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By John Mummert - 11 Years Ago
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From Craigslist San Diego. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/3626183575.html
Advertised as the world's rarest 57 Fairlane this is said to be the car that averaged 107MPH for 51,403 miles at Bonneville in September 1956.
Interesting piece of history for only a buck and quarter.
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By texasmark1 - 11 Years Ago
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WOW
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By RB - 11 Years Ago
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For that kind of money it better have a Mummert tuned Y block
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By PF Arcand - 11 Years Ago
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Interesting, but I'm a bit confused. I've never seen the article in Life, although I'm aware of it. However, I was under the impresson that 2 cars were used in the assault & setting of the several national & international records. Maybe someone can clarify that point.. Apparently, the late Jerry Unser had quite a year with the new 1957 Fords, by winning the USAC Stock car championship & the stock car class at Pikes Peak. Also that year, he won the first stock car race held at Riverside raceway.
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By Doug T - 11 Years Ago
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SN 1000009 a very early production number!
Just a WAG at how fast they were really going. They took exactly 20 days and couldn't have been getting that good milage so say refueling every 200 mi. That would take under 2 hours to reach so 12 times a day. Plus tires every 2500 miles or once a day. So they were probably on the salt running about 22 hours a day which means actually running about 117 mph. Fast but boring probably.
Didn't FoMoCo do the same thing in the '60s with 289 Comets?
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By NoShortcuts - 11 Years Ago
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Interesting data plate to me with the 'M'...
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By bird55 - 11 Years Ago
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Great to see a piece of history like that. Doug, seems like I do remember something like that with the 289 Comets?
I like the way it was "restored" not overdone. I hope it goes somewhere that we all get the chance to see it firsthand.
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By YBLOCKMERC - 11 Years Ago
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Doug T (2/19/2013)
SN 1000009 a very early production number!
Just a WAG at how fast they were really going. They took exactly 20 days and couldn't have been getting that good milage so say refueling every 200 mi. That would take under 2 hours to reach so 12 times a day. Plus tires every 2500 miles or once a day. So they were probably on the salt running about 22 hours a day which means actually running about 117 mph. Fast but boring probably.
Didn't FoMoCo do the same thing in the '60s with 289 Comets?
Yes, they started with 6 Comets at Daytona Raceway, 5 finished - one broke a valve spring. Ran 100,000 miles @ 106 mph.
I'd never heard of the run in the '57 with a Y. Very impressive on a flat track with a heavy car. The pics in the ad didn't look like it had seat belts. Can that be?
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By MoonShadow - 11 Years Ago
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After all those miles on a flat track the NASCAR races must have felt like a sprint. No wonder he did so well that year. He must have known the feel of a 57 like his wife. Chuck
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By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
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I would like to find out more about this car. By the I.D. tag as I read it, and I could be wrong! The car was built on Sept. 14th and The record run was started on Sept. 9th. The M in the I.D. tag is an unknowen and the SS in body color and interior is strange because the car was black and yellow both factory colors. So why a special SS on the tag. Also I think by the vacuum line under the round air cleaner, these were automatic carbs and not standard. I would also think that early a car would have had a oval air cleaner, but since it was not a E code ,I am only guessing. The one thing I will bet on ,they would have used a large Purolator type air cleaner. I had also been told buy an oldtimer, that The 2 sedans were single four barrel cars, while the convert. that was used in the speed runs was a 2x4 car. There were 12 different drivers used in these tests. The 3 that are listed in the artical are Danny O'Brien, Chuck Stevenson and Danny Eames. I would like to be able to find out the rest of the other drivers. My 57 E code Sunliner came from the Unser family salvage yard in N.M.
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By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
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Paul, You are right there were 2 cars used in the endurance run. Also just before the endurance run these two cars and a convert. set 57 different records for acceleration, on the Bonneville straight course. The Black and Yellow Ford and The Blue and White Ford had broken every record from one mile to 50,000 miles. 458 new national and International records were set.
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By Jim Wright - 11 Years Ago
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View the Life magazine article at http://books.google.com/books?id=s0EEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=%22The+Longest+Left+Turn+In+History%22#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Longest%20Left%20Turn%20In%20History%22&f=false
If that doesn't work, search for "The Longest Left Turn In History". Include the quotes around the phrase when you put it in google.
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By Ted - 11 Years Ago
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That ‘M’ in the VIN is indeed a nuance and makes me want to hear more details on this particular car. That 130 mph speedometer is also a nice touch. I’ll add that the production date on the build tag is the scheduled date and does not necessarily match the exact day the cars are actually built.
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By Fairlane Mike - 11 Years Ago
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The "M" caught my eye too, being an old Ford parts counter man, that serial number is not a typical one! I wonder if it stands for modified, and the low sequence number too. The "SS" on the paint and interior codes; more like a delete, but who knows. The car may have been a pre-production hand built, also note it only had the upper spear on the side mouldings and the "Fairlane 500" scripts are missing on the 1/4 panels! I would venture to say the car is full of unique details, e,g the speedo dial. I would love to spend some time looking it over. Unfortunately, it appears to have had some "restoration" work done; painted fender bolts, also what appears to be a late style heavy rib top tank radiator and a strange looking ignition coil. Nice piece though, glad it survived, did Ford give it to Unser; what was the disposition of the car after the "salt" settled?
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By slumlord444 - 11 Years Ago
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The side trim is wrong. Pre production or modified later on?
