Automotive American – Classic Vintage & Modern
Category: Ford
Back again with more Exciting Model T Racing Action! We get some custom lettering done on the Number 24 Car to Put it Back To How it was Last Raced along with some pre-race maintenance and then fire these beauties up! Model T Race Footage and More!
The T’s transmission is a planetary type with two forward speeds plus reverse. Once rolling, the driver simply removes his foot from the clutch pedal and adds a bit of throttle, and the transmission shifts into high gear, much like a modern automatic
Drawbacks of a Two Speed Gearbox
In normal driving the two speed pedal operated gear change works very well. It gives a very simple easy gear change enabling you to nip up and down the gears with a minimum of effort. However it does have its drawbacks. The obvious one is the large gap between the gears, there are some circumstances when bottom gear is too low and top is too high. A Ruckstell two speed rear axle alleviates this to some extent.
Places where you may find difficulty are:
1. Changing up a gear on hills.
2. Going into junctions or roundabouts (traffic circles) where top gear is too fast.
Or
3. Going over rough ground or grass.
All that can be done is to grind along in low gear until top gear can be used again. The only other answer is to install an auxiliary gear such as the Ruckstell two speed rear axle. In practice a bit of coasting around obstructions and then with a quick burst of low gear before going back into high again will negotiate most of these situations with ease.
Source FordModelT.net
This is the M81 McLaren Mustang prototype, it’s the first of a planned 250 cars that were built as a partnership between McLaren Engines and Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO). Just 10 vehicles were built in the end due to the high price, and today they’re among the rarest production Mustangs ever made.
McLaren Engines had been established in the United States in 1969 by New Zealand racing legend Bruce McLaren, also the founder of the famous Formula One team of the same name. McLaren Engines focussed on American racing series like Can-Am and Indy Car, and they consulted with many major American automakers.
McLaren Engines was founded by Bruce McLaren in Detroit in 1969. It was established to be the primary facility for the McLaren racing efforts in the United States, while McLaren in England remained focussed on the company’s Formula One racing program
The M81 McLaren Mustang was clearly a Fox Body however it benefitted from a serious styling revamp both inside and out, and it had a much more powerful engine under the hood.
Although today the name McLaren is most famous for its long history in F1, the impact that McLaren Engines had on the North American racing scene was immense. The company built engines for McLaren’s Can-Am cars, for Indy cars, and for countless other racing teams and series.
McLaren would win five consecutive Cam-Am championships, they built engines for three Indianapolis 500 winners, and they developed the turbocharged variant of the mighty Cosworth DFV engine that powered Indy cars for both Team McLaren and Penske Racing.
McLaren Engines was acquired by Canada-based Linamar Corporation and it remains operational today as a subsidiary, working with North American automakers on engine development.
The McLaren name was well-known in the United States in the 1970s thanks to the successes of Team McLaren in Can-Am racing. The team’s bright “Papaya Orange” cars had dominated for years, all powered by highly-modified American V8s.
This is the 2.3 liter turbocharged inline-four. It originally produced 131 bhp however after McLaren were done with it it was making 175 bhp, and was capable of more still.
The M81 McLaren Mustang was conceived as a sort of 1980s version of the Shelby Mustangs of the 1960s, now among the most desirable muscle cars ever made. Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit was founded in the early 1980s and the M81 would be their first major project.
The M81 would be followed in 1984 by the Ford Mustang SVO which was sold in much higher numbers, with almost 10,000 made between ’84 and ’86. In the United States, and around the world, new emissions restrictions and fuel efficiency standards meant that the large-displacement V8s of years gone by wouldn’t cut it, and new engine technologies were needed.
For the new Fox Body Mustang Ford had developed the 2.3 liter inline-four with a turbocharger that made almost as much power as the 4.9 liter V8, with 131 bhp vs 139 bhp. In 1980 the world was turned on its head when the V8 was lowered in displacement to 4.2 liters, and the power output dropped – for the first time a four-cylinder Mustang was more powerful than the V8 version.
