Ford's Rare 427 MONSTER That Dodge Was Scared To Race - The 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt 

EDIT: I totally didn’t even realize I said “4 speed automatic transmission”, it is in fact a 3 speed so my apologies there ❤

I had National Record in A/S in 1966 for 2 weeks with my 1963 1/2 Galaxy 500 XL at Island Dragway. I turned 11.9 & 123 mph. I drove for Michael Ford Drag team, Whitehouse, N.J. The XL was 14 pounds heavier than the bench seat so it made it into A/S by a 'hair'. I weighed 123 pounds. A light 17-year old driver. We blew a 9" rear every weekend, but FoMoCo paid the bills! Those were the days! I'm 74 now and ride fast bikes!

Guys the power is something to behold, but the styling in the 50's , 60's, and 70's was a work of art. Everything, almost, today is a cookie cutter version of something else. IM glad and blessed to be a part of that generation!!

As a true Ford guy and former Year One employee 30 years ago surrounded by GM and Mopar lovers, I believe every manufacturer was amazing in their own way and I admire them all. Designs performance Etc

As a Mopar guy I enjoyed this video. This is one Ford can be proud of for sure. I will tell you though us mopar guys aren't afraid of anything. Especially not competition. We will race it even if we know odds are against us because typically they are.

I'm so glad you've covered the Fairlane thunderbolt bro. This is probably one of my top five favorite cars of all time. Who doesn't love fake headlights designed to conceal huge air intakes?

There is a guy here that owns a few Thunderbolts and BB Galaxies in his museum here. Got some BB 409 Chevys, Dodges (including a 'Sox and Martin' Cuda drag car) and a 'swiss cheese' 421 Catalina lightweight. I got chills walking around the place -so much history stuffed into one complex. Those Thunderbolts were the stuff of legends.

Thunderbolt !!!! One of the most beautiful and fierce iconic vehicles ever made !!!!!!!!

And Mickey Thompson took his Thunderbolt to another level.

As a Ford Guy I always thought The Thunderbolt was the most impressive at the track. The sound alone would raise my blood pressure~! Great video and The Narration was excellent and added to the thrill~!

Top stock eliminator at the 1964 NHRA Nationals was won by Roger Lindamood in a SS/A Dodge, he beat Jim Thornton's Ramchargers SS/A Dodge 426 hemi in the final. The last Thunderbolt running was Butch Leal's 4 speed, and he was gone long before the trophy run. I was there in '64 and the Dodge drivers were kicking butt with the new Race Hemi. Look it up, the runoffs are right here on YT.

My first car was a 63 chevy with a 425hp 409. It broke all records including transmissions, clutches, drivelines, rearends and axles. Loved it!!

I had the pleasure of driving my 1964 Ford Galaxy 2 door fast back 427 dual quads 715 cfm each with a 4 speed for 4 years before selling it in 1972.

The Fairlane and galaxy were good looking cars. I would love to have a new thunderbolt.

I remember back in the 70's Dyno testing the 427, 428 and 429's in Dearborn when I was in High School, they made WELL Over 500 and 600hp ATC, Man to Be One of those 100 Customers!

Dodge was never "scared" to race Fords on the dragstrip, or on the ovals. That's hyperbole... However the lightweight Fairlane was definitely a formidable competitor, and pushed the limits of what was taking place in the early 60's. By 1965, only one year later, the 426 Hemi's and AFX cars raised the bar, putting an end to this chapter.

The 427 Ford engine was bad ass and very powerful.

Thank you for such detailed and History covering the 1964 Thunderbolt and how they were developed and came to be such performers. Appreciate the research, video clips and clear Narration covering this race car, Dodge 426 and the Chevrolet drag cars. Depending on who's car and the driver behind the wheel Dodge and the Thunderbolts were winning at different race tracks in the 1960s. Later the 427 SOHC ENGINES became available and raised the bar with faster times then the 64 427s. Loved the Heyday of SS racing starting with injected 283 and 327 Chevrolets and later the 427s. Happy to read and watch the videos which prove there still is enough interest in drag racing to keep these famous cars going.

I agree w/67marlin, the reality is Dodge was not scared but Chevy was.

Gotta love the sound of a BBF. ❤

In todays form Ray Paquet has ran mid to low 8 second with his Thunderbolt. He estimates about 900 horsepower and shifts the engine at 9,200 RPM.

