While engineers borrowed heavily from the 1964 Ford Falcon’s unitized frame to create the Mustang, the Falcon has long played second fiddle to its more popular cousin. But drag racers faced with an oversaturated Mustang field can easily make their car pop by showing up with a Falcon body instead. It’s a great way to get noticed, and a nice change of pace.
It’s no surprise that 1320 Video was drawn to The Dirty Bird, a 1968 Falcon with a claimed 2,600 horsepower from a small-block Ford boasting two huge turbochargers. With a flat-black paint job and raw brute force, the Dirty Bird can certainly fly down the track.
Belonging to Jason Wade and based out of Texas, this nasty Falcon is running a 449 cubic-inch Ford small-block engine and two, count ‘em TWO 88mm turbochargers, backed with a Rossler two-speed transmission. That combo is good for near about 2,600 horsepower, fast enough to take the Bird down the 1/8th mile in an even 4.700 seconds at an incredible 159.35 mph. That is one fast fowl!
This video came out of the North Star Dragway at the EX275 event, and the bird was wearing 275 drag radials when it ran that 4.7, and it weighs about 3,250 pounds. This brand new setup is certainly something to be feared, and the Rick Jones four-link suspension makes sure most of that 2,600 horsepower gets to the ground. The Dirty Bird sounds so smooth that we could listen to it all day, even if it looks like hell.
Credit to the guys at 1320Video for capturing this great footage of the Dirty Bird in Texas.