The world's fastest Ford Thunderbolt with the original 427 engine ran a blistering 8 sec pass in the 1/4 mile. I believe the owner/driver's name is Ray Paquet. He is in his 70's or maybe even his 80's now, yet he is still cleared by the NHRA to race his T-bolt, and is still highly competitive.
Really cool vid kid. I'm a Mopar guy, but props to Ford for putting pressure on the rest of them to keep improving. My dad had a 57 police Fairlane with a 312 interceptor that gave a lot of 57 Chevy guys fits. Nice walk down memory lane, one quarter at a time.
@mpojr - Ditto from another 75 yr. old that lived at Connecticut Dragway in the 60's! Tasca Ford was next door in Rhode Island and rarely lost at Ct. Dragway! RIP Bob Tasca Sr. and Bill Lawton. 🏁
Just watched this tonight & must say “ Very well done “!! For a young man you did an outstanding job documenting one of Ford’s “ Better Ideas”. Thanks for a blast down memory lane here. I am 63 now & can remember as a youngster in the late 60’s watching as these cars were still racing in many places and still winning . Those were the days .😎👍
Was a mopar guy but I love the galaxies and fairlanes of the sixties especially the thunderbolt. Had a old friend who had one till death never sold his son still has it.
A 64 fairlane is a cool car...seen a Holman moody at the nürburgring as a teen....that thing shakes your Jones.... Always into mopars but that was magic
This is an excellent video. Tons of information, presented in a logical and organized manner, with plenty of relevant photos and videos, and offered clearly, with no stumbling or fumbling.
A friend of my brother's bought #004 from the factory. Made his own headers. Pretty focused for a kid in high school. ... Set records at CDR (Continental Divide Raceways) Denver for stock production cars to the point they banned him. Nobody could touch him. Firing it up in his garage was memorable.
if he made his own headers, then that essentially doesn't make the car stock anymore, so, that could be at least one reason why they 'banned him'. and that's ignoring the likeliness that if dude made his own headers, it's not at all out of the realm of possibilities that other 'modifications' would have been made that would make the car non-stock, and thus, would put the car in a different category with different competition.
So many people think the Thunderbolt used Econoline seats, but in fact they were made special for the T-bolt by Bostrom. They resembled the van seats, but were lighter.
I know. When I started building mine, I waisted a whole bunch of time looking for Econoline seats. Finally got straightened out. No idea where that info came from.
The difference in the tires is huge. Put todays racing tires on those cars of the 60s, and they'd not only be competitive, but they would also be beating the Mustangs and Corvettes of today. In the mid to late 60s, when I was a kid, there were muscle cars up and down every neighborhood block. It was just very common. Now to see those same classic cars, you have to go to a classic Hot Rod show. My neighbor who was in Highschool had a 67 Fairlane with a racing 427 and dual Quads for carburation. Walk another half a block down the street and another house had an absolutely gorgeous 57 chevy with a 327 and a Muncey 4 speed. I know it was like this in every neighborhood in the country at the time. What a great time to be a kid. That's how we learned about Hot Rods. These days, all the makes and models look alike. Back then, if someone said they saw a cherry 1965 442, it was far different than a 65 Malibu, but both were General Motors cars. Thank you for this. I'm an old man now of 67 yrs., but Classic Muscle cars, take me back to a better time. Thanks Friend
@dusty827 - Amen, brother. I have a few more years on you (74) but those times and cars are some of the best memories I still have! In college, a friend had a '69 Motion Performance Camaro that was a rocket! Another classmate from Albany, NY was the son of the owner of a Ford dealership there. He had a gorgeous '70 Torino Super Cobra Jet 429 with 4:30 gears and the drag pack. I drove that one and it was a very stout machine that would virtually leave everything else at the line.
I'm 67 too, and work part time in a restoration shop in California and I work on all the cars from the50s 60s70s, lots of money going into these cars now. Thanks
Great to see a young kid into Cars from my childhood! Many kids now are only into TUNER rides. While that’s ok…. Knowing about the muscle cars from yesteryears is a lost interest. Rock on!
Agreed. My '64 Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe had the 260 with the 2-speed Cruisomatic transmission. NOT fast by any stretch of the imagination, but man, that car was sweet and comfortable.
I still have a '68 AMX with a rather non stock 390,those and the Hurat SC Rambler were no joke in their day,while Donahue was doing rather well on the road circuits with Javalins,and Craig Breedlove set a host of records during a little 24 hour run with an AMX,some of which stand to this day-AAH the good old days !-I remember seeing "King Richard ":, and Mark Donahue running Mustangs, and AMXs at Limerock. (Gotta admit that these days ain't too bad either,just a lot more expensive,as I remember Super hightest at 29.9 without the 4 in front of it).
I used to go to Limerock fairly often while in highschool with a friend in his Bug Eyed Sprite, then later with a slightly older girl who had a Karman Ghia conv.,and later a Corvair Monza conv. in the Corvair one of her girlfriends often came along, it was fun knowing 2 gals who were into the races. Back in the day I had a '63(Early T Bird roof) Galaxie with a built 406, 3spd. OD, a "62 Chrysler 300, then got married drove Valients for a while-got single again, got into boats (lived on a lake),had some nice T Birdsz,a Fiat 124 spyder(fun when it was running right),got into motorcycles, met a new wife *(still have that one -a keeper) who rode her own bike ,she was riding a CB 900 10 speed when we took our honeymoon-we had various bikes over the years, I learned on a GL 1000, finished up with a 1340 Harley, her with a Sportster-age and problems catching up with both of us the bikes were replaced with a couple of C4 Corvettes-I guess we live by Toby Keiths song "Don't Let The old Man( or lady) IN " when he rides up,and we feel that cold bitter wind we still won't let him in, just stroll out to meet him, ride off together and see what kind of adventure we can get up to with him ! -I was born one early morning in 1950 -the doctor said I would be gone before sun up, so me An' " The Old Man " aint strangers.@@Loulovesspeed
The first 5, or 6 T-bolts were maroon, and had fiberglass front bumpers, but the NHRA wanted metal, so Ford switched to aluminum. The rest were painted Wimbledon white. The first 5 also had Cloverleaf hood bubbles, but the racers hated them, so the teardrop was adopted. Most T-bolts ran 12.0's to 11.80. Butch Leal had one of the fastest ones.
