Speed Week 2010′s 200mph 1964 Fairlane

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car

Sometimes it’s easy to pick a feature car. The reasons why I dig the 1964 Ford Fairlane were spelled out in the feature I did about the Ring Brothers 64 Fairlane. Beyond the family tie and the legend of the Thunderbolt, this Fairlane just looks BAD!

I searched for this car at Speed Week last year, but never did find it. I wanted to get a t-shirt for pops too… For Speed Week 2010, I caught up with Brian and Celia Dean and their AA/CGC Fairlane known as “Thundersalt”. The CGC stands for Classic Unblown Gas Coupe. (I guess the U is silent?)

The AA in the class title for this thump’n Fairlane stands for greater than 500 cubic inches.  Thundersalt runs a 557 inch big block Ford.  (thank goodness it ain’t a Chevy! It would have broken my pop’s heart!) Based on a bored and stroked 429 Cobra Jet block, the CJ is then topped with Trick Flow A460 heads.  Brian estimates about 925 horsepower on racing gas flowing through the Holley 1650 Dominator carb. Brian explained, “We build shit to go fast!”

The interior, as you can imagine is all business. Not much remains of the original (Fairlane restoration lovers, stop reading now) Sports Coupe model Fairlane that simply fell into Brian’s lap when he was looking to make a Bonneville race car. It already had part of the roll cage and some wheel tubs since it was a drag race car, but no motor or transmission. I guess you could say that Brian had pretty much a clean slate to start with. Did I say clean? Brian told me starting out, “The car was ugly!” Not anymore!

I asked Brian about the color and he and Celia both groaned about how long it took to pick this orange. Its Lamborghini Murcielago orange that when they finally saw it, they knew, that’s the right color to “Contrast with the salt” as the rule book says for racing at Bonneville.

And race they did! At Speed Week 2010, I watched Thundersalt pull off the line on the long course with Celia at the wheel. It didn’t go as planned when she spun somewhere on the course. Oops! It happens when you’re pushing towards setting a record at  Bonneville.

Back in 2003, Brian held the record for about 5 days, but couldn’t leave Speed Week holding the record. Currently in the AA/CGC class, the record stands at 240.778 mph held by Griffith Racing in what I think is a much more air-slippery 1979  Camaro. I’d argue about the “classic-ness” of the ’79 Camaro, but that’s the rules. I’d also argue if “air-slippery” is really part of the English language…

Record or not, Brian and Celia are having a great time with their Fairlane (unless they sell it for something faster) and certainly contrasting well with the stark, blinding white of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Let us know if this was one of your favorites too in a comment below.

2009 SEMA Show Stopper- Ring Brothers’ 64 Fairlane

1964 Fairlanes will always be one of my favorites. At one time, Pops owned a Blue one, Mom’s was white and mine was my high school driver called, “The Highway Bitch”. Red, white and blue, we loved our 64′s. Pops still has his and is done up Pro-street with a small block Ford and big-fatties in the back.  The C6 went south so it’s been sitting for a while, but here’s a pic so you know what a “regular” 1964 Fairlane looks like.

Here’s another “regular” 1964 Fairlane at Bonneville Speed Week

The not-so-casual viewer will notice this is a 2 door post model just like the factory race cars Ford built known as the “Thunderbolt”.  I’ve seen Pops work his butt off on this car and we’ve had alot of fun times in it.

Not to be outdone by the factory Thunderbolts, allow me to introduce, “Afterburner”

If you’ve seen any of the Ring Brothers’ builds, you know they set the standard and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Goodguys named Ring Brother’s cars “Street Machine of the Year” for and unprecedented 2 years in a row. First with their “Reactor” 1967 Mustang and then with the 1969 Camaro known as “Razor”. Don’t kid yourself that these cars aren’t drivers either.  Proof’s in the video embedded at the end of this story.

Their website, Ring Brother Homepage, says, “We sustain above industry standards in quality throughout all of our work.” Add humble to their list of qualifications because it’s tough to find a car that’s more custom and more detailed from top to bottom than a Ring Brothers car.

I’d like to answer the questions  you’re probably asking yourself as well: “Why this car?” Then I’d like to ask the owners, “What about this car is, My Ride is Me?” That’ll have to wait. Until then, check out these detail photos and the video interview from our friends at Street Legal TV. (Click on any picture to see it full size)

Those are real carbon bumpers, front and back, made custom for this car. It’s amazing how old and new are blended together as an original looking grille is used up front and the original taillights are retained.

Details. The one thing that describes a Ring Brothers car more than anything is the details. Look closely at Pop’s Fairlane and you’ll see what the original C-pillar trim looks like. This one off “Afterburner” piece is no doubt custom, just like the hood pin pieces.

Continuing the carbon theme, the only side trim remaining is the Ring Brothers’ take on an original Fairlane piece. It sets off the body shape well and gives it that high-tech look from any angle.  Then the hood is beautiful and functional. The video explains how the radiator heat is sent out through the hood vents instead of into the engine compartment. Look carefully and you’ll see the other common trait with the original Thunderbolt: 427 cubic inch power, but this time, it’s not Henry, its Jack (Roush).

Here’s a video with a little more info:

Then, as promised, here’s the Ring Brothers “Reactor” 1967 Mustang Video. Yea, their cars get driven and hard!

So what is this car? A hot rod? A street rod or street machine? I guess. Is it pro-touring or some other kind of race-car-like creation. Yea, it’s that too.

Special thanks to Optima Batteries for the trip to SEMA.

Let us know what you think with a comment below.

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