Vintage 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 traded into Rochester Ford, listed for $10,499 with plenty of memories behind it

May 21—There's nothing else like at Rochester Ford, and sales and leasing consultant Aaron Salveson expects it to be parked there for a while.

Salveson made his oldest trade to date on Tuesday when he welcomed a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 into the dealership.

"The car is sweet. It's super cool, and it's a mint car," Salveson said. "I've seen one-year-old cars in worse shape than this."

Salveson said the car is being listed for $10,499 and has roughly 140,000 miles on it, not bad for a car that's more than 50 years old, he added.

The vintage car sports a 302 V8 engine and the interior has be reupholstered with original fabric. Along the way a CD player and MTX speakers were added.

The car has received a lot of attention since being posted to Rochester Ford's Facebook page, and Salveson posting about it himself on his page. But he still believes the car will remain in their possession for the foreseeable future since they haven't fully marketed it yet.

Previous owner Scott Clark was emotional as he handed Salveson the keys. He was handing over more than just a car, it was a part of his life that created countless memories.

"I'm not ashamed to say at six-foot, 200 pounds, when I handed the key over, I had tears in my eyes," Clark said.

The car has been in Clark's family for the last 17 years, after his father, Kevin, bought it from the dealership. That's when the restoration process began with his dad getting the upholstery redone and giving the car a paint job.

That was all that was needed to be done with the car, Clark said.

"Overall, it was in really good shape. The drive train, the 302 V8 engine, the automatic, everything is original," Clark said. "The frame, the transmission, the suspension; it's all never been touched on that car."

Once the car was restored, Clark and his father tracked down the original owner, now in his 90s, to show him the luxurious muscle car he once owned for roughly three decades.

"It was just kind of one of those moments," Clark said. "And here's his car that he owned for 30-something years and it's basically back in its original form at his house. That was a really cool moment."

When the original owner passed away, his family asked to use the Ford Galaxie in his funeral, and Kevin obliged.

In 2016, Clark was given the car by his dad as a Christmas gift He and his wife and kids made many memories during family cruises in the spring to White Bear Lake.

During one of their first trips to the lake, Clark and his family were eating at a restaurant when a man walked in, asking customers whose Ford Galaxie 500 was parked outside.

Clark thought the worst.

"I looked at my fiancee, and I said I thought somebody hit my car," he said.

When the man reached Clark's table to ask the question, Clark admitted it was his car.

"He said, 'Well, what's the story on it?'" Clark said. "And as I'm telling him the story of the car, you know, how we got it and where it came from, this guy is in tears, and he goes, 'It's my dad's birthday today, and that is my dad's car.'"

The man was walking out of a hockey tournament across the street from the restaurant when he noticed the Ford parked along the way. He told Clark at the time he had to find out if it was actually his dad's car.

"It was unbelievable," Clark said. "Holy crap, what a coincidence that was."

Despite the memories and the history Clark has with the car, the need for a larger vehicle, specifically a 2019 Ford F-150 Crew Cab, to accommodate his family's changing dynamic was more important.

"I wound up having a pretty long conversation with my dad, and it's time to let somebody else enjoy this car," he said.