MoPar Man here, but I will tip my hat to the early 60s 427 Ford's and 409 Chevrolets. Beautiful and powerful cars! Tops on my list are the 413 & 426 Max Wedge cars of the Kennedy era.. the big 3 were really pouring it on back then! But then came Daytona 1964, and Richard Petty and the new 426 HEMI won, HEMIs finished 1, 2, 3, and the racing world entered a whole new era. "Uh... That thing got a HEMI in it?"
I didn't know much about the Thunderbolts in 1964, being a young 13 yo teen and hanging out and working at Martin U.S. 131 dragway. Got to meet all of the greats of the time. I was big time into the Mopars and especially the Ranchargers team here locally. That all changed over time when the 68 Mustangs came out with their S-code 390 4 speed cars "Bullitt" from the Movie. Then to 428 CJ's 429 boss etc etc. Have pretty much owned all brands of Muscle over the years but back into Ford racing currently with my 67 Mustang 460 ex 8 sec car to prostreet now. Nice job on the video young sir. Very well done. Cheers from Motown, home of Detroit Muscle.
@rollinrat4850 Yes. There are many positives to it's design like the supported pinion, bolt in axles, and overall beef/strength. There's also some slight drawbacks depending on what you're building and what your needs are. The gearset is not mechanically efficient, but that is usually overlooked by racers favoring strength and everything else you mentioned. The housings are "generally" light and weak depending on application and usage. The 9" was kinda favored out when MPG was required. If you want strength, ratio options, light weight, and *mechanical efficiency* look at a Dana 60 rear. But, honestly besides the power that was coming on in 1957....the cars themselves were getting longer, wider, and lower. The 9" was designed with its hypoid more offset than any other axle at the time so that 1957 Fords could have a lower driveshaft and flatter floor.
@rollinrat4850 I love Oldsmobiles. I do know the Subarus haul. The Toyota axles are resilient and tough. Another similar axle to the Toyota is the Ford 8.8
@rollinrat4850- and plain brute strength! There are more Chevy powered hot rods on the road with LS engines driving the power through a Ford 9" Diff! Why? Because they are damn near bullet proof.
I am very impressed with this young mans research on the T-Bolt. I have hope for future gear heads. Facts - (1) The Thunderbolt still holds the true 1320ft ¼ mile IHRA record for a true Street Legal Production car. (2) In 1966 in Pomona CA, a stock T-Bolt on MT slicks ran a recorded 9.22 @ 139mph. I have massive respect for the old Max wedge and the 426 Elephants of the time. But the Ford 427 FE- Oiler was far superior to the 426 Hemi and considered one of the greatest engines ever built.
@@davidgraham7325 One of my favorite cars was my 1963 Ford Fairline 2DR HT SportsCoupe. Blue with a white hard top. Loved that car. When I got it was a total basket case. Had a 221 with 2 speed auto on the tree. I wish I never sold it. 😞
Jim Mason was the mechanic that invented the thunderbolt duct work. I got the pleasure to work with him at Detroit Steal and Tubing were the the 64 fairlane was converted to the Thunderbolt
I feel the same way about them. One strange detail I read was that they put an extra leaf spring in the rear on one side to keep the car from rolling too much because of engine torque on launch.
Very happy to see someone of your age into this!!!, you failed to mention anything about the altered wheel well locations, both the front and back wheel opening were moved forward to aid in weight transfer and distribution. Look closely at the distance from the bumpers to the wheel wells and you will see a difference. These cars were referred to as A/FX, factory experimental. Also where Aurora got the name for their A/FX HO slot cars.
Fastest production car ever made for decades and decades. They made just enough of them to be qualified as a "production car". There was a muscle car series done in the early 90's (I think) one episode featured the Thunderbolt. The premier driver of the day was interviewed and one of the things he said was that this car was a wild ride. He said the frames were very stiff and did not lend themselves to any torque twist. He said each launch was different, when the front end went up you never knew for sure what direction it would be pointed in when it came back down.
I was raised on the southwest side of Detroit from the mid 50s to the late 60s & no doubt THE drag car was a '64 Ford Thunderbolt. The featured Thunderbolt sponsored by dealer Bob Ford in Dearborn had three of them, Floyd Rice in Detroit on Livernois had two of them. Quite a few Ford engineers would work late nights there. Same with the Ramchargers (Chrysler performance engineers) at Hodge's Dodge on Woodward in Ferndale. '64 426 Hemi Mopars were not shabby either. Pontiac had inside help at Packer Pontiac in Detroit & Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak. Chevy had the Z-11 427 also. Back then Woodward, Stecker & College Avenues were loaded with sleepers & "product evaluation" mules. Great times.
It could compete against the cars of today.... but only going down a dragstrip on a 1/4 mile pass. The cars of today can out handle and out brake the old Thunderbolt by far. But as a nostalgia buff.... I'd still take the Thunderbolt!
Yeah kid tells it like it is Ford has always had many firsts like GT40 👍 that had Ole man Ferrari pulling his hair 🤣 out and on their turf 1 2 3 and back in the 60s now chevy has copied the Ford engines
In 1968 my brother and his partner were racing a 64 Plymouth Max Wedge post sedan. Early 64 wedge motor car, not a late 64 Hemi car. They bought it from Blair's Speed Shop in Pasadena. Like the ad and song, Little Ol' Lady from Pasadena. The car was still unmodified. Still had the single outlet muffler exhaust hanging under it. Tires were standard super stock for the mid 1960s on stock steel rims. They replaced all of the front joints, tie rods, ball joints, etc. That weekend, running brackets at Lions, last run of the night, my brother was in the right lane against a new Camaro with a 427. In the lights, the left outer tie rod end popped off the ball stud. Instant left turn, backing into the left guard rail. Bounced off and the Camaro T-boned him in the right door. They both tumbled down the shut off with both cars completely totalled. My brother took the DQ as he had crossed the line. Time slip said 11.27 @ 127mph. From a factory stock car 60 years ago in the middle of crashing hard. And the Hemi cars were quicker than the Wedges.
I really appreciate that there are some kids out there who love these old cars, so many kids of today don’t even like them! End it was great to hear you actually say high riser heads!
