Holman-Moody's 1962
Ford "Starlifter"
Despite
the rules, low-production and even
one-off cars were were not uncommon in
the Golden Age of NASCAR. They just
weren't always as obvious as Ford's
attempt to correct an aerodynamic design
mistake and regain superspeedway
competitiveness. That attempt would be
called the Starlifter.
First,
a little racing history.
The Ford
models used for NASCAR racing in the late
1950s were the sleek Fairlanes of 1957
and 1958, and the Ford Thunderbird from
1958 through 1960. While NASCAR race
records tell us that a couple races find
a '58 Edsel and a few '59 Fords (the
first year of the Galaxie) that ran in a
couple of events at the close of the 50s,
it appears that it was 2 and 3 year-old
Fairlanes and the Thunderbird that
carried the Ford banner to the end of the
decade in NASCAR competition.
The 1957
Fairlane was a tad longer and sleeker car
than its predecessor which, along with a
supercharged engine that was available
early in the season, took Ford to the top
of the list of victories for the first
time ever; 26 wins in 52 races. Ford also
took home its second consecutive
Manufacturer's title in 1957. It
certainly didn't hurt that the teams had
factory support and a stable that
included accomplished drivers like Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner.
Except for
minor cosmetic freshening fore and aft,
the 1958 Fairlanes were nearly identical
to the prior year's design, especially in
the car's profile. Competing against the
fully redeigned Chevy and without its 300
horsepower supercharged engine of the
year before, Ford teams only managed 16
wins in 1958 and Chevrolet walked away
with the Manufacturer's Championship for
the first time ever, and the start of a
4-year lock on the title.
1959 was
an odd year for Ford racing. Besides the
automaker's huge and boxy Galaxie model
that was introduced that year, the
Thunderbird was treated as its own
"manufacturer" for the
Manufacturer's title. On a positive note,
the full-sized Galaxie came with Ford's
first factory-delivered muscle car
powerplant, the 352 cubic-inch
Interceptor Special. This optional engine
featured a solid-lifter cam, 10.6:1
compression, dual-point distributor, and
an aluminum four-barrel carb. Advertised
horsepower was listed at 360, but it
apparently wasn't enough. Even though
Ford products produced a total of 16 wins
overall (10 for Ford and 6 for
Thunderbird), Chevrolet drivers enjoyed
14 wins and their company received their
second consecutive title.
For 1960,
Ford introduced its redesigned (but even
larger overall) Galaxie model that
included a very sleek hardtop called the
Starliner. The car's roofline was swept
back in a gentle curve, much like a
fastback model, but on-track success was
even lower than the year previous,
attributible to the 352 engine carried
over from 1959. Fords took home 15
trophies to Chevy's 13, but Chevrolet
still took home the coveted title for the
third year in a row.
| While the 1961 Ford
was essentially a carry-over of
the previous year's model,
including the swoopy roofline,
the Ford drivers were buoyed by
Ford's introduction of the new
and improved 390 c.i. FE engine
and a reported 375 horses. So
far, so good. |
|
Unfortunately for Ford (and
everyone else on the NASCAR circuit),the
Pontiac teams also received a new engine
package that literally stomped the
competition, achieving an incredible 30
wins out of 52 events. Ford drivers had
to settle for only 7 wins in 1961. Oddly
for Pontiac, the Bowtie Boys took only 11
wins but again took the Manufacturer's
title.
Things
were not going well in Ford's NASCAR
camp. Would 1962 be a better year for
Ford?
Win
(or not) on Sunday, (hopefully) Sell on
Monday
Contrary
to popular belief, Ford did not race in
the 1960s simply to sell its cars by
racking up wins, although race wins do
admittedly grab the attention of auto
buyers. Also consider that the automobile
manufacturers were officially working
under a self-imposed ban of
factory-supported racing during this
period, one in which Ford appeared to
honor more than its competition. During
this time, Ford was seriously committed
to pushing its cars around racetracks
until the wheels literally fell off. From
the lessons of stock car competition, the
big Fords saw significant gains in engine
performance and durability while taking
advantage of further improved
aerodynamics.
