Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

I assume everyone knows these are the former Brannan car.

Regards,
Dennis

 

The information above is correct. The car was owned by my Dad Eddie Marcak (The Flyin Farmer). I spoke with him to see if he had any old photos of the car, he is looking. I will see if he can recall any more details about the car. He also lost his 63 1/2 Galaxy (sponsored by Jack Kennedy) that ran at Bonneville (170.45 mph) and a Falcon that was sponsored by R&M Ford Sales in the fire. I have a picture of the Galaxy and 1 of the blown Mustang that he ran under the name of the Flyin Farmer that I will post latter. Unfortunately over the years the photos that he had have disappeared. I am trying to put together a scrap book for him and came across H.A.M.B. If anyone out there has any photos of theses cars it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Craig

 

The Winkler car went through Boone NC.

Mid City Motors was in Baton Rouge. Foster may not of been the original person that raced or possibly owned this car. I have no idea if they owned the dealership or not, but could probably find out.

Regards,
Dennis

 

I spoke to your Dad many years ago. However, I think the car was campaigned as Read-Mullan Ford. I didn't realize he went as the Flyin Farmer, as Don Leddy in MI also ran a T-Bolt, and other 427 Fords, by that handle in the 60's.

Dennis

 

Your right he never had the "Flyin Farmer" on the T-Bolt. Didn't start that name until he started racing the Mustang. I actually have his old fire suit with the "Flyin Farmer" on it. I will post some pictures of his cars as soon as I figure out how to do it (new to the site).

Craig

 

Wow, talk about multiple personalities..... That car's been every color under the sun! White, blue, gold, red/white/blue, white again, and who knows what other colors...

Thanks for the ID Dennis!


Deron

 

Is there a pic of the McMillan,Not sure of the spelling, Thunderbolt, Number 46 auto car, out of Houston, Texas on the thread here?I may have seen it today, just wanted to verify.Looks like a day one resto now.I was wanting to see what it looked like in the day.Sounds like it came from Indiana.

thanks ken

 

I've seen a pic of McMillian here somewhere-I saved it anyway. If I knew how to post I'd re-post it for you--but!!! Sylvanus

 

Yep it's been posted...it said Hazel on the door. A link was posted to a site where it was for sale at one time.

 

Who was the driver of the T-Bolt from Don McMillan Ford?

 

R. Tinkle

 

Thanks 64 cyclone,

Thats it in that second photo,I have to give you guys credit for the well kept knowledge of these cars.Well that car is in Denver now,looks exactally the same as it does in that museum photo.Looks like the original had the alum. front bumper where this one has a one piece molded bumper and front/lower valance fiberglass piece.Looking at it I dont know how you guys would able to know which thunderbolt it would be.There were some things that I would question on it.How would a guy know if thats the McMillan T-Bolt versus another,like the Jim Sanders ford T-Bolt that came out of Houston.

 

If I remember correctly, that car had the vin number listed when it was for sale....that makes it easy to track back to it's early days.

 

does anyone know if any of the Sund car still exists?local legend is the car sat in storage for many years after the crash awaiting outcome of the various lawsuits.the immediate result of the crash was the end of any visible support from the local ford dealer for racing.a large local manufacturing company that was involved still refuses to sell anything they think will go on a race car!some of the Sund family still live in the area,but I dont know their comfort level discussing a 45 year old accident.

 

That's correct. Otherwise it'd be just another plain vanilla Thunderbolt.... Which is still cool....


Deron

 

From the motorsport memorial site:

"Jack Sund's dragster's rear axle snapped at the end of a qualification run at Keystone Dragways, rolling over several times. He died shortly thereafter in a hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Jack Sund had been involved in drag racing for four years, and had competed at the Keystone Dragways for two years. He was the owner of a milk delivery service and a garage.

The car that Sund was driving was a Ford Thunderbolt, a custom muscle car available from your friendly local dealer. It was a pure race car; stripped down for lightest weight, a big 427-cid V-8 stuffed into what looked like a Ford Fairlane.

John Robert Sund, 39, a resident of Moorhead, Minnesota, was survived by his wife, Hazel Christina Sund, nee Gonderman, and their two sons, Jack Robert Sund, 13, and Bruce Jeffrey Sund, 8."

 

...And if the legend is true and the Sund TBolt does exist in this condition(see attached), what should one expect the fair market value to be? Or maybe it is easier to ask how much can a top-quality TBolt restoration run?

 

Here is another one of the Reynolds Ford car, circa 1967.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Back in '87 or '89 the Reynolds Ford "Mr Nasty III" was for sale at Milan--just the AWB shell for $25,000. Probably a lot more for a shell today--but a wrecked one--probably to an unscrupulous restorer the VIN numbers alone would be worth a lot. I have about $50,000(not including 1000 hours of my labor) in my Clone-correct motor, correct carbs, Delisio headers, aluminum bumper, etc. Sylvanus

 

The subject becomes, what part or parts makes a car the original car?

Let's say you pick up your special ordered, brand new car today from the new car dealer and it gets crashed next week. The crash is caused by a truck rearending it and knocking it into the car ahead of it. You insist that the trucking companies insurance pay to fix your special ordered car. It is hit so hard that the car needs all new front sheet metal and a complete rear clip. The car is cut off at the front roof pillars and floorboards just behind the front seat replacing it with the rear clip from another car.

