Survivor Thunderbolts

jt Teuton · 12-27-2012, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris ok

I would love to see pics of the Factory built Ford Thunderbolts that still exist today. I've read 60 of the 100 still exist, with 17 of them restored by Randy DeLisio. I met Randy last week and found him to be a great guy w some amazing restoration history of American Iron icons. I found pictures of Nazy Crate but do not know how to post them , plus they are not mine, of course.
Chris O'Keefe

Don't forget the gas Rhonda t bolt which is in Milton,fla owned by willed d and Lyle smith they raced it in the 70sarea and 80s.also dallas Kelly in the wrecking crew car.still racing today. Does anyone have pictures of these cars?

DRAKE VISCOME · 12-27-2012, 10:31 AM

Hey Guys...Gaspar Rhonda's (one...very...very...special "dude"/gentleman/racer!) '64 NHRA World Champion Russ Davis Ford Thunderbolt...think it ended up in Pacific Northwest (Jeff Wittig?)...purchased by..."Mad Dawg" Bob Glidden hisself...realizing early on... he had no time for this "project"...longtime friends/ early crew Harold Stout/Larry Spain initially ran the car in the red/white/blue Glidden/Allen "colors"...later going all red paint...sold to Willie D. & son Lyle Smith...good guys/racers... in Florida who raced it a few years (still own)...for sure Dallas Kelly ran his "Homewrecker" T-bolt hard early-mid '70's as well...Oklahoma's Connie Moore/ Michigan-Ray Pacquet came to the "party"... a lil' later in the "fray"... (still the basis of Ray's "today" car)...over on the H.A.M.B....hokey *** message board section...there is a thread dedicated to Thunderbolts...a awful lot of early info/photos...about 200 pages long...guess there's still a lot of interest...in the ol' Ford shoebox...as "Nazy Crate" called 'em...

Drake

Hemi Moose · 12-27-2012, 05:27 PM

A few before & after shots of Gas Ronda's 1964 Thunder Bolt...

DRAKE VISCOME · 12-27-2012, 05:40 PM

Hey "Moose"...geez...it's real good to see that car again...Gas...the former dance instructor (said all the other stuff in previous post)...a still very handsome "movie star" like devil @ 80 plus...looks not a day over 40 (has found the fountain of youth for sure)...a class act that never goes out of style...the late Les Richey's Performance Associates "help" ...with somewhat un-heralded longtime super-wrench Cliff Brian...Russ Davis Ford dealership..."dem's"...were the daze 'eh...seems like just... yesterday

Drake...the Downtown Ford deal ended early in the "life" of the T-Bolt...they had...however...long been a part of Gas's racing career/cars for some time time in earlier (years) Galaxies as well...

DRAKE VISCOME · 12-29-2012, 11:35 PM

Hey...here's a photo...of legend...Gaspar (Gas) Rhonda...with Tom Caldara...(the longtime partner with Nate "Nazy Crate" Cohen)...two "boys" still lookin' pretty good 'eh...Gas @ 80...Tommy @ 68... and counting...love 'em both...

inquiring minds want to know...could it be the "air" quality on the west coast???!!! Drake

GRAPE · 12-30-2012, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

A few before & after shots of Gas Ronda's 1964 Thunder Bolt...

Front bumper seams longer on side of the Russ Davis version also no tow tabs

DRAKE VISCOME · 12-30-2012, 03:37 PM

Hey Grape..."first" bumper in photo on car (maroon) was fiberglass...second bumper in photo was aluminum (orange) hence "seams"...the first 11 cars produced by Andy Hotten/Dearborn Steel Tubing for Ford Motor Company were maroon (and given to their "chosen" racers)...the rest were all white...Gas always had a trailer to carry...not sure why the "change" in bumper along with paint (although orange color with/lettering style was Russ Davis "colors" with Gas through the AFX Mustang & later series of funny cars as well...Drake...p.s....not sure if my "re-call" is correct...but Plaza Fiberglass (Ontario,Canada) made fiberglass components for FoMoCo T-Bolts,Falcon,AFX Mustang... very early stuff was kind of heavy...they did make some lighter stuff later on...also possibly "re-call" (memory?) that front of car was damaged in towing/trailer accident...not terrible "damage"...hence bumper replacement though

..."our"(originally was Bill Rick Ford/Centraila,Illinois-pictured elsewhere on this thread under our Carmel Ford banner in mid/late 70's "form")) T-Bolt (original white) had aluminum front bumper being like # in the seventies (production wise of 111 produced)...NHRA does "accept" both...at least...now

Hemi Moose · 12-31-2012, 08:28 PM

troublemaker427 · 01-04-2013, 12:19 PM

The total number of 1964 Thunderbolts built was 100. I have the VIN list and a Thunderbolt has never been found that was outside of this 100 on the list.

They were produced at DST as follows:

Group 1

October 1963
Consisted of 11 cars, all vintage burgundy
- 10 Four Speeds, 1 Automatic
Group 2

December 1963 - Feb 1964
Consisted of 39 cars, all white
- 9 Four Speeds, 30 Automatics
Group 3

March - May 1964
Consisted of 50 cars, all white
- 22 Four Speeds, 28 Automatics

Yes there were more automatics built than 4-speeds. Many of the automatics were converted to 4-speeds as the Lincoln auto trans just wasn't fast. Dearborn Steel Tubing actually sold a conversion kit to install a 4-speed into an auto car.