Introduced in 1932 as a replacement for the Model A, the Ford Model B did not look radically different than its predecessor. It was, however, a brand-new vehicle with a redesigned chassis. More importantly, Ford also introduced the Model 18, which featured the now-iconic “Flathead” V8. While V8s were nothing new then, the Model 18 was the first low-priced, mass-produced car with such an engine. A milestone that changed the American car industry.
While not as common as the Model A, the Model B/18 isn’t spectacularly rare nowadays. Sure, many examples have been hot-rodded over the years, but plenty of survivors are still out there. However, some versions, like the Roadster and the Pickup, are pretty scarce. But no Model B is as rare as the 1934 Town Car.
A fancied-up, limo-style four-door with a convertible front section and a privacy divider, the Town Car wasn’t actually made by Ford. While built on a Ford chassis, it was modified and bodied by Brewster & Company, a coachbuilding business from Long Island, New York.
Established in 1810 as a carriage manufacturer, Brewster entered the automobile market in 1905, when it began importing Dlaunay-Belleville cars in the US. In 1914, the company started supplying bodies for Rolls-Royce luxury cars sold in North America. The British eventually acquired Brewster in 1925 and owned it until the early 1930s.
The company went bankrupt during the Great Depression and was liquidated in 1937. But before that happened, Brewster built over 100 custom vehicles based on the Ford Model 18 chassis. A few inches longer than the regular 1934 Ford, the Brewster Town car also featured a unique, heart-shaped front grille, larger bumpers, and restyled front fenders.
Brewster reportedly bodied about 135 chassis between 1934 and 1935, but only 83 got the Town Car configuration. And according to a registry put together by owners, only 26 of them are known to still exist. And that’s why stumbling upon an example that spent decades in storage is spectacular, to say the least.
Think you know the Ford Maverick? Think again. Image: onlineredlineguide.com The Ford Motor Company has historically been expert at extracting maximum utility from its engineering, often repackaging old (and sometimes outdated) mechanical components into shiny new bodywork and cheekily presenting the result as ‘all-new’. The vehicles engineered in this manner might have been far from […]
Unbranded Steers (Part One) — Driven To Write
Today, we’re with Steve Volk at the Shelby American Museum talking about the Le Mans Winning Ken Miles @ford GT40! In September 1965, two new Mk. I chassis, P/1015 and its sister car, P/1016, were flown from FAV in Slough, England, to Shelby American to be built up there as team cars for the 1966 Daytona race. The cars arrived in basic form and Shelby’s men added the 485-hp 427 engines and T44 4-speed transmissions especially designed and assembled by Kar Kraft; they also installed the interior and exterior trim, front body work (constantly being modified to reduce front lift), and Halibrand race wheels. Adding a pair of brake cooling inlet ducts atop the rear deck, no doubt they also incorporated other tweaks derived from 1965 experience, including the transmission and head gasket failures at Le Mans, where their best result had come from Daytona Coupe CSX2299, in eighth.
P/1015 would help put all that straight. Although it competed only four times and at just two tracks, the car scored a pair of extraordinarily significant results for Ford in 1966, winning at Daytona (Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby) and finishing a legendary and contentious second at Le Mans (Ken Miles/Denis Hulme).
Five Mk. IIs were entered for Daytona that year, including P/1015 by @ShelbyAmericanInc for Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby, who had won the previous year in P/103. Painted white with blue stripes and a flat black nose panel, P/1015 seemed the team’s best hope, as it was blessed with number 98. Miles qualified it on the pole, at 1:57.8, ahead of Jo Bonnier in a Chaparral 2D. When that Texas competitor and the fastest Ferraris succumbed during the first 24-hour edition of this race, Miles and Ruby repeated their 1965 win with little drama. Two other 427-powered GT40s came second (Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant/Tom Payne) and third (Walt Hansgen/Mark Donohue). Notably, P/1015 scored the first win for a 427-powered GT40.
