FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Non-FE Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Qikbbstang on June 07, 2016, 06:49:31 AM
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http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/videos/a29425/1960-ford-falcon-regular-cars/
and if you care to see/read more from the same series on the same 1960 Falcon
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a26254/regular-car-reviews-ford-falcon/?click=my6sense
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Not sure why the "Rant"?
It was a bit of history with some jokes "not really good jokes", but enough to keep some interest.
My first car was a 1961 Falcon. Mine had the 3 speed on the tree. It was a rust bucket.
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A commercial for the car said it would "seat six adults comfortably".The only problem was it could never leave the curb.The picture is from 3 years ago and the results were staggering.
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Super kool pic!
I'm guessing 39 RWHP?
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44 rwh and 76 pft ::) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M76X433qRuM
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44 rwh and 76 pft ::)
What an animal!
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Hah! I think I told this story here long ago but....
Gene Saubert was a local shade tree mechanic who was into some serious car butchery when I was a teen working at the local Standard Oil station. Well, one day Gene pulled in for some gas in a '60 or '61 Falcon that was really loud. He popped the hood and lo and behold he had dropped in a worked '69 Z-28 302 4-speed Chevy!
He had butchered both the steering column and the aftermarket headers, one driver's side tube so badly that he welded two primary tubes into one to make it fit! So, when he said you want to take a ride I said sure! Huge mistake!
This car was damned fast and Gene drove it like he stole it yet the car had virtually no brakes! I thought I was gonna die at the first fast corner he took (he later said the same for himself) as he just could not bleed off enough speed. We got lucky and after that he only rowed the gears in a straight line and slowed a lot before the next few corners. A white knuckle fun ride for sure!
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In the mid-60s, I bought a '60 Falcon from a guy named Loretti. He worked at EEE and had taken the car in one weekend and swapped-in an entire 'K' engine with a C4 and the complete suspension from the same 'K'. It was, as you might expect, a significant sleeper. Almost all the pieces had a swoosh of lay-out dye with an 'XE' scratched in. It was fun to pick on 383 and 350 powered 'enemies'.
KS
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Most people don't know, or don't remember that, the Falcon was the fastest and best selling car in the history of the automobile, right up to the time of the Mustang. I've had at least 6 60-62's in my life (never had a '63 Falcon), including my first car, a 1961 Futura. I loved that car! Easiest darn thing you'd ever work on, IF you ever had to work on it. I had 7 teenagers in that thing once, and it pulled from the curb just fine :) Vapor lock WAS an issue though, but you learned how to deal with it. And vacuum wipers really sucked (no pun intended), but the stone age drum brakes worked just fine. The car was super light; you didn't need anything better.
I drove a 3 spd '63 Comet, daily, in the Summer months up until about 7 years ago. Stone stock and 100% original. That was a MAJOR step up because it had ELECTRIC wipers!! ;D The only reason I stopped driving it was because the front suspension was wore out and it shimmied bad when you got to about 40mph. It's still sitting in my driveway, and I'd bet a years wages that in 15 minutes I could have it running, and running perfectly! It was still getting 24 mpg when I parked it.
It still looks the same except for some black mildew covering the car because of sitting...
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cjshaker/Comet29640x480.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/cjshaker/media/Comet29640x480.jpg.html)
Best damned utilitarian cars ever made, if you ask me.
Edit to add that, I couldn't get past the 5 minute mark of that Goober driving on the interstate. Putting a call out for "anybody with mechanical skills", and the poor guy didn't have a cigarette lighter to plug his GPS into. The dumbing down of America! Learn how to read a map, and don't expect a nearly 60 year old car to perform flawlessly on a 70 mph interstate when it probably hasn't been totally rebuilt. There's a cure for transmission leaks....they're called SEALS. ::) I just wanted to slap that guy.
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+1 with Shaker, I've owned 3 Rancheros (61s and 62s) with sixes and they were cheap and easy to work on, but you didn't need to work on them much. Drove one from Cal to NY and back. You could get 2 dirt bikes, 3 people, and all the gear in one too!
I remember my Mom got a '61 Falcon wagon new as a present from my Dad; the first time she went to use the turn indicator she broke it right off in her hand! Oh well, they weren't perfect...
Bruce