1970 Ford of Canada Performance Clinic


Facebook	Features	Contact/Guestbook	Lost & Found	Forum/Msg Board	Links
News	What's New	Online Store	Reading Room	Videos	Events Updated
Lost Dragstrips	Team Flashback	The X-Files	Ford Drag Team	A/FX Mustangs	Stock Cars
Thunderbolts	Funny Cars	Historic Drag Cars	Historic Ford Sites	Photo Collections	Wanted!

1970 Ford of Canada Performance Clinic - Ford Flashback

1969 Ford Drag Team - FordFlashback.com

FORD OF CANADA PERFORMANCE CLINIC 1970

The "FORD OF CANADA PERFORMANCE CLINIC" was Canada's version of the American Ford Drag Team, which operated in 1970. The Canadian Drag Team used a G/SA 429-CJ Cyclone, a H/S 428-CJ Cougar, a SS/HA 428-CJ Mustang, and a Pro Stock 427 SOHC Mustang, all 1970 models. The concept was similar the US drag team, except this team traveled together on a huge 4-car transporter, known as the "Titanic". The cars were delivered to Sandy Elliot Ford in Ontario, well known for his "Border Bandits" team, where they were stripped of the drivetrains. They were then sent to Sheery's Custom Paint for paint while Barrie Poole and crew built the engines. While the other three were owned by Ford, The P/S Mustang was a '69 Boss 429 Kar Kraft test car that was purchased by Mike Wood from Ford and converted to a '70 model. The Boss engine was replaced by a 427 SOHC. Intially the team consisted of Scott Wilson driving both Mustangs and Vic Beleny handling the Cyclone and Cougar. Later, Louie Rivait would take over the reins of the 428 Mustang and Bruce Fitzgibbon would take over the Cougar. The teams life was brief as Ford slashed it's racing budget by 75% in late 1970.

Where are these Drag Team cars today? It looks like half of the team has survived intact after all these years. In January or February 1971, all the team cars went up for sale in National Dragster and Wheel Spin Magazine. Mike McGee reports the Cougar was sold to a local and was raced/street raced in Ontario until the mid-90's and was in a bad wreck, one person said it was destroyed, another said he is still fixing it. The Pro Stock SOHC-powered Boss 429 Mustang was reportly scrapped and it's SOHC engine found it's way into a Funny Car. The Cyclone was sold and went to Central Canada and raced for a while and was undergoing a light restoration. It was spotted on eBay a couple of years ago and appears to be mostly original. The 428 Mustang was purchased by Tim Vorick in early 1971. He raced it in Super Stock throughout Michigan, until he sold it in 1975, after relieving it of its original drivetrain. Today, is alive and well in Michigan, it is owned by Bill & Mike McGee, who have had it since buying it from Vorick in 1975. The Q-code Drag Pack Mustang retains 99% of its original 1970 Drag Team paint scheme, many vintage decals and the orignal Fenton wheels. See current shots of the McGee's Mustang here.(11-13-05)

Canadian Drag Team 428 Mustang	Canadian Drag Team Indy 1970	SS/HA Drag Team Mustang Milan 1970
Canadian Drag Team 428 Mustang	Gd Rapids,MI Car Show June 87	Drag Team Cyclone eBay Auction
Drag Team Cyclone eBay Auction	Drag Team Cyclone eBay Auction	Drag Team Cyclone eBay Auction

Drag Team Ad

Cyclone Invoice

Photos Courtesy Mike McGee

More Mustang Photos

The Canadian Drag Clinic Cougar has now turned up! It has been owned by Daryl Winslow since 1985. Previously rumored to have been wrecked are not true, Daryl reports the 428 Cat has just 12,000 miles. It was recently featured at the Toronto Speedorama car show, and Daryl sent in these photos from that show. Also featured at the Speedorama was a recreation of Harveys Restaurant, a 1970's Toronto cruisin' hot spot. The Cougar and Harveys are both mentioned in the National Post Article posted below. (3-5-06)

Fast cars and past glories
David Menzies, National Post - Published: Friday, February 03, 2006

