Back when I was a teen in Sackville N.B., a local Ford dealer ,CASEY FORD, in Amherst N.S. (6 miles away) sold some hi-po cars.
The owners son,Bill drove a new Mustang GT fastback, and "towed around" a 65 Falcon drag car...(just towed it around, all over town, when not racing) 1965 Falcon was 289-271 with 4 speed and "galaxie rear end"...
The car was very successfull around the area....
I found out recently, it was 1of 7 cars built with 289-271 combo!! Car was never offered in U.S. with 289-271!!
The car was raced by Bill Casey, and he "still has" the Mustang GT from 65....
In the interim, Ian Hamilton, bought the Falcon, and raced it successfully for years..
The car is sitting in a garage, in Cape Breton N.S. (rotted out, by not for sale, owner going to fix it up some day!!!)
Ian recemtly recreated the car, and it will be on road in 2010
Here are some pictures of the era One with Carroll Shelby is cool
Also a photo of Ramchargers in Sanford Maine (sister track of Scoudouc Dragway, ourside Moncton....
Ian Hamilton on the 289-271 look at gears!!! lol
Funny thing about the 289 was that as a 271 HP it was significantly different.. install an aluminum hi rise and a Holley carb plus a The 271 HP version had a larger carb, different rods, and pistons, as well as the solid lifter cam...later with GT 40 heads it was even stronger. There were a lot of 302`s that were not as strong. One of the biggest assets the car had ,especially on the street, was the 9 inch rear end with a Detroit Locker and 4.11 then 4.56 gears.
In later years I went with the Boss 302 style engine with Jack Roush heads...again with 6.13 gears and the Detroit locker,as well as a 2.72 low gear it allowed the small block to really get going.
One of the early advantages was to be allowed into the stock classes using the 271 HP rating, it ran B,C and D stock as NHRA expanded.
-- Edited by 427carl on Thursday 28th of January 2010 11:14:30 AM
-- Edited by 427carl on Thursday 28th of January 2010 04:00:04 PM
65 Mustang GT still owned by Bill Casey in Moncton N.B.
Car raced with Casey Ford on it see Ian Hamilton name on door....
later raced as Alpine car in blue
then raced as Bandag car (truck tire retread company) and as 'Lil Boss" car is sitting with" lil boss" lettering on it It will never be sold or restored
Ian Hamilton quote on car.....
I sold the car a about 79 or 80 to Paul Boudreau from Memramcook who ran it for a couple of years. he sold it to a guy in Nova Scotia less drivetrain. This guy turned it into a street car and I seem to think it may have had a 351. Somewhere along the line this guy was killed in a motorcycle accident and his brother sold off the parts or sold the car...I lost track from there until it resurfaced as the ravaged hulk and last word was the present owner is not selling and has a fantasy of bringing it back to life...but no money !
-- Edited by 427carl on Thursday 28th of January 2010 11:03:03 AM
I did not buy the car new...Bill came home one day and the car was GONE...his dad had sold it to Pete Leger from Moncton who drove it on the street for a summer..he then parked it as it was not running properly and it froze and broke a head. I then bought it and renovated...even though it was not used a lot !
Same thing happened to the GT fastback you see towing the Falcon...Bill came home one day and car was GONE...sold to some guy someplace. At that time Bill decided to start buying his own cars registered in his own name ! Thats when he bought the Mustang
I think the warranty on the 271 HP package was 90 days...same as the 427
Have a look at this one. Not a sedan but very similar story. Bet both were built in Oakville!
thats cool ! I have a article on another 2 door seadan... the Rankin Ford Wild Child is 1 as well It was 4 hard tops and 3 sedans or the other way around.. I was always excited to have "been there"
-- Edited by 427carl on Thursday 28th of January 2010 04:39:53 PM
Carl, when that car was sponsored by Alpine it ran at Drag City in Sackville N.S. once along with the 66 Corvette of Richie Jenkins that was painted the same scheme.
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Those were great times and exciting cars to watch. The 64 Fairlane Thunderbolts and 64 Falcons made for great race cars. The 65 Falcon such as Wild Child as mentioned and other such as Hubert Platt's Georga Shaker and Phil Bonners Daddy warbucks in the FX classes made for some wild fan loving racing.
