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The FORD DRAG TEAM was Ford's factory drag racing team for 1969 and 1970. The team was quite active, running super stock and match races, and giving performance seminars at Ford Dealers. The eastern Team Captain was, the "Georgia Shaker" himself, long-time Ford pilot Hubert Platt. Platt's teammate was Randy Payne. The western Team Captain was Ed Terry partnered with Dick Wood. Using two 1969 428 Cobra Jet Torinos and two 1969 428 Cobra Jet Mustangs in Super Stock, and two 1969 Mustang fastbacks equipped with the famous 427 SOHC for match racing, these cars were drag strip terrors. They were painted blue with white hoods and white '69 Boss 302 style stripes and also a flip-flop scheme of white with blue stripes. The match-race SOHC cars also featured a huge Boss 429 style hood scoop, and American Torq-Thrust wheels. Both SOHC Mustangs were converted to 1970-style front end and rear taillamps after the '69 season concluded. |
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Drag Racing's High-Performance Hitchhikers.... Ford Truck Times magazine summer 1969 issue featues an article on the Ford Drag Team. "When an authority like CAR Magazine establishes an award for Top Performance Car of the Year, you expect the award to go to a particular car. And so it has-in every year except 1969. This year, instead it of giving the award to a car, the judges presented it to a manufacturer. The manufacturer is Ford Motor Company-and the award is for what CAR Magazine calls: 'attitudes and achievements in the High Performance field.' Two of the achievements mentioned in the award are the Ford Mach I Ram-Air Mustang and the Ford Torino Cobra 428, currently demonstrating their award-winning form on drag strips around the country. Scheduled for close to 100 appearances before an estimated 2,000,000 fans, the cars are the stars of two Ford drag racing teams-the Eastern Ford
Drag Team featuring drivers Hubert Platt and Randy Payne, and the Western Ford Drag Team with drivers Ed Terry and Richard Wood. Between races, the forward-running Ford cars take a back seat behind another pair of Ford achievements-two Ford C-850 trucks which ferry the cars along the drag racing circuit. A Torino and Mustang travel in each truck. During the week, you'll find the big trucks parked at local Ford Dealer headquarters, where the Ford Drag Teams are hard at work promoting the joint themes of performance and safety. This is an all-out effort which includes setting up Ford Drag Clubs and hosting drag racing
clinics, complete with racing films and veteran lecturers. Weekends , the C-850's carry the Ford cars to the tracks for a further demonstartion of the best-
and safest-ways to beat the track competition. Then, on to the next Ford dealership and the next race, with one or the other of the drivers taking advantage of the sleeper accommodations in each truck. In addition to sleeping
quarters, the truck-and-trailer design allows for storage space for the
drivers' equipment, a small 'balcony' area that can be used to watch the team
 cars in action on the tracks, and special compartments containing lecture
materials and engine components mounted on special demonstration boards. The parts demonstration boards provide some of the inside story
on the performance advantages of the 428 Cobra Jet engine, which is no stranger to certain ford truck owners. The 428 is one of the engines offered in the Ford Ranchero, another Ford performance achievement in the Ford pickup line."
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"Further evidence or Detroit's awareness of the popularity of drag racing is Ford's new Drag Club program. One of the most popular features of the Ford drag race clinics is the question and answer session that follows the formal presentation.
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"Neither sleet nor snow nor cloudy skies can keep these diggers from their appointed rounds. But watch out for that blowin' sand!" The third annual Stardust National Open at Stardust International Raceway near Las Vegas was featured in the May '69 issue of Hot Rod magazine. Dick Wood's SS/JA '69 428 Torino took out Bob Lambeck in Dick Landy's Dodge with a 12.46 at 114.94 in the semi final. Tom Stafford's SS/GA '68 428 Mustang, in far lane, bested the Terry & Wood drag team with a 12.17 in the final go for the S/S win. |
Agent 1320 Reports news column in the September 1969 issue of Super Stock magazine; "Looks like the Ford drag team is expanding. The drivers, Platt, Payne, Terry, and Wood are going to be handling their Mustangs and Fairlanes, alright, but each team will have a cammer-powered blue and white match race '69 Mustang soon as well, and maybe later the 429 engines will be slipped in place of the cammers. At any rate, the team, which has been doing a first-rate job of education, entertainment, and racing, will be even more active in the future." |
