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Super 60s Fords Super '60s Fords - The Inside Story of the
Most Powerful Fords Ever Built
by John Smith
In the ‘50s, Detroit built cars with style in mind . . . but as the
‘60s arrived, a younger group of car buyers had another
thing in mind: Performance! Ford Motor Company met that
demand with some of the fastest and most powerful cars on
the street. In this book, John Smith covers the entire Ford
performance story in the ‘60s, -- and not just Mustangs and
Cobras, but Galaxies, Torinos, Falcons, Fairlanes, Shelbys,
Mavericks, and every other Ford that got extra horsepower
stuffed under its hood in this fast-moving decade. Models are
covered year by year, from the Supercharged T-birds of
1957 to the last gasp of the muscle car era in 1973, and
everything in between. Performance engines and stats are
listed for each year, and an informative appendix includes
information on deciphering VIN tags and parts codes.
With 200 black and white and more than 100 outstanding
color photos, this book has the images and information that
Ford fans want on their favorite performance models, from
supercharged Y-blocks to Boss 429s.
Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter.
Chap. 1 -1957 The Foundation
Chap. 2 -1958 352 Big Block
Chap. 3 -1959 High Style
Chap. 4 -1960 New Ideas
Chap. 5 -1961 Back to Tradition
Chap. 6 -1962 Legends
Chap. 7 -1963 Fast Backs
Chap. 8 -1964 The First Mustang
Chap. 9 -1965 Big Changes
Chap. 10 -1966 Beat Goes On
Chap. 11 -1967 Changing Guard
Chap. 12 -1968 428 Cobra Jet
Chap. 13 -1969 Boss 302 & 429
Chap. 14 -1970 429CJ & SCJ
Chap. 15 -1971 Last of Breed
Chap. 16 -1972 - 73 End of Era
This is without a doubt one of the best books about
Ford muscle cars ever written!
Soft bound
8-1/2 x 11
160+ pages
200 b/w photos
100+ color photos
Item #SA25
Price: $22.95
Click here to buy now!
This is a book any Ford enthusiast will enjoy to read over and over.
Read the sample pages to learn more.


Ford Muscle Cars of 1957
Laying the Foundation
1957 Thunderbird
The world famous
"Battlebird" was used for
Daytona Speed Trials in
1957. (Mike Mueller)
Throughout the early 1950s, Ford had virtually owned the high-performance street scene with its
flathead V-8 engine. Sure, Oldsmobile had the 303ci Rocket V-8, which had more power, but
Olds was an upscale nameplate and had the price to go with the image. Even though Chevrolet
outsold Ford, Chevy only had its “stovebolt” six-cylinder engine, which hardly caused any
performance dreams by the youth of the day. Chrysler Corporation was powering everything in
its stables with the lumbering old flathead six, except the high-end Dodge and Chrysler models. In
its early days, even the famous Chrysler Hemi was a very tame powerplant, whose only
assignment was to lug around big New Yorkers and Imperials.

