L.A. Rob returns with more jealousy-inducing auto perfection from the Golden State!

(NOT QUITE) CUSTOM
Well what do we have here poking it's big schnoz into our business? It is very square and angular, not to mention BLUE (as well as its factory-flawless condition, which the black Cali plates explain). If you guessed Galaxie you wouldn't be terribly wrong, but you certainly wouldn't be right either . . .

This is a 1965 Ford Custom 500 in what's either Tropical Turquoise or Powder Blue. The Custom was a stripped-down version of the Galaxie line, with the Custom 500 being slightly more equipped. By slightly more equipped I mean chrome trim on the sides and a drip molding around the roof line. The non-500 model was truly stripped of anything remotely comforting and as a result most of them became taxis & police cars.

For all its thrift though this is a sharp, well-proportioned ride! The forward-leaning angle of the front leading up to the smart, squared-off trunk gives an efficient, sleek look that is very mid-'60s. Combine that with the shape of the wheel arch that trails on the rear end and it seems like a car that ought to be moving quickly along (as opposed to many of the bricks from this era).

Heater, seatbelts, and defroster were counted as standard equipment for the '65 Custom! Don't laugh too hard; the base Chevy 100 series still came with the heater listed as something you could delete for savings.
This car really is a collection of angles. The massive rounded Buick in the background is quite the opposite, even though it's from a mere 10 years earlier. Great poverty hubcaps on painted steel wheels too. 

Ford refused to give up on their round taillights, going so far as to incorporate them into designs that didn't welcome them naturally. Here they are tacked right into the middle of the barrel shape of the rear housing; very much a round peg in a square hole. It works well in this instance though because the car is so plain otherwise. If this were the non-500 that chrome around the rear window and along the top of the trunk would be omitted for a real bargain look.
The black California license plates were issued between '63 and '69 so I have no doubt that this ride has lived the charmed rust-free California life.
Hats off to Rob for another perfect beauty from the West Side!