1969 Ford Torino Talladega. Brochure images courtesy Old Car Manual Project.
It was the Dodge Charger 500 that fired the first salvo in NASCAR’s “Aero Wars” of 1969 and 1970, but Ford wasted little time in shooting back. Though nowhere near as outlandish as the later Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, the 1969 Ford Torino Talladega (and its Mercury cousin, the Cyclone Spoiler II) proved tough to beat throughout the 1969 season, and thanks to homologation rules, those with the $3,456 asking price could buy a near race-ready example from their local Ford dealer.
Compared to the Ford Fairlane Cobra sportsroof hardtop on which it was based, the Torino Talladega measured 206 inches in length, while the other model was 201.1 inches from stem to stern. The difference was the Talladega’s reshaped front end, reportedly developed in conjunction with Ford racing partner Holman Moody, which consisted of new fenders, a new hood, a revised grille and a unique bumper. The Talladega’s front bumper was actually a modified rear bumper, reshaped to reduce both drag and front end lift at speed, two important components for raising top speed.
Beneath the hood, all 1969 Ford Torino Talladega models came powered by the 428 Cobra Jet V-8, rated at 335 horsepower and mated exclusively to a SelectShift Cruise-O-Matic transmission. The included differential, oddly enough, was a non-locking unit with 3.25:1 gearing, which traded drag strip acceleration for a higher top speed. This brochure cites the 428 Cobra Jet Ram-Air V-8 as a factory option, but it isn’t clear how many examples came so equipped.
In fact, it’s also not clear how many Torino Talladega models were built in total, though just 500 were needed to satisfy NASCAR for homologation purposes. Most sources cite a total production quantity between 750 and 754 units (including prototypes and pilot cars), and all were built in January and February of 1969. Buyers could choose between Wimbledon White, Royal Maroon and Presidential Blue paint, but inside, each Talladega came with a black interior and a bench seat.
No mere performance pretender, the Torino Talladegas came equipped with an oil cooler and heavy-duty cooling; 11.3-inch power front disc brakes and 10×2.5-inch rear drums; an extra-heavy-duty (in Ford’s words) stabilizer bar; and a competition suspension that used heavy-duty springs and shocks. Rear shocks were even mounted in a staggered formation, with one ahead of the axle and one behind, in order to reduce wheel hop under full-throttle acceleration.
In NASCAR and ARCA, the changes to the car produced the desired results, with Ford taking the manufacturer’s championship in both series and Ford drivers David Pearson and Benny Parsons taking home the respective series’ driver championships. The Aero Wars era would be short-lived, however, and after a 1970 season that saw Plymouth fight back with the Superbird wing car (piloted by Richard Petty, who’d returned to Plymouth from Ford for the 1970 season), NASCAR rewrote the rule book, effectively banning aero cars by limiting their displacement to 305-cu.in.
Though the era was brief, it was memorable, and the likelihood that a modern domestic automaker will again introduce a race-ready automobile, with its own brochure, lies directly between “slim” and “none.”
from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/296yTwW
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