Back in California, the car was fitted with a dry-sump 427 engine and tested by Ken Miles at Riverside for possible use at Sebring, but he and Ruby were assigned to the X-1 roadster version instead, and P/1015 was not entered. It also sat out the Le Mans trials in April but was rebuilt—with stronger suspension mounts, better cockpit insulation, and improved fuel pump cooling to cure a tendency to vapor lock—for possible use by Ford’s British entrant, Alan Mann Racing. A final shakedown test of P/1015 took place at Riverside in late May before its flight to Europe.
This post may be of interest – What everyone forgot about the 1966 LeMans
Long a staple of the street rodding scene, the Effies remain simple to restore or customize
Can a pickup truck be beautiful?
Attractive, sure. Stylish, yes. Handsome, absolutely. But is “beautiful” the right word for a pickup, especially one designed and launched in an era when light-duty trucks were still largely sold to farmers, ranchers, and handymen, and generally not seen as acceptable in suburban driveways past five o’clock?
Maybe not when the first Ford F-100s were new or when they were just used trucks plying rural backroads, but in the 70 years since their introduction, the F-100s have gone from workhorses to showponies, earning all sorts of descriptors in the process, including “beautiful.” They’ve also inspired a loyal following, making them one of the simplest and most accessible generations of Ford truck for budding collectors to get into, regardless of what one decides to call it
That loyalty and enthusiasm for the first generation of the F-100 goes back decades, as Dave Emanuel wrote in the April 1984 issue of Special Interest Autos. “No other truck, and damn few cars have ever inspired the almost maniacal fervor found in F-100 aficionados,” Emanuel wrote. “In fact, Ford’s early Fifties pickup is every bit as much of a ‘cult’ vehicle as the Chevrolet Corvette or VW Beetle.”
Part of that could be due to the F-100’s simplicity. It had classic and unadorned lines, was fitted with as few gadgets as possible, and sat on a chassis little more complex than a haywagon yet as rugged and durable as grandfather’s ax.
Part of that could also be due to the $30 million worth of research, development, and engineering that Ford claimed to have put into the trucks with the express purpose of making them more driver-centric. Ford’s engineers and designers even went so far as to create a positionable dummy, the “Measuring Man,” meant to emulate the dimensions of a typical American man, and sized the cab and its fixtures around the dummy. For the time, it was indeed a “revolutionary new approach” to truck design, as Ford claimed in its own sales literature for the trucks, intended to “make the driver’s job simpler and less tiring and to permit him to get this job done faster.”
Ford’s ad men even dubbed the trucks “Triple Economy,” referring to their greater load-hauling capacities, their economical drivetrains, and a number of “Driverized” cab upgrades that “reduce fatigue, conserve energy, help keep the driver fresh and alert for better, safer driving.”
Indeed, while the side and front profiles of the new-for-1953 pickups weren’t radically different from the previous Bonus Built F-1 pickups, the number of changes that Ford made to the trucks – everything from larger windshields to wider seats to a four-inch-shorter wheelbase – led to an entirely new nomenclature system, with half-ton pickups now designated F-100. (Medium- and light-duty trucks adopted similar nomenclature from F-250 up to F-900.)
Or, as Emanuel and numerous other authors have noted, the popularity of the 1953 to 1956 F-100s could come from how easy they are to modify. “Here was a truck that had barely launched its hauling career when it became a favorite of the street rod set,” Tom Brownell wrote in his “Ford Pickup Color History.”
Whatever the case may be, the F-100 has become a mainstay on the collector car market and remains as popular as ever with enthusiasts looking for an old truck to tool around in.
Ford brochure image
1953 Ford F-100
Can a pickup truck be beautiful?
Attractive, sure. Stylish, yes. Handsome, absolutely. But is “beautiful” the right word for a pickup, especially one designed and launched in an era when light-duty trucks were still largely sold to farmers, ranchers, and handymen, and generally not seen as acceptable in suburban driveways past five o’clock?
Maybe not when the first Ford F-100s were new or when they were just used trucks plying rural backroads, but in the 70 years since their introduction, the F-100s have gone from workhorses to showponies, earning all sorts of descriptors in the process, including “beautiful.” They’ve also inspired a loyal following, making them one of the simplest and most accessible generations of Ford truck for budding collectors to get into, regardless of what one decides to call it.
