History Wanted!!! 1964/65 Ford Falcon A/FX Pics!

http://s1109.photobucket.com/albums/h424/jtmays1/?action=view&current=SANY1525.jpg

 

Thanks Dave for the story. I enjoy your writings and their help in bringing back what for me were the best years in drag racing. You missed a good show down at Panama City. Hubert was there as was Randy Payne, "Cigar" Holt, Willie D. and several others. They had Hubert's old blue Falcon and the Pandemonium 'cuda. There was a recently found '68 1/2 CJ Mustang and Larry Davis' '64 lightweight and Bill Dismuke's '63 lightweight.

 

Dave,

A most interesting story about your Falcon. I had heard of the car but never knew how it came about. That was quite a score getting that body out of the factory.

I am lucky enough to own the Wild Child which was a Ford of Canada built BFX 1965 Falcon. It was built under a program headed by John Phillips who was the Ford of Canada Performance Advisor.

This is what I have learned about this program and the Wild Child .... In 1965, Ford of Canada built only seven special Falcons equipped with a 289 CI - 271 HP "Mustang HiPo" motor. Of these seven, three were produced as B/FX (factory experimental) race cars using many special non-production body and performance parts. Rankin Ford's Wild Child, Wood Larkin's Gold Digger, and Don Haver's Mr. 289 were the three Factory Experimental Falcons that were actually built in the Oakland, Ontario Ford factory. The most successful of these B/FX racers was the "The Wild Child" as it was also the only factory B/FX Falcon further developed and raced as a 427 cubic inch fuel-burning B/A, a C/XS Funny Car, and finally in 1967 as an A/FX with a 427 SOHC motor from the Holman-Moody race shop. The Wild Child is also the only one of these three Factory Experimental cars known to still exist today. The whereabouts of the Mr. 289 and Gold Digger cars is unknown.

The Wild Child has factory fiberglass doors (F20124-D, F20125-D), front fenders (F16005-D, F16006-D), hood (FH36943-D), bumper (FB26598-D), and trunk lid. It also has a factory plexiglas windshield (FG80265-D). The motor in 1965 was a 289 HiPo with the 4 Webber intake manifold (F9424-D), cam (F6250-D), and other FX special part numbered items. In 66, Rankin ran a 427 wedge on nitro-methane, and in 1967 went back to gas with a 427 SOHC motor.

I continue to seek out knowledge of the Wild Child and the other factory FX built cars. If you have any additional knowledge of these Ford of Canada built car I would love to hear about it.

Regards,
Joe

 

Md1320 guy:

Yeah the ole wagon is on the back burner for now, gettin ready to send my 64 galaxie to the paint shop over the winter and hope to have it finished and back on the road by the first of may, then i can start on the wagon, i did talk with my chassis guy today about stopping by the shop and gettin a price on the chassis stuff and straight axle set-up, hope to start on it soon. Let me know how the henderson show goes, Tell Tim Holland I said hello if you see him there with Hubert's Ole Car

Thanks

Fast Eddie

 

Falconred:
Like you, I believe those were the heydays of Drag Racing. The cars are faster, safer and prettier today, but it is all about big money now. Because of my Ford help, I built the 1965 AFX Falcon for $2500 in out-of-pocket costs, plus labor plus what was provided by Ford and DST. In 1965 I made it to the semi-finals at Indy in AFX, losing to Rhonda by inches, who lost to Ritchey in the finals, also by inches. I was still running a Hi-Riser then, and Rhonda and Ritchey had SOHC Cammers. (I was offered a Cammer from the Ford parts truck at Indy, but I did not have Cammer headers made so I had to pass, installing the Cammer later) A privately funded entry with an outdated engine could in no way make it to the Finals at Indy in Pro Stock today. In addition, by the time I started racing the Fairlane, the Falcon had won over $25,000 in match races (which averaged $500 - $750 each) and NASCAR drag racing. (Which paid $100 a round in those days) Convert the cost of the car and the winnings into today's money and your head will spin. Yeah............those were definitely the good old days.
In addition, guys like Platt, Brannan, Sox, Ritchey, Bonner, Nicholson were great guys to tour with, race with, and we had more fun than the law would allow. (Literally) I am glad Hubert is still doing his deal, I miss him and the fun we had, but don’t know if my body would have survived too many more years of it. I suspect only Linda Vaughn may have had more fun than some of us, but I don't hold that against her. She was a hell of a lot prettier than me. (Yes, I was in love with her, just like everybody else.)