 Ed Terry yanks the wheels in his 1970 Ford Drag Team
427 SOHC Match-Race Mustang at both Irwindale Dragway, and OCIR in California.
It was originally built by Holman-Moody-Stroppe in Long Beach, California for
Terry in 1969. This same car, vin 9R02T178884, which started life as a 1969 San
Jose built six cylinder fastback, was up for grabs on
eBay in November 2002. It
recieved one bid, but was a no sale as the reserve wasn't met. The bidding
started at $50,000. Here is the item
decription/photos, with all of it's factual errors, as the auction link will eventually drop off. The item description lists it having either a 360, or 460 engine, and an automatic
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Hubert Platt's "Platt & Payne" SS/IA 428 Cobra Jet Mustang lining up against the SS/J Sandy Elliot CJ magazine. The race was the 1969 NHRA Springnationals at the short-lived Dallas International Motor Speedway. Ronnie Sox eventually took the Super Stock trophy with a 10.63 in his Sox & Martin Hemi Cuda at the event. The event was marred by the unfortunate death of funny car pilot Gerry Schwartz after his "Ratty Cat" chevy powered Cougar collided with the out-of-control Mickey Thompson Mach 1 driven by Pat Foster. |
FORDS GO FASTER WITH JARDINE HEADERS....Bolt On Jardine Headers And Listen To The Horsepower!...Ed Terry grabs off the big ones with his Jardine-equipped Cobra-Jet" This is Ed Terry's "Terry & Wood" SS/I '69 R-code Shaker equipped 428 Cobra Jet Mustang from a Jardine Headers ad also in the September 1969 issue of Super Stock. |
"FE is more than just the chemical symbol for IRON...it symbolizes the best in Detroit Iron. Nowhere, but nowhere in the whole world can you find one basic design that can do more kinds of things. First and foremost, every FE engine starts out as a dependable reliable street engine; docile enough for the most timid granny. Apply a little 'wrench' and they turn into durable high performance winners in drags, oval track, Grand Prix, and whatever turns you on. And best of all, what fits one...generally fits all. Which gives you practically limitless interchange possibilities...at a relatively low cost. In short, the FE family does it all."....From Fords Muscle Parts book featuring Ed Terry's 1970 Drag Team Super Stock 428 Cobra Jet Mustang. |
 Hubert Platt's '69 Ford Drag Team 427 SOHC Match-Race Mustang was Super Stock magazines cover story in January 1970. The feature is entitled "Heads-Up Heads-Up Racer". "With a wealth of experience in 427 SOHC Ford race cars, Hubert Platt returns to the 'run whatcha brung' corps with a 3000 lb. Mustang. - Hubert Platt is not exactly a stranger to the Ford 427 SOHC, even though he's been running wedges for three years now. Older fans will recall the Ga. Shaker Fords that ran 10.40's at 134 mph four years ago at 3200 lb., so we believe that Hu's experience will put the new cammer solidly in the 9's at 143 mph very shortly. Only setback might be Hu's unreal schedule of clinic appearances. - Hu's cammer is a stock-size 427 running 4.234" bore and 3.875" stroke, Crane 640 cams, Forgedtrue pistons with 1/8", 1/16" and Dykes top rings, Mickey's aluminum rods, 12.5:1 aluminum heads, Mallory ignition, Doug headers, and Autolite AG703 spark plugs. Car was built from ground up at the H-M-S facility in California not long ago, and mods have been made as necessary. Auto Meter tach, S-W gages, complete Hurst package, and Grand National bucket seat ahead of healthy roll bar, which will be mandatory for heads-up cars running NHRA this season.
Air box is a special fabricated item by Holman-Moody-Stroppe of Long Beach, California. - Beneath the 'glass deck lid on the "70 Mustang, there's almost nothing, really, except a 50 lb. Autolite battery and some light-gage flooring.
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ED TERRY'S 1970 MUSTANG SUPER STOCK - When Ford decided to field a team of super stocks, their
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In 2004 the Barrett-Jackson Auction offered up two ex-Drag Team Mustangs. Ed Terry's T-code Match-Race SOHC Mustang that was a no-sale for $50,000 on eBay in 2003 went for $43,200 and his R-code 428-CJ Super Stock Mustang went for $29,160. |
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9R02R110972 Auction description - Holman-Moody-Stroppe factory Ford Mustang drag car.