While the F-100 came in a number of different configurations during the mid-Fifties, including chassis and cowl, chassis and cab, and even stake truck, collectors tend to gravitate toward the pickup and the panel truck, which we will focus on here.
The 1953 through 1955 trucks can all be distinguished mainly by their grilles. From a double horizontal bar between the headlamps in 1953, the grille switched to a single bar with two vertical supports in 1954, then back to a double bar with a large V notched in the middle in 1955. The 1956 double-bar grille differed slightly from its predecessors, largely in its use of frenched headlamps.
For 1956, Ford’s stylists also decided to update the F-100’s cab with a more upright wraparound windshield. That required extensive modification to the cowl, the vent windows, and the doors as well as a longer roof.
While F-250 and F-350 pickups could be had with an 8-foot bed starting in 1953, the half-ton F-100 made do with just a 6-1/2-foot bed until 1956, when Ford offered an 8-foot bed as an option.
Each year saw minor changes in what little trim the trucks came with. To distinguish Deluxe or Custom cabs from base trim levels, look for small chrome “teeth” on the grille in 1953, “sergeant’s stripes” hashes on the grille in 1954, a slotted upper grille bar in 1955, and a chrome-plated grille in 1956. Similarly, to distinguish trucks powered by the V-8 from the straight-six, look for a V-8 emblem for the former or a three-pointed (later four-pointed) star for the latter.
The VIN, located on the glove box door from 1953 to 1955 and on the driver’s door frame post in 1956, will not only identify the truck’s model year and tonnage rating, it will also identify which engine the truck originally came with. The first three digits correspond to the truck’s series, so look for an F10 for an F-100, F25 for an F-250, or F35 for an F-350. The fourth digit is the engine code (D for six-cylinders; R, V, or Z for V-8s). The fifth digit corresponds to the model year (3 for 1953, 4 for 1954, and so on)
Crew cab trucks are common these days. In fact, there are more four-door trucks being built today than standard cabs. That was certainly not the case in the early ’60s, when more-door trucks were only built to be worked hard in government, farming, and hauling, and were largely available only to fleet applications. To meet these demands, the rigs were spartan and built with stiff, heavy-duty suspensions with little regard for comfort or amenities.
This ’60 Ford F250, which received the Goodguys Feature Pick at the 1st Meguair’s So-Cal Nationals presented by BASF, started its life at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base just north of San Diego. After serving with the Marines, the truck was bought at auction by a fellow who dabbled with the truck, sprayed it in primer, and stuck it in a barn where it sat dormant for years until David Tumino and his son Rajan brought it home about a decade ago.
David is a lifetime hot rodder and a recently retired body-and-paint pro who can pretty much do it all. With Rajan getting older, David felt that the big ol’ Ford would be a great way to start teaching his son the craft and the DIY ethos of building a unique custom truck.
With a custom chassis built to ride and perform, there was no reason not to put some serious power between the rails. The father and son duo decided on a 5.4-liter Modular engine sourced from a 2010 Mustang GT500, then topped it with a supercharger for a little more kick in the pants. Power estimates put the SOHC engine at about 700 horsepower! Combined with a 6R80E six speed transmission, the truck can seriously haul.
Along with a storied history of legendary cars, Ford boasts an incredible range of iconic engines that helped shape the automotive landscape
Since its establishment in the early 1900s, the Ford Motor Company boasts an enormous fleet of trucks, cars, tractors, and vans, estimated at well over 300 million. Under the hood of this beautiful and stylish range of automobiles are some of the most famous engines in American automotive history. An impressive engine catalog includes robust V8s, venerable V6s, and the occasionally successful inline-fours that won the hearts of fans.
But in the upper echelons of performance cars, a handful of engines stand out as significant achievements in engineering prowess and their importance to the brand. Most importantly, many industry experts and everyday enthusiasts have given these trustworthy engines favorable reviews for their dependability.
Read on to find out the most reliable Ford engines ever built.
