Mustang . . . . A Drag Racer Right Out of the Box
| 31 July 2007
It wasn’t by coincidence in 1962 that Ford abandoned its compliance with the AMA directive prohibiting factory support for motor sports. And it wasn’t by coincidence that Lee Iacocca issued an edict calling for “total performance” to help sell cars. Ford was changing direction and above-board sponsorship of racing was in the forefront. They were going to LeMans, they were contracted with Charlotte-based Holman-Moody to build rally Falcons for Alan Mann to field on the European rally circuit, they went full bore into NASCAR, they went road racing, and they went drag racing. By 1963, they were fully committed to the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” phrase coined by Providence, RI Ford dealer Bob Tasca. There was no doubt in their minds that Tasca had demonstrated that a win at the dragstrip with his 406 Fairlane on Sunday did, indeed, improve sales on Monday.
Tasca’s success with Bill Lawton driving was so convincing that in late 1963, Ford’s high-performance subcontractor, Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) was commissioned by the factory to build 50 copies (or was it 100 copies) of the Tasca Fairlane for NHRA Super Stock competition; copies, that is, except in place of the 406, a 427 hi-riser wedge engine would power the monsters. In fact, shortly before Ford ordered the copies, a 427 version had already propelled Lawton to the E.T. national record in A/FX (12.21).
DST never blinked when the factory Fairlanes were ordered because they had built both the original 406 Fairlane and the record–setting 427 for Tasca. The factory Fairlanes would be called “Thunderbolt”, a name that racers quickly shortened to “T-Bolt”.
Just as the Tasca/Lawton duo had success with the 406/427 Fairlanes, Ford employee and drag racer Dick Brannan was winning with a 427 “lightweight” Galaxie running out of the Romy Hammes Ford dealership in South Bend, IN. Similar success was also being seen by other drivers as they flogged various Ford marques down the ¼-mile, drivers such as Les Ritchey, Gas Ronda, Ed Martin, Chester Andrews, Al Joniac, Paul Norris, Len Richter, and Phil Bonner.
Although the drag cars were all Fords and the drivers (usually) drove for teams sponsored by Ford dealership, Ford Motor Company wanted to organize the individual initiatives under the total performance banner. To do that, a “Special Vehicle” program was established under the management of Frank Zimmermann. Zimmermann’s first job was to create the Ford Drag Council composed of top Ford drivers. Before long, many of the Council drivers would showcase their talents behind the wheel of Mustangs because Ford had decided that Mustang would be their pre-eminent drag racing marque.
But wait a minute. How does Mustang get into the picture in 1963 when it had only recently been approved for production. The green light was granted in September 1962 with Job 1 targeted for early March 1964, meaning that in 1963 there weren’t any Mustangs. But that didn’t deter the hot rodders; they would use a proxy and get a head start? Even though Ford decreed that it would be Mustang carrying the corporate drag racing banner as soon as production began, why not just grab a Falcon in the meantime and use it for a test bed. In over simplified terms, Mustang would be a reskinned Falcon anyway so it was a perfect idea. DST got the nod to build an A/FX Falcon mule.
The DST wizards crammed a 427 hi-riser side-oiler wedge into the engine bay, made other modifications, and handed the mule off to Dick Brannan. Then they sat back and collected valuable information for the upcoming Mustangs as Brannan took off cross country, blistering dragstrips as he went.
A ‘64 ½ 260 coupe was the first Mustang to benefit from the Falcon mule, With VIN 5F07F100028, it was the 28th Mustang scheduled for assembly in the inaugural run, talk about right out of the box.