My first experience of a drag strip was in ‘65 at Dover, north of NYC. As long ago as that was, I still remember seeing the Ford Thunderbolts there like it was yesterday. Wow!!
I just realized I like the quad headlight styling on just about every car of that era,but esp the stacked ones. And that second hole does make a great air intake without requiring crazy hood scoops. Thanks for the video. I didn't realize all that about the Thunderbolt 😃
Nice job, I love the ol classic stuff, for sure the new stuff makes more power while still being street able, gas mileage, creature comforts. Hey if they haven’t improved in the last 30-40-50 yrs, someone has been sleeping. Still will never replace the good feeling and desire of big inch/ light weight race cars. Inclusive of all the big three from the era. Again, great job on the videos and narration.👍
Have ALWAYS been enamored with the Thunderbolts. Bucket list. I think about how a Sports Coupe with a 600 ish' Horsepower 351 Cleveland might perform. I love 'Old School'.
lo and behold... a younger kid today that can cut right thru the chevy biased magazines/media bs. this is awesome mabey there's hope yet. great job kid
A friend of mine has both, a 427 Thunderbolt Galaxy and a Fairlane. The Fairlane is a super rare automatic car, both cars are in grate shape. This same guy also has several Boss and Shelby cars.
Early 1970's Baldwin Motion Camaro's were very quick as well...I remember someone saying that they could run in the 11's on the strip with drag slicks.
The Ford engineers were given pretty much free reign as far as horsepower and torque go on their engines. I grew up in the 60's, and it was a very special time for automobiles back then.
Back in the early 80’s I remember a specific article in one of the most popular magazines, HOT ROD, Car Craft, Popular Hotrodding, etc… I don’t remember the exact one. But it featured a story about the two quickest cars ever to be rolled out of the factory. Both were from 1964. A Thunderbolt and a Savoy. And at the time of this article being written they tested both with slicks, race gas, prepped track, tuning, etc. I believe both vehicles were tested with open header as well. But interestingly enough was both specimens were extremely rare, low low mileage and original cars. No cam upgrades. No carb swaps, just about as factory as all can be. I think possibly they had upgraded shocks, maybe springs, I just remember that the suspension on both were looked at and the article had to say a lot about both. Both almost dipped in the 9’s. And could easily be argued that they were at least 90-95% stock vehicles. The Savoy was powered with the all new and now legendary HEMI of its era. I remember reading that the owners of that car had the engine pulled and dynoed with race gas and it was just over 600. I believe I have that magazine still. Unfortunately it is amongst thousands in storage.
It gives me hope that there are still youngsters in the world as obsessed with classic N/A muscle cars as I was as a weee lad. Outstanding content & presentation here!
Just Love It 🤩That A Young Man Knows and has so Much Knowledge and Respects the Early Days of Drag Racing Keep up Young Man the past days of Racing / Drag / Stock Car / The early days of open wheel (Indy, Formula one) 66 yr old Canadian 🤗
My friends uncle had one. He ran cheater slicks on it to go street racing, then it became a track only car and then into storage. He realized that the car was going to be worth a lot years down the road. smart man!
Very nice video. You did a great job! The only comment I'd have to throw in is that while the thunderbolt may be able to give the Camaro and hellcat a run for their money, the Camaro and hellcat do those times in full trim with A/C as an option lol. The thunderbolt is without a doubt a beast and a legend, just like the old Pontiac 421 Super duty Catalina's, and the 413/426 max wedge and hemi Mopars of that time, but were strictly built for racing. They were not practical for street use. Though we know many of us would drive them on the streets today ha ha.
My dad owned a 1965 Galaxy 500 he bought from a guy that accidentally set it (the engine on fire) and fixed all that needed to be fixed to make it street-legal again. I never forgot how powerful it was riding in the back seat of it when Dad would get into those two four-barrel carbs, I'd get pushed way back into the seats & remembered how he remarked to a friend how you had to plan your trips to make sure there was a gasoline station near by as it would drain your tank depending on how heavy your gas pedal was...
How about the '66 & '67 Fairlane GT? My older brother had two of the coolest cars of the era. A '67GTA with 390 4V and a '69 Ford XLGT with 429 4V. I had the chance to drive both cars. The '67 Fairlane GTA was so quick it was scary.
The Thunderbolt, and a few years later, the Hemi Dart and Hemi Barracuda, were the quickest and fastest cars available......GM had nothing to match these cars, not even their illustrious ZL-1 Camaro.
When I was in high school in the late 60's early 70's we lived to build our hotrods . It's refreshing to see a young person interested in drag racing . My grandkids can't put their Xbox down long enough to even care about cars . But it don't help now that you have to be rich to build even a hotrod.
"If I got anything wrong, let me know in the comments." That's funny. You ain't gotta get anything wrong for somebody to say you did. Great video! And thank you for this presentation.
One point needs clarification here. The cars were originally equipped with fiberglass front bumpers. NHRA Tech quickly "nixed" that feature for these "Stock Class" cars, so DST came up with aluminum replacements, which Tech OK'd for use in place of the fiberglass ones.
Back in 1991 here in my city of Roanoke Va we were competing for the title of the fastest street car in america. We built an 86 iroc camaro with a 8-71 blown 570 c.i big block with a powerglide that had been modified to launch with a manual transmission clutch. The name of the car was the "Pro Roc." After several months of tuning and experimentation we finally got the record(at the time) of an 8.49 at 167 miles per hour(its in the record book archives and i still have an old VHS tape of the news coverage) This record was held for about 5 months and has been shattered many times since then. But, it was a blast to have acheived that record way back in 1991!
Where in Omaha? I've heard there was a track near 72nd & Dodge but by the time I was in High School (graduated 1992) the nearest track was in Scribner.
@@dwightdhansen That was 1967 or 1968. I was with an older cousin from about 50 miles east in Iowa, he drove so I don't remember anything about location. Something else kind of interesting: We also watched a AA fuel dragster named "The Hawaiian" run a 7 second quarter mile which was a HUGE deal back then ;)
Really excellent video. Like one other comment said, good to see young guys appreciating the golden age of S/S racing that we “more mature” guys grew up with.
