1962 Ford Galaxie 500 XL - Desert High Alumni – 1955 to 1969

Jim & Joyce Baker’s fabulous
1962 Ford Galaxie 500 XL
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY Dean MacDonald
F
irst true loves often last a long, long
time. Take Jim and Joyce Baker for
example—and a certain shiny, red
1962 Ford Galaxie 500 XL
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Longtime Antelope Valley residents,
Jim and Joyce Baker have lived here
since the mid-1950s. Joyce graduated
from Antelope Valley High School and
is retired from a 38-year career with the
Department of Defense at Edwards Air
Force Base and Air Force Plant 42. Jim
graduated from Desert High School at
Edwards Air Force Base. Joyce’s parents,
Vernon (deceased) and Christine Hitchcock, founded Lancaster Moving and
Storage in 1954. Today, Christine is
trustee, and the family still owns and
operates Lancaster Moving and Storage as
well as Desert Moving and Storage. Jim is
the president of and has been with Lancaster Moving and Storage for 46 years,
while Ron, Joyce’s brother, is president
of Desert Moving and Storage. But flash
back to the early 1960s...
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August • 2009
August • 2009
from Staples Center last June during
the Rotary International Convention.”
Here’s what Jim has in their
beautiful, completely restored and
better-than-new, 1962 Ford Galaxie
500 XL:
The engine, built by Wayne &
Dave’s Automotive, is a 390 built to
406 cubic inches that has a cam, aluminum Edelbrock heads, an original
(very rare) aluminum intake manifold; three two-barrel Holly (factory
replacement) carbs; and the Roush
TruTrack System, which includes the
power steering pump, alternator and
air conditioner compressor which
In September 1962, Jim happened
to be cruising down Sierra Highway when he
passed by the Ford dealership. There, sitting
on the showroom floor—and beckoning to
him—was a bright, shiny red, brand new
1962 Ford 500 Galaxie XL
of it and that it had been restored
seven years prior, since it was an
East Coast car, his main concern
was rust. So, an acquaintance in
Florida who lived nearby to where
the car was housed, agreed to go
over and take a look at it, take some
pictures of it and send them to Jim.
The pictures looked good to Jim so
he bought it and had it shipped via
United Van Lines to Lancaster Moving
and Storage, our family-owned business. The day it was delivered, Jim
and I were out of town, so when we
arrived back home, we immediately
drove to the warehouse yard to take
it home, Jim asked me to start it up –
which I did, and then he was giving
me marshaling signals to back it out.
Well, I tried, but it just wasn’t going
anywhere. He asked me to release
the parking brake—I said ‘okay’ but
I couldn’t find it and told him so. He
came over to the driver side to show
me how to release the parking brake.
It took about a minute, but then he
remembered we were looking in the
wrong place; it is released by a knob
ON the dashboard. We both had a
good laugh.
“Jim has the ’62 Galaxie almost
re-completely restored to his particular specs. We’ve entered it in a
few car shows and it has taken a few
awards—one from Antelope Valley
Ford in 2004 where they recognized
it for Customer Appreciation Day and
had it on display in their showroom.
Then last year it took ‘Best of Show,
Galaxie’ at the So-California Galaxies
All-Ford Show, and this past May, it
took ‘Top 30’ at the East Riverside
Rotary’s ‘Show and Go’ car show
– not too bad, considering they had
1,000 entrants. One of the neatest
things was to have it, along with
only four other vehicles, on display
in front of the Nokia Center across
are polished aluminum. Wayne &
Dave’s also installed the Sanderson
aluminum headers and SSB front disc
brakes. The custom-made two-inch
exhaust with an X-bar and mufflers
was handled by R&E Racing.
Spark is provided by an MSD
electronic ignition with 8 mm wires,
and cooling chores are handled by
a custom-built, cross-flow aluminum
radiator with an electric fan. All water
and fuel lines are braided, there are
chrome valve covers, and the intake
manifold and factory stock air cleaner
are polished aluminum.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 79
FAMILY PHYSICIAN
Sadhana Kamath, M.D.
Certified in
INTERNAL MEDICINE
by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Recipient* of award of recognition by
NCQA/ADA DIABETES PHYSICIAN Recognition Program
4068965
In September 1962, Jim happened
to be cruising down Sierra Highway
when he passed by the Ford dealership. There, sitting on the showroom
fl oor—and beckoning to him—was
a bright, shiny red, brand new 1962
Ford 500 Galaxie XL. Here, in Joyce’s
own words, is what happened next:
“The next day, after work, he went
to the Ford dealership and bought
that car WITHOUT ever taking it
out for a test drive! I believe that
story—it’s so totally Jim.”
Jim and Joyce, incidentally, still
have the one-page sales contract for
the 1962 Ford, which Jim bought for
the munificent sum of $3,700 (including tax and license).
Here, again in Joyce’s own words,
is how she and her future husband
met, actually for the second time:
“In early 1963, while on a lunch
break from my job at the Sani Serve,
which was commonly known as ‘The
Flush,’ on Edwards Air Force Base, I
saw this awesome shiny bright red
car parked in front and this cute guy
sitting on top of a picnic table. He
asked me if I remembered him—I
did. We had met the previous year
on a double date, both with someone
else. The rest is history; we married
on Aug. 10, 1963. We kept that shiny
red Ford for only a short time, but,
oh, that car was awesome! It was
completely chromed under the hood,
didn’t have an air conditioner or a
heater, but it did have a 406 and a
4-speed on the floor. It was definitely
built for speed and it could draw a
crowd wherever we went.”