 

Here is my 65 BF/X

 

J.T.Mays;nice looking 65!! What are you running for engine/trans? ROY.

 

roy it is a 12to1 sbf toploader 4speed and 3.89 trac lok. It is just a beater built out of spare parts

 

roy here is my other street car. 65 Af/x 427 side oiler toploader 4speed 3.89 detroit locker and a lot of parts from crites. All fiberglass except for the roof and floorpan.

 

How did you shoe horn that 427 in there without cutting the shock towers...?

 

Never mind I see the slight adjustment to them now but wow that sure is a tight fit...awesome though,one day I hope to at least run a 351.

 

very tight fit it was like 20 pounds of crap in a five pound sack. I did not have a removable shock tower brace at first, but now at least you can pull the valve covers with out pulling the headers and crossmember and setting the motor as low as it can go.

 

Fast Eddie

I hope Hammond and the "Shaker" are there. I have seen lots of pics of the car from barn find to recent but never seen it up close. I would like to know its true history since it looks like Harold Pasley's "Flying Falcon" built by Platt. The barn find pic with Platt clearly shows the "Flying Falcon" name and later pics show where the name and Pasley's had been sanded off. The "Shaker" had glass doors with no vent windows but this car has vent windows. Curious!

Enjoy California. Good luck to Junky, 65Comet & Teddisnoke.

 

J.T.Mays;TOO KOOL!!!! I ran a 12.5 to 1 SBF in my Comet for many years,then went to a 347 which later grew to a 352[.060 over],I now run a 418",bored and stroked 351W.The project Falcon looks great,would love to have a FE in mine!!My Comet has always been a four speed except for a couple months with a borrowed C-4,has a Jerico in it now. ROY.

 

i wish my car was as nice as yours. I read the car craft article every day. I just noticed the notched shock towers on yours. How do you like the 418? Mine ran pretty good with the306 and tunnel ram just my motor is to small. Now it has a parker funnel web and a demon 750 of the 427 till my dad is done using the 600 dp.
thanks. Jt mays

 

I hear you I bet the helps out a WHOOOOLE lotNice falcon J.T.

 

if you don't get my message muncie let me know and i will try again. 34 years old and this computer crap is still new to me.

 

hey Roy, Do you have any pics of Johns dark blue 64 falcon? Some place I have a popular hotrodding article from the early 90's with it in it. I think his grandfather gave it to him.I hear it runs really strong now. Thanks J.T. Mays

 

PM sent

 

Here's a few of mine.

 

J.T.;not sure about the dark blue Falcon,if it the one I'm thinking of,yes I have some pictures.His Grandfather bought it new,260/3-speed,gave it to his Father who then gave it to John,I've known him since he was a teenager!!It now has a 358"W,made 706HP,runs a Jerico 4-speed,just got licensed to run 9s.I have yet to make a full pass on the 418W,have had suspension troubles and electrical issues,three times out,no good runs!!The Car Craft article was cool,I didn't expect so much coverage! ROY.

 

Roy that is the one. He was proably 18 or so when it was in popular hot rodding and I had just got my 65 2dr sedan at age 12. Thanks J.T.Mays

 

Chuck Carman;those are cool drawings!!! How about a 65 Comet,say,in light blue?!!!! ROY.

 

heres a pic on my dads 64 falcon sprint gasser running at meremere New Zealand runs 10.3s



And a picture of my 65 falcon


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Thanx, glad you like them. I can do that, It's actually my "day job." A custom one is $60, and I can use a pic you have or one that I have. I can either do it with the wheels, hood and whatever your car has or we can make it a fantasy version, whichever you like.

 

PM me with an address and I'll send you a photo or two and some money. ROY.

 

Thanks for that great post Dave! There was a big debate on facebook about whether or not your Falcon was fiberglass. Some smart guy refused to believe it!

 

Did Platt have more than one Falcon?

 

I think he built three, two for himself and one for Tommy McNeely.

The cars went through several revisions. I've got to go now but I will try to post some of the photos I have of the various looks later.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Hubert Platt & Tim Holland at the "Drag Times Hall of Fame Reunion" in Henderson, NC this weekend. They were gracious enough to spend a lot of their time explaining the history of the "Georgia Shaker III" and how it changed hands from Hubert to Larry Yates through Harold Pasley and was eventually rediscovered by Hubert. What an amazing story. They allowed me to crawl under & around the car to take pictures of some of the more unique features of the car to reference for my AWB Falcon build. What a great weekend, I can't wait for next year.