Most diehard Ford fans have seen the anniversary book, Ford at 50, which documented the
company’s first half-century in business. Published in 1953, the book is chock full of period
photographs, many of which appear incredibly funny now. As if to reinforce the performance
image of the flathead V-8, one of the photographs shows a 1951 Ford police car in Sacramento,
California. In the photo, the officers have pulled a young lady over in her brand new 1953
Sunliner, obviously warning her of the dangers of high-speed driving by the unwashed masses.
The second line of the photo caption informs the reader that the police cruiser was powered by a
special high-performance engine (probably a flathead Mercury), which “would be dangerously
fast for civilian use.” Such statements are side-splittingly funny now, but were taken quite
seriously in the early 1950s. Henry’s little flatmotor ruled! This situation was to change
dramatically in 1955.
In 1954, Ford, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Studebaker, Dodge, and Chrysler were using V-8
engines in their cars, but Ford was the only one of the “low-priced three” (Ford, Chevrolet and
Plymouth) offering a V-8. By 1955, everyone, including Hudson, Nash and Packard, had “bent
eights” under their hoods. Ford went from King-of-the-Hill status in 1954 to “also ran” in 1955, in
the proverbial blink of an eye! The vast majority of the attention went to Ford’s archrival,
Chevrolet. The stodgy old, bubble-fendered Chevys of the past had been replaced by the
beautiful new 1955 models. The faithful Stovebolt six-cylinder was still utilized in the ‘55 models,
but every example could also be had with the brand-new, high-revving 265ci small block V-8
engine, and the rest is history. The new Chevys literally ran and hid from the larger 272 and
292ci Ford V-8s. Suddenly, Ford was doing its best to play “catch-up.”
1957 Skyliner Supercharged 312
The 1957 Skyliner retractable hardtop
convertible and the two-seat
Thunderbird were reasonably popular
models, representing the pinnacle of
the Ford lineup. These two examples
each feature the ultra-rare,
supercharged 312 cubic inch V-8
engine. (Mike Mueller)
Besides the standard six-cylinder engines and standard-duty V-8s, almost every manufacturer
offered “power pack” options with the new V-8 engines, consisting of a four-barrel carburetor,
slightly higher compression and, in some cases, dual exhaust. Even though I was very young in
1955, I remember that the mere mention of “power pack” caused eyebrows to be raised and
envious glances to be cast upon a car. Ford’s 1955 292ci V-8, with the power pack, produced
193 horsepower (198 with the Ford-O-Matic transmission), which was up to 18 horsepower more
than the screaming little small block Chevy, but very few ‘55 Fords could outrun their bowtie
counterparts. The Y-block Ford V-8 simply couldn’t breathe like the Chevy. This same fate was
shared by most other brands in 1955, as well. Pontiac had a new V-8, which was quite similar to
the Chevy in design, and was a very good performer in its own right, but that brand was busy
trying to shed its reputation as a reliable, boring “old-man’s” car. Buick had the famous “nail-
head” V-8 powering all its models, but it wasn’t interested in the performance game at this point,
either. Oldsmobile still had its Rocket V-8, which was very fast, but it too, was ignoring the
performance market segment. Plymouth had a tiny 241ci V-8 and Dodge had its new 270ci V-8
engine, with “Polyspheric” combustion chambers, but it certainly wasn’t up the Chevy’s challenge.
At midyear, Chrysler souped up the 331ci Hemi V-8 with higher compression, a stronger cam,
and improved carburetion, then stuffed the engine into the Windsor two-door hardtop body, and
created the famous Chrysler 300. However, the Chrysler 300 cost as much as two Ford, Chevy,
or Plymouth V-8s. Obviously, the 300 had very little impact on the influential youth market, but it
had broken the magical one-horsepower-per-cubic-inch barrier. With two Carter four-barrels atop
the engine, it also opened the door for multiple carburetion in mass production automobiles. And
so, the foundation for the Great Horsepower Wars of the mid-1950s was set.
Supercharged 312 Y Block
By adding a McCulloch
supercharger, Ford
engineers were able to coax
300 horsepower from the
Y-block 312 engine. An even
hotter NASCAR version
produced an impressive 340
horsepower, and was as fast
as anything emerging from
Detroit. (Mike Mueller)
Following all the hoopla of the 1955 V-8 engine introductions, 1956 was a relatively quiet year.
Each manufacturer increased the displacement in its engines, finding more power in the process.
Multiple carburetion began appearing with more frequency, particularly on the archenemy’s
engines. While Chevrolet put two Carter four-barrels atop the screaming little 265, Ford relied on
a single Holley “tea-pot” four-barrel for gas flow, but increased displacement to 312 cubic inches.
The most powerful 1956 “Thunderbird Special” 312 developed 225 horsepower, exactly the same
as the Chevy counterpart, but the Chevy was still slightly faster, due almost entirely to better
breathing capabilities. Engine weight was another factor that undoubtedly contributed to the
performance advantage for Chevrolet. The bowtie V-8 was actually lighter than its six-cylinder,
and the Ford Y-block was a massive hunk of iron that weighed nearly 650 pounds! The
performance difference in a car weighing 3,400 pounds and one weighing 3,600 pounds, with the
same engine output, is quite apparent during “acceleration trials.” Once again, advantage
Chevrolet.
Next


This has been a sample page from

Super 60s Fords Super '60s Fords - The Inside Story of the
Most Powerful Fords Ever Built
by John Smith
In the ‘50s, Detroit built cars with style in mind . . . but as the
‘60s arrived, a younger group of car buyers had another
thing in mind: Performance! Ford Motor Company met that
demand with some of the fastest and most powerful cars on
the street. In this book, John Smith covers the entire Ford
performance story in the ‘60s, -- and not just Mustangs and
Cobras, but Galaxies, Torinos, Falcons, Fairlanes, Shelbys,
Mavericks, and every other Ford that got extra horsepower
stuffed under its hood in this fast-moving decade. Models are
covered year by year, from the Supercharged T-birds of
1957 to the last gasp of the muscle car era in 1973, and
everything in between. Performance engines and stats are
listed for each year, and an informative appendix includes
information on deciphering VIN tags and parts codes.
With 200 black and white and more than 100 outstanding
color photos, this book has the images and information that
Ford fans want on their favorite performance models, from
supercharged Y-blocks to Boss 429s.
Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter.
Chap. 1 -1957 The Foundation
Chap. 2 -1958 352 Big Block
Chap. 3 -1959 High Style
Chap. 4 -1960 New Ideas
Chap. 5 -1961 Back to Tradition
Chap. 6 -1962 Legends
Chap. 7 -1963 Fast Backs
Chap. 8 -1964 The First Mustang
Chap. 9 -1965 Big Changes
Chap. 10 -1966 Beat Goes On
Chap. 11 -1967 Changing Guard
Chap. 12 -1968 428 Cobra Jet
Chap. 13 -1969 Boss 302 & 429
Chap. 14 -1970 429CJ & SCJ
Chap. 15 -1971 Last of Breed
Chap. 16 -1972 - 73 End of Era
This is without a doubt one of the best books about
Ford muscle cars ever written!
Soft bound
8-1/2 x 11
160+ pages
200 b/w photos
100+ color photos
Item #SA25
Price: $22.95
Click here to buy now!
This is a book any Ford enthusiast will enjoy to read over and over.
Read the sample pages to learn more.



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THE RANGER AND BRONCO II V8 CONVERSION
THE RANGER &
BRONCO II
V-8 CONVERSION

HIGH PERFORMANCE FORD ENGINE PARTS INTERCHANGE
HIGH
PERFORMANCE
FORD ENGINE
PARTS
INTERCHANGE

1969 FORD SHOP MANUAL SET
1969 FORD SHOP
MANUAL SET
ON CD-ROM


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