Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: The 1959 Thunderbird of Goodwood Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Iron boat? Sloppy steering? I don't think the sanctioning body would have allowed it to run if that were the case.
Watching that boat trying to make the corners compared to the others reminds me a “drift”race. The suspension doesn’t even compare.
he had his hands full trying to navigate that boat around corners. The exhaust system was in dire need of repairs. as he got black flagged. fun to watch.
I was there at the weekend, between that car and all the vehicles racing in the RAC Tourist Trophy (Cobras, E-types, Corvettes and the infamous Cheetah) I was in heaven!!! Walked right by the T bird as it rumbled through the paddock and the body roll change just from the idle was hilarious. Was an incredible weekend and i'm hugely grateful that there are some very cool, very wealthy people out there that keep these cars running on track at over and above their original performance but still relatively period correct.
That video is from several years ago, here's the St. Mary's Trophy race from last weekend. Tom Kristensen is in a different car this time, someone else is driving the Thunderbird. The real race was between Jensen Button and Jimmie Johnson battling hammer and tongs with each other.
I've had a chance at several Revival's over the past few years to have a good look at the underpinnings of that big Bird, and the Holman Moody team that built the dozen or so T-Birds for the 1959 NASCAR season probably wouldn't even recognise much of what they'd see under this beast
It’s not that different. Still pressed steel a-arms and live rear axle. The way ARBs, shocks, bump stops and springs are used are the real changes now compared with then, along with materials, especially in the engine. I bet if you looked under my Vette you’d struggle to tell what was factory and what wasn’t.
There was another American car in that race, a Studebaker Hawk but it did not do too well. I wonder if it's the same car which won a few years back with a SBC under the hood due to a regulation loophole - which I suspect was closed since then... TBH I'm surprized why- other than the Bird and the Studebaker - no other NASCAR spec or Carrera Panamericana cars (as raced there by the US manufacturers) made their appearnce there so far... Oh in the GT race someone made an appearence with a Cheetah and it seems even 60 years later no one can tame that beast
Funnily enough the Cheetah didn't reappear after the rain, I wonder why I enjoyed seeing every second of it out on track though, also hilariously 'homemade' looking compared to the other cars in the paddock Speaking of Homemade, seeing The Shelby/Gurney Old Yeller II out on track was a treat
Well TBH the owner said he's at the first stages of sorting it out (he discovered hanging the licence plate on the bottom of the air intake acted as a spoiler and reduced lift over 90 MPH to manageable levels as opposed to taking off - really). But it shows what Max Balchowsky could get away with in the 50s was becoming harder and harder in the 60s, what with Ford spending millions on getting its cars right etc...
It’s probably because you can’t really race them at any other ‘posh’ events except Goodwood, they have somewhat lax rules that’ll let things like the Thunderbird in. FIA Appendix K homologation is quite a big thing in Europe. Julian Balme has raced his Lincoln “Wooly Bully” at Goodwood a couple of times. Hydramatic too!! https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-...-this-giant-lincoln-cosmopolitan-at-goodwood/
Square birds were use in NASCAR. and quite well. They had better weight distribution than the full sized car. I don’t know why the quit using them as they could come stock with a 430 Lincoln. It’s a possibility that the sanctioning would not allow a transmission change since no sticks were used.
well I may be out of date on the UK racing scene as I left in 2002, but I have a vague recollection of the Top Hat saloons with a pre-59 class and when I did race crewing on some Lotuses and a Corvette in the HSCC I'm pretty certain there were classes for the older saloons - is there nothing like that nowadays? Julian and his cars I know from the HSCC days, he always has (or had) interesting vehicles...
Yep, 1950s stuff no problem, Jags Alfas Peugeot take you pick. And I’m sure there’s lots of club meets that’d take a 50 Olds for example, there’s a guy races with us with a 55 Chevy I was talking about American 50s stuff specifically in the big classic events like Goodwood Revival and the need for FIA Appendix K compliance which requires the car to have been raced internationally in period, in an FIA sanctioned event.
Fun Square Bird story, ( Truck driver's Policy: Pick a word win a convo, any word will do. ) So one day my car is broke, my co-worker says take my cousins car. A '59 T bird. Rolling down the xpway, left lane of three, when there is a slow up. I nail the brakes, and watta ya know the LF brake don't do nuttin'. The RF brake puts me off course, through traffic, by 45 degrees+ 2 lanes. Wild counter steer and I'm now traveling in the right lane. Got that sweat from gut to heart to head. Next day I resist telling my associate. A month later, He tells me that rhe cops took the Bird cause the numbers proved it to be stolen. Now that sweat seemed sweeeet, whew Thanks for your time.
The last used was probably the '59 or '60. They were easy enough to change to a manual. I saw some later ones on the Winston West tour, through '66 or so.
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