All archived pics and information: Tim Fuchs/CH, who build a replica of it. See at the bottom of this page.

The History of a 1966 T/A Mustang with door number 5

Ed Diamond Mustang next to the "leading" A.J. Foyt Mustang and the Scott Harvey Barracuda at the T/A Sebring 1966 start 
Photo credit goes to Dave Friedman
Details provided by the original Trans-Am #5 driver Ed Diamond, his friend and later Crew Chief Brian Fallon and the third owner of the Mustang Tom Taylor

Base car 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe

The car was purchased through Dave Nagle of Nagle Ford in Rochester/ NY

Driver Ed Diamond, New York/ NY

Main sponsor Nagle Ford Rochester/ NY

Tire sponsor Barry Budlong, Rochester/ NY

Mustang build out Barry Budlong, Rochester/ NY

Engine Jess Haelen, Rochester, NY

Cylinder heads Joe Mondello, Los Angelos/ CA

Suspension  Maynard Troyer, Rochester/ NY

Car history - Memories

Ed Diamond:
„The debut was the first Trans-Am race at Sebring in the spring of 1966. I started 2nd next to AJ Foyt, but quickly lost ground. Do not recall the finishing position…” (it was position 28 – #5 couldn’t finish the race) …”but that event was dominated by the Alfa Romeos of AutoDelta. 
The starting grid for Sebring, including #5, was featured on the cover of a British magazine, Autosport, a month or so later. We raced another Trans-Am event at VIR and several SCCA amateur events that year at Lime Rock and Cumberland. 
You may already know this but the car only ran these 2 Trans-Ams and finished neither. There were a few more successful SCCA races that same year. I recall that we did well, perhaps won an SCCA race at Cumberland, MD. We also raced at Lime Rock, but I do not recall the outcome. I eventually sold the car to someone who used it on the street.“

Tom Taylor 

..the third owner of #5 reported:
"I purchased a blue '66 Mustang notchback back in early 70's in LeRoy/ NY that had a bent in passenger door and door post. When I bought the car from the fellow in LeRoy NY, it had been repainted the same blue and all the markings, numbers were not apparent. I was young and not into SCCA racing and I didn't have a clue what I had bought. 
All I knew was it had a bunch of Cobra goodies and I had the T pan for my hot rod I was putting together.” …”aluminum T-pan, chrome valve covers, aluminum hi-rise manifold, engine oil cooler, bell housing, polished hi-per heads, fast steering arms. 
It was a K-code with a hi-per 289 four speed but some where along the line, if I remember correctly, the pistons were changed to low compression ones. The car had a roll bar, 9" traction lock rear end and front disc brakes. The body had no rust when I bought it. Also found under the paint some "A/S" markings on the door-quarter panel.

About the same time, I told a Ford mechanic friend of mine, Fred White, about the car who said that it sounded like a car that he'd worked on or had come in at a Ford dealer…” (Nagle Ford ) “…that was on the corner of Buffalo Rd and Howard Rd. in Gates NY.”

The fellow I sold it to, I believe, fix the body where the passenger side door post was smashed and put a drive train in it. He was the one that informed me about the marking stuff that was under the paint.”

Where the original 1966 T/A Mustang #5 is today or if the car still is existing, will most probably stay a secret because the VIN of #5 is not reported.

Driver’s history 

Ed Diamond lives in New York City, his Crew Chief Brian Fallon lives just outside of Rochester, NY.

Aside from the Mustang, in 1967, Ed won the 1,192 cc class at the Freeport Bahamas Grand Prix for Formula Vee's ( A pro race with Rindt as well as many other pros of the day). . "In the 1965 season I set the lap record at the now defunct Vineland Raceway in NJ in a twin cam Cosworth powered Elva VII."