An 11 second production Fairlane!!! SH1T A BRICK! We got compact Fairlanes down here in Australia... but their 1/4 mile times were closer to 11 months.

These are iconic race cars, and awesome. They did NOT scare Dodge, or Plymouth either.

thanks, love reading all the replies and stories of back in the day!! thanks all . old muscle car guy here

Wow the peak of performance for me the ultimate muscle of that era 64 12:1 compression ratio, side oiler 427 ci beast

I bought a '64 500 hardtop when i was 15 and my dad and i restored it, i worked with him in his mechanic and paint and body shop till he passed in 92...it was a 260 v8 with a 2 speed.. hated that so i put a high po 289 and 3 speed auto in it... then put a 302 6 bolt and a 4 speed.... it was so beautiful

I had the pleasure, with my older brother, in 1964 of visiting a local garage in Berwyn Illinois where they were building a Mercury Comet with a 427 for drag racing. I can never forget that day.

What fun! Brought back memories of my first car, a '64 Ford Fairlane with the stock 289 in it, used to drag race that on weekend midnights on straight away county roads. Old Blue.

Love the sound of that big block.

It is important to remember that the Max Wedge cars were all over the place on the street and strip. Big Chevies were scarce and so was the Thunderbolts.

Had a buddy with a 406 galaxy...it could really tear up some tires. I had a 64 289 Fairlane with tear drop hood and at one time it had 3 × 2 barrel Holly's. And 4 speed . I also had a 64 cyclone comet 4 speed top loader. Fully built it only ran 13's with a C-4 and slicks. Funny my 94 mustang ran 12.85 on just bolt on stuff and slicks. Crazy those thunder bolts ran low 11's back in the day.

I've got a set of Thunderbolt High Riser heads that were ported by Crane back in the day.... they're going on a 468 inch BBM short block I'm having built to replace the worn out 468 Low Riser that was in my 1965 Galaxie 500... Should be fun.

The fastest factory car in 66 was the one of one Shelby Dragonsnake 427 CSX3198 which was sold to Haar Ford in Worcester, MA. My dad used to tune it At the 1966 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, it set the A/SP national records at 10.86 seconds and 127 mph results

I love ALL the muscle cars of the 70’s when I was racing. All the little tricks & tips we shared. We had a blast and I learned a lot from older guys. It was my favorite years of my life. I think about how lucky I was to experience that time. Sure miss the cruise through’s at Frishes. Great times!

Great video...and job! Thank you.

Great video and exceptionally well scripted. Loved it!! Thanks for producing it for us.

Those were brutal cars

Amazing video and thank you for this. I've never heard of this before and this was great to see and hear

The old Speedvision channel did an engine build show. They selected the most popular American made maximum horsepower engines. The three specific engines I remember were the GM LS-6 or 7, 454 rated at 450 hp by GM. Next was the Ford 427 sideoiler engine with 2 4bbl carburetors. Number 3 was the 426 Chrysler Hemi with the optional magnesium 2-4 intake. All engines were rebuilt to NHRA rules. At that time in the mid-late 60’s, cam companies were taking the stock factory cam specs and modifying the ramps but staying strictly within the factory specifications. The results were; the hemi made 836 hp, the Ford made 786 hp and the GM made a little over 700. I wish I could find and get a copy of that program!! It needs to be shown everywhere!!!!!!

Our 1965 Superstock Hemi powered Dodge Coronet was never afraid of any Ford....

Awesome car Ford powered forever baby keep on pulling the knot out of them boties and the horns off them mopars l love it

The video reminded me of another Ford, but I couldn’t find anything on it in the “Rare Cars” video offering so I’ll mention it here. I found an orange '67 fastback Mustang trade-in on a backlot of a Redford MI Ford dealer in the mid-70’s when I was a young teen. The entire trunk floor pan was gone, presumably to save weight, and all that remained was the rear-mounted starting battery. The engine bay was stuffed with a 390, tube headers, an aluminum high rise intake, a Holley double-pumper carb, a Mallory dual-point distributor, and someone said the engine lobe indicated a race cam but I can’t say for sure. It had a Hurst competition plus shifter and traction bars. Strangers always challenged me at the traffic lights and I just couldn’t resist. I won every race except one when the guy in a ‘67 Mustang coupe started pulling away shortly before a Dearborn cop caught me as I exited onto Michigan Ave. and another pulled the other over on southbound Telegraph. I saw the other guy later and discovered his ‘stang had all the goodies mine had except he only had a 289 but it was the Hi-Po version. Anyway, I nearly lost my license from so many speeding tickets. It didn’t matter if I followed the rules of the road or not, that orange ‘Stang was a cop magnet. So I sold it and bought a fun little roadster that was unassuming…a 1968 Triumph TR-250 convertible. The body of a TR4 with a 6 banger. The ‘69 model became the TR6 with a restyled body. The power to weight ratio made that car a little screamer with a footswitch to control the wipers without having to take my hands off the steering wheel. Good memories.

