Favorite Mustang FC (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter TopFuel@Lions
- Start date
junglevsbrutus
Nitro Member
Hi James, it's good to see you here. It's been a long time since our old Yahoo FC Group.
I'm about to post my favorite Mustang FC so be ready—cause you're part of my story!
junglevsbrutus
Nitro Member
Here's my favorite Mustang FC—Tommy Grove's '71 Mach 1. My choice is more about the racer himself than this particular FC. When I look back at the development of the FC and its golden age I can't think of a better Ford standard bearer. Grove outlasted all of his original fellow FoMoCo racers. Ford seriously attacked the FC wars in '66 w/ a fleet of Holman-Moody long-nosed Mustangs. Grove had the blue-gold flaked "Ford Charger." Dick Brannan's carried the same colors in reverse: gold-blue metalflake. Others included Gas Ronda, Phil Bonner, Al Joniec's "Bat Car" and arguably the most well remembered, the colorful Tasca Ford "Mystery 9" driven by Bill Lawton.
From this formidable team of Mustangs,Tom Grove was the only one to win an NHRA event in '66. He entered the Springnationals and emerged victorious in Competition Eliminator by defeating the B/FD of Dan Stillens in the final. 12 months later Grove returned to pull off a rare NHRA feat. He won again w/ the same Mustang but in a different category. The '67 Springnationals was NHRA's third and final visit to Bristol and it offered the 2nd-ever FC Eliminator. Short of a full 16-car field, the participants were nonetheless top tier including Dyno Don, Schartman, Chrisman, Leal, the Lime Fire and Tasca Ford. Against these flip-tops Grove's outdated AWB Mustang emerged victorious, including a final round win against Maynard Rupp's flashy STP Cougar!
A few weeks after the '67 Springnationals we saw Grove's first flip-top at Irwindale, my very first trip to the drags.
It was a simple all white Mustang w/ blue lettering and still unblown. Then, like so many after Jack Chrisman's amazing 7.60 at Indy, Grove added the blower plus some candy blue to the existing white. That "Ford Charger" raced through most of '68 until the fall.
That's when Tom Grove debuted his most glamorous FC, "The Going Thing" Mach 1. With a sleek Shedlik body and paint, sketched out by legendary Ford designer Larry Shinoda, the '69 Grove FC was a beauty. Many fans may not know the Mach 1 had subtle cobwebbing in all of its pearl white areas. If I had to pick a Tommy Grove FC based solely on looks this would be the one. Grove raced "The Going Thing" for nearly 2 years. But in mid '70 Tom debuted what had to be an interim "quick fix" funny, his stubby nosed Mach 1. I use that term cause Fiberglass LTD lopped off a few inches from the face of the OEM Mach 1 for improved aerodynamics. The grille had no indentation whatsoever and the headlight bezels were half the depth of a stock Mach 1. Dick Loehr's '69 and the '70 Foster's King Cobra used the same LTD body. The paint was just okay and the lettering was close to being horrible. But Grove still had a traditional dark candy blue and white Mustang so I loved reading about it.
That brings me to my pick, Tom Grove's '71 Mach 1. 1970 was a bit of a transitional year from the previous decade. Many top FCs were still competing w/ '69 machinery. Some put new bodies over old chassis. But it was also the year that the revolutionary narrow chassis/dragster cage designs began to dominate the class. Come '71 many racers felt it was time to step up to the times, so to speak. In many cases that meant switching to Hemi power. Additional Hemi's swept into FC as many established dragster teams were lured by the lucrative FC bookings. Meanwhile, several Ford racers left the class during these transitional years. First, Dyno Don, followed by Eddie Schartman and Dick Loehr. Ford was doing what Mopar did a few years earlier w/ Sox & Martin and Dick Landy. That is, to have their star drivers race and promote cars that looked closer to their showroom products. This of course, was the new Pro Stock class.
