Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

It's the former Koelle-Greenwood Ford Thunderbolt, when Joe Howdershall owned it. I believe the car originally belonged to Bert Lancaster, a salesman at K-G. Eventually, the car was cut up and AWB'd.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Anyone want to take a shot on this pic?

 

An automatic car, originally white in the Detroit area later on in the 60s. I'll bet Dennis knows.

 

Thanks Dennis. That's pretty much what I thought but wanted to be sure. At what point does Fred Henderson fit into the ownership history of this car, or was he just a "hired shoe"?


Deron

 

From what I recall, when I first spoke to Fred about 30 yrs ago he said Bert bought the car, but Fred went to DST to pick it up and tow it home and then drove it for him.

I first got in contact with them by calling K-G to see if anyone remembered the car. Someone did, I think they gave me Bert's number as he worked at another dealership in the area, who I spoke to who then gave me Fred's number. This was long before 422 Motorsports was around.

Today, most if not all original dealerships that ordered a Thunderbolt are not even around today. LOL

Regards,
Dennis

 

I've got an unusual request.... Any chance some of you guys might have a few interior photos of Thunderbolts that had their wheelbase altered? I'm particularly interested to see how they would have finished out the modified area 'back in the day'. Pretty crudely I would guess, but I'd still like to see some photos.


Deron

 

If you look carefully the T-Bolt already has the rear axle moved forward at this pount. This photo is not from 1964, it is from May of 1965 at York during a S/S-F/X meet (S/S Extravaganza was the name I believe) that was held prior to the first S/S Nationals later in August. It was sort of a test meet to see how the classes set up by weight and race procedures would work out. The class designations on the windows of both cars means 3200lb/SuperStock class. Also note the crowd right up to the edge of the strip, just like happened later in August. I was at both meets and this is the way it was.
Joel

 

I believe Race Artist is correct about the wheelbase on the Thunderbolt. When I first saw the photo, the wheelbase issue crossed my mind too but I dismissed it thinking no one moved the rearend forward in 1964. Now that he says the photo is from 1965 I will agree.

Although it is a part of history, that does not mean that I have to like the fact that these beautiful cars were butchered in an attempt to keep up with altered wheelbase Mopars that were allowed to run wild. Today at a show I'll walk past an altered wheelbase Thunderbolt to see one that has been put back to original...but then that's just my feelings on the subject.

 

Actually ... people were moving axles and altering wheelbases earlier than 1964. The Pontiac swiss cheese racers were issued shorter trailing arms to be installed that moved the rear axle forward a few inches and necessitated enlarging/elongating the wheel openings slightly. Bill Jenkins claimed one of the Dick Brannan '63 Galaxies as having the body repositioned a few inches to the rear of stock specs. I'm sure that some of the '63 Mopar teams had the wheelbases altered slightly as well. Granted, these alterations in 1963 were not radical though. In 1964 the four factory team Mopars had their wheelebases altered to become the first widely known 2% wheelbase altered cars. I've heard that some of the T-Bolts had their wheelbases altered near the end of the '64 season putting them into A/FX status. I also believe that the '64 Comet A/DX cars had their rear axles mounted forward a few inches as well. Phil Bonner's 1964 Falcon had the rear axle moved forward a few inches as well ... posibly the front end had a slight shift forward too. I've also been told by none other than the late Emmitt "Snake" Austin that he had his T-Bolt's wheelbase shifted around a bit before he too went radical with it. He told me that the one side front wheel was moved forward slightly for an advantage in the beams.
I understand what Kentuckian means though about no one radicaly altering a T-bolt before 1965 though. I just thought I'd offer some information that I've gathered on wheelbase alterations on the early S/S-F/X cars.
Joel

 

The burgundy Thunderbolts that are original, such as the Bob Ford S/S car, had a special RH Upper Control Arm Shaft that offset the front wheel, but that was done for "rollout" purposes, to allow the car to leave a bit earlier without redlighting.

The former Holmes Ford Thunderbolt had the axle locations played with. The first time we saw the car, it didn't look quite right. It had the Lower Control Arm Strut Rods shortened and the LCA pulled forward to get the spindle C/L forward, then the rear axle was moved up a like amount. The WB checked stock, just the axle locations relative to the body were moved.