Is this still your original car? You have a title that says it is. There are serial numbers that say it is. You drive your car for 20 years and then sell it to someone. Have you sold them the original car?

Again I ask, what makes a car the original car?

 

Good point and that's a very gray area. You ask 10 different people and I guarantee you'll get at least nine different answers!

Deron

 

For those who have some extra spending cash.Jim Amos has his Fermier 62 406 galaxie for sale.Listed on the 422 site.No details just e-mail Jim.Wonder why hes selling thats a damn nice car.

 

IMO (as far as Thunderbolts go) as long as you have the complete uni-body and the original VIN plate, you have the original car. The more original parts you have the better. Especially if you have most of the parts that came on the car new. The more original parts a Thunderbolt has, the more valuable it would be to me. I'd say there are VERY few T-Bolts that remain with nearly all of the original parts remaining that were on it as delivered to the original owners.

It's understandable alot of these cars were cut up or damaged at some point so replacement of many parts is neccesary to get one back together. There are some that have had to have the wheelbase put back stock, straight axles removed and even roof replacements.

Take the McMillan car for example....I'd guess the frt bumper was probably damaged or lost at some point so the installation of a fiberglass bumper may have been the only option when the car was restored. The aluminum frt bumpers are nearly impossible to find....I think I have only heard of maybe 3 for sale over the years. Someone reproduced them at one point and sold them on eBay.

I believe there was a time (when the value of these cars shot up so quick years ago) that there was a fear muscle car investment type people (gold chainers as some call them) would start coming up with missing cars that were complete fakes and start showing up with them at high end auctions like Barrett-Jackson. I don't know that it ever happened, but thanks to the hard work of Dennis, Larry Davis and others in the Thunderbolt Owners Club over the years, the vins and history of most of the remaining cars are known and it would be nearly impossible to claim you had an original car if it was in fact...a fake.

If someone did come up with a missing car now, photo documentation of the car, paint layers and the restoration process would be vital to proving it was genuine. There are many small things unique to a Thunderbolt's unibody that can prove it's not just a Fairlane and proof of those areas being genuine would be a must for it to be claimed as an original car.

 

I can't remember if a pic of the Thunderbolt's disclaimer tag on the glovebox door have been posted before or not....but here's what they look like.

 

I would imagine there are some Shelby or Boss Mustangs (wrecks, rustouts, etc.) that have been rebodied, reconstructed, or major body components replaced, using a regular Mustang as the donor. This could apply to any rare unibody or even full frame car, Chevy COPO's, Hemi cars, F code T-Birds, 427 Galaxies, etc ... .

Is anyone familar with the judging rules or guidelines, written or otherwise, that other car groups follow, say Mustang Club of America, Shelby Club, T-Bird, etc ... that what constitutes the specialty car still being considered the "original car"?


Do any of the clubs or registries ostracize rebodied or reconstucted cars, or maintain a "list" on them?

The other aspect of this is what State and Federal laws are regarding VIN's and the vehicle.

Regards,
Dennis

 

I found one of the worst (as in can't tell much about it) T-Bolt pics I've ever seen today. About all I can say is it is a T-Bolt. I think US 30 Dragway around 1966??

 

Looks like Cecil Co., MD to me.

 

Guys,

I know this isn't exactly Thunderbolt, but its close enough that I figured some of you might enjoy seeing the photos. This weekend I was in north Georgia for a little while and I thought it might be pretty cool to pay a visit to the old Double H Drag Strip. Thanks to Google Earth I was able to figure out exactly where it was before I ever left the house and once I found the right road off the main highway I was able to drive straight there with no problems.

My sons and I spent a while there just taking it all in, and the most interesting thing to me was the fact that its far enough off the beaten path that it was completely silent. Standing there on the starting line all I could hear were a few birds chirping, and its in a little valley so they even had a faint echo. I thought of all the famous names that once raced there and how incredible it must have been like to experience it in person. It was a really cool experience and, other than the centerline being repainted, the track (er, uh, runway) is amazingly just like it was when the last racer left in 1966.

Here's the little box where the flagman stood, still perfectly visible after 44 years.


And here's the view that Howard Neal, Rattlesnake Austin, Hubert Platt and countless others no doubt viewed many, many times.


Here's the "grandstands", just as they appear in the home movies posted on the Double H website.


And the following photos are one of the most interesting things I noticed. I'd seen them in photographs of the track from back in the day but it never dawned on me just what they were. Car length markers for giving the competition a head start! Pinks ain't got nothing on good ole' Southern Match Bash racing!


You must have been racing one bad character if you needed eleven car lengths!


This is all that remains of the return road.


And one last shot from the top of the hill looking back toward the starting line. Can't you just see the Strip Teaser coming at you, banging through the gears!


OK, sorry for the diversion but I thought some of you might enjoy my little trip back down memory lane. Now back to the Thunderbolt pictures!


Deron

 

Looks like it has no front fender side trim. Doesn't appear to have any underhang from header tubes. I see the inner air tube inlets. Aluminum front bumper, Y/N ??? What else is there that indicates this is a T-Bolt?

Where did you find the photo? Perhaps the site may provide some additional clues?

Regards,
Dennis

 

goes along with the old chevy theory about 57 fuel injected cars. they made 1000 and 3000 of them are still on the road. a lot depends on what the pedigree is or was.

alan