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Original Message
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| RE: check this one out |
| By McQ - 08/11/2004 4:36:35 PM; IP 63.191.225.72 |
Finally got the 9/04 Hemmings Muscle Machines this morning. Excellent article on a '61 HP 390. I couldn't find anything to disagree with or complain about. That's not often the case with article regarding the early HP FE's. So many errors regularly. Not this one. All was as it was with some interesting new things like the possibility of the tri power being factory installed in late '61. I'm skeptical about that but it's still possible. And the info about the early 4 speed installations having a cobbled up steering column....that may have meant just a plug was used where the column shift had been. I know later Ford floor shift conversion kits came with a '62 standard Ford dummy shift tube.
And it's a fact that all '61 HP cars either 375 or 401 horse were -Z- codes. The -M- code was a '62 early Ford with 401 horse 390, just prior to the 406 availablilty.
It's very interesting that the author cites Les Ritchey's time at the Winternationals '61, 13.33 @ 105.5. Not too bad for a full size Galaxie that was pretty close to stock. An October, '61, feature in Car Craft has a stock HP/401 '61 with three speed column sift, home made headers and Atlas Butron street tires running a best of 13.24 @ 107.18. That's with a driver who was not too adept with the column shifter. And we local FE fans are real proud of Spokane, WA's own Potter Brothers who gained a NHRA National Super Stock Record with an HP/401 Starliner, 3-speed, 13.1 E.T. and the mph I can't remember at the moment but it was in the low hundreds. Here's what was trick about that car, it had a Falcon rear bumper bolted to the front of the '61 'liner! That met the NHRA requirement that Super Stock cars of that time have a front bumper.
Thanks again blinker for bringing the Hemmings article and the link to another great '61 HP story to our attention. Should be interesting reading to all fans of the mighty FE.
Oh and it should be interesting to note how easily these early HP Galaxies of '60 and '61 so easily ran in the 14's in showroom condition. A lot quicker than our vaunted '66 - '68 390GT(often mislabled as High Performance 390) ever could. Why couldn't FoMoCo have taken the cues from the HP 390 and added just one engine option up over the 390GT? It would have made our Fairlanes/Mustangs/Cougars so much more interesting to drive for those of us who were trying to keep up with the GM/Mopar drivers. |
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