Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

Deron,

I don't have a whole lot of photos before I started the restoration of the Bob Ford car, as I did not own a decent camera, i.e. 35 mm. From what I recall the underbody was either surface rust, dirt/oil, red oxide primer (DAP factory), chassis black, and trace amounts of overspray from the various exterior colors. Vintage burgundy (DAP), Champagne Gold (Bob Ford), Yellow (Bob Ford-Kenny Vogt) , Corvette Blue (Expressway Gulf), and other subsequent colors of red/brown. I also found some greenish yellow zinc chromate on the underbody and the 68" long traction bars that were done by Ernie MacEwen around April 1964.

DAP = Dearborn Assy Plt.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Been busy but heres another one from me.I have to say that cloverleaf hood is growing on me.

 

This shot is actually from the February 1964 issue of "Cars" magazine of what was to become the Bob Ford automatic car at the Dearborn Proving Grounds.

 

I got this in the mail today. The 1965 Les Ritchey car.

 

I've always been a fan.

 

How Cool is That !!! Get crackin on her Alan !!

 

I am.

 

The funny part is if you actually had one of these hoods on your car, 99% of the so-called car people out there would ask you why you didn't put the right hood on there!

 

I just ran across this on another forum and thought it was Thunderbolt-related enough to pass along here. Bob Tasca Sr. passed away this morning after being hospitalized for a fall after Christmas.

http://newsblog.projo.com/2010/01/auto-legend-bob-tasca-sr-dead.html


Deron

 

Troublemaker:
<O
Thank you for posting pictures me and of my ’65 AFX Falcon, the 1963 Fastback 'Big Sam" and Jack Gray's '61 401HP I drove. I lost most of my early drag race pictures, and the only ones I now have are from friends sending them to me, such as your contribution. I have two other pictures of “Big Sam” that Bill Holbrook gave me a while back, and I will try and find them. One was taken at Detroit Dragway the first day we ran the car after we got it back from Les Ritchey and repainted it yellow and black. It was the April NHRA Division III Points meet at Detroit, and we set a NHRA S/S MPH record at 118.86 MPH. At the teardown barn, Farmer Dismuke pulled #3 & #4 spark plug wires off, looked at the casting number and said “You are disqualified for having the wrong casting number heads”. Charlie Gray from Ford tried to intervene showing Farmer the Ford NHRA specifications were only dimensions and volumes, and no casting numbers listed anywhere in the 427 engine specifications. But Farmer would not listen, just walked away from us. The other “Big Sam” picture I have was taken at Indy in ’63 where I am defeating Butch Leal in the M/T ’63 lightweight. I would have won S/S at Indy in ’63, clearly having the class of the field, but my nemeses Farmer Desmuke was again waiting for me. (In fact, he again threw me out after winning class in ’68 with my Cobra Jet)

<OThe Bob Ford 63 Lightweight was one of the first real 63's built (Bonner's, Brannan's, Ritchey’s, Big Sam II - the black Bob Ford Fastback, and Rhonda's '63's were all their lightweight 62's with new bodies 427 engines) The Bob Ford lightweight, originally white as they all were, was shipped to Les Ritchey's Performance Associates Shop in West Covina, California and was used as the development mule for the first test of Ford's lightweight car program, the Winternationals at Pomona. In fact, Les himself drove it in competition at Pomona. I do not remember the details of how they finished, but it must not have been memorable, or I would have remembered. I do remember everyone was disappointed. The '63 lightweights, 400 pounds lighter than the standard 427 Galaxies, still weighted over 3400 lbs, which was several hundred pounds heavier than the MoPars. In addition, the MoPar torqueflite was actually quicker on 7" tires than the 4speed cars, givng MoPar a double whammy advantage. Les kept the car until early April doing more testing and engine development, and my wife and I drove to California and flat-towed it back to Dearborn. Les had shipped a freshly blueprinted engine ahead of us, and as soon as we got home we repainted the car yellow and black to match our very successful ’62 406 Galaxy. Paul Harvey was partial to that color combination, and all Paul’s demonstrators were that color combination since 1953. (Jerry Harvey is the one who changed to the Champaign and Black combination, first on his ’57 B/G Ford I built for him in ‘63, and then in ’64 they repainted the black “Big Sam II” lightweight car that Richter and Humphrey took turns driving that color for Jerry to drive, and then both Thunderbolts)

