THUNDERBOLT- add your pics here too

THUNDERBOLT! What a cool name for a FACTORY car. It always evokes a response from those who know, much like the name “Cobra” or ‘Mustang.”The history of the Thunderbolt begins with America's love of competition. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday was the idea at the time, and the big "3" knew customers could identify with cars that they saw at the track and in the showroom. Even if you didn't go out and buy a 427 Galaxie, you sure did want to go check one out at the dealership after you saw it on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon at the strip. I might mention now, that new car unveilings were a much bigger deal in the 60’s than now. My Dad and I would look forward to the unveilings every September, and visit showrooms and see the new cars up close. I have fond memories of car shopping with my dad in late 1964, looking at ALL the new3 car offerings. We (me as a passenger) test drove every muscle car out there before Dad sensibly settled on a 1965 Galaxie with a 390 cubic inch engine and an automatic transmission. I can recall though, test drives in a brand new GTO, a 442, Belvederes, Satellites and more. What a great experience!
Ford was very active in racing during this time. Remember these fertile years produced the Three Ford Cobras; the original 289 inch version, the monster 427 version, and the Kamm-Back coupe version. This was followed by the legendary and beautiful Ford GT. Nascar was not ignored either. Drivers like Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen (ol’ number 28) carried the Ford Banner. On the drag strip, Ford, starting with the 352 inch engine in the 1959 Galaxie, offered more and more power for enthusiasts. By 1961 a tri-power 390 engine, rated at 400 horsepower was available. For 1962 it was 406 cubes at 405 horses. 1963 continued to offer the 406, and later in the years the 427 came along, rated at 425 horsepower. Meanwhile, Chevy and Chrsyler were not sleeping. By 1964 the legendary Hemi was a formidable foe. One advantage Chrysler enjoyed was that the Plymouth Satellite and Belvedere models, and the Dodge Polaras and Dodge 330 Models were more mid size cars, while the Galaxie was Fords full size and the weight penalty of the bigger car was telling at the drag strip. Ford decided the Fairlane was a better platform to puts ins bets on.
In 1963, an accord between Ford's special vehicle department and the Rhode Island dealership Tasca Ford, created a test vehicle which would eventually be known as the Thunderbolt. Tasca had been running a '62 Fairlane with a 406 engine, and Ford was watching. A test car was built in 1963 to see if an advantage would be gained by using the unitized body Fairlane in drag racing (versus the full framed Galaxie) A 1963 Fairlane 500 hardtop was equipped with a 427/425 horse engine and an 4 speed transmission to test the theory. The car went pretty much unnoticed and under the radar at the races it attended. (This original vehicle was likely destroyed long ago.)
This combo gave Ford the weight break it needed to compete straight up with 426 Wedges and Hemis. The Dearborn Steel Tubing Co. (DST) did all of the conversion work on the Fairlanes. The cars were first built upbuilt at the Dearborn plant as Fairlane 500 2 door sedans, without all the sound deadener, sealer and insulation. These cars did not have radios, heaters, or rear window cranking mechanisms. The side windows were plexiglas, and they were builty as though they were to house the high performance 289 engine, giving the cars a 9 inch rear end and larger brakes.(These babies were RACE cars!)
Late in 1963 eleven Vintage Burgundy with tan interiors, were built. And delivered to Dearborn Steel Tubing, and hand built into Factory Warriors. The first built were presented to the Ford Drag Teams. Only one was an automatic, driven by Paul Harvey and sponsored by Bob Ford in Dearborn. This car was the only Vintage Burgundy, automatic transmission combination car built. This car was crashed and destroyed in 1965 (sigh)
The second and third runs were different creations. These cars were not built at Ford, but instead sent in pieces to DST for the full Thunderbolt treatment and assembly. (The first 11 or so cars were in fact complete cars which were built by FORD, taken to DST, and completely dismantled for the transformation. Sending them in ’kit’ form eliminated the disassembly time)
Out of the 100 cars, 59 were automatics, and 41 were 4 speeds. Many automatics were changed to a 4 speed at some time or another. Quarter mile times were in the 11.6-12.0 range, again depending on the car and team. There was no warranties on Thunderbolts, and each car was to be picked up in Dearborn, with the first Thunderbolts sold to racers for ONE DOLLAR! Later, Ford still lost money on each car, selling them for $3900 (4speed) and $4000 (auto).
There were many minor variations on the Thunderbolt. Different hoods, fiberglass or aluminum bumpers, and other tweaks appeared on different cars. How many exist today I am not sure. Many were hacked in to various funny cars and gassers, some are restored or “restified” and still race today. For sure, a modified wheelbase Thunderbolt is definitely an ungainly creature. The Thunderbolts were a great success and terror of the strips. One night at Lions I saw two of the racing side by side, and it was a thing of beauty! These cars command handsome prices at Barrett’s and similar auctions top this day.

To be accurate these cars race in various classes including Superstock, Modified Production, Factory experimental according the Rulebook of the year. Class structure was struggling to keep up with the racers and factories development. These cars do however, -perfectly reflect the SuperStock Vibe and fit in well with the SuperStock Nationals rules.

Next, we will explore the Yenko and COPO Camaros and other intrigueing creations. (Factories and dealers were SERIOUS about this stuff!)