Squarebird at Speed

[partsetal]

I came across this video of recent racing at Goodwood in the UK. In the classic touring class you will see a 59 Thunderbird dicing it up with some imports and a Studebaker! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E20Smm8gl1g
Carl

[jopizz]

That's pretty cool. It's probably not an ideal car for road racing.

John

[partsetal]

Here is another video that shows the '59 a little more prominently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ser-fqlT22M

[jopizz]

I was wondering how long it would take before he was black flagged for the exhaust pipe dragging.

John

[partsetal]

Here is another video from the cockpit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWPe4A0FSO0
Notice the stock wheel and horn ring.
Carl

[YellowRose]

Squarebird at Speed

Thanks for posting these, Carl! They are fun to watch. It was interesting to seen the interior of the car, with OEM steering wheel, the extra gauges where the AC vent would be, and the stick shifting. Many people do not know or have forgotten that when the 430MEL came out the Squarebird was used in stock car racing and did very well for itself back then. There were some famous races with it acquitting itself quite well in them. I think I have reported on that in the Thunderbird History Forum. There is one, that I know of, replica left of one of the racing Squarebirds that is on display these days.

[jopizz]

Looks like he had his hands full using that big steering wheel.

John

[mh434]

I've got some stills from the weekend that I will post tomorrow.unfortunately it cooked its clutch during qualifying on Friday and had another issue on Sunday. I take my hat off to Bill Shepherd for preparing the car and bringing it to Goodwood. I can assure you that a lot of time and expense went into it. And as for the noise.....the gods of thunder themselves....

Jon

[pbf777]

[QUOTE=YellowRose; Many people do not know or have forgotten that when the 430MEL came out the Squarebird was used in stock car racing and did very well for itself back then. There were some famous races with it acquitting itself quite well in them. I think I have reported on that in the Thunderbird History Forum. There is one, that I know of, replica left of one of the racing Squarebirds that is on display these days.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, this example doesn't provide the opportunity to revisit the performance potential (from the historical perspective) of the MEL engine , as this vehicle sports an FE of some derivative with contemporary components.

Scott.

[DKheld]

Been out of the loop for a while and catching up on some reading.

THANKS CARL !!!!!

Went to the Bill Shepherd Mustang Facebook page but couldn't get much info on the drive train. I don't do Facebook so just what I could see via the laptop.

Having owned and worked on British cars all my driving years I absolutely love that video of the old Yank Tank blowing by all the British cars. If I ever win the lottery I'll have to build one like that. My favorite part was passing the Mk1 Jaguar - looked like jet wash behind the Tbird - Oh man was that great.

Too bad he was black flagged but necessary for track safety.

Take a look at my Avatar - I got to run mine on a tight track one time - loads of fun.


Eric

[Woobie]

Here is another video from the cockpit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWPe4A0FSO0
Notice the stock wheel and horn ring.
Carl

She got some pep !

[Dan Leavens]

John no kidding he " had his hands full " especially on some of those turns with that weight

Looks like he had his hands full using that big steering wheel.

[newyear]

Was curious about the specification(especially improvements to the braking performance)of the car racing at Goodwood and havn't been able to find out much.Would it have been close to the cars as in the post below?.Imagine a blue-printed 430 cubic inch engine.

http://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/VTCI%20Scoop/WilliamWonder-2.htm

[mh434]

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=21952

A few pics I took over Revival weekend. I received a nice reply from Bill Shepherd after I emailed him thanking him for bringing the car to Revival. He said the car was finished a week before Goodwood and therefore didn’t have much testing and development time. It will reappear in the near future so I expect great things of it. It did help having a multiple Le Mans winner at the wheel though. Classic American magazine in the U.K. are going to be running a feature on it in November.

Jon

[newyear]

Great Pictures.Thanks for posting these Jon