Now, one
could reasonably assume that the
experience Ford might have gained in
aerodynamics through its limited
back-door support of racing in 1960 and
61 would continue. But automotive
designs, particularly in the 50s and 60s,
are usually cast in stone about 3 years
ahead of production. As a result, the
Galaxie model that debuted in 1962 would
be an aerodynamic bomb in race trim. Even
its new 406 cubic inch engine wasn't
enough to make up for the car's
aerodynamic shortcomings. Sure, that
would all be rectified in years to come
(along with a killer engine), but the
teams still had to deal with the
here-and-now.
 |
The Blue
Oval guys eventually recognized
that it was the Thunderbird-bred
"formal" roofline of
the '62 Galaxie was killing the
car on superspeedways while
Pontiac's Super Duty
421 engine was killing
them everywhere else. Chevy and
Poncho models also enjoyed a
sleeker roofline than the '62
Fords. Enter Holman and
Moody once again.
|
Noting that the prior-year
Starliners performed better overall and
felt more stable at higher speeds, it
wasn't a complete act of genius to
consider the what-if of placing a '61
Starliner roof on a '62 Galaxie
convertible. It would only take a little
work to marry the two effectively. But
the real work would be in convincing
NASCAR that the hybrid was a
production-based automobile.
The
designers at Ford quickly developed a
prototype of the concept. They designed a
unique fiberglass top that mirrored the
sloped roofline of the discontinued
Starliner that could be fitted to a new
Galaxie convertible. The marketing folks
at Ford followed through with promotional
material of this "soon to be
debuted" new model they dubbed
"The Starlifter".
The
selling point of the Starlifter was that
the Galaxie owner could install and
remove his fiberglass hardtop at will,
having both a stylish convertible and
hardtop. It wasn't a new concept, having
been used successfully with the 1955
though '57 Thunderbird. Photographs of
the "new" car included the
requisite female model smiling in delight
as the massive piece was seen in before
and after images. Mentioned nowhere in
the promotional material was the honest
truth that the potential owner of the car
would likely need to install a chain
hoist in their garage to lift or lower
the heavy accessory onto their new
convertible. Sure, the fiberglass itself
might not have been so heavy but the top
had a massive back window, and that much
glass was certainly not feather-light!
From a
marketing standpoint, everything looked
good on paper. Now to get it past
NASCAR's brass.
The
Starlifter Debuts to Doubts
Ford's new
NASCAR racer was introduced at Atlanta
Motor Speedway. Fred Lorenzen would run the new
Starlifter on the fast track in the
Atlanta 500. But NASCAR inspectors found
themselves in a quandry over the new car
before them. The factory documentation
appeared to support this new model that
was supposedly about to find its way to
your local Ford showroom, but the car was
every bit an obvious prototype. When the
rear quarter windows of Lorenzen's
Galaxie were rolled up, they didn't even
match up with the roof. A niggling detail
that would be corrected in production
(wink-wink). Although the inspectors were
not completely convinced, the car was
allowed to run in the event.
Lorenzen's
Starlifter ran well enough to hang with
the leaders in their powerful Pontiacs
until a rain shower halted the action in
the early going. When the race restarted,
Fast Freddy pushed his sleek new ride
towards the front, consistently keeping
pace with race leader Banjo Matthews' Catalina.
Eventually Lorenzen took the lead. The
Starlifter was doing what it was designed
to do; take the underpowered Ford to the
front of the pack through superior
aerodynamics. In fact, it was the only
Ford in the event to lead laps in the
race.
Matthews'
Pontiac grabbed the point again but
Lorenzen refused to give up. Dark clouds
loomed overhead while Matthews and
Lorenzen staged an exciting side-by-side
battle for many laps; there were 23 lead
changes during the hard-fought race. Bobby Johns briefly took the
lead on lap 211 as Matthews and Lorenzen
made what would be their final pit stops.
The Holman-Moody pit crew performed
flawlessly and Lorenzen's quicker stop
got him onto the track in the lead again
just before a massive storm hit. Lorenzen
was where he needed to be when the
Georgia skies opened up and rain poured
down in torrents. The race was halted on
lap 219 with Lorenzen declared the
winner. The Starlifter was 1-for-1.
Another
fast track came up on the Grand National
schedule: Charlotte and its grueling 600
miles. This time, there would be a double
assault for the win as two Starlifters
were set to race, with Fred Lorenzen and Nelson Stacy driving their
respective Holman-Moody machines.
