So my dad had a brief spurt of spilling beans

"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst) 04/14/2014 at 19:17 • Filed to: memories

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I was watching the latest episode of big muscle when he came in, and he was curious about what I was watching, so I explained the premise of the series, and what the current car was.

Then he tells me about how cop cars are always "hopped up," which isn't news, but he said that in 1968, the Ford cop cars has 428 blocks. The 427 Cobra Jet he had was "factory rated" for 330hp, but he said on a dyno it was good for 520, factory fresh, no mods.

Then he said there was a Ford 408 engine that was banned at many drag strips because of how light and fast it was, it would just blow everyone else away.

He had one of these, same body, probably steelies with it, and it was painted Sea Green from the factory. Different hood though. One day, if I can find one, I'll try to rebuild as close to what he had as possible.

Philbert/Phartnagle > JGrabowMSt 04/14/2014 at 20:19

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COOL!

Note: That was probably a 428 Cobra Jet and the 408 was a 406 unless it had been bored out a bit. The factories rated the HP low back then because of the insurance companies penalizing high HP cars. If the factory really admitted to what the HP was, then no one would buy the cars because they couldn't afford insurance for them.

A high school buddy of mine had a 67 Fairlane GTA that looked similar to the picture in dark blue. It had a hopped up 390, C6 auto trans and 4.11 gears in it. Ran pretty darn good for a high schooler's car.

JGrabowMSt > Philbert/Phartnagle 04/14/2014 at 21:23

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About the 428, the only reason I'm 100% certain it's a 427 is because the car was built wrong at the factory. It was ordered as a 2 door fast back with the 428, but was delivered as a 2 door sedan with 427. Very strange situation indeed, because the dealer didn't even know that his car had been delivered for about a week, because they knew what he ordered, and the car that arrived didn't match at all. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when my dad went to pick it up finally. It also had glaspacks and in his words "the cops knew whenever he was within two blocks" and also whenever he was leaving the house in the morning. What I also know is that my dad had the car for just about 8 months and sold it because it was too expensive for him to keep (in terms of maintenance) at the time, and the guy he sold it to wrapped it around a telephone pole about two months after buying it. It would be pretty cool to have the original paperwork with the car if it were still around, definitely one of the more interesting factory screw ups. Running the VIN number today would result in a real mess. Unfortunately, I don't think my dad has any record of it at this point other than his memories (he was about 18, going on 19 when he owned the car).

He dated an airline stewardess around the same time he had the car, and took it onto an airport runway, up to 127 (so he admits). It had a 4 speed manual, which he says would do 60 in first, 90 in second, and you never went into 3rd. And if you popped the clutch in 4th you'd still burn rubber. Unfortunately, that's about all I know about the car. It would be a real conversation piece if it were still around. That car is also the reason my dad doesn't go to car shows anymore. He has been looking for one, not to buy, but just to see, and in the past 14 years of going to car shows nearly all over the Northeast, he and I have never managed to find one. I've seen older Fairlanes, but never that same body style. He had a handful of other muscle cars, like a GT350 fastback and a few AC Cobras (no stories about those, unfortunately). The only reason he even bought the Fairlane at the time was that he wanted to know "what the fuss was about" with the big V8 muscle cars. He worked several jobs at the time, so it wasn't exactly a financial burden for him to have any of them, but the Fairlane and the GT350 were the only two that he didn't wreck in some way.

He had old Saabs that he hated, a couple old Volvos that he hated, and then in the heart of the malaise era, he grew to own several Pintos and Pinto wagons that saw over 100k miles each. He learned on a 50's Buick that had 55 horsepower, as he used to tell me often, as I learned on an 89 Omni with "roughly 78hp," though that was not really believed, because we all think it was an unbadged GLH. That was sold a couple years ago with 78k original miles on it to someone who hopefully takes care of it. But the bulk of his car related stories center around that Fairlane. He probably misses that one the most because of all the things he did when he had one of the fastest cars on the road*. The one strange thing is that he owned it about the same time he was going to photography school in NYC, but in all of the family pictures we've gone through in the house, which go back to before he graduated high school, there isn't a single picture of any of his cars until a little after he started to date my mom.

*Once in a while he'll mention drag racing on ice, as well as drag racing on Rt 80 before it was finished, so I'm completely confident that he made plenty of money on the side destroying tires left and right. Considering that he mentions how often he had to change spark plugs and do general maintenance, I'm confident that it wasn't just a "grocery getter" like he'd want people to believe.

Philbert/Phartnagle > JGrabowMSt 04/14/2014 at 21:34

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Cool!

Yes it could be and evidently was purchased with a 427, but the 427's didn't ever share the Cobra Jet name that I ever saw (yes, I am that old. ;)). That's what tripped me up. Maybe they swapped out the engines and just left some badging in place.

JGrabowMSt > Philbert/Phartnagle 04/14/2014 at 21:38

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I'm not nearly old enough to do much more than go off what he's let out. Unfortunately it's hard to get him interested enough to start talking to begin with. In part, he hates the Mercedes that I'm looking to buy this year, so it doesn't help that I'm always taking it to shows. He's also past the point in life where he's willing to get up so early just to walk around and look at cars. I've gotten him to go to one car show in the past 3 years. He just shook his head as he walked around the SL, said the tires looked low, and moved along.

He has a way with words, to say the least.

Philbert/Phartnagle > JGrabowMSt 04/14/2014 at 23:25

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That's good enough. I was just looking to verify exactly what it was, therefore the statements and questions I asked about it. If you guys still had it I'd sure bet it is one rare vehicle, which was not uncommon in those days as you could pretty much get whatever you wanted because the dealers back then would go that extra mile to satisfy a customer.

Maybe find out if he'd be interested in a golf cart or some kind of buggy to cruise around in and look at cars? I'm thinking that if he is in my age range or a bit older that he probably has the same aches and pains that I deal with on a daily basis. I got an electric golf cart and a small UTV to buzz around on and they get me out and about much farther than I'd ever feel like walking.

JGrabowMSt > Philbert/Phartnagle 04/14/2014 at 23:40

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He turns 69 later this year. He had some very strange 1950's surgery after breaking his arm pretty high up in the late 50's, so it involved some sort of ritual magic, and moving muscles around, and all sorts of things that just aggravate at least one compressed disc in his back. He's against doctors, despite clearly needing at least some sort of physical therapy to help it. I just turned 23 a couple weeks ago, but I've got my own back problems, so I do know the feeling, and it's pretty tough to deal with. The last time I had x-rays done, well, the chiropractor made a really strange face, and then asked me how old I was again (at the time I was 19). He'll still go out for walks in the woods, but it's not getting any easier.

I wish I had more detailed information about the cars. We have so much about the family history, but literally next to nothing about most of the cars. I have a couple pictures of one of the Pinto Wagons, but that's it. It's weird because there are thousands of pictures. Next time I can get him talking, I'll try to clear things up a little more, and see if I can get stories about the cobras (I think there were somewhere around 5-7 of them, within 3 years, including the 289 and 427, each one met it's demise with a woodland creature, as I understand it right now).

Philbert/Phartnagle > JGrabowMSt 04/15/2014 at 02:02

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Well, he's a good bit older than I am at 55, so I can imagine how he might feel health/body wise.

I had a couple of bad accidents at work and as a result I am left pretty much totally disabled. In my experience I'd recommend that you stay away from chiropractors. Because of work comp insisting I see one and their subsequent mishandling of my injuries I have been left with permanent nerve damage and pain. I won't ever go to a chiropractor again as long as I live. It's much better to get the damage repaired as soon as possible and let it heal well before you go putting any stress on the injury.