Carl, when that car was sponsored by Alpine it ran at Drag City in Sackville N.S. once along with the 66 Corvette of Richie Jenkins that was painted the same scheme.
wow I love it I didn't know that arn't memories wonderful
Those were great times and exciting cars to watch. The 64 Fairlane Thunderbolts and 64 Falcons made for great race cars. The 65 Falcon such as Wild Child as mentioned and other such as Hubert Platt's Georga Shaker and Phil Bonners Daddy warbucks in the FX classes made for some wild fan loving racing.
heres a blurb on Wild Child
It's amazing what people buy on eBay. Broken bottles, rusty nails, a grilled-cheese sandwich with the image of a deity . any damn thing. Joe Germann bought a genuine piece of Canadian drag racing history. When Germann bid on an altered-wheelbase '65 Ford Falcon in May 2003, he recognized it as a car that had spent its entire life running on dragstrips in and around London, Ontario, Canada. It had changed hands a few times, but its pedigree as a genuine and period-correct A/FX racer was apparent, including the rare factory fiberglass front fenders, hood, and doors; a straight front axle; and a Holman Moody-built 427 SOHC engine. The Falcon had acquired a few extra paint jobs through the years, but despite being neglected, it was remarkably intact when Germann brought it home to Massachusetts after paying the not-inconsiderable sum of $27,000, a price that nonetheless seems like a bargain considering the value of a complete Cammer these days. He didn't know the car's whole story, but it was enough to take a chance on.
Armed with a few leads, Joe started digging up the Falcon's past and quickly learned it was built in Canada in 1965 as " one of only seven Falcons" equipped with Ford's 271hp Hi-Po 289, an engine that was not a regular production option for Falcons in Canada or stateside that year. The specially prepped cars were sold to drag racers through performance-oriented dealerships to promote the Ford brand. One such dealership was Rankin Ford in London, Ontario, which received the Falcon in May 1965 and enlisted local racers Ev Rowse and John McIntyre to campaign it. Rowse and McIntyre immediately prepped the 289 for racing by tearing down the engine and reassembling it with an Isky cam, Salih pistons, a Cobra intake with Weber carbs, and custom headers.
Running at Canadian strips like Cayuga, Grand Bend, Mohawk, and St. Thomas, Rankin's Wild Child piled up a string of victories in its successful debut in the NHRA's B/FX class in 1965, running in the 11.50s at about 120 mph. The following year, Rankin altered the wheelbase by pushing the front wheels forward 10 inches with an Econoline straight front axle and moving the rear axle forward 8 inches. With a Hilborn-injected 427 Hi-Riser running a combination of alcohol and nitro, the Wild Child ran the '66 season in B/Altered, but running Fuel proved to be a challenge and reliability issues put a damper on the season. The following year the Rankin team stepped all the way up to A/FX with a new Holman Moody SOHC 427, a combination that established it as a high-10-second Canadian A/FX recordholder during the '67 season.
At the end of the '67 season, the Wild Child was sold to a racer who repainted it gold metalflake and renamed it Golden Boy. Rowse and McIntyre dabbled briefly in the emerging Pro Stock class in the early '70s before moving on to other racing endeavors, including CASCAR, Canada's Stock Car racing series. Today Rowse runs an automotive repair business in London and remains friends with his old racing buddy McIntyre. In 1992, the Wild Child was sold to another London car dealer who painted it white and displayed it in his showroom before selling it in 1995. It sat in a garage until Germann bought it eight years later.
I remember the Wild Child and Rankin Ford. It is now called "Highbury Ford". I grew up about 10 minutes away. I remember quite clearly my dad taking me to Rankin in 1973 to look at the new cars (free pop and hotdogs). I was 5 and remember sitting in a Mustang in the showroom. The Rankins also ran a Texaco across the street. That's where the 69 Strato Chief got fueled. 5 bucks worth would last dad a week!
There is primer grey 64 or 65 Falcon that runs at Gimli dragstrip. Has a tear drop hood and leaf spring front end and is a old time drag car. He runs I think a 289. Will have to gets some pics this year and some info of the owner.
i of my buddys had the old 64 thunder bolt of mickey thomson with the one off hemi 427 ford , he also had another 64 thunder bolt with a 427 high riser 4spd and when he sold of all his ford stuff he sold me all the 427 high riser spair motor stuff , so i have a complete 64 427 high riser duel inlet air plenum that sat on the duel carbs right to the oil pan , the motor still has the ford c4 part # 13 to 1 pistons and the aluminum scater shield that says ford nhra equiped on the inspection plate , i was going to put the motor in my 67 gt 500 but decided just to keep my car stock because of the $$ thing , the motor is now going into my 66 mercury hot rod pick up with duel air intake plenum and all, should be a fun street truck with a top loader 4sp and a rank 427.