Restomodded 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 Fastback Is Our Bring a Trailer Auction Pick

• This prairie-sized Galaxie is particularly imposing in the rarely seen fastback body style.

• Underneath the acres of sheetmetal, this '60s cruiser has been modernized with a reworked Hotchkis suspension and Wilwood brakes.

• Metallic blue paint, a subtle hood scoop, and black steelies with dog-dish hub caps complete the understated look.
  

One of the world's most scenic roads, Canada's Icefields Parkway runs north from Calgary up to the tourist town of Jasper. Sure, you could rent a Chevy Equinox to make the trip, but here's a much more charismatic sled to haul you past the glaciers. Up for auction in Calgary is this 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe, a prairie-sized cruiser with some very cool tricks hidden up its sleeve.

Today's pick from Bring A Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is the kind of carefully prepared vintage machine that provides 1960s nostalgia without the old-car dynamic drawbacks. This Galaxie is a true full-sizer, a big ol' boat from the blue oval. It should be driven while wearing the full-denim Canadian tuxedo, singing along with Stompin' Tom Connors as he belts out Bud the Spud. But tucked behind those 18-inch steel wheels are a host of parts from the likes of Wilwood and Hotchkis. It's a boat all right—but a speedboat.

The Hotchkis sport suspension is the really tasty part of this build. When Jay Leno went looking for a way to improve the handling of the 1966 Ford Galaxie he built as a tribute to a beloved Leno family car, he had Hotchkis design a setup incorporating big anti-roll bars, Fox shock absorbers, uprated springs, and even reworked control arms. This '68 Galaxie gets essentially the same treatment, and it should corner as flat as a Saskatchewan wheat field.