Ford Falcon Sprint, 1964 Monte Carlo livery: Complete (#14 for 2019)

Another one done. There are some small differences between this build and period photos of Bo Ljungfeldt's 1964 Monte Carlo drive, but the fact is that period photos show several different locations for things like the Monte Carlo plate, license plate, etc. So it will have to do.



I am pretty sure the Monte Carlo car did not have a radio or antenna, but I forgot to fill in the hole in the body prior to painting, so the antenna was necessary.



The Trumpeter kit is decent but getting the body to fit the chassis was a struggle, and the bumpers are not clearly located until after the chassis has been sorted out. So if you build this, leave the bumpers and the grille until last, unlike what is laid out in the instruction sheet.



Fred likes the Holman and Moody engine, a 289 making 300 horsepower, and the 4-speed box, but Doris feels the interior, with door panels and carpets stripped out, is somewhat Spartan.



Here it is posing next to Tamiya's 1967 Monte-winning Mini. The Falcon apparently won all the stages in 1964, but was relegated to 2nd (behind another Mini and ahead of Erik "On The Roof" Carlsson in a Saab 96) by handicap rules that favoured small motors. With more than twice the displacement of the Mini and the Saab combined, there is obviously an argument the Falcon needed reining in...



What's next? Well, I have a '63 Galaxie in the stash, and building up Gentleman Jack Sears' 427-powered monster that terrorised British saloon racing is on the list. Lots of famous drivers had a ball with it, including Graham Hill and Jim Clark. And while the drums and handling were dodgy compared to the competition (3.8 Jag Mark IIs, largely), even a short straight was more than enough for the 427 to open up a huge gap. Stay tuned!