So against a sea of Hemi-powered FCs one man successfully carried the Ford banner w/ a SOHC motor, Mr. Tommy Grove! Because it'd been so long since we saw Grove in an actual new FC this '71 Mach 1 was an exciting arrival. It was also one of LSC's first dragster style chassis. The paint wasn't ultra flashy. The blue was only gloss instead of candy. But the white stripe design and lettering were very attractive. I just loved seeing Grove still at the helm of his Ford-powered FC! The photo I'm sharing shows our member James Morgan at his very first drag race at Aquasco Speedway. His dad used to take photos of him posing in front of the best FCs. Many years ago James described the race and I was able to look up the event's specifics in my FC notebook which I would create at the conclusion of each season. It was a great discovery for both of us and I'm glad I was able to find it. This action photo was also taken at Aquasco. Could it be the very same race....maybe!
From this formidable team of Mustangs,Tom Grove was the only one to win an NHRA event in '66. He entered the Springnationals and emerged victorious in Competition Eliminator by defeating the B/FD of Dan Stillens in the final. 12 months later Grove returned to pull off a rare NHRA feat. He won again w/ the same Mustang but in a different category. The '67 Springnationals was NHRA's third and final visit to Bristol and it offered the 2nd-ever FC Eliminator. Short of a full 16-car field, the participants were nonetheless top tier including Dyno Don, Schartman, Chrisman, Leal, the Lime Fire and Tasca Ford. Against these flip-tops Grove's outdated AWB Mustang emerged victorious, including a final round win against Maynard Rupp's flashy STP Cougar!
A few weeks after the '67 Springnationals we saw Grove's first flip-top at Irwindale, my very first trip to the drags.
It was a simple all white Mustang w/ blue lettering and still unblown. Then, like so many after Jack Chrisman's amazing 7.60 at Indy, Grove added the blower plus some candy blue to the existing white. That "Ford Charger" raced through most of '68 until the fall.
That's when Tom Grove debuted his most glamorous FC, "The Going Thing" Mach 1. With a sleek Shedlik body and paint, sketched out by legendary Ford designer Larry Shinoda, the '69 Grove FC was a beauty. Many fans may not know the Mach 1 had subtle cobwebbing in all of its pearl white areas. If I had to pick a Tommy Grove FC based solely on looks this would be the one. Grove raced "The Going Thing" for nearly 2 years. But in mid '70 Tom debuted what had to be an interim "quick fix" funny, his stubby nosed Mach 1. I use that term cause Fiberglass LTD lopped off a few inches from the face of the OEM Mach 1 for improved aerodynamics. The grille had no indentation whatsoever and the headlight bezels were half the depth of a stock Mach 1. Dick Loehr's '69 and the '70 Foster's King Cobra used the same LTD body. The paint was just okay and the lettering was close to being horrible. But Grove still had a traditional dark candy blue and white Mustang so I loved reading about it.
That brings me to my pick, Tom Grove's '71 Mach 1. 1970 was a bit of a transitional year from the previous decade. Many top FCs were still competing w/ '69 machinery. Some put new bodies over old chassis. But it was also the year that the revolutionary narrow chassis/dragster cage designs began to dominate the class. Come '71 many racers felt it was time to step up to the times, so to speak. In many cases that meant switching to Hemi power. Additional Hemi's swept into FC as many established dragster teams were lured by the lucrative FC bookings. Meanwhile, several Ford racers left the class during these transitional years. First, Dyno Don, followed by Eddie Schartman and Dick Loehr. Ford was doing what Mopar did a few years earlier w/ Sox & Martin and Dick Landy. That is, to have their star drivers race and promote cars that looked closer to their showroom products. This of course, was the new Pro Stock class.
So against a sea of Hemi-powered FCs one man successfully carried the Ford banner w/ a SOHC motor, Mr. Tommy Grove! Because it'd been so long since we saw Grove in an actual new FC this '71 Mach 1 was an exciting arrival. It was also one of LSC's first dragster style chassis. The paint wasn't ultra flashy. The blue was only gloss instead of candy. But the white stripe design and lettering were very attractive. I just loved seeing Grove still at the helm of his Ford-powered FC! The photo I'm sharing shows our member James Morgan at his very first drag race at Aquasco Speedway. His dad used to take photos of him posing in front of the best FCs. Many years ago James described the race and I was able to look up the event's specifics in my FC notebook which I would create at the conclusion of each season. It was a great discovery for both of us and I'm glad I was able to find it. This action photo was also taken at Aquasco. Could it be the very same race....maybe!
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