DST modified the shock towers and suspension to accept the 427 wedge and then transferred the car to Ford’s Stock Vehicles Department/Experimental Vehicles Garage for development by Bill Holbrook and his crew. A 9” Detroit Locker with 4.86:1 gears was installed along with a T-Bolt driveshaft; traction bars that reached all the way to the front subframe; a roll cage; Plexiglass windows; fiberglass hood, doors, and fenders; the 427 with custom headers; and a 4-speed top loader. The finished machine complied with the NHRA A/FX rules and it’s first trip down the strip under the control of Len Richter yielded an 11.50 time slip at 123 mph. With such a promising start, the car was sent to Indianapolis for the 1964 Labor Day NHRA Nationals but it failed to qualify because of mechanical problems.
When the Mustang 2+2 Semi-Fastback arrived at the beginning of the “true” 1965 model year, Ford immediately approached DST to convert one for ¼-mile duty. But there would be a difference between the Fastback conversion and the conversion performed on 5F07F100028, a huge difference. The Fastback would receive the next generation 427, the side oiler hemi cammer. This was the configuration banned by NASCAR so Ford assigned it to drag race duty. Because of the huge heads and the complex exhaust headers, the SOHC was a monster, much wider than the wedge.
DST made room for the cammer by developing a unique torsion leaf front suspension using quarter elliptic leaf springs in place of the strut rods. Although some of the stock suspension parts were used, the shock towers and the inner fender aprons were completely gone. The upper control arms were mounted to pedestals welded atop boxed front frame rails. The lower ends of the shocks mounted in the stock position on the upper control arms but their upper ends were mounted to new tubular frame members that ran between the cowl and the radiator support. As innovative as those modifications were, true hot rod ingenuity solved a sticky problem caused by needing to move the steering box to the outside of the left hand frame rail. You can’t easily take a stock box and just move it to the outside position because it won’t mount properly; it will be 180 degrees out of phase unless you fabricate a massive adapter. But if you take a box from a right hand drive Australian Falcon and install it on the outside of the Mustang’s left hand frame rail, all of the planets are aligned and the problem is solved. Simple and brilliant! On the right side, the idler arm was also relocated to the outside of the frame rail but that presented no problem.
The car had an altered wheelbase with both front and rear axles moved forward for better weight transfer. It was spec'd for the 3200 pound class where the max engine displacement was 427 cubic inches, wheelbase had to be at least 110”, and the weight window was between 3200 and 3400 pounds.
Dick Brannan drove the car in gold and white livery with Stark Hickey Ford (Royal Oak, MI) sponsorship. Its success prompted Ford on November 29, 1964 to write a letter to both DST and Holman-Moody asking for quotes to build ten “deleted” 1965 high performance fastbacks for the A/FX 3200 pound class. DST declined because they couldn’t meet the deadline. As a result, all ten were awarded through the Ford Drag Council to Holman-Moody where the per car cost estimate was $11,170 including Ford supplied parts and an estimated 80.5 man-hours of labor The cars had to be ready for the 1965 Winternationals scheduled in Pamona, CA on the weekend of February 5,6,7, 1965.
The delete items specified in the order included front fenders, hood, doors, windshield, front bumper, bumper bracket, fuel lines, engine, transmission, radiator, spare tire, jack assembly, sealer and dum-dum, and rear seat. Ford listed 30 modifications to be performed and 16 parts that they would supply. DAP assembled the cars in VIN sequence and shipped them to the Holman-Moody shop in Charlotte. The list that follows shows the VIN, the sponsor (where known) and the driver for each car:
5F09K380230 Dick Brennan
5F09K380231 Show Car *
5F09K380232 Tasca Ford (Bill Lawton)
5F09K380233 Performance Associates (Les Ritchey)
5F09K380234 Wickerham Ford (Chester Andrews)
5F09K380235 Al Swenson Ford (Al Joniac)
5F09K380236 Holman-Moody (Paul Norris)
5F09K380237 Paul Harvey/Bob Ford (Len Richter)
5F09K380238 Phil Bonner
5F09K380239 Russ Davis Ford (Gas Ronda) *
* Gas Ronda destroyed 239 when an axle broke during testing. The “Show Car” was used as the replacement.