Since 1961 I had been experimenting with traction bars that were solidly mounted to the axle, and used the counter-rotating forces of the axle to increase tire loading. When I got Big Sam back from California, it had the backwards traction bars installed that Ritchey preferred. I cut them off and fabricated 42” torque arm type traction bars out of 3” 4130 chrome moly tubing. Then when Big Sam had consistently quicker ET’s than Big Sam II, which retained Ritchey’s design, they took it to the Experimental Garage in Dearborn for analysis.<O></O>
Bill Humphrey drove the car on the test track and liked it, so they had a Ford suspension Engineer, Don Wharman check it out. He made sketches of it and then did some engineering analysis. He liked what he saw, and that is how the Thunderbolts came to get the “Thunderbolt Traction Arms” Only difference is they used cheaper materials than I did.

I liked the 63 lightweight car a lot. In fact, I like it so well a bought myself a new 63, which was my first brand new car. (My cost on a loaded 289 Galaxy was $2375) out the door. When we first got the lightweight, it was the first time a drag car was fast enough to actually scare me. We were starting to overrun technology then, we could make more power than we could use. On 7” tires you had to “tip toe” off the line or you would just blow the tires away, and I had a good seat of the pants feel for doing it consistently and successfully. In addition, our Borg Warner 4 speeds were good for no more than 12 all-out runs. At big meets, I would put a fresh one in and count the runs. I had them stacked up like cordwood back at the shop. Paul would have me rebuild them and he would sell them out the back door for “walking around” money. (Come to think of it, he never shared any with me)

<OOne night at Detroit Dragway, the clutch exploded, ripping the input shaft completely out of the transmission, breaking an ear off the block, and breaking the transmission case. The remaining piece of the transmission twisted enough so the yoke slipped out of the output shaft, hit the ground and pole-vaulted the car, breaking the driveshaft and ripping the pinion gear out of the differential, which ripped a giant hole in the fuel tank. The clutch debris sawed through the master cylinder, brake lines, hood, cowl, left header, left front tire, and almost cut the steering shaft in two. So here I was going about 100 MHP, with gear oil and gasoline spraying all over my rear tires, a flat L/F tire, and no brakes. It was a miracle it did not catch on fire, for which I gave thanks. I used up all of Detroit Dragway’s ditch and shutdown area before coasting to a stop in the mud, but never actually crashing. I was as luckey as you could get for walking away unscathed, and with most of the car. I used it as a learning experience. I became very saftey consious after that eposide, and always used the latest and best saftey equiptment.

<OMy brother-in-law Bub Martin and I stayed up all night, actually replacing the entire drive line from radiator to rear bumper, fuel tank, master cylinder, and hammered the dents out of the body as best we could, as we were booked in for a match race the next day. I spent the majority of my active drag racing career in constant sleep deprivation. I ate anything I could get in my mouth, drank gallons of beer, and at almost 6' tall I never weighted more than 160 lbs. Those were the days. The good old days! Neither the fun police nor the lawyers would ever allow it now.

The yellow and black Bob Ford ‘63 lightweight I drove was sold in September 1963 to Sunset Fireworks from Toledo Ohio, who had us repaint it red and black. I understand he eventually wrecked the car, and the frame and the rear axle (The new one Bub Martin and I installed very early one Sunday morning) is now a welding trailer somewhere in Northern Ohio. It is a very sad ending for such a great and historic warhorse. I spent the balance of the ’63 season on Big Sam II, installing my traction bar system (only not round tubing this time, and gave myself the worst welding flash in my life) and building an AFX style Hi-Riser, in which I went 11.71 and 121 MPH in the first outing. Jerry Harvey drove this car in 1964, and it survives on the Nostalgia tour today . Dave Lyall<O

 

Dave Lyall Pictures for back in the day.

 

Almost forgot Jack Gray's Iconic '61 401HP Ford, the start of something Big.

 

Thanks for the stories Dave. I never get tired of hearing what it was like back in the good old days before the fun police arrived. Thanks again!

 

Wow, thanks for the great stories Mr.Lyall!! I always thought your Bob Ford '63 Galaxie was white!! It's funny how black & white photos can through you off!!

Do you remember what the front bumper is from on the Jack Gray '61? It isn't "original equipment" for sure.

Here is a shot of the "black" car at Indy in '63 and the way it is today. A friend of mine now owns the car.

Thanks again for the great history. Please keep the stories coming.

