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T
here's
no
doubt
about
it,
the
four-cylinder
motorcar
is
back
in
fashion
in
these'United
States,Andifit
doesn't
yetlook
that
way
whereyou
live,
get
ready
for
news
like,
,.
LOS
ANGELES-For
thefirsttimeinhistory,new-carbuyersinSouthernCaliforniahavesent
a
foreignautomanufacturertofirstplaceinthelocalsales
war.
MoreToyotavehiclesweresoldherelastmonththananyothermake,leadingtheimportsto
a
record40-percen(share
of
alllocalsales.Nationwide,importedvehiclesaccountedforalmost
20
percent
of
new-carsalesinthesame3D-dayperiod.
Noneedtoremindyou
how
manypistonsusuallycomewiththatnewToyota
(or
Datsun
or
Honda,
among
othercompaniesreportingrecord
U.S.sales).Such
four-banger
buying
activity
has
not
been
seenin
the
States
since
Henry
Ford'soriginal
sales
blitzof
50
yearsago.
Fortu
nately
for
those
of
usresidinginthesmog-andfuel-conscious'Seventies,FordMotorCompanyhasnever
quite
stopped
refiningthat
four-cylinder
enginefamilyefther.Even
while
thiscountry
was
stillenjoying
29-cent
hightestand
$2995supercars,buck-a-gallonpetrolwascomingtootherparts
of
thefree
world.Not
surprisingly,those
ever-thrifty
littlefour-bangerFords
becamefashionablewiththemasses;onlytheveryrichdaredeven
consid
era
V8.
It'sstillthatwaytoday,onlymoreso.Infact,
Ford's
so-called
"1600"
motor,
asseenin
theAnglia
and
CortinaGTlongbeforethePinto,isconsideredthesmall-blockChevy
of
European
hot
rodding.And
it'sthat
samebasicengine,with20years
of
floggingtoitscredit,
that
ultimately
PART1
wasselectedtopowerthehottest
sellingnewFord
since
1964
%:
the
FordFiesta.Asyou'veprobably
gath
eredbynow,this
car
wasbornintoa
ready-madefamilyof
high-perfor
mancepiecesabroad.
And
ifyou
knowwheretolookonthisside
of
thepond,you
won't
have
to
crossanoceantofindthem.
HOT
ROD
wentshopping
last
spring,evenbeforetheFiestawasformallycleared
forU.S.
distribution.
Chuck
Foulg.er,
of
VillaFord,
pluggedusdirectlyintoone
of
hisOrange,California,neighborsbythe
name
ofAutomotive
Development.
AD
makes
a
living
at
making
and
sellingthings
for
SCCAFormulaFord
race
cars,
whichjust
happen
to
sharethatverysamebasicengine.Theassociationseemedanatural
for
producing
onereally
freaky
Fiesta,
andsoitproved
to
be.Withthecontinued
support
of
Villa
Ford,
AD
owners
Paul
Whiteand
JulesWilliams
threw
years
of
racingexperienceandtons
of
enthusiasm
into
the
project.
Whattheyhelped
createwasexactlywhatwewanted:a
Camel
GT
-styledstreetcar,withboth
performance
and
handling
worthy
of
theracystyling.TheinitialdesigncamefromartistPaulPfanner,himselfaFormulaFord
driver.
Gordon
SaundersandLuis
Carbajal
of
GSAID,aWilmingtonstylingfirm,thenturnedtheillustrationintostreet-legalreality,asillustrated
on
these
pages.
The
colors
came
from
SwedeWahlgren
of
Orange,
whoproclaimed
our
FreakyFiesta's
body
pieces
"the
best-fittingfiber
glassI'veeverhadanythingto
do
with,"
We'reinclinedtoagree.AlongwiththeAutoPowerrollbar,
modifiedHoesman
Wing,
Chastain
windowlouversandVitalonimirrors
FORD'SECONOCARBECOMES
HOT
ROD'SEXOTICAR
the
bolt-onbody
pieces
are
now
availablefromADand
their
dealers.(Fordetails,writeAutomotiveDevel
opment,
501
Wes.t
Maple,
Unit
V,Orange,California92668,
or
phone
714/633-6672.)
In
additiontothe
abovementionedpieces,
hundreds
of
othermotor
and
suspensionparts
arealsoavailable,aswe'llsee
next
month.Part
2,
which
examinesvari
ous
mild-to-wildperformance
and
handlingtricks,demonstratesexactly
how
fartheseAmericanroadracerswill
go
toprovea
point
long
accept
edasfactoverseas:
For
fast,cheapfun,it'sflattough
to
beat
those
four
bangerFords!
HR
AutomotiveDevelopmentalreadyoffersabunch
of
bolt-onpiecesforFord'snewFiesta,includingthisAutoPowerrollbar.Strong,attractiveunitinstallsinstockinterior,featuresremovablecrossbar.
HOTRODFEBRUARY1978
37
Onceapplied,sealedanddried,theclothlayersaddedabout
3/
16-inchtothesurface,reinforcingtheentirepiece.Ateachstage
of
development,GSAIDstylistGordonSaundersputhisthoughtsintowriting.Theseinstructionswere
Gordon's
lastpriortofinalshaping,whichGSAIDaccomplisheswiththeirownmixture
of
polyesterfillermaterial.FinishedpartbecametheplugforAD'sFreakyFiestafendermold.
I.
I
Therearfenderswererough-formedwithstripsoffiberglassfirst,andbondedtogetherbyGSAID(304EastAnaheimStreet,Wilmington,California90744).Sharpedgesweresmoothedoutbyaddingsheetsoffibercloth,asdemonstratedherebyGSAIDfinishingexpertLuisCarbajal.
....
Fordrims(12x4)andMichelinrubber(145SRx12)gavewayto13x5
Y2
Westernmags,B50x13SuperChargerskins.Ordinarytinsnipsclearedapathinminutes,whichisallthat'srequiredupfront.
In
back,innerandouterfendersmustbecut,thenrejoined.Abodyshopcandothe
job
inafewhours,oryou
( c : a ~ n : " ' _ ~ i I i i J
••••
l l w ; ; ' ~ : : ; a
followtheinstructionsinAD'skit._
iJ
I
o
b
Gl
::0
}>
iJ
I
:<:
o
~
m
~
AnAutomotiveDevelopmentspringkit
dropped
thebodytwoinchesateitherend(as
F
we'llillustrateinnextmonth'ssuspensionsection).Rubberendpieceswereunbolted
r
fromthestock
bumpers-which
happentobe
interchangeable-and
trimmedtofitthe
f)
FreakyFiesta'snewfiberglass.SidelightswereremovedfortheshorttriptoGSAID'smstylingstudio.
38
HOTRODFEBRUARY1978
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