I'm not aware of the Galaxie design, but this design, as used on the Falcon, was pretty common. Just depended on the design of the light socket.

That said, I hear ya. Not the best design - if you were also trying to take into account it should last 50 years. This is just one of many things I've seen that Ford [insert Chevy or Dodge too] could have done better.

The studs you mentioned jamming a screwdriver into, are pushed into very thin aluminum cans, then peened in place with a little sealant to make them water-tight. It was fine and dandy as long as everything was new and the nut never rusted to the shaft requiring more torque than this stud was designed for. But there are other studs you can't access easily that always rust and spin.

Bottom-line is no car maker cared to make a design that would last 50 years. Or even 10 years for that matter. Most cars were designed for fast assembly and to last at least as long as the warranty. Now everything is plastic. So much for rust.

Having taken many rusty cars apart, I take a lot of precautions when I reassemble them to make servicing them into the future easier to do. But even still, it would be up to me to keep it that way. Lacking all the plating processes of new parts - my guess is I will need to spray a lot of things I restore, like these nuts on the back of the turn indicators, down with WD40 or BoeShield every year or so. But will I do that? Probably not.