Descrição
1963 Ford Galaxie R-Code
The original Ex-Willment racing team car
Chassis 3N66R143030, UK registration BML 9A
Legendary British Saloon Championship winning Car
Driven by Jack Sears, Graham Hill, Frank Gardner, Paul Hawkins & Bob Olthoff
Full historic Documentation with period racing images, reviews, invoices and original Ford / FIA correspondence.
Ford, the Galaxie and competition
Ford is synonymous with competition success, having won no fewer than thirteen Formula One Drivers Championships, ten Formula One Manufacturers Championships, sixteen NASCAR Manufacturers Championships, Four World Rally Manufacturer Championships and claimed three outright victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours. So, when the Ford Galaxie made its debut in the 1963 British Saloon Car Championship, the opposition were worried, and rightly so.
Ford introduced the 1963 ½ Galaxie, also known as the ‘R-Code’ with a lower fastback roofline and new 427 ci big-block, dual-carburettor factory V8 engine, producing 425 bhp. However, this was still not enough performance for some, with Ford commissioning around 210 ‘Lightweight’ editions of the ‘R-Code’ 427, only available in Corinthian White with a red vinyl interior. These ‘Lightweight’ Galaxie’s were specified with a four-speed Borg-Warner T10 gearbox, 4. 11:1 rear axle ratio and heavy-duty suspension. To save weight, steel body panels were exchanged for a fibreglass bonnet, boot and front wings along with aluminium bumpers, transmission cases and bellhousing. The spare wheel and tools were removed along with any sound deadening material and most of the interior trim. In total, these very special ‘Lightweight’s were a staggering 170 kg’s lighter!
With competition in mind, Ford had shipped several Fastback ‘R-Code’ Lightweights to Holman & Moody in North Carolina, USA. The Holman & Moody team had a lasting effect on motorsport, with their innovations including fuel cells, on-board fire systems and quick-change disc brakes.
To make these ‘Lightweight’s the envy of all competitors, Holman-Moody called upon their vast NASCAR experience to create the car that would change the face of the British Saloon Car Championship. The ‘Lightweight’s were fitted with strengthened pick up points, chassis welding and a stiffer roll cage. The suspension wishbones were also stronger with dual dampers. Holman-Moody had also developed their own enhanced version of the infamous 427 ci V8 engine, with medium-rise intake manifold and Belanger Brothers Y-piece fabricated exhaust primaries feeding to oval side exit pipes which crossed through the chassis rails. For the British Saloon Car Championship, Holman & Moody designed and built only three cars to this specification. Included in the sale is a copy of the correspondence between Ford, Holman-Moody and the FIA on the successful homologation for international races in Europe as well as the period build sheets.
This Holman-Moody built 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 ‘R-Code’ Lightweight
At the end of 1962, the Ford Motor Company of America was expanding its racing activities tremendously and asked John Willment Automobiles to race one of their Galaxies in Britain. So, in January 1963, British race driver, Jack Sears, received a telephone call from Jeff Uren, Team Manager of John Willment Automobiles. Jeff explained that the newly formed team from Twickenham were purchasing a “full-house Holman & Moody NASCAR Ford Galaxie” with which they intended to confront Jaguar in the British Saloon Car Championship. Oh, and they wanted Jack to drive it!
Jack Sears was a veteran of saloon car racing, having won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship in 1958. Sears also claimed a class win at the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours with Mike Salmon aboard a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330 LMB. Another class victory followed at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1965, driving one of the Daytona Coupes for John Willment, and folklore records that he topped 180 mph on the newly-opened M1 motorway in England when testing a Cobra ahead of the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours!
This car, chassis no. 3N66R143030 was one of a select few Galaxie 500 Lightweights dispatched to Holman & Moody for competition enhancements and was one of only three destined for the British Saloon Car Championship. Upon completion in North Carolina, this Galaxie was driven over 600 miles to New York, ensuring it would be delivered by air in time for the major BRDC International May Meeting at Silverstone. This Galaxie was flown aboard a USA Airforce Transport plane, sitting alongside a delivery of Coca Cola for the USA air bases in England! Amazingly, accompanying this Galaxie is its original sales invoice from Holman-Moody to ‘John Willment Automobiles Ltd, 161 Chertsey Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, England’ with the sale price recorded as $3, 342. 98.
It was this actual Ford Galaxie 500 Lightweight, built by Holman & Moody, prepared by John Willment Automobiles and driven by Jack Sears that re-wrote the British Saloon Car Championship. No longer was a Jaguar the only car capable of dominating. From the moment this Galaxie, with its near-500 bhp, 7-litre V8 arrived on UK shores, the story of Saloon Car racing would change forever.
Jack Sears won every race he finished in this mighty Galaxie, claiming the 1963 British Saloon Car Championship, adding to his 1958 title, and narrowly missing out on the 1965 title to a certain Jim Clark. Bob Olthoff claimed victory, and the South African Touring Car Championship in 1965 with Paul Hawkins also claiming race victories behind the wheel. Double Formula One World Champion, Graham Hill, also dove this Galaxie to a podium finish at the 1964 Oulton Park Gold Cup Meeting. Perhaps the nicest piece of history for this car is that the two drivers who won championships with the car, both decided to buy it, with Sears maintaining ownership until he passed away in 2016.
The car comes with extensive files and documents and full continuous provenance records including a detailed race by race report.