Brian Fallon retired in 2000 and shortly after that Ed and Brian conceived the idea of running in La Carrera Pan Americana.  Ed bought a '64 Porsche 356 and Brian as project manager let it turn it into a race/rally car here in Rochester.  Ed and Brian ran La Carrera in 2001, '02 and '03.  In 2002 and '03 they used a 912 as '01 convinced them that the 356 was too small inside and too stripped out to be comfortable for such a long event.  The 912 interior was unmolested and was a much more pleasant ride. They continued to use the 356 with some success for vintage racing until 2006.  In 2006 Brian built the 911 they still have presently.  Their biggest claim to fame with that car is that as a team "we have won our class at the Sebring 4 Hour endurance race for vintage cars 5 times"

Best picture of Mustang with the door number 5 so far on the Autosport no.22 1966 
Magazine cover courtesy Archive: Tim Fuchs

Appendix - Some details on the team that build up T/A Mustang #5

Barry Budlong, Rochester/ NY

In the early days, Barry Budlong was an active rallyist, including chairing the Neophytes Rally in Jan. 1957. He began racing an Alfa Guilleta, sharing the car with Beulah Baily, who ran in the Ladies class. Barry actively raced Alfa Romeos and Chevrolet Corvettes from 1957-1961.

Joe Mondello, Los Angeles/ CA

Joe Mondello and Racing are synonymous with each other. In 1951, Joe was racing at airports and drag strips throughout Southern California. Those were the days when you started a race with a flag man starter, not a Christmas tree. In the early 1950's, before Joe was 17 years old, he had already ported & relieved more than 50 Ford flat head blocks for the finest engine builders of that era.

Joe's first car was a '40 Ford coupe with a 303 c.i.d. flat head Ford along with 4 Stromberg Carbs, Edelbrock heads & manifold and of course, an Engle camshaft. In the 1960's, Joe also worked part time for Carroll Shelby building the performance heads and engines that won the Le Mans Grand Prix. Those Shelby Ford Cobras, 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th places respectively. Traco Engineering, known at the time for extremely fast Indy cars and various sprint cars, utilized Mondello heads exclusively. In those days, the shop's clientele read like a "Who's Who" of drag racing greats.

Today, Chevrolet performance cylinder heads still utilize the identical combustion chamber, which Joe designed in the early 1960's known as the "Posi-Flow" chamber. Joe Mondello designed open chamber big and small block Chevy cylinder heads and pistons long before Chevy did.

The famed Mondello-Matsubara Blown Fuel Altered won two National Events in the 1960's. In the 60's & 70's, this was the fastest wedge-head Chevrolet, running a 7.24 E.T. @ 213 mph at the 1969 Indy U.S. Nationals. All of the great drag race cars ran with Mondello. The first 7,6 & 5 second Top Fuel runs and the first 200 mph runs in Top Gas, Top Fuel, Injected Fuel, Fuel Altered were all accomplished using Mondello cylinder heads and Don Garlits set most of these records, making Mondello the most notable, historically recognized heads.

Joe Mondello has set national records and won events over the years with both cars and boats. Bernard Mondello, Joe's son, grew up surrounded by the richest heritage in drag racing history. During the early 70's, this winning father-son combination went to work at the Parker Dam 9 hour enduro, winning the Jet Boat class with an Olds 455 in 1972 and in 1975 & 1976, back to back wins with a 500 c.i.d. dual-quad big block Chevrolet. The Mondello's showed they could excel on the water as well as the dragstrip. Joe's worldwide clientele bears this axiom out; using Mondello heads & engines, they have set every type of record imaginable.

Joe Mondello began doing research & development work for Oldsmobile in 1968 and his ongoing commitment and dedication has merited him the name of "Dr. Oldsmobile". Joe is celebrating over 38 years in the high performance manufacturing industry. He has given 44 years of technology & "hands on" experience to the sport of drag racing. Joe Mondello will be around for many more years, designing, building and providing you all of the best high performance products money can buy. (source http://www.mondellotwister.com/aboutus.html)

Maynard Troyer, Rochester/ NY

Maynard Troyer was born November 22, 1938 in Spencerport, New York). He started stock car racing in 1958 and was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced in the 1971 and the 1973 Winston Cup seasons.

