Hot Rods perhaps the baddest mo-fo ford ever made???

Ford Introduced the Fairlane Thunderbolt In 1964
The Ford Galaxie could have made a good drag racing car for Ford, with success on race tracks around the world, but the Fairlane made more sense, being a foot shorter in overall length and with three and half inches shorter wheelbase, not to mention weighing less. The Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt debuted with a 427ci 8-cylinder high-riser FE engine with two 4-barrel carburetors - plus a ch***is that had been reinforced to take all that torque. Officially, peak power of this rare car, with just 100 made, was 425 hp and the torque was 480 lb-ft. However, according to sources such as Cl***ic.com, the real figure was likely closer to 500 or even 600 hp.

 

For the Thunderbolt, Ford stripped out even more weight, removing the sound-deadening material, spare tire, radio, carpeting, heater, and anything else that wasn't bolted on. Fibergl*** doors, front fenders, and hood put the Thunderbolt on even more of a diet, with plastic side windows added for good measure. The inner headlights on the Fairlane Thunderbolt were replaced by ducting for that monster engine's ram air induction system.

 

That new hood featured a teardrop-shaped domed for clearance of that 427 – when it was designed the Fairlane was intended for an engine no larger than a Ford small block. For better weight distribution on the drag strip, the battery was relocated in the trunk and the seats were a choice of either lightweight chairs from Ford's police package vehicles or a pair of bucket seats from the Econoline van.

 

According to Hagerty.com, a good condition Fairlane Thunderbolt will cost $201,000, with the highest sale recorded as $286,000. In 2022, an original Fairlane Thunderbolt reached $210,000 on Bring a Trailer, although the reserve wasn't met.

The car is number 17 of 100 examples built for 1964 and one of 59 said to have been equipped by the factory with a three-speed MX Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. For a lot less money, it is possible to pick up a Fairlane that has been retrofitted with a 427. One project car in need of a lot of love sold for $26,250 in 2022.

 

In a conversation I had with Art Carr (rip) Ford wanted to use the Lincoln large case Cruise-O and sent one to him to test which he did. He took it out to put in a medium case which he had built and it out performed the large case Lincoln. It took the Ford engineer a while to figure it out and they were pissed. He was told to remove it and put theirs back in..I’m pretty sure this was at his Covina Ca. Shop

 

I was total surprised to read they were built with an auto trans... but thats the way things were heading... I've owned some pretty fast drag cars with glide s in them... my 301 Camero refused to run with an auto trans... it would just bogg off the line @ any rpm below 8k rpms.. with the 4 sp I would peg the 10k tact and side step the clutch and get the wheels up///

 

I think Ray Paquet is the record holder in SS/A in a T-bolt.

 

The '64 Fairlane Thunderbolt, while a game-changing car for NHRA, was little known outside of US drag racing circles at the time. 'Baddest' has to go to the '66-67 Ford GT40 Mk IV which made an international splash by winning Le Mans two years in a row.

 

No it didn’t, a mk2 won in 1966, mk4 in 1967, mk1 in 1968 & 1969.

 

my badd , though it had to be pre 64 here....carry on...

 

'No it didn’t, a mk2 won in 1966, mk4 in 1967, mk1 in 1968 & 1969.'

Yeah, that's correct. But both were 427 powered...

 

8.42 @ 159.27... This close to where the SS/AH cars today.

 

For those interested in the Ford Thunderbolt, I have the Feb 1964 Hot Rod Mag(mint condition) 5 page write up on the Ford Thunderbolt. $20 delivered CONUS. Flatheadjohn in Delaware but really spent the first 75 years in Texas!!!