10 – 289 V8 Small-Block
Ford designed the 289 CID, 4.7-liter V8 engine with a relatively small weight, small dimensions, and decent power to serve as an entry-level V8 for all models. Introduced in the early 1960s, the small-block V8 ultimately became the perfect match for the legendary Ford Mustang when it debuted in 1964.
The 289 V8 small-block later spawned iconic iterations such as the factory-tuned HiPo 289 and the race-ready 289 fitted in the ultimate 1960s Mustang, the Shelby GT350. Despite being in production for five years, Ford still makes parts and aftermarket components for the reliable 289 V8 small-block.
9 – Voodoo V8
The Voodoo engine is a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine that Ford produced specially for the Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R. Interestingly, Ford’s SVT team barely based the Voodoo on the Coyote V8 architecture.
The Voodoo V8 distinguishes itself with a flat plain crankshaft, new high-flow heads, new forged piston designs, heavy-duty internals, and a heavy-duty exhaust system. With a 526 hp displacement, an 8,250 rpm redline, and more than 100 hp per liter of displacement, the Voodoo V8 is arguably one of the most advanced and reliable Ford engines.
8 – EcoBoost Family
In 2009, Ford introduced the EcoBoost engine family, boasting various cylinder configurations, sizes, applications, and power outputs for modern passenger cars. The economic engine family ranges from small 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines to 2.3-liter four-cylinder units, 3.5-liter V6s, 2.7-liter V8s, and 3.5-liter V8s.
However, the first generation of the three-cylinder EcoBoost and EcoBoost V6 variants proved problematic and should be avoided at all costs. Luckily, the refined second-generation EcoBoost engines addressed all the issues of their predecessors to become some of the most reliable engines on the market
7 – Boss 429
The mythical Boss 429 engine is a true muscle car legend, conceived as a pure racing engine for NASCAR championships. Unlike other Ford big-blocks, the significantly wider Boss 429 featured semi-Hemi combustion chambers and better flow to achieve higher revs and produce more power and torque.
Ford used the bulletproof Boss 429 in limited Mustang models and homologation editions of the Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone. Despite failing to fulfill its street racing potential, the Boss 429 helped Ford to win 30 out of 54 races, making it a highly desirable engine today.
6 – 428 Cobra Jet
With 427 Medium Risers becoming obsolete in the late 1960s, Ford introduced the 7.0-liter Cobra Jet V8 as a durable, powerful, yet affordable muscle engine to take on Chevrolet’s 427 V8, Pontiac’s 428 V8, and Mopar’s 426 Hemi. Rated at 400 to 450 hp (Ford officially claimed 335 hp), the 428 Cobra Jet and even rare Super Cobra Jet engines were enough to claim Stock Car Championships and several illegal street races.
Ford offered the Cobra Jet as the top engine choice in the Ford Mustang and an optional powertrain for models like the Torino. Today, most remember the incredibly reliable Cobra Jet as the ultimate Mustang power plant.
5 – Flathead V8
Revered as the first highly influential Ford power plant, the Flathead V8 was the first mass-produced V8. Booming with new technology and an impressive 65 hp, Ford beat its biggest competitor, Chevrolet, to V8 power by more than two decades. Over twenty years of production, power grew to 125 hp, putting the Flathead-equipped luxury Fords of the day as the most powerful in the class.
The most important aspects of the Flathead V8 were its durability and tuning potential, with a few mechanical tweaks almost doubling the power. The Flathead V8 aftermarket offerings that arrived later became the first engine tuners for the community and hot rod crews.
Seventy-five years ago, the very first F-Series pickup rolled off the assembly line.
It may seem that Ford has always built pickups since it builds the bestselling pickup in the world.
But it didn’t always.
