Back To The 50’s 2017—A ’64 Falcon With Sixties Personality Wins Best Ford In A Ford

A 1964 Ford Falcon took home the Best Ford in a Ford award at the Back to the 50’s 2017 car show, an unusual win for a car built as economical transportation rather than a performance machine. Ford’s optional Sprint package added the Fairlane’s 260-cubic-inch V8 and a stiffer suspension, giving select Falcons real personality behind the wheel. The Falcon’s unibody platform also directly influenced the Mustang launched later that same model year. This deep dive covers why the humble Falcon earned its trophy.

Nostalgia is the driving force behind every hot rod build. Whether itâ€™s nostalgia for a long lost car that continues to generate great memories after half a century, or nostalgia for a period of time when life seemed simpler and more fun, this hobby is our way of keeping the good old days alive. For Bill Estridge of Oakdale, Minnesota, those good old days go all the way back to the Sixties when hot rodding made its first impression on him.

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A car nicknamed for its economy-minded roots is not supposed to walk away with a Best in Show trophy, and yet that is exactly what happened at one of the Midwest’s largest classic car gatherings. Ford built this compact for buyers who wanted practical transportation, not a trophy contender, which makes its win all the more unlikely. Under humble sheet metal, though, sat a factory option package that quietly transformed the car’s character into something with real teeth. What was it about this particular Falcon that convinced judges to hand it the top Ford honor over a field of far more famous nameplates?

The Car Ford Never Meant to Be a Muscle Car

The Falcon entered production as Ford’s answer to compact, economical transportation, powered in base form by a modest inline-six making around 85 horsepower, a car built for commuting, not competition. It is easy to forget that this humble platform quietly laid the engineering groundwork Ford would later borrow for its most famous pony car.

The Sprint Package Changed Everything

For 1964, Ford introduced the Sprint option, dropping in the Fairlane’s 260-cubic-inch V8, a stiffer suspension, and a louder exhaust note that gave the Falcon a genuinely different personality behind the wheel. That 260 in the name is cubic inches, not horsepower — the Sprint V8 was actually rated at 164 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, and in a compact this light, that was still enough of a jump over the base six to make the Sprint feel like a genuinely different animal on the street.

A Direct Ancestor of the Mustang

Ford leaned heavily on the Falcon’s unibody platform when developing the Mustang, which launched later in the same 1964 model year. That shared DNA means a well-sorted Falcon carries more historical weight than casual observers give it credit for. It is not just a Mustang’s forgotten cousin, but a direct mechanical ancestor.

Why Best Ford in a Ford Is a Bigger Deal Than It Sounds

Winning a Best in Show or top marque award at a major regional gathering like Back to the 50s means beating out Mustangs, Thunderbirds, and full-size Galaxies with far bigger factory performance reputations. For a Falcon to take that honor signals a level of build quality, originality, or presentation that judges rarely reward outside of the car’s own narrow niche.

The Growing Appreciation for Compact Classics

Collector interest in first- and second-generation Falcons has grown steadily as buyers priced out of Mustang and Camaro markets look for alternatives with genuine period-correct performance options. A documented Sprint-package Falcon, in particular, occupies a sweet spot: rare enough to stand out, but still attainable compared to its more famous pony car relative.

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