Fast-forward many years, during
which the couple raised two sons:
Brian, who is a nurse at the California
Correctional Institution in Tehachapi,
and Blayne, an engineer/paramedic/
firefighter with the city of Torrance.
With the advent of the Internet, Joyce
noticed Jim checking out announcements for 1962 Ford Galaxies.
“Jim absolutely loved that old
1962 Ford,” Joyce explained, “so
one day I asked him if he’d ever
consider having another one. To my
surprise, he said he’d been looking
for the past two years—using all
means to try and locate one ‘exactly’
like the one he had. Then in 2001 he
found one being offered by a seller
in St. Augustine, Fla. The difference
between his original car and the one
that was for sale was that the Florida
car had an automatic transmission.
And, although Jim liked the pictures
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Antelope Valley Lifestyle
59
McFann, Pompey
Warford Column
FROM PAGE 32
Ray Pompey, Donna’s husband of
18 years, said she died in 1972 from
pneumonia complications. She was 16
when they married, he was 18.
“She worked at the Shopping Bag on
Avenue I and I guess (photographer)
Jack Overlade saw her there and asked
her if she wanted to do a photo shoot,”
said Ray. “She was the kind of gal
who’d just say, ‘Yeah!’ She was a goodlooking woman, so why not?
“She never asked me, she just did it.
Maybe she wanted to surprise me (as a
Valentine’s Day gift). I was really proud
of her when it came out. She was a gorgeous-looking woman even after three
kids at that time.”
Pompey said he has a few additional
photos Overlade took of Donna, some
of her in a negligee, another in a polkadot bikini.
“She looked good in all of them,”
Ray said. “Like I said, she was gorgeous.”
Classic Car
FROM PAGE 60
fascinating story with a beginning, middle
and end. She managed to paint a picture
and convey the emotion—without
a single use of profanity. And while
murder is obviously inherently violent,
there’s never any need for bloody, gory
scenes in a Christie novel. No need for
the author to hit us over the head, as it
were. Her talent was enough. No need
to resort to f-bombs and gore.
That work resulted in not only huge
sales but critical acclaim, as well. Critics
are still kind to her, 33 years after her
death. It wasn’t like she was just churning out pulp fiction.
She wrote some 80 mystery novels
(along with several plays and a few
romance novels under another name)
over a 56-year career.
She’s gone now but it’s easy to drop
by the library (assuming there’s not a
body in the library) and pick up a copy
and spend a summer evening with
Agatha Christie.
AV Fair
FROM PAGE 59
The trans, handled by Frank’s Transmission in Lancaster, is a C-6 truck
transmission.
The rear end was done by Currie
Custom Rear Ends of Anaheim, Calif.,
and consists of 31 spline axle, 4:11 gears,
Ford disc brakes and Detroit True Trac
Differential.
Robert at Lancaster Auto Interiors
installed the original factory interior and
Just Dashes of Van Nuys fabricated the
original interior leather and mylar door
panels.
Rick Plunkett of AV Collision handled
the paint and body, laying on the
absolutely gorgeous, stock 1962 Ford
“Rangoon Red” paint. Aries Blasting
powder-coated the A-arms, hood hinges,
supports, radiator tank and fuel tank.
For the final touch, Rick at the Tire
Store provided the Remington XT-120
CTR tires and the old-style, stock Cragar
chrome wheels.
So, if you “cruised the boulevard” in
the early 1960s, you might have seen Jim
and Joyce in their ’62 Ford Galaxie 500
XL. If you see them around town again,
you’re not having a flashback—just
seeing them and their newest (and even
better) ’62 Ford Galaxie 500 XL. Apparently, first loves do really last a long,
long time!
FROM PAGE 47
at www.avfair.com, or by phone at
661/948-6060.
Arena events at the 2009 fair include
figure-8 racing, Thursday, Aug. 27; Professional Bull Riders Tour, Friday, Aug.
28; Rural Olympics, truck and tractor
pull, Saturday, Aug. 29; demolition
derby, Sunday, Aug. 30.
Other attractions include carnival
rides and a midway, agricultural exhibits, a hypnotist, local entertainment,
community stage, commercial building
and exhibits, fine arts and photography
exhibits, baking contests, gem and
mineral exhibits, livestock exhibits and
plenty of fair food.
�������
IN AUGUST!
Among the free grounds acts are:
Skip Banks, The Balloon Man; Mother
Goose; Hypnotist Scott Lewis; Fables
of the West, comedy horsemen and
their “steeds;” a petting zoo and
animal nursery; and a “mutton busting”
venue.
Each year, about 220,000 people
attend the fair during its lengthy run.
Close to 800 volunteers donate their
time and effort before, during and after
the fair.
For details about the 2009 Antelope
Valley Fair, tickets or advance ticket
deals, call the fair office at 661/948-6060
or go to www.avfair.com.
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August • 2009
Antelope Valley Lifestyle
79