However, much to the dismay of Ford's
brass, Bill France stepped in and
told the team that the Starlifter was not
now, or ever going to be, a production
vehicle, and it was no longer qualified
to run in NASCAR-sanctioned competition.
In retrospect, although the Starlifter
was only teetering on the verge of
becoming a production automobile, it
might also be rightly said that France's
negative determination of the car's
legitimacy certainly had an impact on the
car's chances as a production model.
With the
Starlifters sidelined, Lorenzen and Stacy
were forced to run the 600 miles at
Charlotte in box-top Holman-Moody
Galaxies that had originally been set up
to run on dirt tracks. Almost as if in an
act of defiance to Bill France's ruling,
Stacy ended up winning the event when David Pearson's engine let go
with 8 laps left in the race, allowing
Stacy to cruise to the checkers.
Looking
Back, the Starlifter Was a Success
The story
of the Starlifter didn't end with
France's condemnation of the car. In
fact, it became the genesis for Ford's
racing success throughout the remainder
of the 60s. The Blue Oval boys had
learned their aerodynamic lesson and,
save for being caught off-guard while
other manufacturers started racing
intermediate models in 1966, Ford
eventually became the dominant force in
NASCAR's aero wars. The 1963 Galaxies
were still saddled with a box-top
roofline when they first hit dealer
showrooms, but the spirit of the
Starlifter begat the 1963-1/2
"convertible roof" Galaxies
that, along with Ford's powerful new 427,
devoured the competition starting with
the 1963 Daytona 500 as the Ford drivers
ran away and claimed the top 5 spots.
Bill
France's dismissal of the Starlifters
also drove the final nail in the coffin
of Ford's adherence to the AMA ban on
manufacturer participation in racing.
From then on it was open game, and Ford
was firing with both barrels.
Setting
Records
If going
1-for-1 in competition wasn't enough, the
Starlifter would continue to see life in
further attempts to gain notariety for
the FoMoCo camp. Holman-Moody and Fred
Lorenzen traveled to Bonneville's Salt
Flats in pursuit of a number of speed
records. To say they were successful
would be a gross understatement.
| On October 2, 1962,
the team of Fred Lorenzen, Don
White and Ralph Moody took to the
same 10-mile circular track laid
out on the salt that had seen
Studebakers and Pontiacs set
their records previously. The
Starlifter would carry the trio
to 46 new national and
international distance records,
some of them that had stood for
as much as 27 years - set in a
Duesenberg, no less! The records
included a new record for 500
miles with an average speed of
163.85 MPH, from a standing
start. Of course the
Starlifter was not a stock model,
so it was run under USAC sanction
in what was called National and
International Class B, where the
only restriction was a 488 cubic
inch limit on engine
displacement.
|
|
The team of Lorenzen, White
and Moody took advantage of the engine
rule and ran the car with an experimental
version of Ford's new 427 c.i. High
Performance engine, stroked and bored to
a massive 483 cubic inches and easily
putting out an estimated 500 horses of
Dearborn power. The engine included an
experimental camshaft and was topped with
dual 4-barrel Holley carburetors.
Compression was 12:1.
|
With a small panel
taped in to fill the gap between
the box-top rear quarter window
and the fastback roofline, the
Starlifter took to the salt,
still carrying its familiar
NASCAR livery with its #28 and
LaFayette Ford sponsorship. The
car rolled on Firestone racing
tires mounted on H-M 15x8 wheels,
pushed through a 2.67:1 ratio
axle. The Starlifter's top
recorded speed was 176.978 MPH.
Its 2-way average, run on
Bonneville's north-south
straightaway, was 172.26. The
fastest lap recorded on the
10-mile circular track was at
169.4 MPH.
|
While the life of the
Starlifter was short, its contribution to
Ford's racing program continued for many
years to come. The car enjoyed success
and set the stage for the next decade of
aerodynamic improvement and achievement
for Ford's NASCAR contingient that
started with the '63-1/2 Galaxie and
culminated in the Torino Talladega. It remains a
little-known but valuable part of
NASCAR's Golden Age.
- Don Falloon
Last
updated: 04/20/08 22:28:06 Pacific Daylight Time.
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