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Larry's 65 Falcon has undergone many
changes in the last few years. It was originally built as a drag
car, but was transformed into a road racer soon afterward when Larry realized how
much he loved road racing. The body is a 65 Falcon Ranchero, but
not much on it remains stock.
The engine was replaced with a Ford
Cosworth Nascar 358ci engine, which produces 710 horsepower at 9000
rpm. The cam was replaced with one that will pull the car out of
the corners on road courses and to make it more streetable. This
gives it more low-end torque and lowers the powerband a bit. Even
in this setup, it still puts out over 660 horsepower and sounds
awesome! The weight of the car is somewhere around 2900 pounds, so
horsepower-to-weight ratio is very good. It does run on 91 octane,
although it's not a good idea to beat on it without race gas. You
would never suspect this horsepower from a mild-looking 351-based block
with a single four-barrel.
The suspension has been totally redone,
and again virtually nothing remains stock. In the rear, a
floating 9-inch allows the suspension to work around corners, and the
9-inch will provide plenty of strength for the power the engine
makes. The tranny is a Tremec T-56 6-speed, which works with a road
racing clutch.
Brakes are Wilwoods with 6-piston calipers in
the front, 4-piston calipers in the rear.
A full roll cage protects the driver, and
racing seats hold him in place. A full array of gauges have also
been installed to monitor the vitals.
Basically, the car can hold it's own
against literally anything on the road course, up to and including
Nascar race cars. It has the power and handling to to embarass
anything short of $400k, and has the best sounding engine (in my humble
opinion): a V8.
Click on the links to see more pics. |