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1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Town Victoria [75A]

1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie [75A] in Psycho, Movie, 1960

Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin:

1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Town Victoria [75A]

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Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
DAF555 ◊ 2006-01-24 21:59	1959 Ford Galaxie
G-MANN ◊ 2008-09-04 20:56
Rigormortor ◊ 2010-01-04 03:32	Alot of 59 Fords at that car lot....
HunterMan ◊ 2012-07-16 00:57	Although the movie was released in 1960, a lot of the filming probably actually occurred during the previous year...1959. So, when they filmed at this car lot, which was one of the few real "on-location" spots Hitchcock used, it most likely would have been a lot full of 1959 models--new year models at that time. It was a ways out from the new ones under the car-port thing that Janet Leigh saw the used 57 Ford, and chose that one to buy. -- Last edit: 2012-07-16 00:59:21
Commander 57 ◊ 2012-07-16 04:23	I don't think this was a new car dealership. And such a dealer would not have been handling Fords, Mercurys and Edsels. The movie was set in December of 1959 (recall the Christmas decorations in the city scene). But even as early as December, the '60 models would have been out and 1959's would be seen on the used car lots.
HunterMan ◊ 2012-07-16 04:49	It may not have been a "new" car dealer...it could have been a used car dealership. But, it appeared he had the "new" ones under the special car port and the used ones were out in another part of the lot. He could have been trying to get rid of the 59 models to make room for the new 60 models, and that's why the 59's were showcased more?? Anyway, by no means am I an expert on Edsels...but didn't Ford end up dealing Edsels before they were phased out? Also, most Ford dealerships will (or did) have both Ford and Mercurys on the lot--whether brand new or used. So, it's not unusual that this dealer has both (or all 3 brands). It was obviously a Ford dealership in...what was it...Fairvale or Fairview, California supposedly?
Commander 57 ◊ 2012-07-16 14:40	I'm no expert on sales procedures back then, but it has been my understanding that Mercury was paired with Lincoln. Anyone with knowledge out there? In '59, would a new car dealership have handled Fords Edsels and Mercurys together?
tonkatracker ◊ 2012-07-16 14:51	Lincoln and Mercury were always paired together, as for Edsel according to this website: http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/tribune/11/wf_1139.htm "Initially Edsels were sold through a newly formed division of the Ford Motor Company, a network of approximately 1,187 new dealers. This briefly brought the total number of dealers of all Ford products to 10,000. Ford saw this as a way to come closer to parity with Chrysler, which had 10,000 dealers, and General Motors, which had 16,000. When it became apparent that the Edsels were not selling well, many of these dealers added Lincoln-Mercury, Ford of Britain, or Ford of Germany franchises to their dealerships with the encouragement of Ford Motor Company. Some dealers, however, closed."
Commander 57 ◊ 2012-07-16 15:03	Thanks. I had always thought in the movie that this was supposed to be strictly a used car dealership. I don't think it was likely that a brand new car would have the year soaped onto the windshield. Again, by late '59, with the 1960 models out, '59 cars would be considered "used cars" and could be found on the used car lots. (Although it always seemed like Charlie had an unusually large number of '59's!)
HunterMan ◊ 2012-07-16 18:22	tonkatracker wrote Lincoln and Mercury were always paired together, as for Edsel according to this website: http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/tribune/11/wf_1139.htm "Initially Edsels were sold through a newly formed division of the Ford Motor Company, a network of approximately 1,187 new dealers. This briefly brought the total number of dealers of all Ford products to 10,000. Ford saw this as a way to come closer to parity with Chrysler, which had 10,000 dealers, and General Motors, which had 16,000. When it became apparent that the Edsels were not selling well, many of these dealers added Lincoln-Mercury, Ford of Britain, or Ford of Germany franchises to their dealerships with the encouragement of Ford Motor Company. Some dealers, however, closed." Cool...thanks for the info! I thought that Edsels were sold through Ford. Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury have always been paired together in some way or other on car dealership lots...as Lincoln and Mercury are just "fancier" divisions of Ford. So, obviously this was a Ford dealership in "Psycho" and it would make sense that it had Fords, Mercurys, and Edsels. Commander 57 wrote Thanks. I had always thought in the movie that this was supposed to be strictly a used car dealership. I don't think it was likely that a brand new car would have the year soaped onto the windshield. Again, by late '59, with the 1960 models out, '59 cars would be considered "used cars" and could be found on the used car lots. (Although it always seemed like Charlie had an unusually large number of '59's!) Yeah, I know that by December the new 60 models would have been out...so I don't know? I've watched documentaries on the making of "Psycho" many times but it's been a while and I can't remember...did they film the whole movie in December, or was part of it filmed a little earlier? Also, didn't they soap the year of every car on the windshield back then? You'd still know whether it was that year's model or older, and obviously that soap washed off easily enough. I always thought the car dealership was just a "normal" one with brand new cars, as well as used. By that time they would have been trying to clear out as many 59's as possible to make room for the 60 models...but the 59's would not have been considered that "used" (as we think of the term) yet. They would have still technically been that year's model. That's why it appeared that the guy had the new cars under the car-port thing, while the used ones were out on the open lot. Maybe there were some new 60 models on the lot but we just didn't see them?? If he was strictly just a used car dealer...I find it hard to believe he'd have all those (for the most part) brand new 59's in a row! Why would that many people trade in their almost brand new Ford products at the same time? These are all interesting questions that I've not really pondered before...cool! I could have sworn that the car lot in "Psycho" was one of the very few actual real-life on-location places that Hitchcock used in the film (as he hated on-location places because he couldn't control sound or what was going on around him). But, maybe that was a set too, and they just stuck whatever cars they found on the studio lot on the car dealership set? -- Last edit: 2012-07-16 18:24:12
tonkatracker ◊ 2012-07-17 03:45	HunterMan wrote Cool...thanks for the info! I thought that Edsels were sold through Ford. Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury have always been paired together in some way or other on car dealership lots...as Lincoln and Mercury are just "fancier" divisions of Ford. So, obviously this was a Ford dealership in "Psycho" and it would make sense that it had Fords, Mercurys, and Edsels. While it was possible for a dealership to have both a Ford and a Lincoln/Mercury franchise it was not that common. Ford wanted quantity and preferred them to be sold at separate dealerships.
HunterMan ◊ 2012-07-17 18:01	tonkatracker wrote While it was possible for a dealership to have both a Ford and a Lincoln/Mercury franchise it was not that common. Ford wanted quantity and preferred them to be sold at separate dealerships. Interesting! I've always known most car brands to have their own car dealerships, and Ford/Lincoln/Mercury have always been paired together as long as I can remember...but "Psycho" was a little over 15 years before I was born. So, maybe at that time cars didn't have their own lots, and they were dispersed to all lots selling new cars... -- Last edit: 2012-07-17 18:03:07
Lateef ◊ 2024-10-13 13:00	Another:

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