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By PF Arcand - 11 Years Ago
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Just speculation, but I'm wondering if one of the cars used for the Bonneville records, might have also been used later for Unser's USAC racing? Apparently in mid 1957, after Ford pulled the plug on their racing programs, per AMA agreement, Hot Rod Mag sponsered his car. Yeah, hard to believe now, since Chevrolet has had their attention almost exclusively in the last 15 years or more. But, my point is that in 1958, Unser who had been injured previously & was not entirely well, entered Pikes Peak again with a 57 Ford, but lost control & rolled it. It might explain why only one car is being sold & advertised as the "record car".
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By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
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Paul, The 57 that Jerry drove at Pikes Peak was a custom style body and was sponsered by Hot Rod Magizine,the endurance car was a Fairlane body, also the car that Jerry won the 57 U.S.A.C. championship was a custom body sponsored by Lodge spark plugs. The usac car was built by DePalo eng, sold to Holman Moody and Ralph Moody came in 2nd in the U.S.A.C. standings. Tom
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By Y block Billy - 11 Years Ago
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This site is just too much a wealth of information and I hope I can pass half this info on to my grandsons!
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By Dennis K. - 11 Years Ago
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Re Patent Plate Paint Codes and VIN ...
An assumption made is the patent plate is original.
The 49-57 Ford Parts Book indicates paint code S = Special. In earlier years, SS = Special Paints.
Re VIN number: M7F 100009
M (Engine) Being such as early car, the 1956 engine code may of still been used.
7 (Model Year) = 1957
F (Assy Plant) = Dearborn
Blank (Body Style) = Blank The unique trim may explain the blank body code?
100009 = Consecutive Unit Number
I looked thru my internal paperwork collection and there is a VIN listed with the same Assy Plt and CUN, which I assume is this car as:
"C7FT100009 Horton, driver"
C would be a 292 2V, F= Dearborn, and T= Fairlane/Fairlane 500 Sedan
Any idea who driver "Horton" is? The name is also assigned for driving a convertible. I looked thru a copy of "Dust and the Glory" and the name doesn't appear anywhere.
Re engine code, it wasn't unusual for Ford to use an incorrect engine code on early models. I've seen it occur on early Lightweight Galaxies, Thunderbolts, and 68 Lightweight CJ Mustangs. I think this may of had more to do with the code not yet set up in the system or the punch not yet being available.
Wonder what the VIN is stamped on the frame? Is there a way to find out?
Regards,
Dennis
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By Ted - 11 Years Ago
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Dennis. Thanks for the additional info. That M engine code makes more sense now and especially with this car potentially being a very early production car.
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By davis - 11 Years Ago
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i did catch that at the Knotts Ford show back on the 21st.
Fabulous Fords Forever Knotts 2013.249 by PrimerPodcast, on Flickr
Fabulous Fords Forever Knotts 2013.449 by PrimerPodcast, on Flickr
Fabulous Fords Forever Knotts 2013.450 by PrimerPodcast, on Flickr
for that money, i'd want a hardtop.
just my opinion of course.
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By Red_John - 11 Years Ago
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I went to the Unser Muselum in Albuquerque last weekend. That was a real treat. The only disappointment was that there were none of the Unser stock cars in the museum and certainly no mention of y-blocks. It appears to be Bobby's museum as there are a lot of his dirt track and other race cars. Good Indy exhibits. Bobby has a good collection of Model A's that he has restored. Well worth the couple of hours that it will take to visit. Also hit the Nucleur Energy Museum for a couple of hours. Another great exhibit.
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By Red_John - 11 Years Ago
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I wanted to add this photo to the message above.
This is a photo of some of the first generation of American Unsers. These are early Pikes Peak race cars -- mid '30's. The road up Pike's Peak was just a rough graded road. One of these guys, Joe Unser was killed practicing on the road between Littleton and Colorado Springs. The car went off the road, was not damaged but Joe was found dead. I guess these were either front wheel or 4 wheel drive. I can't make out any steering mechanism. Can you imagine what it was like to be driving a load of vegetables in you little Model T or A and have one of these beasts bearing down on you on a narrow road?
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By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
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Millers?
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By PF Arcand - 11 Years Ago
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Frank: Millar front drive cars is likely a good guess.. Millar was I believe also involved in the evolution of the Offenhauser engines. Some of the engineering of those engines or cars was likely done by Leo Goosen.
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By bird55 - 11 Years Ago
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I can't tell from those small pictures but is it possible those are "rear-steer" cars? Just wondering. School me. I have never studied any of those hill-climbers before.
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By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
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PF Arcand (5/15/2013)
Frank: Millar front drive cars is likely a good guess.. Millar was I believe also involved in the evolution of the Offenhauser engines. Some of the engineering of those engines or cars was likely done by Leo Goosen.
There was some connection there. Not sure what it was. My Dad knew Millar (?) or so he said, but I was too dumb to press him on that issue. When they tore down the waterfront warehouses in Detroit around 1935-1940 he told me they found several old Indy Millers in there. The front wheel drive versions. Goosen was the designer of the The Offies, there were several versions including a Midget version (140 CI) and the larger Sprint car/ Indy car versions. Alan, those cars were Indy or Sprint cars, Front wheel drive, front wheel steering.
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By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
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I found quite a bit of info on Harry Miller by simply googling "Miller Race Cars" Turns out the original Offy was actually derived from a Miller engine. Check it out. There's also a connection to Ford, which may explain why some of the cars were found in Detroit. Must have happened after WWII though.
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