If you’re not in love with the Ford Galaxie, you will be after seeing this thing. It’s the Ruffian Galaxie, a 1964 example of the sports classic that has been converted into a groundbreaking SEMA car. From the stance to the body kit and the camo paint, there’s nothing like this in the world.
Ruffian Cars is an amazing company. Self-taught DIY artist Chris Ashton is mad about custom fabrication and unique pieces. He’s built my all-time favorite Mustang restomod, finished in Porsche green paint, and a highly modified Ford GT40 replica. For his 3rd in-depth build, he unveiled a custom Galaxie 500 at SEMA 2023.
The GT40 and Mustang were kind of solo builds, but now Chris has a team of five people with him at Ruffian, which means his full vision can be executed.
Starting our examination with the front fenders, we find they are flared-out versions of stock ones, meant to house 325mm front tires and 20-inch multi-piece wheels. Galaxie owners will also notice this bumper is much slimmer than stock, and that’s because it’s made of two top halves welded together. Below that, you have an aggressive air splitter, matched at the back with a racing diffuser.
It’s a unibody race car
How did they get it to sit so low? Well, just look at the windshield, and maybe you will spot a brand-new tubular chassis going through the body. This means this 1964 Galaxie is built like a race car and doesn’t have separate body-on-frame construction like all cars from that era. It’s completely flat underneath, and it’s obviously also been tubbed to accommodate these giant wheels.
You’ll notice the rear fender flares are bolted on, and that’s because they need to be removable to get the wheels in and out. Between the racing fuel tank and the front-mid-mounted engine, this build is clearly all about unlocking racing potential.
But the paint is easily the best aspect of Ruffian’s 1964 Galaxie build. It’s a two-tone camouflage laid out by hand by Chris. The paint was intricately applied at Auto Addiction OC. The inspiration for the color comes from World War 2 battleships, like USS Alabama. On top of that, you have bright yellow graphics and a raw metal interior painted sky blue. Anyway, check out IamTed7‘s amazing exclusive photos of the car… and be amazed.
The price? Nobody knows, but we believe there’s at least $300,000 invested in this car’s fabrication. That might make it the most expensive 2nd-gen Galaxie ever.