Those early ‘60s Ford Fairlane and Galaxie models had such pretty body lines.

One of my favorite cars. Hughbert Platt made those cars the legend they are

Never mind how much power these were making, if they had enough torque to lift the front, you're laughing all the way!

There Is no denying that is a cool engine and a weapon at that...!!!👍

I knew a guy who has one of these. He had 2 Ford GTs, (sold one to the Fast and Furious franchise), numerous ‘vettes, a bunch of other muscle cars, but his all original white Thunderbolt was his favorite. It still had all the NHRA racing regalia. One of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.

As a Ford guy, I doubt Dodge was scared.....but chevy was.

While I admit that it is fun and interesting to hear about these rare old cars, I also note that these limited production homologation specials were nearly impossible to purchase from a dealership. Most of them only shipped to a dealership as a conduit to a known competitive race shop or if the dealership itself was a known competitive race shop. But the "Win on Sunday, Buy on Monday" mantra did work. I'm sure many went to their Ford dealership and bought a Fairlane with a 427 engine, it just wasn't one of those rare "Thunderbolts", but I'll bet it was pretty darn fast! When Plymouth started making Roadrunners, my Uncle went and bought one. Did he get the one with the 426 Hemi? Nope. He got the 383 version that was significantly less expensive. My aunt would have divorced him if he had spent her home redecorating budget on the Hemi. As it were, steam was coming out her ears when two years later he bought the 440 six-pack crate motor and replaced the 383. She HAD to buy all new draperies AND new living room furniture; HAD TO, she had NO CHOICE! And the really bad news was that Tech Inspection caught on that 1969 Roadrunners were never shipped with a 440 and uncle couldn't run in "Stock" class. But on the bright side, my uncle's '69 Roadrunner was consistently running the quarter in low 11's and high 10's!

In the 1960 y older brother andhis partner bought a 64 Max Wedge Pymouth from Blairs Speed Shop in Pasadena. Early 64 model built in late 63 with a wedge engine. Late 64s built in early 64 got Hemis. In 1968 they had just replaced all the bushings, ball joints and tie rods. That Friday night they took the car to Lyons Drag Strip. My brother drove. Ran brackets. The last run of the night was against a new Camaro with a 427 swapped in it. My brother got down the strip to the lights and the new left tie rod popped off. Hard left turn from the right lane backing into the guard rail, bouncing off. Then the Camaro centerpunched him in the right door. They tumbled down the shutoff lanes. Both cars totally destroyed. My brother was DQ'd for crossing the line. He DID get a time slip that he showed me later and I remember to this day. 127mph @ 11.27 secs. Not bad for a factory stock automobile hitting a guard rail and tumbling the last several yards.

Great video. Thanks

9:56 That Thunderbolt is Gorgeous. Thanks for the ride along footage. That was great 8:33.

I seen one of these at the biannual car show at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1995. It looked badass and when it started it shook the ground.

Badass Machine. Scared is a stretch. Love racing.

Thank you for such a detailed History of how the Ford Thunderbolt became one of the big stars of the 1960s Drag Strip winners in the very popular Super Stock Class. I wish the factory sponsored drag cars would have lasted longer. I saw Gas Rhonda in a 406 Galaxy race against Hayden Profit in a 409 Belair in Seattle, 1962, the 409 won. Two years later it was Gas Rhonda's turn with his 427 Thunderbolt which you covered so well, my what memories.

No specs on their actual win times and gaps in that racing year? AWESOME to finally see this monster covered.Will never afford one for real but dream of a ride in this car so bad. I do have a rare Hotwheels thunderbolt in classic white though...HAHA Along with all my Shelby cars

There was a retired ford engineer that always drove his mid 60’s fairlane to the St Ignace Michigan car show. He special ordered it when he retired with a DOHC 427 and manual transmission. I wonder where that car is now. 😊

I Love the thunderbolt God Bless Yall

Perfect Ford powerhouse.

