One of those cars you just hafta have... chased this project for 2 years over two owners. Couldn't find any project cars... everythings restored and I cant drive anything I haven't built. Need quarter trim, quarters and an FE, Tbird rocker covers etc. Punting the 6.0LS turbo the last guy did. Plans... 428, stroked/4r80E 6" velocity stacks, FAST injection 4link/bagged
The 1961 Starliner, IMO, is one of the prettiest cars Ford ever produced. I had 3, 1961 Ford 2 door sedans, Connecticut ex-state police cars, but I never had a 1961 Ford Starliner.
More of a Chevy guy but I do love those starliners. Thanks for kicking that Ls to the curb. Cool car!
Wayne C. Rumbled into a local cruise one summer evening with this stock survivor version featuring a factory 406 Tripower iirc. As others noted: these are beautiful cars.
Holy Gas Pumps Batman; I'll bet that baby is thirsty ! Yes, but she will fly and LOOK GOOD doing it !!
I'm mostly a Mopar guy but love the Starliners, great find! strangely enough I saw 3 nice examples in ATL area shows this summer. I'll be following
Congrats on getting that car. I saw it advertised and thought it wasn’t a bad deal(except for the engine). I’ve had 5 star liners over the years, they are great cars
Congratulations, I was in the same boat, wanting one since I saw the movie “The Hollywood Nights” in 1980. Being a GM guy, this has been on my bucket list since then. I finally found and bought one this summer. Pics are when I bought car on trailer and current status next to my brothers Impala at this years Crus’n The Cost.
In a '61 that would be a 390-401hp 3x2 solid lifter engine, 406 came out in mid-62, as did the 500XL trim package. Mine is a twofer, 500XL, 406-405hp 3x2, has a 427-8V in it now. The solid lifter cars came with no power options, manual steering and brakes only, so mine is an XL with manual- they did come with a larger steering wheel though lol. Floyd Garrett had a nice '61 390-401hp ragtop in his museum
View attachment 559725 Ihad a 61 Starliner 390 CI, manual in 63 and 64 before trading it in for a 65 GTO. I have had a number of nice cars including a 67 GTO but have always said if I could have any of the cars back it would be the Starliner. You don’t see them much. This one was at a show this past April and the yellow one is a picture I saved as it is just about perfect to me.
I graduated HS in 1965, got into a construction job and wanted a better car. I sorta liked Ford's at the time and learned of a 61 Starliner, 390-375,3 speed od....Nice car but a another guy scooped me on the deal by an hour......Back then the car did't look so large..lol.
Man does this thread bring back a memory. Needed a winter beater for work and stopped at the local 'Last Chance Motors' used car lot. Back row pretty much had everything I needed. I saw the 61 Starliner and fell in lust. It started, didn't have too many rattles so I was prepared to part with the 100 bucks they were asking. Told the owner what I needed the car for and that it'd be sitting outside work 16hrs a day. The guy actually tells me to save the cash and talks me into a 64 Corvair for half the money. I'm telling my furnance helper the whole deal one night and the next day after work he shows me his 'new' winter beater. You guessed it, the 61 Starliner. Now here's where it gets good. Turns out that Starliner was the biggest piece of **** on four bald tires. At anywhere near freezing it wouldn't start, and if it did, it wouldn't move. My helper spent damn near as much time in my Covair as I did since I ended up being his taxi for work. But I gotta admit when it did run and move it looked better in the parking lot than my 'Vair. But in the 9 months he owned it only made the parking lot about 8 times.
Always had a thing for the Starliner one of the best looking cars of all time. Back in 79 I was in JR high and my older brother could of got me a 60 for fifty bucks the car got crushed before we could pick it up he found me a 70 GT Torino instead for a project car.
The '57, '59, '61 and '63 are my favorites. I have owned 3 '64 Fords. I looked at a '61 sedan a couple of years ago, the trunk was swiss cheese.. I p***ed on it. It did have a later 390 and an automatic, was a good runner otherwise. I could only imagine the rust past what I could actually see.
In '61 my dad was looking at getting a new car. Us kids were lobbying hard for Chesapeake Blue Starliner. No, big back window not safe in a rollover. We got all the pizazz a black, four door, Galaxie, 292, Fordamatic, with black and white cloth interior could offer. His first car with an auto trans. Coming up to stop signs he continually slapped the floor board pushing at the clutch.
I graduated from high school and bought my first car in 1965. Mine is the Nomad. My cl***mate and lifelong friend helped me tow it home with his newly acquired Starliner.
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