 

Troublemaker2:

As I remember the front bumper on Jack Gray's '61 Demo was a stock '61 Galaxy Bumper, however we did attach the tow bar brackets to the bumper at the bumper attaching points, the tow bar brackets may be throwing you off. When we got the '62 406 Galaxy, we wanted to make a race somewhere which was only a week away. So we took Jack's '61 Demo and the new '62 406 Paul Harvey had turned over to us, put them up on jack stands next to each other, and swapped everything car for car except the body and frame itself. (I wanted to just swap the bodies, but Paul was afraid of getting the dealer in trouble with the state.) We sold Jack's '61 demo with the brand new '62 406 chassis hardware, powertrain and a fresh paint job to a retail customer. We raced the '62 the first couple of races with the 390 engine, although it was blueprinted by Holman-Moody and at .060" overbore it was actually 403 ci. We eventually built our own blueprinted 406, which at .060 overbore was 418 c.i.

<OThe '62 Galaxy was sold to Billy Williams and Paul Moody when we got the lightweight '63. Billy and Paul also bought the Bob Ford - Len Richter Thunderbolt from Kenny Vogt.
<O
I liked the black '63 car the best of the two, after we put the torque arm rear suspension under it. It was a conversion and had the lightweight '62 frame and suspension, and had did not have the rubber link allowing the spindles to jounce back for a soft ride as the 63's did. It went straight and fast, every run. Dave Lyall <O

 

Troublemaker2

That picture of the black Bob Ford car (Big Sam II) was taken at Indy in '63, and I see len Richter is doing his usual fine job off the starting line with the late Ronnie Sox's Chev. We went to Indy as a two cat team, with me in S/S with a fresh Les Richey built 427 low riser, and Len Richter in the black car with a 427 Hi-Riser that he, Ernie Mackewn and Bill Holbrook built. I was so P/O'od at Farmer for pulling me out of the line after I worked my way through the whole field, I forgot how Len made out that day. Dave Lyall,

 

This is a very early shot of the car. It is before "Thunderbolt" replaced "BigSamII" on the quarter panel. It also appears it still has it's original equipment Firestone "Lightning" rear tires.

 

It must be after 22 Oct 1963 as it has a teardrop and not a cloverleaf hood. No name on door, nor "622" on quarter window. Windshield looks plexiglass too, which it was. Maybe Bill Humphrey was driving it there?

Not a lot of early photos of this car with the fiberglass front bumper, or "Big Sam II" on it for that matter.

Photo taken at Motor City Dragway, I believe then called International Raceway Park back then in 1963.

This color photo been around awhile on the "net". Any idea who originally took it?

I attached the one out of the magazine taken at the Dearborn test track for a comparison.

Regards,
Dennis

 

Original Thunderbolt owner/driver Burl Hawkins (See posts #58, 697, 706, 707, 882, 959, 960) passed away this morning in Tulsa Ok.

Al

 

Troublemaker2

Now that I think about it some more, I think you are right. We did come up with some kind of lightweight front bumper for Jack Gray's '61 401HP Galaxy. Except for the NASCAR winternationals at Deland, Flordia, we ran mostly at local strips like Motor City, Detroit, Onadaga, Toledo, and sometimes Bunker Hill, Ind. The tech inspectrion was not very detailed at the usual saturday and Sunday Shows, unless you ended up racing a big name in a another brand of car, then they usually would look you over and drop a dime on you if they thought they could get you thrown out.

Ir was the Ramchargers who got me thrown out of S/S at Indy in 63, one of thier guys crawled under my car in the staging lanes and noticed I had too many shims in my front end, moving one spindle forward and one backward to give me more run on the staging beams. Dave Lyall

 

I'm very sorry to hear this. All of these early drag racers were my heros. RIP

 

i've got a Chilton's Repair Guide Fairlane 1962-1975 in the classifieds if any you owners need one

 

edited

 

Thats a shame.Well this isnt a good start to the year.I was hoping to meet some of these guys at the 50th.

 

That's why I thought the 45th. reunion in Dearborn last year was so important. The people who were involved with these cars are up in age. How many will be with us for the 50th. and how good will those that are be able to remember 1964? I was surprised and disappointed that more current car owners didn't attend Dearborn for the 45th. Hopefully they will see the importance of the 50th. reunion. Dennis K. did a great job with the 45th. banquet though. What a night!!

 

Hey Jody have you heard any plans for the 50th.Any proposed events.Is FORD going to do anything.I would think they would make it extra special due to the fact that we are losing so much living history.