Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

Ken;actually that doesn't look too bad.At the 04 T-Bolt show in Oklahoma,FE Bob was showing me some old photos from "Back in the Day",my driveway is wider,and smoother,than some of the tracks they used to race on!!! In some photos there was barely room for the flagman!! ROY.

 

I think the first photo is the former Courtesy Ford CO Rick Hearn car, but I am not certain about this and am trying to find out. However, the Roy Whittimore car is an original Thunderbolt.

I'm curious to know how it was (or who) determined the Paquet car was converted to a 427 at DST? I realize it began as a 289 HiPo Fairlane (not 500), that had lightweight components and a dual quad Carter Cobra kit installed and ran in B/FX at the 1964 Winternationals and C/MP at the 1964 Indy Summer Nationals.

But how was it determined the modifications to install the 427 were done at DST and when? If so, what tracks or races did this car run at with a 427 in it in 1964? If so, do any photos exist or reports in National Dragster, magazines, etc ... as a 427 and was the trim at Fairlane or Fairlane 500 level?

Regards,
Dennis

 

The closest thing to an original cloverleaf hood was on Brannan's T-Bolt when it had the 65 Mopar style scoop on it. That scoop was installed on the remains of that hood. The hood survived until the car went through one of its "restorations" and dissapeared. I believe all the fiberglass on that car was replaced during one of its restorations or fluffings.

Regards,
Dennis

 

I don't think the Hotton car ran a 427 in 64. I understand that it was converted to a 427 and 500 trim later on and ran in the Super Stock class. The assumption is that DST did the modifications at some point due to the history of the car and the Hotton connection.

Holman Moody also did these types of modifications, such as the Bonner HT Fairlane. Whatever the case, it is a neat car with quite a history on the track.

 

You have to wonder if some of the hands that this car passed through had any idea of it's significance. I'm sure Brannan and his people were well aware that they had the first car built but as it morphed through the Hullabaloo, Thunderball and whatever other incarnations there were, I wonder if the owners had any clue.

Keep the info coming guys. This is great stuff that I've wanted to learn for 20 years!


Deron

 

No it didn't. It was put up for sale then "stolen" and never recovered. Don Martin left Archway late in '64 and went to work for Bonner.

 

No. Phil said it was converted to forward bars very early.

 

It was pointed out to me by another member here that these do not appear to be "reverse mounted traction bars". The car still has the original frt traction set up like a T-Bolt....these were probably a launch stabilizer set up of some sorts. See the shocks.

Why they didn't work? He saw a Falcon with reverse mounted traction bars in the 60s do major structural damage to the rear sheet metal of the car in a very short period of time. I guess the cars weren't meant to have that kind of stress on the uni-body behind the rear axle. That may have been part of the reason.

As far as the cars in post #882, yes they both have rear mounted traction bars but they are either of different design or altered if they are the same car. The shackle portion is much longer on one car than the other.

 

The theory behind reverse mounted traction bars was that as the front of the rearend housing tried to rotate up, it would cause the bars to pull down on the body helping give more traction to the tires. Everyone who tried the set-up soon learned it did not work. Looking at how the Mopar rear suspension works shows that you actually want the rear suspension to try to lift the body. When the rear suspension tries to spread or lift the body, the harder the rear tires are planted. Then of course we are talking of back in the day when rear tires were made of a hard compound, starting lines were usually asphalt, and large cubic inch engines put out gobs of torque. No wonder racers back then tried all sorts of different ideas to get the cars to launch off the starting line.

 

From what I understand and remember, this car wound up with a straight axle on it and the shock towers were all cut up from someone trying to install a cammer motor. Tom Smith of Wolverine Chassis super stocked the chassis on this car and installed a front clip from another Fairlane to go back to the control arm suspension. Tom told me he worked on this car twice. At the time Al Szwed owned the car and was either partners with or was working at Carl Holbrook's shop. I recall seeing the car at Detroit Dragway in 1977 with Al and Carl. It still had faded red paint and no side trim. It was my understanding NHRA made them install the side trim.