If any of the factory converted 1962/1963 Lightweights had the body repositioned by a few inches on the 1962 Ltwt frame, someone would have to prove it. I have the Ed Martin S/S car, which is one of factory cars with a pre-production fastback body on a 1962 Ltwt frame, no way. I've also studied the other sister cars, looked at all the frame drawings, etc ... and as previously stated, someone would have to prove it. All the 62 to 63 converted cars are still in existence, so it wouldn't be a difficult item to verify.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Cabin of the former Tasca Ford Thunderbolt in 1966 after being made into an AWB straight axle car. At the time Cork put the HX Automatic from his other T-Bolt in there. Note shifter and the clutch pedal position.

Regards,
Dennis

 

I did write that Emmett Austin's car was set up with an offset for an advantage in the starting beams ... and that it was Bill Jenkins that supposedly claimed that one of the Brannan '63 cars had the body shifted aft slightly. I didn't say that it was something that was true ... but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Looking at some of the vintage photos of one of Brannan's '63 cars it does look like a possibility to me. I'm not saying this is true about the '63 car. I also would not be too sure that it could be proven 100% by studying a restored car given how over restored many of these cars are today. The question would best be verified, in my opinion by Dick Brannan himself.
Joel

 

Pardon me for butting in here, but please clarify for me that the Tasca car in the interior shot above is an automatic at the point this pic was made.
My question is if that floor shifter was what Ford put in the automatics, or were they a stock type column shifted?
Again, please excuse my intrusion, but I'm really curious.
Thanx; Tom S. in Tn.

 

The factory automatic Thunderbolts used a column shift, same as what would of been used with a 289 with a C4 Cruisomatic.

The floor shifter in the photo was probably from JC Whitney or Almquist.

Regards,
Dennis

 

The interior pic is of this car, correct? I was under the impression this car was scrapped after it was retired.

 

That's what I was thinking.
Thanx; Tom S. in Tn.

 

Yes, that is correct. The photo of Cork and Bob Hackett standing by the former Tasca Ford Thunderbolt body was after the car was cut apart to build an AWB car. The AWB car was never scrapped, well as long as Cork had it. It sat in his storage building as a roller until 1994 or so when he sold it. The front clip fender apron/rad support assy was sold to a guy in Canada and then later on the 427 HR motor wound up in a boat and then later on blew up. The HX automatic was laying in a junk pile outside for about 15 years then Bob Trevarrow and I helped Cork move it into his building.

Regards,
Dennis

 

What ever became of the AWB roller? Did that front clip ever resurface? I suppose you could restore both ends and have 2 Tbolts.

Were the 427's traceable to the cars they came from? Do any of the remaining cars have the original engines in them? I just always assumed that they'd have all been scattered or updated with new and the remains of the original sold off after a few seasons.

Kevin

 

Something I have wondered. I've heard the original Thunderbolts left the factory with hipo 289s. Were the later cars shipped with engines? Seems kind of silly to install an engine just to remove it in a few days. Also what did they do with all the 289s?

 

It was "restored" to the Tasca Ford T-Bolt. The front clip never surfaced, although someone tried to "clone" it. There might be a "minor" problem if the front clip ever showed up.

No and no.

Regards,
Dennis

 

No, the 89 white cars were incomplete cars, with the engine, trans, driveshaft, front end sheet metal, side windows, etc ... deleted at the assembly plant.

The HiPo's from the first eleven cars kind of dissapeared.

Regards,
Dennis

 

How was the restoration pulled off, did Cork have the title? Judging from the shell all the vin numbers had to be gone.
Yes, it could get complicated if the clip ever shows up.

 

The fiberglass hood, fenders, doors, seats, interior, instrument panel, rear end, etc ... were used in putting the car back together. Cork had the title. I guess one could say the car was replatformed?

Regards,
Dennis

 

Here is a picture of our 64 427 Factory Thunderbolt I see Les Welch has a photo of it with the red 68 Mustang at 69 Winternationals. Anyone have a copie of the entry list and winner list for the 69 Winternationals. Also 1969 Sears Point where my dad won Super Stock and Gas Ronda won funny car

 

I raised this question back around #2229; Where any of these cars issued certificate of title? Could they have been registered and issued license?
Thanx; Tom S. in Tn.

 

Gee...Maybe that is where the term "body in white" originated

 

Seriously, the term 'body in white" means unpainted sheet metal, at least that was the definition at Ford Motor Co.

Regards,
Dennis