In fact, it took 12 years before the company introduced its first pickup. But this week in 1948, Ford unknowingly gave birth to a dynasty with the introduction of the F-1 pickup truck, the first F-Series truck
For nearly a decade after the introduction of the Ford Model T, customers requested a vehicle that had more utility and the ability to haul heavier cargo. Ford responded with the Model TT in 1917, basically a Model T cab and engine with a heavier-gauge steel frame capable of carrying 1 ton of payload at a price of $600 and made to accommodate third-party body configurations. But it was a rough rider as only front shocks were offered and they were optional. Nevertheless, by the time production ended in 1928, Ford had sold 1.3 million Model TTs.
t was replaced by the 1.5-ton Model AA, offered only as a chassis cab in two lengths. Following it was the Model BB in 1933. The all-new Model 50 in 1935, powered by a Ford Flathead V-8 and looking much like Ford’s car line. By the time production ends in 1941, Ford has sold more than four million pickups.
As Ford switches to wartime production, one of its primary assignments was to help supply the war effort with Jeeps, a military vehicle designed by Willys-Overland based on a design originated by American Bantam. Ford’s experience in building the Jeep would help them once development work began on their new pickup truck.
But the company struggled during World War II, particularly after the death of Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, in 1943. Now in his 70s, Henry Ford attempted to run the privately held company. But its increasingly perilous financial condition led to Henry Ford II to assume control by 1945.
When he did, his one goal was to beat Chevrolet in sales, including in the truck market, where Chevrolet had enjoyed a huge lead since the 1930s.
A new Ford at the helm
With Henry Ford II in charge, the company went about redesigning its vehicles even as it built marginally facelifted versions of its prewar models to satisfy a booming postwar sellers’ market as consumers snapped the first new cars available since 1942. As it turns out, the all-new Ford F-1 was the automaker’s first new postwar product. It came out first merely because pickups took less time to develop than cars
“After the war, a lot of rural Americans moved to urban and suburban centers looking for work, and many took their Ford pickups with them,” said Henry Ford marketed his early trucks heavily in rural areas, according to Ford Historian Bob Kreipke. “Ford saw this as an opportunity, and began work on the next generation of trucks for 1948, what came to be known as F-Series Bonus Built trucks.”
Introduced Jan. 19, 1948 starting at $900, the F-1 was available in every size from the rom the half-ton F-1 to the three-ton F-8, it was a huge improvement from previous Ford work trucks. Notably, it was the first Ford pickup truck engineered with a specific truck frame and chassis; previous Ford light trucks were based on passenger car platforms and used front and rear transverse springs, which Henry Ford favored. Instead, the new F-1 had parallel leaf springs, double-acting tubular shock absorbers, an open driveshaft and Hotchkiss drive.
Styling saw a longer, wider and taller truck, one that featured a one-piece windshield. Chrome trim could be added to the hood and grille for $10. Ford designers paid particular attention to the interior, which it marketed as the “Million Dollar Cab.” Seven inches wider than before, it included a full set of gauges and the luxury of fresh air heat, sun visors, armrests, an ashtray, door-mounted vent windows and a column-mounted 3-speed manual shifter, allowing for more passenger space
New choices under the hood
Engines were new as well, as the F-1’s power came from a standard Rouge Six, a 3.7-liter L-head inline-6 introduced in 1941 and rated at 95 horsepower. A 3.9-liter Flathead V-8 was available, and rated at 100 hp. Larger F-series trucks could be fitted with a new 5.5-liter flathead V-8 that would later be used in the redesigned 1949 Lincoln. Through 1954, Ford was the only company to offer V-8s in its pickups.
And it could haul, thanks to a 6.5-foot-long pickup box with an all-steel floor with pressed-in skid strips and a hardwood subfloor. A reinforced tailgate, stake pockets, and 45 cubic feet of load space. If you wanted an 8-foot bed and 160.3 cubic feet of cargo space, you had to opt for the F-2 or F-3 pickup.
The Ford F-1 was also offered in Canada as the Mercury M-1, as many towns in Canada didn’t have both a Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealer.
The F-1 was restyled for 1951 and soldiered on another year before the arrival of its replacement, the 1953 F-100.
Fourteen generations later, the F-1’s descendants reign as America’s most popular vehicle for more than four decades. And it all started on this week, 75 years ago.
Source The Detroit Bureau