When Holman-Moody received the cars, they stripped them to the bare shell and modified six main areas to satisfy the Ford order. Inclusive in the modifications, the rear axle was relocated five inches forward for better weight distribution, the front axle was moved forward several inches, traction bars were installed between the rear axle and a new crossmember, the front spring towers and inner aprons were removed, the upper control arms were shortened and mounted to pedestals, Falcon shocks were installed, the quarter elliptic front suspension was installed, and the Australian steering box was used. The missing sheet metal listed in the delete order was replaced with fiberglass. And of course, the 427 hi riser side oiler cammer was installed. Well, not in all of them. It was installed in five of the 10 but with no more immediately available, the other five temporarily received the 427 wedge.
The SOHC cars went to the 1965 Pomona Winternationals and qualified for the Factory Eliminator A/FX class. Bill Lawton won with a pass of 10.91 at 128.20 mph. Hard luck beset Dick Brennan, Len Richter, and Phil Bonner when the cammer’s massive torque broke the 31-spline rear axles.
In May of 1965, Ford called for extensive safety and performance modifications to all Drag Council A/FX Mustangs. Among other things, higher compression pistons were fitted, camshaft design was optimized, a shield was installed on top of the gas tank, a fire extinguisher system was added along with fire suits for the drivers, drag parachutes were added, the brake master cylinder was upgraded, and plans were developed for a roll cage. To offset the added weight there would be aluminum cylinder heads, an aluminum radiator, aluminum seats, Plexiglass back light, a lightened scatter shield, magnesium intake manifold, lighter exhaust headers, and aluminum door hinges.
The newly modified Mustangs continued to win events, win match races, and set A/FX records, throughout the balance of the 1965 season. And along the way, they participated in a very special drag meet. On a Saturday in August (August 7, 1965 to be exact) the largest one-day crowd so far assembled at any single drag racing event witnessed history-in-the-making at York US 30 Drag-O-Way in South Central Pennsylvania, host location for the first Super Stock Magazine Super Stock Nationals. Fans and the curious came in droves to watch more than 200 entries compete in the first ever “funny car” meet held specifically for the odd looking cars that by now had the rear axle relocated 15” forward and the front axle 10” forward. No one knew it at the time but it was the beginning of an evolutionary process that would eventually spawn today’s 7000+ hp floppers.
Tickets were sold to 21,650 people that day and untold numbers were turned away because the spectator area was completely full. Those lucky enough to make it through the gates certainly got their money’s worth. And when it was over, Ford fans had seen A/FX Mustangs notch a couple of big wins. Bill Lawton ran a 10.62 to win in the 3200 pound Handicap Class while Dick Brannan posted a 10.46 to win in 3200 pound Heads-Up.
As factory-backed Mustangs continued to post results in the win column, they became a major contributor to the total performance image that Ford was looking for. The incredible sales success of the marque was undoubtedly enhanced by its pacesetter performance at the dragstrip, along with similar success in other forms of motor sports. Right out of the box, successful racing Mustangs provided advertising fodder that added fuel to a feeding frenzy that was already well underway in Ford showrooms across the country.
And now 43 years later, as we look back , there’s no doubt that when the right combinations were available and the right people were motivated, Mustang’s total performance was an inherent characteristic of the breed. It was true in 1964 and it’s just as true with today’s S197. Arguably, good looks and affordability made the Mustang hugely popular but street performance and racing success were equally important components in the formula that made Mustang an automotive icon.
Motor Trend 1999—an excerpt
Practically synonymous to the name, the Ford Mustang began the "ponycar" category. In August 1964, MT said of the then-new car: "Barreling over winding mountain roads was great fun with the car's good road manners, precise steering, and instant throttle response." Today, 35 years later, the Mustang still fulfills its original purpose by remaining a no-nonsense, affordable, fun-to-drive, two-door coupe or convertible with an optional V-8 and sporting GT package. We're glad to report some things never change.
Here we are another eight years down the road and what MT said in 1999 is still true, isn’t it?