That way I was able to keep both hands on the steering wheel –we were in the top ten fastest and we won the over-2 litre class on the event.ĪF: Helen, what is it like sitting in the co-driver’s seat? I thought, ‘What on earth am I going to do?’ So I just put it in third and did the whole thing without changing gear once. There was a section that ran over the Abergwesyn Pass in, a massively steep, exceptionally narrow, 20-mile climb over the Cambrian Mountains with hairpin bend after hairpin bend. RS: One of the first events I did when I got the car was the RAC Historic Rally in Wales in the UK. In fact, it will even pull away in fourth gear if you want.ĪF: But how does that help with the handling? It has so much torque that you could do this entire rally in third gear if you wanted to, go up all the hills, through the hairpin bends and go down the straights at 65 mph no problem. It is pretty hard work, but it will actually go around hairpin bends.ĪF: It must be a handful, though, surely? But it does have power steering and you can do handbrake turns in it. RS:Ah, yes, I have to admit it doesn’t stop very well, and it doesn’t like corners much either. It’s got lots of torque, so it’s pretty amazing in a straight line.ĪF:But what happens when you want to slow down or go around a corner? RS: Well it’s got a 4.7 litre or 289 cubic inch V8 engine that’s mildly tuned to produce around 200 bhp, and a four-speed manual gearbox. Henry was a three-times French Rally Champion, he used the Ford Falcon to take the title in 1964, and he raced successfully at Le Mans too – he passed away four years ago and he was a really great guy. RS: I used to work for Michelin and part of the reason that I created a replica of Henry Greder’s car is that I met him when I ran the Michelin service crew when he and Marie Claude Beaumont were driving Opel Asconas on the 1971 to 1973 RAC rallies. The car actually lives in France with Dad, I live in Germany and this is our third visit to the Eifel Rallye Festival, which we absolutely love. Formula 1 driver Jo Schlesser and his co-driver Claude Le Guezec brought the other one home in 11th place that year. That was one of two cars entered by Ford France. HS: Yes, not of the Ljungfeldt car, but of its sister car, in which French crew Henry Greder and Martial Delalande finished the ’64 Monte in 19th place. RS: I have simply no idea how he drove it around those narrow mountain roads in the snow. He was fastest on every stage, but because of the handicap advantage given to smaller cars, the event was won by Paddy Hopkirk in a Mini Cooper S. Swedish race and rally driver Bo Ljungfeldt almost won the event. RS: Under a Ford contract, Alan Mann Racing in the UK prepared eight Falcon Sprints for the 1964 Monte Carlo rally. At least because it is unique we always get an entry on events.ĪF: Tell us about the history, if you would. But we also meet folk who know a lot about it, and how it was rallied in the ’60s. A lot of people do ask us what it is – some think it is a Zodiac or a Zephyr. Helen Sinclair: It’s a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint, the ancestor of the Ford Mustang if you like, which came out later in 1964 using the same platform but with a more sporty body. It cost around another £1,000 to bring it back to the UK, but even so that still made it a very affordable classic car.ĪF: I’ve never seen one before in the metal, at least not as a rally car. and it cost me $5,000, which was the equivalent of £2,500 back then. I bought it in 1990, when the prices of old cars were going through the roof. The product images shown may not be an exact representation of the actual product.Ron Sinclair: The honest answer is because it was cheap to buy. The installation of this system should be done by a professional mechanic or a very knowledgeable amateur. For example, you can have maximum power assist while on a parking lot, and less on the highway. A potentiometer gives you control over the amount of assistance provided, allowing you to fine tune your EPAS experience. The computer measures the amount of effort on the steering wheel and amplifies it with the aid of the electric motor.
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