Dearborn Steel Tubing celebrates Thunderbolt’s 50th anniversary by building another one
It’s been 50 years since Ford took the drag racing world by storm with its lightweight Thunderbolt, and to celebrate, Dearborn Steel Tubing, the original manufacturer of the Thunderbolt in 1964, has just produced a new Thunderbolt.
The year was 1963 and Dick Brannan was the head of Ford’s Drag Team. Brannan was charged with keeping Ford competitive on the strip, and new NHRA rules for 1964 – which allowed a 427-cu.in. engine with a minimum weight of 3,200 pounds – meant that he would need to seriously update Ford’s entries to stay competitive.
Ford was already running lightened Galaxies with their powerful 425-hp, 427-cu.in. V-8s. The problem with the Galaxies was not their power, but their weight. Ford was only able to get the big Galaxies down to around 3,425 pounds, which was not going to be enough to compete against the new lightweight competitors from Chevy and Mopar. The Blue Oval needed to shed some pounds.
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http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/09/17/dearborn-steel-tubing-celebrates-thunderbolts-50th-anniversary-by-building-another-one/?refer=news#sthash.fpaX68f9.dpufohhh yeah! [youtube]UD48OX1wu14[/youtube]
almost forgot to this!