Frank Butler's 1964 R-code in Muscle Car Review

Found a nice article on Frank Butler's 1964 burgundy R-code fastback in the May 2008 issue of Muscle Car Review. Check it out.

Frank lives in nearby Florence, Kentucky. I met him at the 2007 Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance, where he was showing his shatteringly awesome '64 Lightweight. Nice chap, for sure. I stayed around long enough to hear Frank motor the lightweight out of there, and it is a real, real mean sounding machine, no mufflers, exhaust just terminating right under the driver's seat. Here's a few pics of the Lightweight.

--Jay

Very nice looking car.
I want it LOL!

Nice car, lousy photos (in the magazine). Overexposed and should have used a polarizer to get rid of the cloud reflections.

I like your shots also.

Nothing like a 64 Galaxie just waiting for a hammer!

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I thought lightwieghts all had aluminum bumpers?

Ken,
Mr. Butler had some interesting things to say about the Lightweights. My memory could be faulty, but if I recall correctly, Mr. Butler told me the only fiberglass part on the '64 Lightweights was the hood. The bumpers, fenders, etc. were stock. Instead, Ford saved weight by building the racers on a Galaxie 300 frame, lighter than the more robust 500 frame. I see the 1964 LW as much evolved from the '63, since they were built literally from the frame up as lightweight dragsters. And I'm sure this experience helped Ford craft the Thunderbolt as well.