DansYellow66

Here's a great video for you old timers that I've never seen before. One of the guys on a Cobra site posted it. I'm fairly sure this is Ford is a 406 tri-power but it could be the later year intro of the 427 center oiler. Pretty neat that a 63 FI Corvette roadster was used for the camera car (just in case you were looking for the Corvette tie in).


I won't spoil who won but it was reasonably close - probably a new set of plugs and bit and tuning and it could have gone either way.

cv67

never heard much of the 406 back then they ran fairly well....looked like the guy was gonna run him off the road at the end.

hope2

looks like the Corvette has two bar KO's ??

Easy Rhino

Agree with the '63 vert having the two-ear knock-offs.

Note that they say the Galaxie claims to run the quarter in 13.5 seconds - very stout for the year and the weight of these cars, and the Chevy 409 takes it by a car length.

That Ford FE engine has long been a favorite of mine, and came in possibly as many cubic inch variations as the first-gen small block Chevy.

The auto companies would never be able to make that commercial today.

MikeM

I believe the claim is 0-100 in 13 1/5 seconds (13.2). Not 1/4 mile.

In my memory, the showroom stock 409 was faster than either the 427 or 406 Ford by at least as much as the video shows. I think it's also safe to say a showroom stock of either would not run a 13.2 quarter mile if they fell over a cliff. We all know, drag strip prepared cars of each were low 12 second cars. We also know that if they had put a 426 Max Wedge in between them in the drag race, the Max Wedge would have run over the back end of the Corvette and took out the camera man.

Critter1

That test/commercial was done just a few months before the AMA ban on manufacturer involved auto racing in spring of 1963.

DansYellow66

A Max Wedge thrown in there would have been interesting for the cameraman looking through his viewfinder.

MikeM

That was probably done on the GM test track. I see the leaves are still on the trees.

Critter1

And the two bar KO wheels on the Corvette suggest it was probably fall 1962.

We wouldn't be seeing commercials like that again for a long time because of the AMA ban on racing.

Stingray1967

It was done at the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, MI from the looks of it.

MikeM

I believe that was Harlow Curtis' ban on GMracing.

That's when Ford cut loose with their Total Performance program and tore up the race tracks all over the world for a few years.

Mopar got really active during this time.

61corv

I love the beginning of the race, the tire marks from the vette in the middle lane.

tuxnharley

Yup, that was the first thing I noticed too!

Powershift

And I grew up wrenching on these Fords.............but all my friends drove Chevys or Pontiacs.

I personally KNOW the agony of defeat.

Also why I switched to a BB MOPAR in 1968.

Larry

Critter1

Yes, you are correct. It was GM that made the decision in 1963 to stick to the 1957 AMA ban on racing. The rest continued building race cars.

I suppose that was what killed the 427 mystery motor in 63. (for a few years anyway)

ELEFUNTMAN

Good thing the little old lady from Pasadena was not in the area!

wmf62

ford big blocks: 332, 352, 360, 361, 390, 401, 406, 410, 427, 428, 429, 460

Bill

wmf62

I had a 64 Plymouth with 383, the only thing it was good for was a boat anchor..

also had a 63 Dodge factory SS, 13.5 compression was 'problematic'...

never had one, but the 273HP in the 64 Valiant was a screamer...

Bill

MikeM

In 1962, the fastest guy in our little town at the drive in was a 409 Chevy. The 406/427 Fords were all behind him.

My cousin got the itch to go racing again and he heard about the new 413 Plymouths/Dodges that just came out. He made a deal on one at a local dealer but it was 100 miles upriver in Cincinnati so he went after it and drove it back home. He wasn't happy because it was a TorqueFlite but it did come equipped with a 4.56 gear and it was the 13.5-1 compression engine.

When he got close to town, one of the Ford guys spotted him and wanted to race. The Ford was not even in the dust. A few miles later, he came across the #1 409 guy and they raced. No contest and the 409 guy quit hanging around the drive in. So before he got the car to his house, he had already beaten the best at that time.

Chrysler told him to just clamp the front of the leaf springs. No need for traction bars. Add 9.50 X 14 M&H's, open the factory headers and he could consistently run 12.5's @112 mph. Very impressive for a street car in that era.

I don't think he ever got beat in it on the street or strip by any Ford or Chevy.

PS. The car was a '62 Savoy, two door hard top. Radio and Ramcharger (or whatever Plymouth called it) package. Out the door and on the street for about $3000.

DansYellow66

The 429 and 460 were 385 series motors - the rest were the old FE series. Don't remember the 361 and 401 FEs but they may have been truck blocks or something. Ford FE motors (Ford Edsel) were somewhat different and not the easiest to build - but hard to argue much with a 1, 2, 3 win at Lemans.