“Provenance” from the French word provenir, “to come from”, refers to the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object…”   

That certainly sounds all hoighty-toighty now doesn’t it? Maybe so, but if there were ever a 1963 Galaxie 500 with provenance, and just a dash of Ricky Bobby to clear the palette, it’s this rolling piece of thundering racing history. For a mere $149,000.00, you can be the shepherd of this golden era NASCAR survivor. The folks at Hemmings Motor News bring us the story.

Lets take this from the beginning, shall we? Once upon a time in sunny California, when a car magazine could sponsor a NASCAR event, Dan Gurney won the 1963 Motor Trend 500 in January of 1963, behind the wheel of this 427 Ford Galaxie.  

The Motor Trend 500 held court at Riverside International Raceway from 1963 through 1971 and attracted all the hot shot drivers of the day. During that nine years, Dan Gurney won it an amazing five times, (as well as winning most of his stock-car trophies at RIR.) He was so dominating there, winning four times in a row from 1963 through 1966 (and 1968,) they nicknamed the race “The Gurney 500.” 

Fast forward to today and even though Dan Gurney is still with us, poor Riverside International Raceway closed long ago and sadly, morphed into a friggin’ shopping mall… Sigh. And while the sands of time have cloaked most evidence of the long dead, hazy days of Cali racing at RIR, Gurney’s Galaxie 500 is alive and crispy fresh.

Currently located at SSC in Benecia, California, the car is restored and painted in its original color combo of white with blue “28” numbers. All of its original sponsor emblems are present and accounted for, plus a fire breathing, 427 race-ready V-8 engine barking out 410 horsepower and backed by a 4-speed transmission.

Originally Built by Holman-Moody and sponsored by LaFayette Ford, the car was eventually purchased and fully restored by Randy Peterson of Peterson Motorsports in Sonoma, California. Peterson, who is known for bringing motorsports legends back to life, has raced it with his wife Sheila at several historic races and is still in track-ready shape. These old full-size stock cars always looked mean and hunkered down with big rubber and no fender liners. This old war bird Galaxie doesn’t disappoint, looking extra fine in early ’60 NASCAR tech.

 So is this “one of one,” worth $149K? With Hemi Cuda’s going for millions, the asking price for this huge scoop of NASCAR history, (double dipped in “provenance,”) seems like a bargain.