird 352 Special V-8, 352-2V, 220 hp @ 4400 rpm, 336 lb-ft @ 2400 rpm, 8.9:1 compression ratio
116667 = Consecutive Unit Number (CUN): 16,667th Ford car scheduled to be built at the Norfolk Assembly Plant during the 1961 model year (Job 1 was CUN 100001)
The production data decode as follows:
BODY 63A = Body Style Code: Galaxie Starliner (2-door hardtop), bench seats (29,669 produced during the 1961 model year)
COLOR J = exterior paint color: Montecarlo Red (red)
TRIM 30 = interior trim color, material and front seat style: black "Shimmer" pattern Nylon cloth cushion inserts and white pearl "Morocco" pattern vinyl cushions, bolsters and back, bench seat
DATE 03M = scheduled build date: Saturday, December 3, 1960
TRANS 4 = transmission type and shift location: Cruise-O-Matic 3-speed automatic, column shift
AXLE 6 = rear axle ratio and type: 3.00:1 non-locking
Left click on the thumbnail below to read what the Buyer's Digest Of New Car Facts For '61 had to say about the 1961 Galaxie Starliner:
