Since he was a young boy, Army Lt. Col. Henry Ford has dreamed of owning a 1959 Ford Galaxie. His father had one—black with a white top—and Ford says it was the first car he ever admired.
“It was the first car I saw my father drive and probably the first car I ever rode in, which brings back so many memories,” Ford says. As a child, he even created a “Galaxie” of his own, using a bicycle rim and a stick to propel himself down the road.
Ford—no relation to the family of automakers, as far as he knows—has yet to buy a ’59 Galaxie, but that hasn’t stopped him from collecting other cars. At last count, his collection stood at 24 and spanned nearly 70 years, from a 1938 Buick to his 2005 Ford Mustang.
As a teenager Ford purchased his first car, a 1968 Buick Electra. Then, he began collecting as a hobby with the purchase of his 1953 Ford Mainline. And later, with help from a friend, he learned what to look for in cars as investments.
“Not all old cars in good condition are valuable or will appreciate substantially in value,” Ford says. “I look for age, rarity, popularity, the era of the car, even the number of doors and of course, the condition.” He says it can cost a small fortune to repair antique cars, and many may not be worth the time or money.
And though some cars can make good investments, Ford says he’s not in it for the money. “If someone has a passion for these cars and loves to drive them like I do, then they’re all priceless.”
Most of his collection is in Raeford, N.C., but Ford also has a few cars in Mississippi.
“I try to drive all of them at least once per quarter to maintain their condition and to check for routine maintenance, but it takes much longer now that my inventory has grown,” Ford says.
Ford, a mobilization integration officer at Fort Bragg, N.C., does about half of the repairs and restoration on his cars, which is more than enough to keep him busy after work and on weekends. “I tinker quite a bit with my vehicles,” Ford says. “But some work is best left to machine and body shops.”
He calls his hobby relaxing and therapeutic, and says restoring cars is his passion. “Sometimes, they turn out better than the original production,” Ford says. “It’s rewarding to see a valuable piece of history roll down the road at its best again.”
Despite his passion for his two dozen cars, Ford hopes to reduce his inventory. “My plan is to consolidate all of them and continue to downsize to five vehicles,” Ford says. He recently let go of a 1929 Ford Model A, but says selling his cars is difficult. “I sell a vehicle every blue moon, when I become less passionate and my heart tells me to pass it on for someone else to enjoy.”
If Ford ever purchases the ’59 Galaxie, he says he will be content. “It’s from the year I was born, and would complete my collection,” Ford says. “My journey for collector cars would be accomplished.”
Ford is a current client of First Command Financial Services, Inc.