Ford Special Vehicles Activity

Before there was a ’64 Super/Stock 427 Thunderbolt, there was ZIMMY-1, the ’63 A/FX 427 FAIRLANE (THUNDERBOLT) PROTOTYPE.

Most Ford fans were really confused when Tasca Ford’s Bill Lawton first staged the Ming Green A/FX ’63 Fairlane coupe at the 1963 NHRA Nationals. They were used to seeing ’63 Fairlanes running in D/Stock, like Li’L Lord Fotus, the Fairlane Milo Coleman drove for the class win at 99.88 mph/ 13.75 seconds. What was a stock-looking Fairlane doing in A/FX? After Lawton made a 12.21-second/118.42 mph pass during Time Trials, it was obvious that ZIMMY-1 was not just a just a modified stocker. Driven by Bill Lawton, ZIMMY-1 fell prey to Don Kimball’s ’63 Z11 Chevy during Eliminations, below. Before shipping the car back to Ford, Lawton did manage to set the NHRA A/FX National Record at 121.29 mph at the Division One Points Meet at Connecticut Dragway,

ZIMMY-1 was powered by a blueprinted 427 big-block, which, at the time, was only available in ’63½ Galaxies.

This unique 427 FAIRLANE (THUNDERBOLT) PROTOTYPE was the result of a joint venture between Ford Engineering (Dan Jones), Ford Special Vehicles (Charlie Gray), Ford Engine & Foundry (Bill Gay), Dearborn Steel Tubing (Andy Hotten) and Tasca Ford (Bob Tasca). The car was named after Frank Zimmerman, Ford Sales Manager who also headed up the Special Vehicles Group, ZIMMY-1 was Ford’s “mule” or prototype for the ’64 Fairlane 427 Thunderbolt.

While covering the NHRA Indy Nationals for CUSTOM RODDER and later at Tasca Ford in East Providence, RI, I spent a lot of time with ZIMMY-1 and driver, Bill Lawton. Over its short lifetime it was powered by three different big-blocks – 406 and two 427s – and fitted with a variety of fiberglass hoods. While at DST, ZIMMY-1 was built with fiberglass front fenders, hood and deck lid and aluminum inner fender panels and bumpers. Ready to race weight was 3,320 pounds.

After being sorted out, it was raced at the Nationals with a 427 High-Riser with Ram-Air induction built by Ford Engineering. They used the latest 427 NASCAR short block which utilized a steel crank, 12.7-to-1 forged pistons and machined and polished heads with 2.197-inch intake and 1.735-inch exhaust valves. A bustle with special baffles was added to the base of the engine’s stock oil pan to increase capacity to ten quarts. They topped off the engine with Holley dual-quads.

Ford engineers crafted tubular steel headers for the 427. Each tube measured 31 inches long and snaked around steering and suspension obstacles, dumping into 14-inch collectors fitted with an equalizer tube. Chassis-to-engine mounts were fabricated from 1/8-inch steel stock and topped with stock 427 rubber pads. As with 427 Galaxie Lightweights, the Fairlane’s engine was bolted to a Hurst-shifted Ford four-speed (2.36 First gear). To aid clutch cooling during repeated runs, the scattershield’s mounting bolts were shimmed for ¼-inch spacing. An HD 427 Galaxie driveshaft, shortened to 54 inches, hooks the powertrain up to a big Ford rear with 31-spline axles and a Detroit Locker with 4.44 gears.

When transplanting a 500-horsepower engine into an under-3, 300-pound car engineered for 271 horsepower, much attention has to be paid to the chassis and suspension. To effectively and safely transfer weight at launch, the chassis was “loaded” using a special (left) front coil spring and shock assembly and two-leaf (right) rear spring. The stock right front spring and shock and left rear three-leaf spring and shock were retained.

Increasing horsepower is relatively easy compared with getting power to the pavement. Completing the chassis “loading” was the fabrication of a pair of boxed steel traction bars, similar in design to the ones used on 427 Galaxie Lightweights and later on Thunderbolts. The traction bars measure 31 inches long and run from the axle housing forward to chassis mounting points which added structural rigidity and aided in weight transfer. A trunk-mounted 95-pound battery sits over the right rear wheel.

