The world went crazy this week with the release of Ford’s seventh pony car. The new Ford is the latest in a long and illustrious line of fast Fords.
We thought it was high time to remember the fast Fords that came before the seventh generation. We asked you for your favorites from the Blue Oval.
Here are some of the top suggestions we got.
“The best fast Ford is the 1901 ‘Sweepstakes’ race car piloted by Ford himself.
“539 cubes making 26hp where if Ford, a complete amateur, did not win against the race car driver of the time, Alexander Winton, Ford would’ve been sunk. Ford had to prove his car was reliable so investors would provide him with the capital he had to have—”all” he had to do was take on the Senna of his time and win. So basically an impossible task.
“It was a 10-mile endurance race reaching speeds of 70mph. Winton’s car broke down, so Ford proved the quality of his team’s work and his reputation was made due to Henry Ford’s one and only race win. Ford got his investors.
“So no Sweepstakes victory, then no FoMoCo, then no GT40, etc.—it all hinged on this car.”
It is a good place to begin.
One person may argue that this is a Cadillac. Yeardley68 will explain.
“This car attracted investors into the Henry Ford Company. Ford’s goal was to make lower priced cars. His investors goal was to make expensive cars.
“By 1903, Ford had been fired from the Henry Ford Company. Ford used his payoff to form the Ford Motor Company. The investors renamed Henry Ford to Cadillac.”
There’s more you know.
The 1969 Dodgecharger guy has a suggestion.
“The Ford RS200 because Group B. No more discussion needed!”
This is a genuine Ford article, and what a great one at that. The FordRS200 was powered by a single Ford- Cosworth engine that produced 250hp.
It was suggested by the person.
“I’d argue the 2000 Cobra R. It was so, SO special and so rare. They took the garbage Fox chassis and turned it into something that was beating C5 ZO6s in SCCA showroom stock. The motor was hilariously under rated at 385 hp, I’ve personally tested one and it made that at the wheels. Plus, look at that intake.
“Imagine popping the hood in 2000 with that beauty. The car came with a huge fuel cell instead of the normal mustang gas tank so that you could take it endurance racing. It had custom BFG tires. It ran 12s at a time when the fastest BMW barely broke into the 13s.”
We got the first suggestion for the Ford mustang from the early 2000s. The stang has a 5.4 liter V8 and is powered by 385hp.
It was suggested by: slitherish.
“The Mark 1 and 2 RS Escorts. One of the best rally cars of all time, even many modern drivers started out in one.”
There is a good history of the EscortRS. It will always be that car in the Fast & Furious scene.
It was suggested by Mike.
“The original GT40, and it’s not even close.”
The GT40 is considered to be America’s greatest car, so we wouldn’t mind missing it from our list.
It’s been suggested by Syscrush.
“The Escort Cosworth, one of the greatest rear wings ever made.”
If there was a ranking system, the Escort Cosworth would be at the top. A rally-derived road car with a Cosworth motor could hit speeds of up to 144 mph.
It was suggested by Brayden Mackie.
“The Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt.
“425hp V8, 4-speed, fiberglass hood, doors, fenders, bumpers, plexiglass windows. 11 second quarter mile times.”
What more do you want?
It’s been suggested by: hangovergrenade.
“The 05/06 GT is the definition of ‘Halo car’, no other car has ever done so much for the image of a car brand. Everyone was talking about the new Ford retro supercar, not only American journalists.
“It was so good that instead of being compared with the usual GM and Chrysler rivals, it was being compared against Ferrari’s. A feat that even its 2016-on successor hasn’t been able to duplicate.”
The Ford GT came out in the early 2000s and was excellent. It is still sleek and stylish to this day and has aged better than the latest iteration.
The person suggested by:Jorge R R Gomez.
“I vote not for a car, but for an engine. The Ford/Edsel ‘FE’ 427. This single chunk of cast iron basically created Ford’s entire racing legacy.
“Ford added the FE 427 engine to the Ford Galaxie, which made it eligible to be used in NASCAR races. Tiny Lund won the Dayton 500 that year with four other Fords running the FE engine coming in second through fifth. Ford went on to dominate the season.
“Meanwhile across the world in Europe, Ford was trying to still figure out how to achieve the Deuce’s goal of ‘Beating Ferrari’. Well, they removed the 289 out of the GT40, replaced it with the 427, and then took a 1/2/3 at Le Mans.
“And, then it started appearing and dominated at the drag strips.
“Soon, the ‘427’ Badge itself, was a crown selling point on everything from Shelby Cobras to Ford Torinos.”
Two cars that are on this list are powered by the same engine.
It was suggested by Knyte.
“Ford RS 500 Cosworth was the most successful roadcar derived racing car of all time, as the RS500 won a staggering 84.6% of races that it took part in. Good enough for my choice.”
The European workers at Ford know how to drive a hot hatch. Australian touring car racing was dominated by the Sierra Cosworth.
It was suggested by Tommy Olsen.
“Thoughts:
“1. The original F150 Lightning – better and faster than it had any business being.
“2. First gen Taurus SHO. It was refined, modern and fast. While the comparable Dodge *might* have been a tick faster, the Dodge was embarrassingly K-car based and it showed despite the rounded edges.
“Honorable mention: My 2001 Focus ZX3. It was an “economy car” that was not a penalty box. The Zetec 4 never felt slow and it is one of the few cars I’ve owned that I regret selling. For what it was, it was fast.”
The ninth generation truck had a more powerful trim called the F-150 Lighting. The truck had a 5.8 liter V8″
It was suggested by bfisch 1629
“Yer all off the mark. Lots of good quality cars talked about. But most of them are outside the mainstream affordability (MOST not all).
“IMHO the best was and still is the 03/04 Terminators hands down it will always be the iconic standard and is really the only one that has lived up to its name.”
The monsters were made from a 4.6 liter V8 and had a combined power of over 400hp.
It was suggested by Dave Jones.
“We’re going to go old school here: 1966 Ford Galaxie 7 liter.
“I remember one of these embarrassing Camaros and Mustangs at amateur night at Atco Speedway in NJ back in the day.
“Saw one for sale near me a few years ago, but it was a rust bucket so I had to take a pass.”
You want to look good doing it.
Earthbound-misfit-i was suggested.
“Best bang-for-the-buck performance car in recent years was the Fiesta ST. Lightweight and toss-able. With 4-5k in aftermarket parts you had a pocket rocket.”
The Fiesta ST is one of the best hot hatch from the Ford family. You can’t buy a new Ford in the US.
It was suggested by Tony Ng.
“I’m going with the 1965 Ford Mustang 289 ‘K-Code’.
“This was, as far as I can recall, the first time Ford said ‘Let’s take this two door coupe with decent performance’ and really ratchet it up (though I think it may have been used in the Fairlane as well).
“I seem to recall that the ‘k-code’ option for the v8 put out something like 50 extra HP and was a significantly better performer than even the standard 4-barrel v8. To me that makes it the trendsetter for every factory-performance option in a Pony Car that followed.”
This is the last one we will include, but just look at it. The K-Code mustangs from the 60s were the more powerful of the two options.
It was suggested by: Z2221344.
“The Ford Supervan.”
I took a long time to find this as an answer. You should be embarrassed of yourselves.
Johnny Young is a fan on the Facebook page.
18/12/2018
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