@@kristinahylton5514Only the nitro cars run a 1000’, pro stock still runs 1/4 mile. That class has become stagnant since it switched to EFI and the stupid rule of no more than 10,500 RPM’s, all that did was chase away the Mopars and Ford hadn’t been a factor since Bob Glidden. All they have now is a jellybean that they call a Camaro that looks nothing like one nor would a single stock camaro exterior body part fit a so called pro stock camaro. There was a time when the Pro Stock car bodies were identical in shape as the cars on the dealership lots other than the hood scoop and the spill plate on the rear. This class truly sucks now and is not worth watching.
@@maddenmadnessThe little lightweight T-bolt could have it’s way 😅 against a lot of the full sized Hemi cars even the race Hemi in 1964 but then Mopar in 1968 ended that party that Ford had with the Race Hemi Dart and Barracuda. It was their version of small car big motor car that Ford was using , Ford didn’t want to play anymore 😢
Young man this was way before your time , glad to see someone young is such a fan, enjoyed the video. You had to do a lot of research to put this Narration and video together. Another important thing to realize is that most of the mechanics that worked on these big block 427s are passed on. I suppose it is not easy to find mechanics that still know how to work on cars that have Carburetors rather then Fuel Injection let alone set up a race car and all the knowledge needed.
Tasca Ford, Bob Tasca Sr, created the first Fairlane 427 Thunderbolt car in 1963 and he told Henry Ford II that Ford should produce such cars in 1964. Henry Ford II listened and Ford did it.
I grew up in that era, with my father being a Florida state patrol officer who had some of the baddest Mopar police cars ever produced! His happened to be a 1967 Plymouth Fury with a 383 dual quad cross ram! It was an incredible car and an incredible motor! My father did a little off-the-books tuning on it and I'm sure it was in the 602 650 horsepower range! At that time he was feeling a Florida state beverage officer position and he was chasing down Moonshiners, he was known as a moonrunner! You have more than one Chase, and one of them was on the front page of their Sarasota times when I was younger he locked bumpers with a moonrunner at 148 miles an hour and jumped and ditch! I'll leave it at that thank you for the video but love big pig iron Mopar
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Cool to see guys out there under 30 that dig this vintage old stuff. Bad ass video of classic drag racing. Very detailed. Man, I give it 4 stars.
thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it
👍
5 or 6 stars 🌟
Awesome video. These cars can never be replicated!!! Glad to see the younger guys getting involved with these vintage racers!!!
As a 54 year old moterhead, I appreciate the history of this car ! Good job buddy 👍😊🇨🇦
The world's fastest Ford Thunderbolt with the original 427 engine ran a blistering 8 sec pass in the 1/4 mile. I believe the owner/driver's name is Ray Paquet. He is in his 70's or maybe even his 80's now, yet he is still cleared by the NHRA to race his T-bolt, and is still highly competitive.
Amazing 😮
Really cool vid kid.
I'm a Mopar guy, but props to Ford for putting pressure on the rest of them to keep improving. My dad had a 57 police Fairlane with a 312 interceptor that gave a lot of 57 Chevy guys fits.
Nice walk down memory lane, one quarter at a time.
Glad to see a young man appreciating "old school muscle"! Warms my heart with hope for the future of our hobby!
im 75 now and remember these cars on the drag strip and they were to be feared,you did a great job on this video,,well done.
@mpojr - Ditto from another 75 yr. old that lived at Connecticut Dragway in the 60's! Tasca Ford was next door in Rhode Island and rarely lost at Ct. Dragway! RIP Bob Tasca Sr. and Bill Lawton. 🏁
Just watched this tonight & must say “ Very well done “!! For a young man you did an outstanding job documenting one of Ford’s “ Better Ideas”. Thanks for a blast down memory lane here. I am 63 now & can remember as a youngster in the late 60’s watching as these cars were still racing in many places and still winning . Those were the days .😎👍
😅😮😮😂
Was a mopar guy but I love the galaxies and fairlanes of the sixties especially the thunderbolt. Had a old friend who had one till death never sold his son still has it.
A 64 fairlane is a cool car...seen a Holman moody at the nürburgring as a teen....that thing shakes your Jones....
Always into mopars but that was magic
This is an excellent video. Tons of information, presented in a logical and organized manner, with plenty of relevant photos and videos, and offered clearly, with no stumbling or fumbling.
Thanks man! Appreciate the feedback!
I agree, new Sub
A friend of my brother's bought #004 from the factory. Made his own headers. Pretty focused for a kid in high school. ... Set records at CDR (Continental Divide Raceways) Denver for stock production cars to the point they banned him. Nobody could touch him. Firing it up in his garage was memorable.
if he made his own headers, then that essentially doesn't make the car stock anymore, so, that could be at least one reason why they 'banned him'. and that's ignoring the likeliness that if dude made his own headers, it's not at all out of the realm of possibilities that other 'modifications' would have been made that would make the car non-stock, and thus, would put the car in a different category with different competition.
@@manoahvanderwolf3259 That is true, and home made headers alone would not make the car untouchable. lol
So many people think the Thunderbolt used Econoline seats, but in fact they were made special for the T-bolt by Bostrom. They resembled the van seats, but were lighter.
I know. When I started building mine, I waisted a whole bunch of time looking for Econoline seats. Finally got straightened out. No idea where that info came from.
prolly from the same place where he heard that a hellcat runs high elevens@@HI-RISER
@@HI-RISERThe first one developed by Dick Brannan and Vern Tinsler had Econoline buckets for front seats.
I was at the 64 Winternationals and watched Thunderbolts outrun the rest. As a FORD guy, it couldn't get any better.
The difference in the tires is huge. Put todays racing tires on those cars of the 60s, and they'd not only be competitive, but they would also be beating the Mustangs and Corvettes of today. In the mid to late 60s, when I was a kid, there were muscle cars up and down every neighborhood block. It was just very common. Now to see those same classic cars, you have to go to a classic Hot Rod show. My neighbor who was in Highschool had a 67 Fairlane with a racing 427 and dual Quads for carburation. Walk another half a block down the street and another house had an absolutely gorgeous 57 chevy with a 327 and a Muncey 4 speed. I know it was like this in every neighborhood in the country at the time. What a great time to be a kid. That's how we learned about Hot Rods. These days, all the makes and models look alike. Back then, if someone said they saw a cherry 1965 442, it was far different than a 65 Malibu, but both were General Motors cars. Thank you for this.