ZIMMY-1, the 427 FAIRLANE (THUNDERBOLT) PROTOTYPE was a work-in-progress while at Tasca Ford. Many small changes initiated by Bob Tasca, John Healey and Bill Lawton were incorporated into the final engineering of the ’64 Thunderbolt. They experimented with a variety of fresh air induction packages, the best being a sealed-air box with eight-inch diameter hoses ducting through grille inlets.

In 1964 ZIMMY-1 provided the blueprint for the creation of the limited-production Super/Stock 427 Thunderbolt. Totally illegal for the street (even though sold by Ford to a “straw” buyer and registered in Michigan), the 427 FAIRLANE (THUNDERBOLT) PROTOTYPE most likely went directly to the crusher after being returned to Dearborn. Its legacy lives on in surviving Thunderbolts.

Check REVan Evan’s video of Ray Paquet’s real 1964 Thunderbolt that runs 8s at 150-plus mph @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7_kZyMoagk

Converting a 1965-’66 Mustang into a SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE! may not have been rocket science – but the results were: Sound, fury and the SCCA B/Production National Championship.

Ford market surveys revealed that a sizeable percentage of young Mustang shoppers who didn’t buy Mustangs, did buy Corvettes and imported sports cars. Marketing manager, Bob Johnson, shared the details with Ray Geddes at Ford Special Vehicles Activity. At the time, there was a small, low-profile group at Ford trying to get SCCA approval for a modified 289/271 Mustang notchback. But they weren’t getting anywhere.

Ray Geddes went to SVA’s Jacque Passino who felt that participating in SCCA road racing was the key to creating an upscale sports car image for the Mustang. “If you want to get a Mustang homologated for Production class racing, it should be built by Carroll Shelby,” said Passino. He had worked with Shelby during the early days of Ford’s involvement in the Cobra program and knew that he had the resources to make it happen. Passino also supported some involvement in drag racing GT350s in NHRA’s B/Sports class. Gus Zuidema at Harr Ford was a top contender in B/SP competition. Lee Iacocca agreed and supported Passino. The results: SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE!

David Conwill writes about the details and values of the first generation – 1965 –’66 Shelby GT Mustangs in the July issue of Hemmings Motor News.

The Ford Mustang had a problem when it was first introduced. Although it was a sales success, performance-oriented consumers couldn’t take it seriously. To them, it was mostly just a slicked-up Falcon and the hottest V-8 engine, the Fairlane-derived 271-horsepower Hi-Po 289, didn’t move the needle when compared with the fire-breathing 427-cubic-inch big-blocks in full-size cars. Ford’s answer was to turn to Carroll Shelby, the ex-racer who had begun importing AC roadsters in 1962, fitting them with 260- and 289 Ford small-block V-8s and unleashing them on the sportscar scene where they proved very effective at humiliating Chevrolet’s Corvette. Shelby’s job was to give the Mustang fastback the Cobra treatment and turn it loose in SCCA racing to build the new pony car’s sporting credentials.

Shelby started with Hi-Po fastbacks and pulled out back seats to comply with SCCA B-Production rules. The 271-horsepower engine was reworked to put out 306 horsepower. Other tweaks included a thicker front anti-sway bar and Koni shocks, faster steering, 15 x 6-inch wheels with low-profile tires, bigger brakes, a Detroit Locker differential, and control-arm relocation and a trunk-mounted battery on the earliest cars. The full-race 350R versions went even further, with 360 horsepower, fender flares to clear wider tires, a hood scoop, plain rear quarter-window panels instead of louvers, a special plexiglass rear window with a slot under the roof for ventilation, and an enlarged front air intake—but any GT350 had the makings of a competition car already.

Continue reading about the SHELBY GT350: MUSTANG WITH COBRA BITE in David Conwill’s feature @ https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/06/30/1965-66-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-value-profile-0622?refer=news