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- Cayuse Falcon
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Rare! 1963 Cayuse Falcon (1 of 3 built) |
In 1962 the Ford Motor Division commissioned Vince Gardner of Dearborn Steel Tubing to design and build three highly customized 1963 Ford Falcon Convertibles to be displayed at auto shows as part of " The Ford Caravan of Cars!". The convertible model was scheduled to appear as a 1963 1/2 model in the Falcon line that summer and the Cayuse (Meaning little horse by the Tetawken Indian), was the name chosen for the cars, later one of the Cayuses was shortened up by removing 18 inches from behind the front seating area and a two-seater was created, then renamed the "Coyote". Custom cars were all the rage in the early 60's , Ford had several outside special vehicles venders like Holman Moody Racing, Shelby American and Dearborn Steel Tubing building cars, the later being best known for it's 427cid High riser, 1964 Ford Thunderbolt Fairlanes that dominated NHRA's A/FX (A Factory Experimental class) built the Cayuses for Ford. Vince Gardner was one of the top designer of the time, he won a Ford sponsored design contest with the 2-seat Ford Vega designed the 1956-57 Continental Mark II. Some of his designs were used on the 1955-57 Ford Thunderbird. He did freelanced design of the 1957-1958 Packard/Studebaker and on the 1968-70 AMC AMX/Javlin also. At DST, Vince Gardner also designed the Ford Thunderbird Italien. The photographed 1963 Ford Falcon Cayuse on this web site belongs to fellow NCFCA Member Ralph & Amy Marquardt and I would like to take this time to thank them both for preserving and showing this RARE Falcon! |
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1963 Cayuse Falcon Owner: Ralph & Amy Marquardt |
Written By NCFCA member; Troy Witt |
 Click BUTTON below or on image above to see more photos of this rare Falcon Prototype |
1963 Cayuse Falcon Design Features (click here)
Front Grill |
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Asymmetrical grill design. Fiberglass & aluminum construction.
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2/3 of the RH side of the grill has 14 horizontal 1/8" thick flat bar stock attached to vertical ones positioned to the back.
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1/3 of the left side is recessed back and has "Falcon" script located there.
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Outer shell of grill is panted body color and is made of fiberglass.
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Front Bumper |
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There appears to be two differently styled front bumpers, one same as regular production 1963 Ford Falcons...
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And a custom modified one that has the licenses plate recessed area cut out and a piece of another '63 bumper welded in and then re chromed (it has NO LICENSE PLATE RECESS or provision for a plate).
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Hood |
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Asymmetrical NASA style designed hood scope that is way ahead of it's time.
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Fiberglass with steel re enforced construction.
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Body Styling |
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All of the stock Futura/Sprint trim and emblem were removed.
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Rear quarter panel wheel opening are radius the same as the front fenders instead of "tear-drop" shaped (maybe rear quarter were cut off and front fender wheel opening were welded in place)
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Rear Valence Panel |
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Asymmetrical rear "grill" design that looks similar to front grill. Aluminum construction.
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The RH side of the grill has 11 horizontal 1/8" thick flat bar stock attached to 7 wide vertical bars and several other thinner ones.
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On the LH side is the license plate holder that bevels out from the grill.
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The gas filler neck tube and Cap been moved to inside the trunk area to make room for rear valence grill.
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Rear Bumper |
A custom modified rear bumper similar in design to the front one in that the rear bumpers licenses plate recessed area has been cut out and a piece of another '63 bumper welded in and then re chromed (it has NO LICENSE PLATE RECESS or provision for a plate) also.
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Tail light lenses |
The design and construction of the Cayuses was in 1962, which may explain why it has 1962 tail light lenses installed
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Truck lid |
There is no trunk lock or keys, instead a electric solenoid is activated by the driver
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Wheels |
Kelsey Hayes magnesium 4 bolt 14" x 6" rims
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Engine |
170cid Ford "Special" Six, 101hp@4200rpm
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Transmission |
Dagnham all synchronized 4 Speed
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Rear Axle |
Stock Falcon, 7 1/2 rear end
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Suspension |
Stock Falcon six cylinder suspension
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Rally & Road Racing |
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- 1963 -1964 Ford Falcons were raced at many world wide events including the European Monte Carlo Rally, it was part of Ford "Total Performance" theme that would show Ford products durability through open competition. Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday.
1963-64 Ford Falcons at Monte Carlo Rally photo gallery
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Drag Racing |
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- Ford Falcons were raced at many drag strips across the country, Ford built two special "Thunderbolt" styled Falcons at Dearborn Steel Tubing, one went to Dick Brannan who was Ford's drag racing captain in 1964 and a 1965 Falcon went to Phil "Daddy Warbucks" Bonner. the rest were built by other race teams. These Falcon competed in N.H.R.A's A/FX Class. The class breaks were 0 – 8.99 lbs. per cubic inch for
A/FX, 9.00 – 12.99 lbs./ci for B/FX, and 13.0 or more for C/FX. The S/S classes were for production stock cars. In 1965 the A/FX cars evolved in to altered wheel base cars by moving the front and rear wheels forward to create better weight transfer for traction. These cars were match raced against each other and similar Mopar and GM cars of the time, these races were called "Match Bash". As racing evolved these funny looking cars were given fiberglass bodies and became "Funny Cars"
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Street Performance |
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Ford Falcon Trivia |
Answer questions about Ford Falcons 1960-70 1/2.
Check your answers after completing the test to see how you did! |
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Ford Falcon Advertisements and Promotions |
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Click on button to left to view advertisement slide show. |
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