I'm an old man now of 67 yrs., but Classic Muscle cars, take me back to a better time.
Thanks Friend
thanks for watching I'm glad you enjoyed. I like hearing those old story's from the glory days of cars. so thanks for that too
@dusty827 - Amen, brother. I have a few more years on you (74) but those times and cars are some of the best memories I still have! In college, a friend had a '69 Motion Performance Camaro that was a rocket! Another classmate from Albany, NY was the son of the owner of a Ford dealership there. He had a gorgeous '70 Torino Super Cobra Jet 429 with 4:30 gears and the drag pack. I drove that one and it was a very stout machine that would virtually leave everything else at the line.
I'm 67 too, and work part time in a restoration shop in California and I work on all the cars from the50s 60s70s, lots of money going into these cars now. Thanks
I am 76 and I remember these cars. I never got a chance to see much after 64 went to Vietnam in 65.
These new muscle cars weigh as much as grandma's old full size wagons. They're porky.
Great to see a young kid into Cars from my childhood! Many kids now are only into TUNER rides. While that’s ok…. Knowing about the muscle cars from yesteryears is a lost interest. Rock on!
Love these Tbolts. I owned 64 Farlane w/ a 289. Wouldn’t run in the 11’s but was a really a great car.
Agreed. My '64 Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe had the 260 with the 2-speed Cruisomatic transmission. NOT fast by any stretch of the imagination, but man, that car was sweet and comfortable.
I'm a Ford guy. But all of the big three and even AMC made some awesome engines in the decade of the 60's.
I still have a '68 AMX with a rather non stock 390,those and the Hurat SC Rambler were no joke in their day,while Donahue was doing rather well on the road circuits with Javalins,and Craig Breedlove set a host of records during a little 24 hour run with an AMX,some of which stand to this day-AAH the good old days !-I remember seeing "King Richard ":, and Mark Donahue running Mustangs, and AMXs at Limerock. (Gotta admit that these days ain't too bad either,just a lot more expensive,as I remember Super hightest at 29.9 without the 4 in front of it).
@@crankyyankee7290- I was fortunate enough to see Mark D. at Lime Rock Park in his Penske Camaro, and later in the AMC Javelin. Great memories!
I used to go to Limerock fairly often while in highschool with a friend in his Bug Eyed Sprite, then later with a slightly older girl who had a Karman Ghia conv.,and later a Corvair Monza conv. in the Corvair one of her girlfriends often came along, it was fun knowing 2 gals who were into the races. Back in the day I had a '63(Early T Bird roof) Galaxie with a built 406, 3spd. OD, a "62 Chrysler 300, then got married drove Valients for a while-got single again, got into boats (lived on a lake),had some nice T Birdsz,a Fiat 124 spyder(fun when it was running right),got into motorcycles, met a new wife *(still have that one -a keeper) who rode her own bike ,she was riding a CB 900 10 speed when we took our honeymoon-we had various bikes over the years, I learned on a GL 1000, finished up with a 1340 Harley, her with a Sportster-age and problems catching up with both of us the bikes were replaced with a couple of C4 Corvettes-I guess we live by Toby Keiths song "Don't Let The old Man( or lady) IN " when he rides up,and we feel that cold bitter wind we still won't let him in, just stroll out to meet him, ride off together and see what kind of adventure we can get up to with him ! -I was born one early morning in 1950 -the doctor said I would be gone before sun up, so me An' " The Old Man " aint strangers.@@Loulovesspeed
The first 5, or 6 T-bolts were maroon, and had fiberglass front bumpers, but the NHRA wanted metal, so Ford switched to aluminum. The rest were painted Wimbledon white. The first 5 also had Cloverleaf hood bubbles, but the racers hated them, so the teardrop was adopted. Most T-bolts ran 12.0's to 11.80. Butch Leal had one of the fastest ones.
And he sent me a mint poster!
MoPar Man here, but I will tip my hat to the early 60s 427 Ford's and 409 Chevrolets. Beautiful and powerful cars! Tops on my list are the 413 & 426 Max Wedge cars of the Kennedy era.. the big 3 were really pouring it on back then! But then came Daytona 1964, and Richard Petty and the new 426 HEMI won, HEMIs finished 1, 2, 3, and the racing world entered a whole new era. "Uh... That thing got a HEMI in it?"
Ford still won that year though:)Nhra and Nascar.
I didn't know much about the Thunderbolts in 1964, being a young 13 yo teen and hanging out and working at Martin U.S. 131 dragway. Got to meet all of the greats of the time. I was big time into the Mopars and especially the Ranchargers team here locally. That all changed over time when the 68 Mustangs came out with their S-code 390 4 speed cars "Bullitt" from the Movie. Then to 428 CJ's 429 boss etc etc. Have pretty much owned all brands of Muscle over the years but back into Ford racing currently with my 67 Mustang 460 ex 8 sec car to prostreet now. Nice job on the video young sir. Very well done. Cheers from Motown, home of Detroit Muscle.
🔵CHEERS FROM LIVERPOOL HOME OF THE BEATLES.🔴
Ford came out with that 9-inch rear axle because they knew they were going to feed it big horsepower
1957
9 In came out in 1957
@rollinrat4850
Yes. There are many positives to it's design like the supported pinion, bolt in axles, and overall beef/strength.
There's also some slight drawbacks depending on what you're building and what your needs are. The gearset is not mechanically efficient, but that is usually overlooked by racers favoring strength and everything else you mentioned. The housings are "generally" light and weak depending on application and usage.
The 9" was kinda favored out when MPG was required. If you want strength, ratio options, light weight, and *mechanical efficiency* look at a Dana 60 rear.
But, honestly besides the power that was coming on in 1957....the cars themselves were getting longer, wider, and lower. The 9" was designed with its hypoid more offset than any other axle at the time so that 1957 Fords could have a lower driveshaft and flatter floor.
@rollinrat4850
I love Oldsmobiles.
I do know the Subarus haul.
