Article: Robbie Francevic's 427 Fairlane

[stubuchanan]

Actually there is a car the same size that was built to pre 65 regs, 2 pot 11" solid fronts/ 2 1/2" drums on the rear with 4bl 427/toploader/9" and handling yet to be sorted properly that saw off a certain red Boss Mustang 4 pot vented 12" fronts/4 pot vented 11 1/2" rears with SVO block webered 358/jerico/9" at the HD festival of speed! oops, sorry Dale I forgot, he wasn't trying. Now I'm for it!! lol


Attachment 21055

photo from flikr ( there is about 50 photos of it on Ground Sky Photography with Dale in persuit but I dont think I am allowed to use them)

Was this the little battle you mentioned?



And the next lap :



Camera says the time difference between the two pictures is 1 min 16 sec, does that mean trying hard or just enough to keep the Mustang behind.

Stu

[Steve Holmes]

Jac Mac (or anyone else?), but chance would you happen to know any other specs on this car? Eg, what sort of gearbox, brakes, wheel widths etc did they use?

[Jac Mac]

Jac Mac (or anyone else?), but chance would you happen to know any other specs on this car? Eg, what sort of gearbox, brakes, wheel widths etc did they use?

Ford Top Loader box, bull nose input/31 spline mainshaft ( 2.32/1 low close ratio gearset)
Front brakes K/H mustang discs/4pot cast iron calipers @ front, finned rear drums, Detroit locker 31/spline rear axle, non floating .
Steel widened wheels ( widened in the well, not outer bead area I believe around 8 inch wide. From pics here it looks like rear rims would be widened inwards to accommodate the wider rear axle assy.)
That is as it appeared when in the wrecking yard and after being converted into the road car incidently and the motor was only a 332 at the time of the fire so who knows what else might not be as it as when raced.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Jac, great info!

[Steve Holmes]

Not sure why I hadn't figured this out sooner, but MANZ introduced a 5.5 litre maximum engine size for the 1969 season, so the Fairlane was effectively outlawed. Whether Francevic and Kriletich would have continued if they could is not known, but the MANZ decision meant for the second year in a row they had a car that couldn't be raced anymore.

[Oldfart]

Wasn't that limit one of the few consistencies with overseas which MANZ as it was then put in place?

[bigbanger]

Wasn't that limit one of the few consistencies with overseas which MANZ as it was then put in place?

I don't think the 5.5 litre limit had anything to do with the FIA or similar. I recall it was settled on by MANZ to accommodate the Chev 327, however by that time the Chev 350 and Ford 351 were available, so the limit ended up causing issues in that regard. In hindsight, just another of the not well thought out decisions that came out of MANZ over the years.

[SPman]

At the annual Bay Park Easter event, in April 1968.....in the third race, it blew up

Was that when the radiator hose came off and dumped a load of water down the carby coming into the internal hairpin? I seem to remember someone doing that, with the car being suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke and steam........

[Roger Dowding]

Thought I would post my two photos here, after making the "gaff " with the description which has been on the back of these photos since 1968. was only 20 at the time .. so please excuse me.

[dickwatts26]

66 and 67 427 Fairlanes had discs on the front. I have a magazine article showing an ex drag racing 66 Fairlane being restored in the States with front discs. I also own a 66 /390 S code car that I am restoring and modifying