The 1960s brought revolutionary changes for the Ford Motor Company. Ford launched a global promotional advertising campaign in 1963 and the company’s focus shifted to performance. Its subsequent impact on the raceways was impossible to ignore as it popped up all over NASCAR. The following excerpt from Martyn L. Schorr’s Ford Total Performance: Ford’s Legendary High-Performance Street and Race Car offers a closer look at, perhaps the most accelerated year of the “Total Performance” program, 1965!
1965 Total Performance: The Beat Goes On!
1965 was a year of firsts and incredible accomplishments for Ford on racing circuits worldwide. No other American carmaker—and few European manufacturers—came close to Ford’s seemingly unstoppable assault.
When Bob Bondurant crossed the finish line in a Cobra Daytona Coupe CSX2601 at the 12-hour race at Reims, France, he locked in the World Manufacturer’s Championship, the first ever for an American carmaker. Jim Clark drove his Ford-powered Lotus into Victory Lane at the Indy 500, starting a revolution at the American classic. In NASCAR Grand National racing, Ford Galaxies won forty-eight out of fifty-five races, including the Daytona 500. Ford driver Ned Jarrett was NASCAR Grand National Champion. Mustangs dominated SCCA C/Production racing in five of six divisions and a rally-prepped Mustang won the European Challenge Cup.
On the quarter-mile, A/FX 427 Mustangs won big in national events, helping Ford win NHRA’s Manufacturers Award for the second year in a row. In AHRA’s World Championship Series, Ford took seven of nine Eliminator brackets. Gas Ronda’s 427 SOHC Mustang was Top Super/Stock Eliminator.
Henry Ford II was most impressed when Ford was presented with the 1965 Alec Ulmann Cup for the second year in a row. The silver bowl is presented annually to the American manufacturer whose engines earn the highest number of points in four of the world’s toughest and longest road races—Le Mans, Nürburgring, Sebring, and Targa Florio.
Ford dealers had a lot to celebrate in 1965. The Mustang lineup grew to include a fastback coupe that was sexier and more appealing to enthusiasts than either the notchback coupe or convertible. While the engine lineup was carried over and the 289/271 was still the hottest option, new front disc brakes could be ordered for just $58. Mustang continued ownership of the pony-car market since it would be two more model years before Chevrolet would reveal its Camaro. In 1965, Ford dealers sold an incredible 559,451 Mustangs. Dealers continued to push Total Performance and, in 1965, took an even more aggressive position marketing over-the-counter factory speed equipment and Shelby Cobra Kits to owners of Mustangs, Falcons, Fairlanes, and Comets. Kits included budget single four-barrel induction systems, cam kits, and the Weber carburetion packages that were used on championship Cobras. Ford completely restyled and reengineered the full-size 1965 Galaxie with new sheet metal, chassis, and suspension updates. These could be ordered with 410-horsepower, single four-barrel and 425-horsepower, dual four-barrel 427 engines. Coil springs were used fore and aft for the first time, which improved ride quality.
Early production (up to January 1965) 427 Galaxies were powered with carryover big-block engines. The 1965½ production 427 Galaxie came with a new, side-oiler big-block fitted with a forged steel crank, high-rpm valvetrain with lightweight hollow-stem valves, and heads with machined combustion chambers. The same block was also used for the 427 SOHC race engine. Even though the Galaxie was a big car with a 119-inch wheelbase, it offered surprisingly good performance on the street. Some of my old CARS magazine test notes show that a 427/425 Galaxie with four-speed and 3.50:1, Detroit Locker rear could sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in the low-5-second range. On the drag strip, it was not unusual to run the quarter in the 15.0s at around 95 miles per hour. When equipped with headers, ignition tuning, and cheater slicks, a 427/425 Galaxie could clock high 14s.
In January 1965, I interviewed Jacque Passino for the May 1965 issue of Rodder and Super/Stock. He was then Ford Division competition manager working under Leo Beebe. Passino revealed drag racing initiatives for the year, primarily focused on participation at the NHRA Winternationals in February. “Ford will not be represented in Super/Stock competition in 1965 but will be well-represented in the stock classes, ranging from AA/S to J/S,” Passino told me. “In Factory Experimental, we will have three hot machines—427 SOHC Mustang in A/FX, 427 Wedge Galaxie in B/FX, and a Weber-carbureted, 289 Cobra-powered Galaxie in C/FX. All these vehicles are being built strictly for drag racing and will not be streetable.”
Dick Brannan was a key player in the development of the A/FX Mustang. He said, “We had Dearborn Steel Tubing build two prototype 427 SOHC Mustang fastbacks, one white and one red, in late 1964. In December, I shipped the red one, my car (VIN #5F09K380230) without any Ford racing livery, to California for testing. It was built and shipped with a single four-barrel, NASCAR-type cammer and I knew we would have to update with dual quads and get the car sorted out for the 1965 Winternationals at Pomona on February 5 through 7. I spent most of my track time working out suspension and chassis details with my boss, Charlie Gray, since high-speed handling left a lot to be desired. By the time it was track-ready, the color was changed to dark metallic blue. In midyear, color was changed again to gold with a Pearl White cove and it became known as the Goldfinger Mustang. I won the 1965 Super/Stock Nationals at York, Pennsylvania, in this car.”
The ten production A/FX 427 Mustangs were built on 289/271 four-speed donor cars, shipped to Holman & Moody without doors, front fenders, bumpers, engines, windshields, radiators, rear seats, spare tires, jacks, and transmissions. Conversion from stock to A/FX race car cost approximately $11,000 per car; they were sold to Ford Drag Council members for $1.00 each.