At first blush, fast cars and fast food would appear to have little in common. But once upon a time, fast-food restaurants and souped-up vehicles went together like ketchup and fries. And, often, the type of car one owned determined where one would hang out. All of which explains Speedorama's main centrepiece display: a one-third-scale Harvey's restaurant, circa 1972. Speedorama promoter Gary Wallace says he wanted to do something "different and nostalgic" at this year's show (which starts today in Toronto) given that 2006 is the 50th anniversary of the Roadmates Car Club. "It [Speedorama] is going to be an old school show," promises Wallace, noting the gala will be dominated by muscle cars strategically parked around the pseudo Harvey's. Wallace originally planned to create a replica of Arnold's Diner from American Graffiti. But it occurred to him that during the muscle car era, the greater Toronto area had its own versions of Arnold's. Indeed, often the place to see or to be seen was the Harvey's restaurant at Jane Street and Falstaff Road. So it was that on many a Saturday summer night throughout the 1970s, muscle cars would clog the restaurant's parking lot, making this particular Harvey's resemble an impromptu outdoor Speedorama show. Heavily polished Firebirds, Novas, Chargers and Mustangs would glisten under the Creamsicle-coloured fluorescent signage of the fast-food eatery. Drivers would shoot the breeze, grab a burger and, on occasion, go somewhere secluded to race -- be it for bragging rights or serious money. "The muscle car guys would hang out in the parking lot and the hot rod guys would be across the street at the lumberyard," says Wallace, noting the two camps seldom mixed. In fact, the restaurant of choice for hot rod enthusiasts was A&W, back when those eateries were sprawling drive-ins as opposed to food court units. While muscle cars hanging out at Harvey's may be deader than disco, everything old is new again. The epitome of car coolness decades ago was a coupe boasting Detroit iron with rear-wheel drive and at least 300 horses lurking under the hood. Today, on the classic car auction circuit, a good number of these vehicles command prices well into the six figures as wealthy Baby Boomers endeavour to relive their youth. "If I had known that [muscle cars would soar in value] I sure would've kept mine," says Dieter Scharschmidt, who was a regular at the Jane/Falstaff Harvey's from 1975 to 1979. Indeed, if there was a Harvey's king of the hill, it was Scharschmidt, who owned a rarefied 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator. Only a fool would wager a brownie in a race against Scharschmidt's one-of-a-kind Cougar, originally part of Ford of Canada's 1970 Racing Team. Scharschmidt happened upon the blue-and-white Cougar parked outside a performance car shop in 1971. It was selling for just $1,200 given it was lacking a motor -- which wasn't a deal breaker for the trained mechanic. The Mississauga, Ont., resident spent an additional $5,000 refurbishing it; he earned most of it back, one quarter-mile race at a time. "I was the white whale everybody wanted to beat," recalls Scharschmidt. "Challengers, Road Runners, Super Bees, Mustangs -- you name it." Some of his most memorable races came against "Pete the Greek" who drove a 465-horsepower Chevelle SS. "I'd only beat the Greek by a half a fender," recalls Scharschmidt. Scharschmidt would even venture out to Harvey's restaurants in Richmond Hill, Oshawa and Oakville, Ont., to take on other much-ballyhooed muscle cars. Typically, "40 or 50 carloads of people" would tag along to take in the out-of-town races, he says. The only time the Cougar recorded a loss was against a 1969 Camaro SS, also a regular fixture at the Jane/Falstaff Harvey's throughout the '70s. However, to this day, Scharschmidt maintains he lost the race because of a false start. Still, all good things come to an end. Scharschmidt sold his Cougar in 1983 when his first marriage ended. It's been 23 years since he last sat in the merciless Mercury. "It will bring a tear in my eye to see it at the show," he says. "I wonder if the [new] owner will let me take it for a spin." That would be up to Daryl Winslow. Since buying the car, Winslow has babied it. There are only 12,044 miles on the odometer, and the Cougar has been reunited with its original 428 Cobra Jet engine -- a terrifying V8 that generates 470 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. Winslow is in the process of getting the Cougar professionally appraised, although the Barrie, Ont., resident quickly notes he wouldn't part with it "even for a million bucks." Today, Scharschmidt works as a truck driver and his everyday vehicle is a '96 Dodge Ram pickup. He's looking forward to the nostalgia-laced Speedo-rama show because, he says, "These days, it [the youth car scene] just isn't the same ... When I drive by a burger joint or a coffee shop, all I see are these little import tuner cars. "When they rev their engines, it sounds like a bunch of sewing machines." � National Post 2006.

Dearborn Flashback

�2005-2009 DearbornFlashback.com - All rights reserved Dearbornflashback.com is an independant Ford Racing Enthusiast
Website not affiliated with or supported by Ford Motor Co.
Page views since 11/18/07

Free Web Counter