The Toyota axles are resilient and tough. Another similar axle to the Toyota is the Ford 8.8
@rollinrat4850- and plain brute strength! There are more Chevy powered hot rods on the road with LS engines driving the power through a Ford 9" Diff! Why? Because they are damn near bullet proof.
Impressive for a young men you got history well accurate.
I am very impressed with this young mans research on the T-Bolt. I have hope for future gear heads. Facts - (1) The Thunderbolt still holds the true 1320ft ¼ mile IHRA record for a true Street Legal Production car. (2) In 1966 in Pomona CA, a stock T-Bolt on MT slicks ran a recorded 9.22 @ 139mph. I have massive respect for the old Max wedge and the 426 Elephants of the time. But the Ford 427 FE- Oiler was far superior to the 426 Hemi and considered one of the greatest engines ever built.
B.s...
I'm a huge Ford fan, but I don't agree with what you said here.
Then why did the Ford 427 ride off into the sunset and the 60 Y/O Chrysler HEMI is STILL powering every NHRA top fuel car on the planet???
Good point !
I'll take a 426 Hemi any day!
Actually a real drag racing Legend ...Ray Paquet runs a real 4 speed Thunderbolt ...in the 8's !!!!
Had his brother Jim build a c4 for my sons mustang 3yrs back. Super smart guy. Still an excellent transmission
Ray is a true Legend! In the 8s with the 427FE using a few updated parts!
Nice video
Oh good! He can keep up with the 68 Hemi Darts… maybe
We owned the car for several years when Ray sold it. Eventually, Ray bought it back and still campaigns it.
The sounds from the cars of the 60's are as memorable for me as the cars.... music to my ears.
Its great to see young guns appreciating the older muscle. The T-Bolt is at, or very near the top, of every list I have.
And is at the top of my list currently building a 63 Fairlane with 460 4 speed and very narrow 9 inch
@@davidgraham7325 One of my favorite cars was my 1963 Ford Fairline 2DR HT SportsCoupe. Blue with a white hard top. Loved that car. When I got it was a total basket case. Had a 221 with 2 speed auto on the tree. I wish I never sold it. 😞
Imagine how has the Thunderbolt would be if it had the almighty 427 SOHC 2V Cammer V8 in it.
Very cool to think about, but that was a big ,big engine . I'm not sure they would have been able to make it fit
Came out over a year later.
Jim Mason was the mechanic that invented the thunderbolt duct work. I got the pleasure to work with him at Detroit Steal and Tubing were the the 64 fairlane was converted to the Thunderbolt
Well done on your presentation. Consider yourself lucky to have a Dad, who's taught you well.
I feel the same way about them. One strange detail I read was that they put an extra leaf spring in the rear on one side to keep the car from rolling too much because of engine torque on launch.
Very happy to see someone of your age into this!!!, you failed to mention anything about the altered wheel well locations, both the front and back wheel opening were moved forward to aid in weight transfer and distribution. Look closely at the distance from the bumpers to the wheel wells and you will see a difference. These cars were referred to as A/FX, factory experimental. Also where Aurora got the name for their A/FX HO slot cars.
You just became one of the only young people I like in this world I'm 66 retired
Mechanic good video kid
Fastest production car ever made for decades and decades. They made just enough of them to be qualified as a "production car". There was a muscle car series done in the early 90's (I think) one episode featured the Thunderbolt. The premier driver of the day was interviewed and one of the things he said was that this car was a wild ride. He said the frames were very stiff and did not lend themselves to any torque twist. He said each launch was different, when the front end went up you never knew for sure what direction it would be pointed in when it came back down.
Ummm I think ur forgetting about the LO23 68’ SS Dart buddy ….that was the fastest "production car" till the Bugatti Veryon came out ……
Thunderbolts are one of the best factory racecars Ford ever built in MHO. Thanks for putting this together!
I agree Fords were awesome BACK THEN. They absolutely suck now....
Those little v8 Falcons were fairly swift straight out of fac tory also. Thanks for the vid.!
Thanks for watching
These were insane yet very rare. I've seen one in my lifetime
Watched from Old Harbour Jamaica, It's very cool to see a yong guy giving us old boys history lessons and I'm 60.
I was raised on the southwest side of Detroit from the mid 50s to the late 60s & no doubt THE drag car was a '64 Ford Thunderbolt. The featured Thunderbolt sponsored by dealer Bob Ford in Dearborn had three of them, Floyd Rice in Detroit on Livernois had two of them. Quite a few Ford engineers would work late nights there. Same with the Ramchargers (Chrysler performance engineers) at Hodge's Dodge on Woodward in Ferndale. '64 426 Hemi Mopars were not shabby either. Pontiac had inside help at Packer Pontiac in Detroit & Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak. Chevy had the Z-11 427 also. Back then Woodward, Stecker & College Avenues were loaded with sleepers & "product evaluation" mules. Great times.
It could compete against the cars of today.... but only going down a dragstrip on a 1/4 mile pass. The cars of today can out handle and out brake the old Thunderbolt by far. But as a nostalgia buff.... I'd still take the Thunderbolt!
Didn’t realize they made 100 of them! Fiberglass fenders and plastic windows in the little Fairlane that’s amazing lol.
Super impressed with your videos man. Keep em rolling. I'm a professional and your analysis is spot on.
thank you, really appreciate man
Yeah kid tells it like it is Ford has always had many firsts like GT40 👍 that had Ole man Ferrari pulling his hair 🤣 out and on their turf 1 2 3 and back in the 60s now chevy has copied the Ford engines
In 1968 my brother and his partner were racing a 64 Plymouth Max Wedge post sedan. Early 64 wedge motor car, not a late 64 Hemi car. They bought it from Blair's Speed Shop in Pasadena. Like the ad and song, Little Ol' Lady from Pasadena. The car was still unmodified. Still had the single outlet muffler exhaust hanging under it. Tires were standard super stock for the mid 1960s on stock steel rims. They replaced all of the front joints, tie rods, ball joints, etc. That weekend, running brackets at Lions, last run of the night, my brother was in the right lane against a new Camaro with a 427. In the lights, the left outer tie rod end popped off the ball stud. Instant left turn, backing into the left guard rail. Bounced off and the Camaro T-boned him in the right door. They both tumbled down the shut off with both cars completely totalled. My brother took the DQ as he had crossed the line. Time slip said 11.27 @ 127mph. From a factory stock car 60 years ago in the middle of crashing hard. And the Hemi cars were quicker than the Wedges.
