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1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt
The origins of the 1964 Ford Thunderbolt emerge from the belief
of major car manufacturers that winning on Sunday meant selling
cars on Monday. In the early 1960's Ford and Chevrolet were losing
ground to Mopar and their ultra lightweight Max Wedge and soon to
be released Hemi cars. Even the light weight Ford Galaxy with a
427 cubic inch engine was simply too large to be competitive at
the drag strip. Ford's answer was to create an alliance with Tasca
Ford in Rhode Island and create an ultra light weight Ford Fairlane
and stuff it with the most powerful motor. The result was Ford's
first true quarter mile supercar - the 427 cid Thunderbolt.
All 1964
Fairlanes began as a base 500 sedan and were shipped to the Dearborn
Steel Tubing Company who were responsible for assembly. The cars
arrived without sound deadner and any unnecessary insulation or
seam sealer. All cars came without window mechanisms, heaters, radios,
or even a spare tire and jack. Under conversion the cars saw the
addition of plexiglas side windows, fiberglass front fenders and
teardrop scooped hood. All efforts were made to lighten the car
and shift weight from the front to the rear to increase traction.
For example, the battery was moved to the rear and weighed nearly
100 pounds! A fiberglass front bumper was used on the front and
a steel bumper remained on the rear. Total weight for the Thunderbolt
was 3203 pounds. This was about 20 pounds heavier than the minimum
weight for NHRA super stock racing in 1964.
Interior
The interior of the 1964 Fairlane Thunderbolt featured
no heater controls, sun visors, radio, arm rests, or window crank
mechanisms. Seats were from a Ford van and very light weight. Thunderbolts
also included an 8000rpm Rotunda tachometer.
Powertrain
At the heart of Thunderbolt
was a 425hp 427 cid high rise engine. Although reported horsepower
was 425 it was closer to 500 hp and rocketed these tiny Ford's to
mid 11 second quarter mile times. The 427 engine featured 12.7:1
compression, two four barrel carburetors, and a special intake and
camshaft. Air was fed into the engine through a ram air system with
vents connected to unused head lamp entrances in the grill. Very
unique headers were constructed that snaked around the suspension.
In order to connect this power to the ground the
Thunderbolt's received asymmetrical leaf springs, drive shaft loop,
and large traction bars. The rear rend featured 4.44:1 gears for
the Hurst shifted four speed cars and 4.58:1 for the automatic cars.
The standard transmission was a Borg-Warner T10 and the automatic
was a Lincoln unit with higher line pressures and a special torque
converter.
Production / Performance
Reported
to be between 111 and 127 cars produced with about half being being
4 speed cars. Performance was to be 11.6 seconds in the quarter
mile at 124 mph. The cost of a new Thunderbolt in 1964 was about
$4000.
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