This 609 HP 500XL is a Galaxie Beyond Stock (Hagerty)
The 1960s were prime time for undeclared war: America versus Russia in space, and the Big Three carmakers on race tracks and the street. This is the era when the muscle cars we cherish prowled the avenues searching for someone, anyone, to challenge. Back then, stupendous horsepower and acceleration were within reach of your average grocery-shelf stocker.
The fact that Ron Herring is too young to have experienced the dawn of the muscle-car era didn’t hinder him from rolling his grandfather Odell Tidwell’s 1963-1/2 Ford Galaxie 500 XL out of the garage for its second life. In addition to their blood ties, these men are Ford Motor Company family. Tidwell, who died in 2015, worked at Wayne Assembly near Detroit for 53 years. Herring, 49, has for 29 years worked at the same plant.
As a youth, Herring spent every spare moment in the back seat of grandpa’s Galaxie with his Hot Wheels toys. He often tagged along to races at drag strips near Detroit. Tidwell bought this Ford in 1967 with no intention of driving it on the street. Instead, he boosted his firepower to 427 cubic inches and added three two-barrel carburetors. Flat-towing the Galaxie to local strips well into his eighties, Tidwell clocked 12.70-second ETs and 102-mph trap speeds on good days.
(photo credit: Don Sherman - Hagerty)