I really appreciate that there are some kids out there who love these old cars, so many kids of today don’t even like them! End it was great to hear you actually say high riser heads!
Great video perfect at 5 minute too. Love these blast from the past videos.
My first experience of a drag strip was in ‘65 at Dover, north of NYC. As long ago as that was, I still remember seeing the Ford Thunderbolts there like it was yesterday. Wow!!
One of these Thunderbolts owned the drag strip at Ubly,Michigan.The engine, on idle, sounded like it was going to blow up at any minute.
I just realized I like the quad headlight styling on just about every car of that era,but esp the stacked ones. And that second hole does make a great air intake without requiring crazy hood scoops. Thanks for the video. I didn't realize all that about the Thunderbolt 😃
Great seeing a young guy who can respect old school stuff!
Nice job, I love the ol classic stuff, for sure the new stuff makes more power while still being street able, gas mileage, creature comforts. Hey if they haven’t improved in the last 30-40-50 yrs, someone has been sleeping. Still will never replace the good feeling and desire of big inch/ light weight race cars. Inclusive of all the big three from the era. Again, great job on the videos and narration.👍
Have ALWAYS been enamored with the Thunderbolts. Bucket list. I think about how a Sports Coupe with a 600 ish' Horsepower 351 Cleveland might perform. I love 'Old School'.
lo and behold... a younger kid today that can cut right thru the chevy biased magazines/media bs. this is awesome mabey there's hope yet. great job kid
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
Its awesome to hear about the Thunderbolt, no one ever talks about them.
Your voice over skills are beyond incredible. Absolutely the best production I’ve ever witnessed kudos!
Thanx for the Memories young Man. I rode in one of those Fairlanes. Just as You said, they were awesome Drag Machines for the time. Good commentary. 😃
thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it
A friend of mine has both, a 427 Thunderbolt Galaxy and a Fairlane. The Fairlane is a super rare automatic car, both cars are in grate shape. This same guy also has several Boss and Shelby cars.
I remember them on the street, Van Nuys Blvd., and in street races we went to all the time. They were, and still are, awesome.
Early 1970's Baldwin Motion Camaro's were very quick as well...I remember someone saying that they could run in the 11's on the strip with drag slicks.
Loved the vid dude ,informative and good pics . 👍
Thanks man!
The Ford engineers were given pretty much free reign as far as horsepower and torque go on their engines. I grew up in the 60's, and it was a very special time for automobiles back then.
Thunderbolts in Vintage SS Racing today make 9 sec runs, and some more modified make 8 sec runs !!!! 🏁🏁🏁
Back in the early 80’s I remember a specific article in one of the most popular magazines, HOT ROD, Car Craft, Popular Hotrodding, etc… I don’t remember the exact one. But it featured a story about the two quickest cars ever to be rolled out of the factory. Both were from 1964. A Thunderbolt and a Savoy. And at the time of this article being written they tested both with slicks, race gas, prepped track, tuning, etc. I believe both vehicles were tested with open header as well. But interestingly enough was both specimens were extremely rare, low low mileage and original cars. No cam upgrades. No carb swaps, just about as factory as all can be. I think possibly they had upgraded shocks, maybe springs, I just remember that the suspension on both were looked at and the article had to say a lot about both.
Both almost dipped in the 9’s. And could easily be argued that they were at least 90-95% stock vehicles.
The Savoy was powered with the all new and now legendary HEMI of its era. I remember reading that the owners of that car had the engine pulled and dynoed with race gas and it was just over 600.
I believe I have that magazine still. Unfortunately it is amongst thousands in storage.
It gives me hope that there are still youngsters in the world as obsessed with classic N/A muscle cars as I was as a weee lad.
Outstanding content & presentation here!
Just Love It 🤩That A Young Man Knows and has so Much Knowledge and Respects the Early Days of Drag Racing
Keep up Young Man the past days of Racing / Drag / Stock Car / The early days of open wheel (Indy, Formula one)
66 yr old Canadian 🤗
Very cool vid. The Thunderbolt is by far the coolest factory drag car ever made.
Shhhh, it was a grocery getter lol
My friends uncle had one. He ran cheater slicks on it to go street racing, then it became a track only car and then into storage. He realized that the car was going to be worth a lot years down the road. smart man!
What is fun is more than a few of the fairly rare Thunderbolts found their way into road racing.
Excellent video- with lots of good relevant info about these great cars. Nice job 👍
I've seen them on the dragstrip back in the mid-sixties.
Watching this was a trip back to yesteryear. Saw one race at Fremont drags about 1975.
Very nice video. You did a great job! The only comment I'd have to throw in is that while the thunderbolt may be able to give the Camaro and hellcat a run for their money, the Camaro and hellcat do those times in full trim with A/C as an option lol. The thunderbolt is without a doubt a beast and a legend, just like the old Pontiac 421 Super duty Catalina's, and the 413/426 max wedge and hemi Mopars of that time, but were strictly built for racing. They were not practical for street use. Though we know many of us would drive them on the streets today ha ha.
With modern rubber those Thunderbolts run in the '8s today.
What was that about a/c?😂
Jan and Dean: "Little Old Lady From Pasadina"...
My dad owned a 1965 Galaxy 500 he bought from a guy that accidentally set it (the engine on fire) and fixed all that needed to be fixed to make it street-legal again. I never forgot how powerful it was riding in the back seat of it when Dad would get into those two four-barrel carbs, I'd get pushed way back into the seats & remembered how he remarked to a friend how you had to plan your trips to make sure there was a gasoline station near by as it would drain your tank depending on how heavy your gas pedal was...
What motor was in it 427?
"Too much weight in the wrong place can create problems"
Hey man I enjoy the thickies 😁
Makes me proud that you give us old guys a shout out!
If TH-cam had ratings, I would give you a 5-Star! GREAT video.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
How about the '66 & '67 Fairlane GT? My older brother had two of the coolest cars of the era. A '67GTA with 390 4V and a '69 Ford XLGT with 429 4V. I had the chance to drive both cars. The '67 Fairlane GTA was so quick it was scary.
