During the early 1960s American automobile styling recovered from the excesses of the late 1950s. Recovered to the point where some very good designs were seen on the streets, perhaps the best of which was that of the 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Another example of good 1960s American styling was the Ford Galaxie, redesigned for the 1965 model year. The Wikipedia entry for Galaxies is
here (scroll down for 1965 models) and a Consumer Guide take on it is
here.
Like the Grand Prix, the Galaxie had a trim, taut look: no visual flabbiness. Also like the Grand Prix, its quad headlights were stacked and set in angular, "frenched" housings. I never liked cars with four headlights, but they looked their best on the Galaxie and Grand Prix.
Gallery
A four-door hardtop Galaxie LTD. An angular, fashionable "three-box" design with many crisp details. Offsetting that are subtly curved surfaces.
The front styling is simple, but provided relief from visual boredom. Note the front bumper: a horizontal bar with faceting above and below the fold. Especially note the hood's raised section that's slightly narrower than its width. and extends a very short distance ahead of the small shelf with the cut lines. This bloc is carried down through the grille area, providing what amounts to two "facets" that help set off the headlight ensembles. Finally, observe the catwalk, the narrow, flat, horizontal separation between the windows and fender top fold. This appeared on several American cars in those days, especially wide ones.
The rear design is nicely composed. For example, the character line on the fender transitions to the facet crease along the trunk, being carried through the center of the six-edged tail light assembly that, in turn, aligns at its top with the flat top of the rear fender. Again, a very simple bumper shape.
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