Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

The Thunderbolt shipping weight as listed by NHRA is 3206 lbs. That is what the car had to weigh back in 1964. With the new rules that allow cars to move up or down in classes, here is what the Thunderbolt currently has to weigh with the driver....

SS/A 2965
SS/B 3195
SS/C 3430

 

Stumbled across this shot of the Expressway Gulf car in one of my old e-mail accounts. Not sure if it's been posted before or not.

(Bill Truby photo)

 

Nice pic! Looks to be catching a little air too!

 

Great pic, I haven't seen that one before. Quaker City is in my neighborhood and is owned by friends.

Merry Christmas, guys.

Kevin

 

Two early T-Bolts S/S prototypes being tested at Ford Proving Grounds in Dearborn . best time to date 11.53 132 mph cars weigh in at 3225 note early cloverleaf hood bulge

 

Hey, Kevin!

Did you take pics of Rod and me with our Fairlanes at Quail Hollow last fall?

 

Yes, the factory involvement was a factor but the main thing was the baby boomers were coming of age and we were, and still are a car culture oriented bunch. Also, racing was different ... this was before brackets and dial-your-own handicap. All class racing was still heads-up and THAT was a big factor in the interest of the spectators. Once dial-ins came in the spectator interest plummeted. The first gas crisis, the insurance cost jump in performance cars and the real dominance of factory and monied teams over the average guy/team that could buy and build a competitive car and the slow prominance of technology as well as the decline in the variety helped the decline in spectator interest.
The crowds like this one in 1964 didn't only come to see the S/S-F/X cars that were helped by the factories ... they came to see all the classes run ... again, heads-up racing and variety were key.
Joel

 

Vineland, NJ S/S meet 1964 ...

 

Joel, I'm thinking the T-bolt racing "Homicidal" is Fred Henderson's Shazam. What do you think?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kentuckian
While the picture may have been posted before, I never noticed how huge the crowd in the background was watching the run. Dragracing was very popular in the mid '60's. A lot of spectator interest was generated due to the involvement of the factories with their purpose built racecars.

Exactly Joel. And around here in the back woods of Div II, it proved just as exciting, if not more, on a saturday night than the larger more expensive and difficult to produce and run round track stock car events. Actually in the beginning days all that was required was a straight road, and it didn't even have to be all paved. I often wonder who was the first guy to discover you could actually charge an admission to such lunacy.
Every one who wanted could be involved in drag racing, and not just reserved to sit in the bleachers with girl friends or wives & kids if they didn't want to.
From side betting under the control tower, to racing the family sedan, to building some kind of death trap of your own, everyone participated who wanted to.
And dammit....... I miss it.
I say take away time clocks. Get them hot, pair them off, and put every ones front wheels on the same line and run them until only one car is left the winner and argue it next weekend when you pull in.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Now that you say that Jody ... yes! I always think of Frdddie in the orange and silver colors, I forgot what his car looked like before that.
Joel

 

Time clocks are fine ... spectators want to know how quick and fast a given car ran.
Joel

 

Where are time clocks at stock car races??
Everybody wants to see a winner. We ran for years and never knew exactly how fast the cars went, be it either down a straight road or chasing each other around in circles in some cow pasture.
All we really knew was the cars were fast, took a man to handle, and made a lot of noise and smoke..... and at the end of the night one out ran all the rest.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Why are you even bothering to compare drag racing with the roundy-round type? Apple and oranges. Besides, they DO time laps in NASCAR and even the local dirt track. Sure, the cars are fast, but the innate curiosity of Man requires us to ask: How fast?

 

What about airplanes, thoroughbreds, or greased pigs at the county fair? This is what happened to drag racing.......... handicapping.

A speedo in the dash and a stop watch in your hand if you're that darn retentive perhaps, but when we raced we never had time for all that. Drivers and spectators alike only stayed out all night to see who was kissing the girl with the trophy in the wee hours of the next morning. And, there was only one (1) winner in each eliminator category, even if the race had to be finished pushing the car by hand upside down and on fire.
Kids can have fun playing video games I suppose, but dammit............ I still miss actual auto racing of any type.

I'll say it again; the actual racing of autos is such a simple interactive game. Put the front wheels of each contestant on the same line and start the race simultaneously with one (1) light or flag. Then, the car that puts the same front wheels across the line predetermined at the end of the race, takes home the cookies. Simple isn't it. Just don't get it confused with actual car construction which is entirely different subject matter altogether.
I will have to agree that drag racing 4 or more cars at a time is a little tough for even me to get my head around, but other than that what's so foreign about this concept ?? Tom S.

 

This thread is about Thunderbolts. If you want to debate your views on auto racing or the county fair start your own thread!! Thank You....

 

Here Here.....back on topic......!!

 

Hey Hemi your name sounds fast but the Thunderbolt picture looks faster..Al

 

Just to get this thread back on track...

 

That's in reference to my last car......65 Coronet, 528 hemi, 750 hp 730#tq, 4 speed, Dana..........yeah, that did ok.......

 

1964 Winternationals S/S trophy run. Gas Ronda vs Butch Leal.

 

Don't recall where I got these pictures of from Vineland, NJ in 1964 ... I usually don't like posting pictures that aren't mine but not recalling the source and in the interest of getting back on to the T-Bolt image topic ... here goes.
Joel

 

Don't recall where I got these pictures of from Vineland, NJ in 1964 ... Bill Lawton and John Healy.
Joel

 

If I posted this one before ... accept my apologies ... Bill Lawton and Al Joniec at Cecil Co., MD mid-May 1964 NHRA regionals.
Joel

 

Pic of the Bridenthal T-Bolt. I think I've posted this one before, but to help get us back on track I'm going to post again with a question. Does anyone know what track this may have been? The four door Fairlane in the background was a 4 speed car. I was told it was a 289 hipo but I don't believe they were available in '64, maybe an A code?

Happy New Year, all!!
Kevin

 

Need to find something to talk about since it looks like we've seen all the pics, many twice.
The Coronet has a nice launch. Tom S. in Tn.

 

Thanks.........no traction at all....even with 10" slicks.....hope my 454 Fairlane hooks up a bit better.....

 

Somewhere on here is info on the four door car. You could get a Hi-Po in 63 in a Fairlane.

 

You sure could as there is someone who has a station wagon with a Hipo in it...Those were the good ole days!

 

Jack Bridenthal raced the four door car so if a HiPo was available that's what was in it. I've been told the he ordered a lot of strange combinations and often got calls from Ford to confirm accuracy. Yes, those were indeed the days.

Kevin