Rear twin-turbo, 800rwhp 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint

Update!

Chris and this Falcon Sprint cracked the eight-second zone in spectacular style at Heathcote Park Raceway today, running a stonking 8.86 at 154mph! Awesome stuff for what was only the second hit out for the car

The story to here, 26 Sept 2024

It’s our favourite time of year, as the champions looking to take on Drag Challenge make the mad dash to get their new or revitalised machines ready for five days of drag and drive torture.

One of those is Chris Loumanis, who will be bringing his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint hardtop for a stab in the Boostline Radial Blown class. “I hadn’t been racing for 22 years before the first test session with the car, so Drag Challenge will be a great way to get my eye back in,” he says.

The US market Falcon is not only a rare sight on our roads, but the combo is just as unique. The engine is a World Products Man O’War small-block Ford based on the 302 Windsor, and is fed by two GTX3582 turbos mounted under the car infront of the diff.

“That was Leigh Walker’s fault, he talked me into the rear turbos – originally I didn’t want to!” laughs Chris. “He told me to think it over, and he wanted to do it properly, with proper airbox intakes and the whole lot.”

A pair of airboxes sit at the front of the rear wheel arches, with twin TurboSmart E-Gates to control boost

Leigh from Pro Street Development took care of the rear mount turbo and major fabrication, while Chris built the engine. The Man O’War package is spec’d at 368 cubes, with Scat rods and crank, Carillo pistons and a Comp Cams solid street roller stick.

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AFR heads and a Bain Racing intake manifold top off the package, which to date has made a best of 605kW/811rwhp on just 12psi to the hubs, using Holley Dominator EFI and PULP 98.

The charge pipe from the rear mounted turbos to the engine runs underneath the centre console inside the car

“Peter Haravitsidis helped sort the tech with the Holley, and we think we’re the only ones running the TurboSmart E-Gates with the Holley,” says Chris. “We’re still on 98 for now because I’m not looking to go super fast yet. I want around an 8.90 on 98, then we’ll do E85.”

The transmission is a TH400, while the nine inch diff was built by Chris, as that’s what he does for a living out of his workshop Performance Diffs Centre in Preston.

So far the Falcon has had just two test sessions, the PB to date being a 9.46@146MPH with a handicap. “We found the exhaust was cracked three quarters around, and with this setup you obviously need that sealed!” says Chris. “So now we’ve found that, our next time out should be good.”

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The car is still unfinished, recently completing all the processes needed to be fully engineered and street legal in Victoria. Once that’s dialled, Chris plans to tidy it up and give it a fresh lick of its original Wimbledon White hue.

“It was a mint, rust free car when I got it from Portland, Oregon in 2011 – and I cut it up!” he laughs. “So we’ll make it nice again soon, standard looking but slammed on the Comp 7s.”

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You can see Chris’s Falcon in action at Drag Challenge 2024 on October 30 – November 3. Track info and tickets can be found at this link here.