Cruising through the ebay listings I spotted something you don’t see every day, a 1965 A/FX 427 SOHC Mustang for sale. (Old listing, no longer available) These were special factory race cars, only 10 or 11 were built, and modified by Holman Moody for racing in the A Factory Experimental class. It has the 427 SOHC engine which was one of the engines Ford built to go after the Hemis and was built prior to their Boss 429.
I spent some time on the drag strip racing a 65 Mustang of my own just a few years after that, though certainly nothing of this caliber, but I clearly remember these cars and the effect they had on the Ford fans. Those were the days of Dyno Don, Grumpy Jenkins, Sox and Martin and so many more. Seeing this car brought all of those memories right back.
The car is expensive, last I checked the bidding is around $200,000, but it would be nice if someone with the resources to buy it actually took it out on the strip and made a few passes instead of parking it forever. This car should not gather dust till the end of time, it should make noise and go fast. We’ll see where it eventually turns up.
Duane Soper of Soper’s Honda of Gettysburg SD has one of these. He is restoring it to race at Oahe Speedway in Pierre SD this summer. It is this color Looks lpretty much original. He has a 427 BBF to power it.
Did a Bud Myer out of Corpus Christi race a 1965 model?. I would be interested in pictures or more info.. Thanks!
427 A/FX I LIKED IT !! I have a 66 GT 350 and the first Fastback GT K code made for 1966 for 35 years now, so now I am building a clone 65 Fastback 427 A/FX , I am looking for pictures and any web sites that show these cars, I have a Holman Moody motor, I see LONG GONE use a funky half leaf spring in it with the stock mustang front suspension…should I use a strait axel ? So many questions, I see them both ways, any help I would surely appreciate. Thanks for any guideance. Rick rick@dolog.com
Rick The choise is yours to do what makes you feel best. Remember these cars were changing all the time. Not all the Holman & Moody cars had the same front susp. If you can find any old mags with pics or visit a nostalgia drag show you will see there are plenty of cars with straight axels. I have the original 65 Mustang from Frontier Ford out of Niagra Falls. In 65 it was just a k code Mustang but over the winter Driver and wrench Jerry and Waddy Haman. (brothers) Waddy was the service manager and Jerry was the parts manager. Turned the car into the well known A/FX mustang see racing in the northeast. The car was a Blown Hipo 289 auto. To me the best thing about the car was on the front fenders they had it lettered saying ” worlds fastest 289″ In the spring of 1973 I purchased the car from Bob LaMarca the first owner after Frontier Ford sold the car. That makes it 37 & 1/2 years I have had the car. WOW time holds still for no man. Bob raced the car in upstate New York and made several changes trying to make the car quicker. I would quess he had at least 15 different engines in the car. Bobs father,older brother and bob owned an ran a speed shop on Empire Blvd. in Rochester NY. Bobs older brother was also the service manager at Frontier Ford.Thats how bob ended up with the car. My main point is the cars were under constant change trying to make them quicker. Also maybe the most important thing is these cars were not pretty like todays $200,00.00 rebuilt or CLONED cars. There were no mig or tig welders most heavy metals were welded with a stick and sheet metal was gas welded with coat hangers. Very little grinding to clean up for looks was done. The one main goal was GO QUICKER !!!!!! These real drag cars built back then were not ” NO GO SHOWBOATS ” Rule of thumb then was chrome won’t get you home….. If it dosen’t make the car faster you don’t need it…. The A/FX cars spun the tires 1320 feet and were going 160 MPH with no front brakes and lakewood 11″ drum brakes on the rear with a single stock mustang master cylinder. I wonder why there are so few original A/FX cars left?????? GOOD LUCK!!! Best Wishes!!! Moonerr………