Maynard Troyer was one of those drivers who had talent, not money. Maynard Troyer’s hard driving style made him one of the most feared drivers in the Northeast modified ranks. The original Intimidator. The Spencerport, NY driver competed in fourteen Winston Cup Series events in his career, earning three top-tens. All but one of Troyer’s starts came during the 1971 season, when he finished 38th in points. Troyer didn’t waste any time getting going, debuting in the Daytona 500 Qualifier event (then a points race). Starting 11th in the field of thirty-one, Troyer completed all but one lap and his marvelous eighth place finish allowed him to transfer into the Daytona 500. But the 500 started a bit of a tough streak for Troyer, only finishing one of his next five races. That rough spot ended in a perfect time for Troyer, who finished 14th or better in three straight races. During that time, Troyer had an 8th place run at Trenton and a career-best 4th place effort at Michigan.

Troyer achieved one top-five finish (at the 1971 Yankee 400), three top-ten finishes, and 3259.1 accumulated miles (1767 laps) of racing experience. Maynard was a runner-up for the 1971 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award (Walter Ballard won the title because he competed in more races than Troyer did). He was a competitor at the 1971 Daytona 500, on lap 9 of that race he lost control in turn two. Troyer's bright orane-red Ford hit the flat sideways at full speed and began tumbling so fast, it was almost impossible to count the number of flips. The press estimates ranged from 5 to 18 flips. It was at least a dozen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHWhnxTEWBs

Troyer was seriously hurt, but recovered to compete again in 1973. Troyer’s NASCAR final race came in the 1973 season, and it turned out to be a mix of Troyer’s previous successes and struggles. Starting 21st in the grand Daytona 500, Troyer had an engine let go late, but still managed to finish a respectable 23rd.

Later in the seventies Troyer was very successful in stock car racing and founded 1977 his own company, Troyer Inc.

Troyer achieved one top-five finish (at the 1971 Yankee 400), three top-ten finishes, and 3259.1 accumulated miles (1767 laps) of racing experience. Maynard was a runner-up for the 1971 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award (Walter Ballard won the title because he competed in more races than Troyer did). He was a competitor at the 1971 Daytona 500, on lap 9 of that race he lost control in turn two. Troyer's bright orane-red Ford hit the flat sideways at full speed and began tumbling so fast, it was almost impossible to count the number of flips. press estimates ranged from 5 to 18 flips. It was at least a dozen. Troyer was seriously hurt, but recovered to compete again in 1973.  

The Diamond car has been recreated meanwhile (2011) by Tim Fuchs with help from Ed Diamond himself and based on a true 1965 early SCCA local racer (with so far unknown history)
Tim Fuchs from Switzerland had a 1965 Mustang notchback that has some mystery local SCCA A/S history from the SCCA Area 1, at least he found these metal badges in the car and thus was interested to follow all notchbacks that ever appeared at SCCA events. The 2 previous owners of his car have unfortunately died, so he could not trace back any records of racing events. However the daughter of the last owner confirmed that the car was driven on the street and raced at local events. Tim found roll bar oddments on the Mustang's floor pan in his notchback that he had brought over from the US.

If you know anything about these races or have pics of them, please contact us. (1966 Thompson regional races, 1966 Lime Rock races, 1966 Area 1 Championchip/NJ)

This was the notchback of Tim Fuchs, before it was converted into the Ed Diamond car (but after the paintjob).

Getting in touch with Ed and his crewchief  was the next step and they felt the heat of enthusiasm quickly and were willing to share their memories with the lad overseas, an attitude that most real Mustang racers of the 60ies and 7oies have in common. Both Ed and his crewchief are still active with Porsches today.

The result is convincing. Tim Fuchs collaborated with Ed and his crewchief and together they created this ultraclean car for active racing by Tim in european races.

At the Solitude Revival race in 2011 it made its first coming out.