Additional information about the first Ford-company car to use the name Galaxie:
Here is some really interesting trivia about Galaxies. The name "Galaxie" is not entirely based upon space or the cosmos as most people think. Instead it comes from the 1958 La Galaxie show car built by Lincoln Mercury. It is a French spelling which means "an assemblage of brilliant or noted people or ideas". The designer, David Ash was telescope at the sky and looking for objects to inspire a new car design. Although the "La Galaxie" show car had parallel-action doors for entry/exit, they did not operate. Instead Ford designers came up with the idea of entering the car by either climbing in and out of a retractable rear window, or using a power operated trap door underneath the car. Most people chose to climb up on the decklid and crawl through the back window, across the seats, and drop down into the drivers seat. It was proposed that the car, and all future Galaxies, be powered by a small nuclear power system under the hood. In order not to create an explosion from an accident, the car had a proximity warning system that shut off the ignition every time another car got too close. The interior was said to be "space ship" like, and the rear deck lid was a clamshell type, operated from the curb. The C pillar was a reverse slant, as on the Continental Mark III, IV, and V. The headlights and tail lights were virtually the same as on the Chrysler Turbine car, which copied many of "La Galaxie's" features. The car featured power assisted ashtrays and lighters, and a bar. Everything possible that could be power assisted, was. "La Galaxie" was destroyed in early 1960 when it was being shown in Budapest, Hungary, when it accidentally fell off a forklift, cracking its fiberglass body in two.
