"Justin Hughes" (justinhughes54)
11/19/2014 at 18:56 • Filed to: None
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"Justin Hughes" (justinhughes54)
11/19/2014 at 18:56 • Filed to: None | 12
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By now we've all seen !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in his !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The title that appears at 1:10 proclaims the Hoonicorn to be "the only all wheel drive performance Mustang ever built." This may be true, but it is not the first all wheel drive Mustang. For that, we need to go back nearly 50 years.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Harry Ferguson Research was an early pioneer in AWD systems for cars. In 1961, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! became the first - and only - AWD Formula 1 car to ever win a race, the Oulton Park Gold Cup. (It was driven by some bloke called Stirling Moss.) But what Ferguson really wanted was to sell their design to a major auto manufacturer.
In 1965, Ferguson bought three new Mustangs, had them shipped to their factory in the UK, and converted them to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The 289 c.i. V8 remained the same, but the car gained center and front differentials, a forward output shaft, and halfshafts to the front wheels. The system added just 196 pounds to the car. Power was distributed 37% to the front and 63% to the rear. Those numbers may sound familiar to BMW fans - more than 20 years later, the 325iX, BMW's first AWD car, would get the same torque split to maintain their familiar rear wheel drive handling characteristics, exactly as Ferguson did for the Mustang.
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According to Motor magazine, Ferguson chose the Mustang in particular because it would demonstrate the benefits of AWD to "maximum advantage." The writer followed one of Ferguson's converted Mustangs in a standard RWD model on a "spirited" drive, and described "astonishing acceleration on a surface with very little grip and if you tried to stay with it on the corners you spun ignominiously."
Despite high hopes by Ferguson, Ford had no interest in adopting their AWD system for the Mustang. But imagine if they did. Ford was competing in European rallies such as the Monte Carlo at the time, having recently replaced the Falcon with the Mustang. Ford could have dominated the world rally scene with AWD Mustangs, fifteen years before the Audi Quattro would bring AWD to rally in 1980.
Ferguson's effort was not a complete waste, however. Two years later, in 1967, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Ferguson Formula) would incorporate Ferguson's AWD into a stretched Interceptor, along with Dunlop Maxaret anti-lock brakes and traction control.
norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
> Justin Hughes
11/19/2014 at 18:58 |
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became the first - and only - Formula 1 car to ever win a race
Lol, wut?
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Justin Hughes
> norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/19/2014 at 19:02 |
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There were other AWD F1 cars that competed, mainly in the 1960s before they were later banned, but the P99 was the only one that ever won. And the Oulton Park Gold Cup wasn't even an official F1 race.
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norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
> Justin Hughes
11/19/2014 at 19:05 |
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Ah, I got confused...
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Justin Hughes
> norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/19/2014 at 19:14 |
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No, you found a typo. I fixed it. Thanks!
SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
> Justin Hughes
11/19/2014 at 19:21 |
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the only all wheel drive performance Mustang ever built
First of motherfucking all, performance can mean a lot of things
Second of all, 4WD mustangs are, uh, beautiful creatures.
Sn210
> Justin Hughes
11/19/2014 at 21:06 |
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I got to see the one at the Saratoga Auto Museum this past summer. It was pretty awesome to see. Plus, fender mirrors!
Dsscats
> SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
11/19/2014 at 21:36 |
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.....I've seen 2 of the cars you posted in person....... Wut.
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SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
> Dsscats
11/19/2014 at 21:40 |
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wut... where do you live that you've seen TWO of these whatchamacallits/which ones?
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Dsscats
> SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
11/19/2014 at 22:05 |
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#1 and the bottom one on a Bronco chassis
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Justin Hughes
> Sn210
11/19/2014 at 22:41 |
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If my top pic looks familiar, that's because it's of the same car in the same place as your pics. The Saratoga Auto Museum is where I first learned of these cars and got most of the information I wrote about them! Not to mention why the Brits call them "wing mirrors," since fender = wing in the Queen's English.
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Sn210
> Justin Hughes
11/19/2014 at 22:55 |
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I knew it was! It's a neat little museum, I've been a couple times. The Mustang exhibit was cool, I liked the state trooper fox body and the Hertz
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Justin Hughes
> Sn210
11/19/2014 at 23:25 |
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Yep, I liked those myself. And the Eleanor replica.
And all the other cool stuff. I went last year for the BMW exhibit as well.
DonJugless
> Justin Hughes
11/20/2014 at 10:59 |
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Interesting. Presumably the same car I saw in the Tampa Bay Auto Museum early last year. I must've just missed the Mustang exhibit at Saratoga when I passed through there in early April.
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Justin Hughes
> DonJugless
11/20/2014 at 11:14 |
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You're probably right. The car is owned by a couple from Pinellas Pines, FL, so it wouldn't surprise me if they loan it out to all kinds of museums.
TNuge60
> SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
11/20/2014 at 11:31 |
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The statement was "first all wheel drive PERFORMANCE Mustang ever built". It doesn't look like those drag racers up top are all wheel drive and the following four wheel drive 'Stang's are mudder's, not high performance race cars. The man built one hell of an awesome machine!!! Give him his due is all I'm trying to say..
I-Want-My-850-Back
> SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
12/18/2014 at 13:08 |
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That Rangstang is causing me to develop the weirdest boner...