Lightweight 1968 hemi darts were probably around 2800-2900 pounds, probably way underrated at 425, realistically making probably 550 hp. These monsters would run nine second quarters from the factory.

Love these videos brother

OH MY GOSH !!!! had a model as a kid this is one of my favourite ever cars ..I'm in New Zealand so will never seen one ..awesome upload

The Dodges and Plymouths weren't "scared" (afraid) to race Thunderbolts in the automatic classes. The Mopar Super Stockers annihilated the automatic Thunderbolts, and the Chryslers would all run lower ETs.

The big three automakers routinely under-reported horsepower ratings for their muscle car engines to keep insurance companies from gouging their owners on rates. So who knows how many ponies the Ford and Chevy 427s and the Chrylser Hemis were actually cranking out.

it was. sweet seeing my hometown favorite in all its glory. RIP marv tonkin ford

I have a 67 Fairlane but my heart is with the 64

Nice video. Pretty sure it would've been the Chevy 409 competing in that era.

Ray Paquet has the best of the best: Factory #001 & has been rumored to have refused quarter million for it. Always wins class @ Indy & still has manual shift. Ray is a genius.

Loved it!!!!

Saw one race at Edmonton speedway alberta against all dodges available. Never lost a race. Hard to take as a dodge man

THUNDERBOLT ! Hell yeah ! I want one ! !

Great story, reminds me of my youth, Best car I was around was a 64 GTO, it was fast. Thanks

My maternal Grandfather worked at Ford Engineering from my birth until 1975 when he retired0. First he was at Mercury when they were on Livernois in Detroit, then in 1050's he moved to new Engineering facility on Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. That is where they held their little shows for employee's on a special Sunday. I remember when the GT's came home, and were unloaded from a trailer in the finish order. He retired as head of Dyno Lab in 75. He contributed to the 65 Indy motor and got a plaque with plastic model of engine, brownish block with chrome intake and exhaust, intake was injection on side that was usually exhaust and exhaust was in between cylinders. He also contributed to Cleveland Head Design. My 1st car that I bought with money I earned was a dark blue 1972 Gran Torino Sport, and I have been looking for that car since 1978. I met a lot of Ford NASCAR drivers in late 60's early 70's, and that is sport wich held his interest until he passed in 2001.

It was a nice “story“ but the 1964 Race Hemi would have no trouble covering a smaller and lighter Thunderbolt and in 1968 when Mopar showed up with Race Hemi’s in Dart’s and Barracuda’s it was really no competition.

It was not a hemi killer Nascar outlawed the hemi in 1965 because they were damn near unbeatable!

In 1964 a Salesman from Nicholson Ford in Hartselle, Alabama picked up his Thunderbolt with a Farm Trailer He was Jim "Country Boy" Cochran was from here. I was 17 at the time and in a small town most of the young guys were Ford all the Way! We went with Jim to Drag Strips all over Alabama to watch him run, He was a Big Man and Really nice to all of us. I got to Meet Pat Grey with his Thunderbolt, also Don "Big Daddy" Garlits (?) driving his "Swamp Fox" watched he and Jim Throwing Silver Dollars at a Line for Big Money to us! Jim and the "Country Boy" raced at Courtland, Air Base (closed down) all Cement. He Raced at Decatur, Drag Strip, and Jakes, at Moulton, Ala. just to name a few around! I ended up buying a 390 GT Hi Po from him when I came Home from Korea in 68 and a 1969 Cobra Jet just before I left for Vietnam (left it with my Wife of 32 days) I still have a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1 and a 69 Mach 1 with 351 Cleveland. I'm getting too Old to Hot Rod any More! But had a Ball in the 60's watching the Big Blocks Run, Kids now days Don't what Good Cars Sound Like!!

In my home town we had a friend Bill Hilton who owned theBeanBandit , a 64 Ford Fairlane 427.

The Thunderbolt ran well during the first half of the 1964 season in its lightened state. Chrysler rolled out the Race Hemi at the U. S. Nationals and trounced the T -Bolts running .5 quicker and 3 miles per hour faster. This result continued and Ford introduced the 427 Cammer engine in 1965. Unfortunately, Ford never offered the 427 SOHC in a vehicle. Please review the results.

