This pristine '64 Falcon Sprint-4H13F192518-was scheduled for assembly on April 6, 1964. The Mustang's introduction was only 11 days away. Though the Mustang's introduction would impact the Falcon heavily, it would never change what the Falcon was-a successful, economical compact car for the masses. The Falcon Sprint package took America's most popular compact car and turned it into a sporty, exciting ride that quite a few buyers chose over the Mustang in 1964 and 1965.
One Memphis area Ford dealer must have believed in the Falcon. He ordered this Falcon Sprint originally clad in Guardsman Blue with a blue vinyl interior, 260-2V V-8, four-speed transmission, 3.25:1 cogs, and more. The Falcon Sprint was a nice alternative to the new Mustang because it was something you could order and get right away. Ford dealers had plenty of them on the lot.
Forty years later, the Falcon Sprint remains a nice alternative to the Mustang because it still has that sporty persona. Detroit's Alan Aniol must have thought so too. At 51 years of age, he remembers the Falcon Sprint quite well because he grew up with these cars. When he found this car it was scheduled to become a race car, which would never do, especially with something as rare as a V-8 Falcon Sprint hardtop. Most of the interior and wiring were gone, but Alan looked at the car, saw potential, and hauled it home.
Alan worked the body and repainted his Falcon in PPG/Ditzler Sunset Red lacquer over a gold basecoat. We asked Alan why he chose lacquer in an age when everyone is using urethane basecoat/clearcoat paint. He told us he opted for lacquer because he trusted himself with it. We're convinced he did the right thing.
Alan went with a 302ci small-block underhood instead of the original 260 because he wanted the six-bolt bellhousing and a more current casting. He sidelined the T-10 four-speed and went with a C4 Cruise-O-Matic transmission. Eventually, Alan intends to install a 9-inch Ford rearend with 3.70:1 gears for improved performance. Alan punched the 302 engine .030-inch oversize, fitted it with TRW forged pistons, ground the crank .010/.010-inch undersize, installed a Comp Cams Extreme Energy CL35-238-3 camshaft, fitted the top end with Edelbrock Performer RPM heads and intake, a 600-cfm Holley, an Accel distributor, March pulleys, Ford Racing valve covers, and Doug's Tri-Y headers.
Inside, the Falcon remains much as he remembers Falcons from the '60s-full bench seat, center console, Sprint tachometer, and horizontal-sweep 0-120-mph Falcon speedometer.
Despite the Mustang's overwhelming performance for 40 years, there will always be a Falcon to turn heads, and cause some to break out of the ponycar mold.