This site is just too much a wealth of information and I hope I can pass half this info on to my grandsons!

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Paul, The 57 that Jerry drove at Pikes Peak was a custom style body and was sponsered by Hot Rod Magizine,the endurance car was a Fairlane body, also the car that Jerry won the 57 U.S.A.C. championship was a custom body sponsored by Lodge spark plugs. The usac car was built by DePalo eng, sold to Holman Moody and Ralph Moody came in 2nd in the U.S.A.C. standings. Tom

  JUST A MIDNIGHT CRUISE DOWN THUNDER ROAD!!! TOM DRUMMOND MIDWEST DIRECTOR 57 FORD INTERNATIONAL

Just speculation, but I'm wondering if one of the cars used for the Bonneville records, might have also been used later for Unser's USAC racing? Apparently in mid 1957, after Ford pulled the plug on their racing programs, per AMA agreement, Hot Rod Mag sponsered his car. Yeah, hard to believe now, since Chevrolet has had their attention almost exclusively in the last 15 years or more. But, my point is that in 1958, Unser who had been injured previously & was not entirely well, entered Pikes Peak again with a 57 Ford, but lost control & rolled it. It might explain why only one car is being sold & advertised as the "record car".

Paul

The side trim is wrong. Pre production or modified later on?

The "M" caught my eye too, being an old Ford parts counter man, that serial number is not a typical one! I wonder if it stands for modified, and the low sequence number too. The "SS" on the paint and interior codes; more like a delete, but who knows. The car may have been a pre-production hand built, also note it only had the upper spear on the side mouldings and the "Fairlane 500" scripts are missing on the 1/4 panels! I would venture to say the car is full of unique details, e,g the speedo dial. I would love to spend some time looking it over. Unfortunately, it appears to have had some "restoration" work done; painted fender bolts, also what appears to be a late style heavy rib top tank radiator and a strange looking ignition coil. Nice piece though, glad it survived, did Ford give it to Unser; what was the disposition of the car after the "salt" settled?

That ‘M’ in the VIN is indeed a nuance and makes me want to hear more details on this particular car. That 130 mph speedometer is also a nice touch. I’ll add that the production date on the build tag is the scheduled date and does not necessarily match the exact day the cars are actually built.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

View the Life magazine article at http://books.google.com/books?id=s0EEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=%22The+Longest+Left+Turn+In+History%22#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Longest%20Left%20Turn%20In%20History%22&f=false
If that doesn't work, search for "The Longest Left Turn In History". Include the quotes around the phrase when you put it in google.

Paul, You are right there were 2 cars used in the endurance run. Also just before the endurance run these two cars and a convert. set 57 different records for acceleration, on the Bonneville straight course. The Black and Yellow Ford and The Blue and White Ford had broken every record from one mile to 50,000 miles. 458 new national and International records were set.

  JUST A MIDNIGHT CRUISE DOWN THUNDER ROAD!!! TOM DRUMMOND MIDWEST DIRECTOR 57 FORD INTERNATIONAL

I would like to find out more about this car. By the I.D. tag as I read it, and I could be wrong! The car was built on Sept. 14th and The record run was started on Sept. 9th. The M in the I.D. tag is an unknowen and the SS in body color and interior is strange because the car was black and yellow both factory colors. So why a special SS on the tag. Also I think by the vacuum line under the round air cleaner, these were automatic carbs and not standard. I would also think that early a car would have had a oval air cleaner, but since it was not a E code ,I am only guessing. The one thing I will bet on ,they would have used a large Purolator type air cleaner. I had also been told buy an oldtimer, that The 2 sedans were single four barrel cars, while the convert. that was used in the speed runs was a 2x4 car. There were 12 different drivers used in these tests. The 3 that are listed in the artical are Danny O'Brien, Chuck Stevenson and Danny Eames. I would like to be able to find out the rest of the other drivers. My 57 E code Sunliner came from the Unser family salvage yard in N.M.

  JUST A MIDNIGHT CRUISE DOWN THUNDER ROAD!!! TOM DRUMMOND MIDWEST DIRECTOR 57 FORD INTERNATIONAL

After all those miles on a flat track the NASCAR races must have felt like a sprint. No wonder he did so well that year. He must have known the feel of a 57 like his wife. Chuck

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire