Larry & David with the RS-2600, April 2002
Dixon said he was able to take on and beat big-block Chevys. (Yes,
there is a substitute for cubic inches!) Apparently, the car was driven
in the winter for a few years, and it got a partial restoration in 1986.
Dixon stopped driving it in 1989, after a piston ring blew. (Really
violently, as we found out later.)
Bad piston, at Drake's Engine shop, Rochester NY
The RS-2600 then sat at a garage in Richmond, Ontario (near Ottawa) for
8 years. Peter Dixon sold it to us in August 1997.
RS-2600 at the David Ailes' house, near Ottawa, Ontario August
1997, immediately after it was purchased by the Wells Brothers
We towed it back to the US......
Larry with RS-2600 at the US/Canada border August 1997
......and took it directly to the restoration shop.
RS-2600 at Cristo West body shop, Rochester NY,
August 1997
We've been restoring it ever since. We had to track down numerous parts for the car, including all the RS-2600 badges, and the "FORD" lettering on the hood and trunk. As of now (May 2000) the metalwork is all done,
Freshly rebuilt fuel injected Cologne V-6, at
Drake's engine shop, Rochester, NY, December 1998
the engine has been rebuilt and installed, and the body shell has been repainted. The orignial blue paint was quite unusual - it's Special Competition Blue, and it took quite a while to track down the correct formula. The results were well worth the effort.
Freshly painted body shell
at Cristo West, Rochester NY, spring of 1999
Glass installed, two
wheels in place at Cristo West, Rochester NY, September 1999
Larry had the original FAVO 4-spoke wheels have been refurbished by his local wheel shop, Wilberts. (And they look GREAT!) The glass is finally back in place now. The seats have been re-upholstered using cloth from the original manufacturer. (Scheel, in the Netherlands) The engine was fired up in 2000 for the first time since it was tested at Drakes in late 1998.
Reinstalling the interior turned into a rather protracted project.
Interior, or lack thereof. April 2002
The interior was at last reinstalled during the summer of 2002.
Cristo West then enlisted the aid of Performance Auto, Webster, NY to complete the mechanical reassembly of the car. This work was largely completed by July 2003, and shakedown testing began. This revealed a number of minor problems which were soon corrected. By August 2003 the RS2600 was at long last roadworthy!
Front View. April 2002
Front Quarter View. April 2002
Engine, Driver's Side. April 2002
Engine, Driver's Side. April 2002
Engine, Passenger's Side. April 2002
Our car is fitted with what appears to be a prototype 2800 engine block that Ford used for testing. The block has no part number at all, which is why we think it's a prototype.