In addition to Brannan’s car, converted Mustangs were delivered to Ford’s Bill Holbrook, Bill Lawton, Gas Ronda, Les Ritchey, Al Joniec, Clester Andrews, Len Richter, and Phil Bonner prior to the Winternationals. Holman & Moody retained one Mustang for driver Paul Norris. Ford’s one-dollar drag-racing cars came without any warranty and with a disclaimer: “Not to be used as a passenger car on the street.” Even though the A/FX Mustangs had legal VIN numbers, they were sold with special MSOs dated April 23, 1965, and could not be titled and registered for road use. After the ten AFX Mustang build at Holman & Moody was completed, they built some additional Wedge and SOHC Mustangs for dealers and private parties.
After its Winternationals debut, the 427 A/FX Mustang became the car to beat in stock-body vehicle competition. Bill Lawton, driving the Tasca Ford SOHC Mustang (VIN #5F09K380232), won the A/FX class and set the lowest elapsed time—10.88 seconds at 129.84 miles per hour—at the Winternationals.
Lawton’s Mustang was one of twelve built with 427 Wedge and SOHC engines, two at Dearborn Steel Tubing and ten at Holman & Moody. Len Richter set the A/FX record at 10.91 seconds. Lawton later lowered the record to 10.63 seconds at over 131 miles per hour.
Ford dominated the tough Factory Experimental class at the Winternationals. Jerry Harvey captured the B/FX crown, running 119.68 miles per hour in 11.78 seconds in his one-of-one 427 SOHC Galaxie, The Quiet One. Bill Hoefer took the C/FX class win in his Weber-carbureted, 289 small-block Galaxie at 105 miles per hour in 13.58 seconds. In the showroom Stock classes, 1965 Galaxies won AA/S, AA/SA, and B/SA trophies!
Cars powered by Ford engines also excelled at the 1965 Winternationals. Bruce Larson won AA/SP with a 113-mile-per-hour, 12.09-second run in the Costilow & Larson 289 Cobra, and sixty-four-year-old Sam Perry drove his 427 Ford-powered Kurtis to victory in AA/Modified Sports. Jacque Passino’s drag racing plan for 1965 got off to an incredible start and gained even more momentum during the year. One week after the NHRA Winternationals, Fords and Ford-powered vehicles won twenty-eight classes at the AHRA Winter National Drag Races in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ford Drag Council member Phil Bonner ran a 427 Falcon in 1964, one of two built by Dearborn Steel Tubing. There was also a third special 427 Falcon, built by Holman & Moody based on a 1965 model, for Bonner. It was Poppy Red, powered by a 427 SOHC engine, and fitted with a small alloy Moon tank inset into the driver’s side of the grille. At first, Bonner ran the car on race gas in Southern-style, match-race competition. He then added Hilborn fuel injection and filled the Moon tank with nitro. Sponsored by Frank Vega Ford, Bonner successfully campaigned his Daddy Warbucks Falcon from mid-1965 into the 1966 season.
Since Jacque Passino’s 1965 drag racing program excluded Super/Stock cars, the Fairlane Thunderbolt program was not continued after the 1964 season. However, two special 1965 Fairlanes, one with a 427 and the other with a 289/271 engine, were built for Ford drag racers. Often referred to as “Thunderbolts,” the B/Factory Experimental Fairlane was fitted with a 427 Wedge engine at the Ford X-Garage. Its sheetmetal work and shock tower modifications were farmed out to DST. It was later converted to 427 SOHC power. Campaigned by Darrel Droke of Downey, California, and sponsored by Doheny Ford, The Wonder Colt ran over 126 miles per hour in the quarter at Half Moon Bay during the Southwest US Divisional Championships. The biggest problem was rear end failures and, like many one-dollar Ford race cars, ended up in the crusher.
Ford built the second drag racing 1965 Fairlane, powered by a 289/271 small-block, specifically for NHRA Stock class racing. It was sold for $1.00 to Ford Drag Council member Les Ritchey, who prepped and tuned it at Performance Associates. It was driven by full-time police officer and part-time drag racer Ron Root.
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Follow Ford’s leap into the 1960s and the performance era–on the streets and on the track!
In the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company underwent a dramatic change in corporate philosophy. Previously, under Ford’s young chairman, Henry Ford II (“the Deuce”) safety, not performance, was the goal.
But by 1962, even the chairman realized his philosophy needed to change. Ford was nearly invisible to car-crazy baby boomers. Lee Iacocca convinced Ford that he needed to act decisively or risk losing the emerging youth market to the competition.
Thus began Ford’s “Total Performance” program. Ford Total Performance is all about Ford’s prime racing era from 1961 through 1971. In addition to purpose-built race cars, it also covers production performance cars, specialty models, and unique concepts such as lightweight drag race cars. The book explores the 427 Fairlane Thunderbolt; Mercury Comet; unique V-8 Falcons that competed in the 1963 and 1964 Monte Carlo Rallies; Dick Brannan’s 427 A/FX drag car; Ford Indy 500 winning race cars; 427 Overhead Cam SOHC 427 engines as used in A/FX and fuel race cars; Boss 302 and 429 Mustangs for street, drag racing, and Trans-Am; and many more. The Ford-Ferrari war that led to the creation of the legendary GT40 Le Mans race cars isn’t forgotten. Featuring unpublished period photographs, plus photos and artwork from Ford designers, Ford Total Performance covers all of Ford’s classic race and street cars, including Cobras and Shelby Mustangs. It’s a must-have book for any fan of classic American performance cars!
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