Another thing is I don't think Andy Hotton ever owned this car. The car originally belonged to Jack Fuche, who sold it to Al Szwed in 1964. Jack worked at DST at the time and was able to get the lightweight components from work. The question is whether this car ever ran with a 427 in it in 1964. To date, no one has been able to clearly substantiate this. The car ran at Indy in 1964 as a Fairlane (not 500) in C/MP with Al Szwed, which would still make it a 289.

Regards,
Dennis

 

When Glen patrick had the car in AK, he knew it was formerly Dick Brannan's.

Before these cars had any collector value, being a former Drag Council car didn't have any relevance, except the fact the car may of had special features or components installed, i.e. better engine, lighter fiberglass, fiberglass doors, aluminum radiator, a better suspension setup, etc ... . Items that would give one a lower ET.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Heres some more pics of the Archway T-Bolt.Love that set up with the wagon.

 

Dang Ken, you must have a whole library of this stuff! I've spent the last couple of hours reading this thread and the Comet thread on HAMB.

 

I have many great shots from the T-bolt reunion at "Fords at the Summit" in Norwalk Ohio. They are in my garage over at Hub Garage.com : http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/roaddawg/vehicles/37973

 

Someone recently posted the question about whether the Bob Ford T-Bolt was painted before it was delivered. In a writeup in the "Fairlaner" magazine by Joe Klein regarding the 30th T-Bolt reunion he stated the the Bob Ford Thunderbolt was repainted Champaign Gold and Black BEFORE the presentation dinner, which was when the 1st 10 were presented to the Drivers/owners.

 

That must be a real early picture of Dick Brannan's T-bolt.It looks like it has the cloverleaf hood and early lettering.Great Shot! ROY.

 

These shots were taken at presentation day. Dennis K. can tell you alot more about the Bob Ford (Len Richter) car. There were 3 Bob Ford T-bolts including the only automatic in the first 11 cars.

 

Very cool photos. Thanks for posting them! Note the black front bumper on the Bob Ford car, something I've never seen in any other photos it. Is the #2 car the same one that was campaigned as "T-Bolt Too" or was that one of the other cars that Bob Ford sponsored?


Deron

 

As far as Bob Ford cars go.....you had the #2 car as seen above driven by Len Richter and later driven by Kenny Vogt and painted yellow (The Stinger). Then the Paul Harvey driven Bob Ford car, but it was crashed. Last was the T-Bolt Too car driven by Jerry Harvey.

Emmett Austin also had Bob Ford on his car after it was painted black...not sure why though.

 

Here's another pic I found of the Burl Hawkins car from the rear. It also looks like some sort of rear stabilizer set up....note how small the vertical connecting links (or shocks??) are. As it was said before, the tires weren't the best and I'm sure there was alot of experimentation going on. Cool helmet though....or is that Jack Roush? Lol

 

According to the National Dragster photo caption they are called traction bars. Therefore, if NHRA calls them traction bars they are traction bars. LOL!!!

Looks like they could also be used as wheellie bars or weight ballast too.
If those rods broke it looks like they'd take out the gas tank.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Now is that beautiful or what!

 

Pretty cool shot. I've got that photo also but don't know who's car it was. Any ideas? And were all the white cars delivered with the black insert side trim?



Deron

 

Burgandy cars had white inserts and white cars had black. I sure would like to know whos car that is, but the lack of lettering and such makes it nearly impossible to tell for sure. Someone familiar with the track might know.

 

That's pretty much what I figured, but the pictures of John Donilson's car show a light colored insert even in very early photographs so I was just curious.

Thanks,
Deron

 

I believe the photo is from Great Lakes Dragaway in southern Wisconsin. If so there were two Thunderbolts with automatics raced out of dealers in Chicago. One was out of Southside Ford while the other was from Hawkinson Ford. This photo could be one of those cars.