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9R02T178884 Auction description - Assembled at Ford Motor Co., Milpitas, CA plant in 1969 as a six cylinder fastback in Wimbledon White. Then delivered to Folger Ford in Monrovia,
CA. The car then went to Holman-Moody-Stroppe in Long Beach, CA to be
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NEW DRAG TEAM PHOTOS - Track photographer Tom Kasch Has submitted a batch of vintage drag photos, including these. Platts '69 Super Stock Mustang at Indy in 1970 (1969?), and Ed Terry's Maverick at Indy, also dated 1970. See the complete set at the Tom Kasch Collection. (10-1-05) |
HOOKER HEADERS AD - Hubert Platts 1970 "Georgia Shaker" Drag Team
Match-Race Mustang is featured in a National Dragster Hooker Headers ad in June of 1970.
FORD DRAG CLUB PATCH - Found on eBay.
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CANADIAN DRAG TEAM - Ford of Canada had their own version of the Ford Drag Team in 1970,
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CANADIAN DRAG TEAM MUSTANG UNCOVERED CANADIAN DRAG TEAM 428 CJ MUSTANG - The Ford of Canada Performance Clinic
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NEW DRAG TEAM PHOTOS - Found on eBay, includes Hubert Platt's SOHC Match-race Mustang along with |
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DEARBORN STEEL TUBING FORD DRAG TEAM SHOTS - Some amazing new vintage Ford Drag Team photos have surfaced, kindly sent in by long-time Ford employee, Bill Cook. Bill took these shots when he visited Dearborn Steel Tubing with his father, a Ford Exec, in January 1970. Apparently, the Team was preparing to leave for an appearance. (11-24-05) |
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1969 CAR CRAFT MAGAZINE - Tom Kasch sent in some Drag Team scans from the April, 1969 issue
of Car Craft Magazine. (3-5-06)
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1970 NHRA RULE BOOK - Tom Kasch also sent in this nice scan of the Terry & Wood Super Stock Mustang
from the 1970 NHRA Rule Book. (3-5-06)
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DRAG CLINIC COUGAR SURFACES - Daryl Winslow sent in shots of his ex-Drag Clinic Cougar, taken at the Toronto Speedorama car show. Check them out on the 1970 Canadian Drag Clinic page. (3-5-06) |
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DICK WOOD R-CODE TORINO ON EBAY - We found what appears to be Dick Wood's Drag Team Torino on eBay recently. It had a starting bid of $20,000, but did not receive any bids. Here's the auction description; "Car belonged to Dick Wood, which was won by him in 1969 at the NHRA Winter Nationals. The odometer reads 8 miles because Dick took the 428 and the C6 transmission out of the car and replaced it with a 351C and a 4 speed manual. The car hasn't been raced since 1986, it's been stored. The car toured the world and won many races. Along with the car, we have a portfolio including magazines from 1969, and newspaper clippings, lots of great information." (11-19-07) | |
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| GOING THING PROMOTION MUSTANGS - In 1969, you could buy your very own Drag Team replica, complete with Grabber Blue paint, and white C-stripes with the Going Thing logo. It was part of Ford's little-known "Going Thing" promotion. Ford reportedly built only 103 of these special Mustangs, this example was another eBay find. (1-13-08) |
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This image of Hubert Platt's Mustang at the 1970 Detroit Auto Show was recently spotted on Boss Mustang's Flickr page. Be sure to check out plenty of other great Ford pix there.
(8-23-09)
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This image of Platt & Payne's Ford Drag Team Hauler at rest was spotted on Photobucket.
(8-23-09)
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A Google search turned up
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An amazing vintage video featuring the Ford Drag Team cars at the strip has surfaced on Youtube. Included are Platt's Super Stock '69 Mustang and '70 SOHC match-racer, Ed Terry's match-race '70 Mustang, Dick Loehr's Maverick, and Randy Payne driving Dick Brannan's Paul Harvey Boss 429 Maverick. (12-12-09)
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Another internet search turned up a Photobucket account with images of what appears to be Dick Woods now-restored white Drag Team Torino. If you have any information about this car, please let us know. (12-12-09)
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A huge collection of old drag cars photos on a Fotki photo page includes photos of the Terry & Woods '69 SS/I Mustang and the Platt & Payne '69 SS/J Torino. (12-12-09)
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Ford's 2010 return to NHRA's Pro Stock class just got even more interesting. Long-time IHRA Pro Stock Ford driver Robert Patrick is planning to join Ford's assault on the NHRA with this beautiful retro-themed Drag Team Mustang. Patrick and the Purvis Ford Drag Team join Larry Morgan, Erica Enders, Jim Cunningham and Chris Holbrook in the Mustang camp for 2010. Read more about it on the NHRA story. (12-12-09)
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