I think Mercury had a version too, but it was based off of the next restyle ( the much better looking 1966 and 1967 ). I think the Fairlane was called an "A/FX" if a 427 racer....and the Mercury Comet was called a "B/FX" with that 427....I think.

In 1979 my best friend had a mint 64 Farlane. At that time a working man with a loan from the bank could afford one. My best friend had tracked one down in Washinton state. This was done pre internet so you can imagine tracking cars down in those days it was painful. Sadly, he was in the negotiation stage when he was killed in a car crash. We lost him and his beautiful car that night.

That maroon color was awesome! (Ok...ok...burgundy) Love that color, and yes, that 427 was ok too.😊

Phil Featherstones T Bolt ran a world record 9.2 secs quarter mile on modern drag slicks. Not sure about the horsepower but at the very least @500.

As I lived thru those years, the very fast Ford was very rare. The 426 hemi was rare except in a few places. I saw a hemi in west Texas , very few and the owners would get wild hairs and bend rod or stretch rods. There were 409 Chevys on every corner. There were 413 plymouths on every corner driving on the street . The common working stiff could afford a 409 or 413. Saw a few 406 Fords on the street but as you said too heavy, too slow. A light Plymouth with cross ram and a tuned 413 couldn’t be beat for the street.

love it!!!

As a Chevy guy I’m commenting to help the channel grow. I do love all old cars even if it does have the blue oval curse lol

…..everybody lies about horsepower😉.

The Thunderbolt kicked ass

I was going to NHRA Great Meadows, NJ almost every Sunday 1962 /'66 , truth is these are Factory Experimental gems They didn't have any competition, mostly ran something in hot gas classes. Not Landy through. Those were the good old days. We would stand 25' behind the line and get pieces of rubber spat out at us. Almost stand next to the cars on the line. Till an official would chase us away. They didn't have restricted areas then, considered everyone had common sense ! These BOLTS were more like a Falcon, beautiful showroom bad ass classics ! A/FX. ~ 1964 same track & year Garlits gets 200 MPH

Obviously 426 Hemi cars were not available yet but to me the really glaring part missing from this rather poor video is ZERO mention of the difference between low, medium and high rise 427 Ford engines and the effect those differences had on the 427 Ford engine horsepower. Earlier 427 Fords were all low risers except some factory backed racers. A current day 427 Thunderbolt high riser with the benefit of a clutchless 4 speed and a ladder bar rear suspension and a bit more compression and a roller cam and 50 years of 427 Ford experience currently runs very low 8 second times. I think as manufactured with a bit of experienced tuning the 64 Thunderbolt engine would produce about 525 flywheel horsepower. NOT A STREET ENGINE but a made for racing special side oiler 427.

Could you imagine in the 64 Ford Thunderbolt had the almighty 427 SOHC 2V Cammer V8?

1964 Ford Fairlane was my first car, (circa 1985).

This was actually a pivotal moment (although shortly lived) in auto design.

The 64 Fairlane was a fair car if you stayed in your lane! 😊😅😂 Actually a friend had one and he swore the ho was 580 hp! I don't know but it was one bad-ass Mo-Shin at the strip,!

I was 15 in 64 and man every weekend meant going to the track, I think the only thing I didn't remember was the wiper arm bit, now that's cool. thanks for sharing ! Oh yeah, I was driving back then without a license

My buddy, Steve Honnell, has his Thunderbolt he raced back then. He’s famous for his Torino King Cobra and the Mercury version he has as well. Great video!! Question: Do y’all know the 5 versions Ford built of the 427? Ready, go!!!

Very nice, I do love the galaxy and fairlane, reckon about 550 hp all day long 👍

The mid 60s Fairlanes were dominating at the drag strips in the 70s. They are just cool as hell to see them in the road today. I own a 65 with a very gutless 289.

My 2nd car was a 64 fairlane it was another guys project car 289 3spd which i had finished to get it on the road. It had dual points Mallory ignition and I loved it. Every chev had to race me from that point, I lost a few but I won a few too. It was a great time to be young, gas was cheap and a heavy foot to boot...

I grew up in the backseat of a 64 Fairlane sports coupe. It was a mild custom driver my dad had to compensate for being a dad. I really liked dropping the windows and cruising. Late 70s-80s. I always hoped someone got it and made a tribute.

Dodge/Plymouth were not scared of that car!