It is unknown an exact reason why there were a greater number of autos over 4-speeds. Possibly Ford wanted to compete with the Mopars but it just didn't work out with the Lincoln transmission.

ww63 · 01-04-2013, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Where is this thing at today? Last I knew it was on the west coast and I think went thru a auction. Was still black with the gold tricks

12-27-2012, 10:31 AM	#2
DRAKE VISCOME Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 277 Likes: 204 Liked 92 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts Hey Guys...Gaspar Rhonda's (one...very...very...special "dude"/gentleman/racer!) '64 NHRA World Champion Russ Davis Ford Thunderbolt...think it ended up in Pacific Northwest (Jeff Wittig?)...purchased by..."Mad Dawg" Bob Glidden hisself...realizing early on... he had no time for this "project"...longtime friends/ early crew Harold Stout/Larry Spain initially ran the car in the red/white/blue Glidden/Allen "colors"...later going all red paint...sold to Willie D. & son Lyle Smith...good guys/racers... in Florida who raced it a few years (still own)...for sure Dallas Kelly ran his "Homewrecker" T-bolt hard early-mid '70's as well...Oklahoma's Connie Moore/ Michigan-Ray Pacquet came to the "party"... a lil' later in the "fray"... (still the basis of Ray's "today" car)...over on the H.A.M.B....hokey *** message board section...there is a thread dedicated to Thunderbolts...a awful lot of early info/photos...about 200 pages long...guess there's still a lot of interest...in the ol' Ford shoebox...as "Nazy Crate" called 'em... Drake Last edited by DRAKE VISCOME; 12-27-2012 at 06:20 PM.

12-27-2012, 05:27 PM	#3
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts A few before & after shots of Gas Ronda's 1964 Thunder Bolt... Last edited by Hemi Moose; 12-27-2012 at 05:40 PM.

12-27-2012, 05:40 PM	#4
DRAKE VISCOME Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 277 Likes: 204 Liked 92 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts Hey "Moose"...geez...it's real good to see that car again...Gas...the former dance instructor (said all the other stuff in previous post)...a still very handsome "movie star" like devil @ 80 plus...looks not a day over 40 (has found the fountain of youth for sure)...a class act that never goes out of style...the late Les Richey's Performance Associates "help" ...with somewhat un-heralded longtime super-wrench Cliff Brian...Russ Davis Ford dealership..."dem's"...were the daze 'eh...seems like just... yesterday Drake...the Downtown Ford deal ended early in the "life" of the T-Bolt...they had...however...long been a part of Gas's racing career/cars for some time time in earlier (years) Galaxies as well... Last edited by DRAKE VISCOME; 12-27-2012 at 07:48 PM.

12-29-2012, 11:35 PM	#5
DRAKE VISCOME Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 277 Likes: 204 Liked 92 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts Hey...here's a photo...of legend...Gaspar (Gas) Rhonda...with Tom Caldara...(the longtime partner with Nate "Nazy Crate" Cohen)...two "boys" still lookin' pretty good 'eh...Gas @ 80...Tommy @ 68... and counting...love 'em both... inquiring minds want to know...could it be the "air" quality on the west coast???!!! Drake Last edited by DRAKE VISCOME; 12-29-2012 at 11:43 PM.

12-30-2012, 03:37 PM	#7
DRAKE VISCOME Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 277 Likes: 204 Liked 92 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts Hey Grape..."first" bumper in photo on car (maroon) was fiberglass...second bumper in photo was aluminum (orange) hence "seams"...the first 11 cars produced by Andy Hotten/Dearborn Steel Tubing for Ford Motor Company were maroon (and given to their "chosen" racers)...the rest were all white...Gas always had a trailer to carry...not sure why the "change" in bumper along with paint (although orange color with/lettering style was Russ Davis "colors" with Gas through the AFX Mustang & later series of funny cars as well...Drake...p.s....not sure if my "re-call" is correct...but Plaza Fiberglass (Ontario,Canada) made fiberglass components for FoMoCo T-Bolts,Falcon,AFX Mustang... very early stuff was kind of heavy...they did make some lighter stuff later on...also possibly "re-call" (memory?) that front of car was damaged in towing/trailer accident...not terrible "damage"...hence bumper replacement though ..."our"(originally was Bill Rick Ford/Centraila,Illinois-pictured elsewhere on this thread under our Carmel Ford banner in mid/late 70's "form")) T-Bolt (original white) had aluminum front bumper being like # in the seventies (production wise of 111 produced)...NHRA does "accept" both...at least...now Last edited by DRAKE VISCOME; 12-30-2012 at 05:13 PM.

12-31-2012, 08:28 PM	#8
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts

01-04-2013, 12:19 PM	#9
troublemaker427 Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hampstead, MD. Posts: 422 Likes: 282 Liked 64 Times in 23 Posts	Re: Survivor Thunderbolts The total number of 1964 Thunderbolts built was 100. I have the VIN list and a Thunderbolt has never been found that was outside of this 100 on the list. They were produced at DST as follows: Group 1 October 1963 Consisted of 11 cars, all vintage burgundy - 10 Four Speeds, 1 Automatic Group 2 December 1963 - Feb 1964 Consisted of 39 cars, all white - 9 Four Speeds, 30 Automatics Group 3 March - May 1964 Consisted of 50 cars, all white - 22 Four Speeds, 28 Automatics Yes there were more automatics built than 4-speeds. Many of the automatics were converted to 4-speeds as the Lincoln auto trans just wasn't fast. Dearborn Steel Tubing actually sold a conversion kit to install a 4-speed into an auto car. It is unknown an exact reason why there were a greater number of autos over 4-speeds. Possibly Ford wanted to compete with the Mopars but it just didn't work out with the Lincoln transmission. __________________ Jody Aberts Troublemaker2 1966 Fairlane 427 Last edited by troublemaker427; 01-04-2013 at 12:34 PM.