Lord Rootes called his friend Henry Ford who was on his yacht in the
Mediterranean; that was July 1963.
The Shelby 260 Alpine car was started in March 1963. Shelby would have had
a stock pile of 260's at his shop at that time and probably very few if any
289's. Any 289's he had would have been earmarked for the Cobra.
The 260 might have been the only engine Lord Rootes knew about at
that time plus Ford would have a stock pile of 260's that Henry would gladly
get rid of, probably at a discount, so Ford could get the 289 into more cars
sooner.
289 engines started production in Dec 1962, the HiPo engine was a mid year
option, June 1963. I'm sure Ford was filling their production cars with
these engines before they sent too many out to Shelby American or Holman and
Mooney to race develop. Ford never gives away all it's secret to the
competition.
Ron Fraser
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Anthony & Susan
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:40 AM
To: Tigers mailing list (E-mail)
Subject: RE: 260 vs 289
Mayf,
You are correct! When I asked the loaded question (for those of you who know
me, if everyone goes right I go left) Carroll's response was "George
(Boskoff) what did that young man say?" George replied "He asking why the
260?" Carroll looked out at me and repeated "What did you say young man?"
Carroll, why the 260? I replied. Here it is listers. "Hell I don't know why
I installed that damn engine"!
I also cornered George Boskoff at the concours and asked him the same
question again. His response was "I just installed what Carroll told me too,
I had nothing to do with picking the motor".
Now this is conveyed information from Tiger Tom. I hope I get it right. Lord
Rootes met with someone from FORD on his yacht. The deal was sealed there
for I believe 5000 260 motors from FORDS industrial division not automotive.
These motors were for tractors, water pumps and such, hence the black paint
instead of FORD blue. So it seems that economics was the driving factor.
Tiger Tom if you listening can you add or tell this story in detail?
Also some of the crowd at the Shelby diner were braking my balls over the
289 HiPo. That it was not available yet but if I'm not mistaken 1963 was the
first year of production. I think this motor was installed on Fairlanes and
Comets prior to the Mustang. At that point I had too many spirits to argue!
So there is my answer. Don't shoot me if I'm off a little on Tiger Toms
story. Maybe Tom could offer the long version!
Best Regards,
ANT
B382001859LRXFE
TAC #540
Series 3 GT OD
B9205543LRO
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.742 / Virus Database: 495 - Release Date: 8/19/2004
|