The Thunderbolt is my Favorite 60s car. A legend never dies.
Awesome Documentary on a Very Special car with a Very Special engine.
The Thunderbolt, and a few years later, the Hemi Dart and Hemi Barracuda, were the quickest and fastest cars available......GM had nothing to match these cars, not even their illustrious ZL-1 Camaro.
Clean spoken ! Stright forward! Refreashing,,, Thank you.
Great job ! Super historian! Correct!
When I was in high school in the late 60's early 70's we lived to build our hotrods . It's refreshing to see a young person interested in drag racing .
My grandkids can't put their Xbox down long enough to even care about cars . But it don't help now that you have to be rich to build even a hotrod.
"If I got anything wrong, let me know in the comments."
That's funny.
You ain't gotta get anything wrong for somebody to say you did.
Great video! And thank you for this presentation.
Thanks for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it
Today's Thunderbolts are running 8 second quarters and putting out over 900 hp in Superstock trim .
And shifting gears ⚙️ 😑 at 9800 rpms as Ray is doing at his age
@@davidgraham7325 Robert Pond has a Maroon 1964 T-Bolt SS/AA running 9.50's same hp range . He manufactures blocks and heads among other things .
Well done, I now have hope for the new generation
One point needs clarification here. The cars were originally equipped with fiberglass front bumpers. NHRA Tech quickly "nixed" that feature for these "Stock Class" cars, so DST came up with aluminum replacements, which Tech OK'd for use in place of the fiberglass ones.
The kid is fantastic, he did his research and put out a killer video
My favorite car of all time. What an amazing car. Awesome video.
Thank you!
Good Job young man!! Awesome Commentary! When i got out of the Army in 1968 I bought a Torino Cobra 428, best car ever! LOL
Thanks for watching!
Back in 1991 here in my city of Roanoke Va we were competing for the title of the fastest street car in america. We built an 86 iroc camaro with a 8-71 blown 570 c.i big block with a powerglide that had been modified to launch with a manual transmission clutch. The name of the car was the "Pro Roc." After several months of tuning and experimentation we finally got the record(at the time) of an 8.49 at 167 miles per hour(its in the record book archives and i still have an old VHS tape of the news coverage) This record was held for about 5 months and has been shattered many times since then. But, it was a blast to have acheived that record way back in 1991!
I remember seeing a Thunderbolt run at Omaha late 60's. I still remember that sound ....
Where in Omaha?
I've heard there was a track near 72nd & Dodge but by the time I was in High School (graduated 1992) the nearest track was in Scribner.
@@dwightdhansen That was 1967 or 1968. I was with an older cousin from about 50 miles east in Iowa, he drove so I don't remember anything about location. Something else kind of interesting: We also watched a AA fuel dragster named "The Hawaiian" run a 7 second quarter mile which was a HUGE deal back then ;)
Really excellent video. Like one other comment said, good to see young guys appreciating the golden age of S/S racing that we “more mature” guys grew up with.
Thank you for the Ford education on the thunderbolt,heard of them but now I know,again thank you young man
thanks for watching
Good video. One thing I would've touched on is that the Thunderbolt was running a full 1/4 mile and the new cars are only running 1000 feet.
Only the Pro classes run 1000 ft. Every other class runs the full Qtr.
PRO: Top Fuel, Nitro Funny Car, and Pro Stock
@@kristinahylton5514Only the nitro cars run a 1000’, pro stock still runs 1/4 mile. That class has become stagnant since it switched to EFI and the stupid rule of no more than 10,500 RPM’s, all that did was chase away the Mopars and Ford hadn’t been a factor since Bob Glidden. All they have now is a jellybean that they call a Camaro that looks nothing like one nor would a single stock camaro exterior body part fit a so called pro stock camaro. There was a time when the Pro Stock car bodies were identical in shape as the cars on the dealership lots other than the hood scoop and the spill plate on the rear. This class truly sucks now and is not worth watching.
Just no way to beat a Ford. . . F-O-R-D period - Good video Thanks.
Thanks for Watching
Lol... that's why all the Ford bodied funny cars run a hemi. And in the old days it was indeed a Chrysler hemi.... booo hoo hoo.
@@maddenmadnessThe little lightweight T-bolt could have it’s way 😅 against a lot of the full sized Hemi cars even the race Hemi in 1964 but then Mopar in 1968 ended that party that Ford had with the Race Hemi Dart and Barracuda. It was their version of small car big motor car that Ford was using , Ford didn’t want to play anymore 😢
I mowed a guys yard for years had a thunderbolt ! That thing would shake the ground when he started it ! It was awsome, NO doubt !
Well done video on an amazing car. Straight to the point, informative and no overbearing music to ruin it. Good work.
Young man this was way before your time , glad to see someone young is such a fan, enjoyed the video. You had to do a lot of research to put this Narration and video together. Another important thing to realize is that most of the mechanics that worked on these big block 427s are passed on. I suppose it is not easy to find mechanics that still know how to work on cars that have Carburetors rather then Fuel Injection let alone set up a race car and all the knowledge needed.
Tasca Ford, Bob Tasca Sr, created the first Fairlane 427 Thunderbolt car in 1963 and he told Henry Ford II that Ford should produce such cars in 1964. Henry Ford II listened and Ford did it.
Good to see the younger folks knowing the history .This young man did a great job as well.
loved to see the black 60 fury at the start of the video
Thunderbolts run 8s in NHRA Super Stock TODAY ! look up NHRA Super Stock Records
Look up what the Hemis have been running. For year's... 12,000 hp. Nitro meth top fuel DRAGSTERS....
I grew up in that era, with my father being a Florida state patrol officer who had some of the baddest Mopar police cars ever produced! His happened to be a 1967 Plymouth Fury with a 383 dual quad cross ram! It was an incredible car and an incredible motor! My father did a little off-the-books tuning on it and I'm sure it was in the 602 650 horsepower range! At that time he was feeling a Florida state beverage officer position and he was chasing down Moonshiners, he was known as a moonrunner! You have more than one Chase, and one of them was on the front page of their Sarasota times when I was younger he locked bumpers with a moonrunner at 148 miles an hour and jumped and ditch! I'll leave it at that thank you for the video but love big pig iron Mopar