Fantasy Fords

We recently happened upon some publicity photos issued by the Ford Motor Company that illustrate some of their design studies, as they’re termed commonly today, for the 1966 show car season. As you’ll see, they were lifted almost directly from 1966 production models, and in at least one case, if I remember right, inspired a model kit. These photos from the collection of the Chicago drag racing icon Ed Rachanski, who now lives in Henderson, Nevada, where he operates Zmax, the additive formulator.

The first one’s got a name you gotta love: The Fairlane GT A Go Go. Taking a 1966 Fairlane GT, Ford painted it in white metalflake with blue stripes, then added cooling scoops for the engine in the lower headlamp buckets, predicting the soon-to-be-common NASCAR practice of routing brake ductwork where the headlamps were originally installed. We can also see an unusual treatment of incorporating side exhaust dumps into a big trim molding.

I’m almost positive that I saw this car at the New York Auto Show in 1966. The Magic Cruiser is a knockoff on a Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop, made into a quasi-wagon, with a fixed rear roof, power rear glass and a third rear seat. Only the C-pillar contours and sweeping buttresses later made it to production.

This is the one that I think was replicated in scale. It’s the Comet Escapade, which incorporates a wraparound racing windscreen and faired-in headrests, two themes from other Ford show rigs of the period. The Lucas headlamps and smoothed front splash plan were both right out of 1960s custom orthodoxy.

High personal luxury was the theme here. The Mercury Astron had a sun-sensitive glass roof that darkened automatically, along with a flexible glass backlight that retracted into the roof. The taillamps were green for normal running, but changed to amber if the driver lifted off the gas and red if the brakes were applied. Do you see just a hint of Chrysler New Yorker practice in the headlamp treatment?

Last, we have The Black Pearl, presumably named for the pirate ship, pretty much a straight take on a 1966 LTD hardtop, refinished in Firefrost Black metallic paint. The seats had side bolsters, something practically unknown in American cars from these years.