Lynnie Whitefield's Falcon
(see story below)
My admiration of the Falcon automobile began in the early sixties. Neighbors of ours, Elvis Green and his wife, bought a new red 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint. I mentioned to him not soon after he purchased it that if he decided to sell it that I wanted it. It stayed in the garage and his wife drive it primarily as he had a Ford pickup that he usually drove.
One Sunday Morning in May 1965 as we were preparing to go to church there was a knock on our door. Elvis was there asking me if I still wanted the Sprint as he had bought a 65 Galaxy to replace it. It didn’t take me long to say yes to the like new Sprint with about 14,000 miles on it. This began a relationship that continues today as I still have that car some 43 years later.
I sold the 55 Ford I had been driving to the guy across the street and began using the Sprint as our daily driver. I just didn’t like this idea as I wanted to keep the Sprint nice for a long time so I soon bought another car to keep the miles, and weather off the Sprint. One mistake I made was letting the car sit for about 5 years without starting it. That hasn’t happened since.
I have owned 5 other Falcons during the years, 3 Rancheros, a convertible, and a 4 door. I still have one of the Rancheros, a 65 model, that I have had for about 13 years. I added air conditioning to it and have used it to go to several out of state meets. My son has the 64 convertable which has been in the family for about 23 years.
I joined the Falcon Club of America in 1981 and went to my first National meet in 1982. Since then I have been to about a dozen National meets and several regional meets. If I recall correctly there was only one car on a trailer at the 1981 meet in Memphis TN, how times have changed! The quality and numbers of cars has changed drastically. When at the National meet in Appleton Wisconsin in 1986 someone looked at my nametag and said they had met someone else from Nashville, TN. I soon met up with this other person and it turned out to be Bronson Netterville with his wife "Miss Mary". They were there with their baby blue 1964 convertible. That was the beginning of a long and enjoyable relationship.
We along with the Nettervilles continued to go to the National meets in the late 80’s and early 90’s and Bronson in 1994 decided to try to form a local club. He send letters to all the National members in the area about a local meeting with the idea of forming a local chapter of The FCA. We met in the activity room of a church that he was a minister of and as is often said, the rest is history. Althea Fleeman was elected our first chapter President. After 3 regional meets we tackled the big one, a national meet in 2002. We set an attendance record of over 300 cars that hasn’t been broken till this day!
I have had other brands of cars and trucks both big and small, domestic and import, through the years, but there has always been at least one Ford, and sometimes five, in our driveway or garage for about 55 years. Yes there have been a few brand x cars that I wish I still had, such as a 40 Chevy coupe and a Dodge hemi but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Falcons and Fords.
Joe Wall's Falcon Memories
(Be sure and check out the pictures at the end)
When I was a senior in high school ( Charlotte in Charlotte TN) my parents decided to look at new cars. We went to Oak Motors which was next to Farmer's Market in downtown Nashville. I thought we were looking for a family sedan but I was looking at the cars I was interested in. Right in the showroom was a Cobra for $5000. I had a friend who was a pastor who had a new Futura two door hardtop and I thought it was beautiful. While looking around the lot, I find this red Sprint hardtop, 4 speed with tach on the dash, bucket seats, spoke hubcaps. I told my parents how much I liked this car and they seemed interested. My dad was 59 years old and my mom was 57, I really didn't imagine them considering a car like this. We didn't buy the car that day but somehow I was able to get them to go back later for a second look. The car had been sold. They offered to order one just like the one that was sold for $2625. I believe that included sales tax. They did that back then. The next 6 weeks were the longest of my life. I couldn't wait for the car to arrive. Finally the car came in, we went to pick it up but when it arrived, it was missing the tach and the rocker moldings. They agreed to install the tach but not the rocker moldings. Needless to say I was on Cloud 9. At this time in the 60's, everyone was interested in drag racing. Not legal but street drags. I dusted many 55-57 chevys. My parents would have killed me if they had known I was racing this car. My mom or dad never got acclimated to the 4 speed. They thought it was like a farm truck with a granny 1st gear. In the summer of 64 I let a girl drive the car that was 15, no license and no driving experience. We wound up running off the road, through a fence over some farm implements and ended up with the rear end in a pond. No one was injured but my feelings were crushed. I continued driving the car all through college when gas was 23.9 per gallon. (the good old days). In 1968 I moved to Nashville to teach at Maplewood High School. By that time I had the car repainted silver with a red top. It actually looked pretty sharp. With my first real job, I was thinking about a new car and bought a 68 Torino GT convertible for $2400 with only 7000 miles. That car is another long story. I still have it with barely 100,000 miles but in need of a full restoration. I sold the Falcon to Mike Suggs who has been my business partner for the last 31 years. He polished off his fair share of Camaros, Firebirds and many others, The car was extremely quick. Something I vividly remember about the Falcon was how dangerous it was on a wet road with bias ply tires. I remember doing at least 3 360 degree turns out of control without hitting anything or damaging the car. Years later I looked for the old Sprint but it had been run so hard even if I found it it would have needed a lot of work. Later I decided if I could find just the right Falcon convertible , I would buy it. It had to be red, it had to be a sprint, and it had to be a 4 speed. I looked for years. I found plenty of cars but not the right one. I found out in Hemmings about the Falcon Club of America. I sent in my registration and started receiving the Falcon News. The very first issue I received had the exact car I had been searching for for many years. The problem was that is was in Massachusetts. Anyway, we decided to fly up to see the car. The price was high $10,500. I knew I would never get that amount for it if I ever decided to sell it. Well that was 10 years ago. The $10,500 was actually very cheap considering the fun we've had and the friends we've made through the Falcon Club. The Falcon Club has many wonderful people much like a big family. I wouldn't trade anything for the great time we've had being members. As my good friend Jerry Bennett says "we've got better people in the Falcon Club than we do at church". I would have to agree. In addition to the Sprint, I have owned a 1960 with 19,000 actual miles and 3 1965 Rancheros. I sold one Ranchero that I bought in Oregon to Roy Sword the founder of FCA. I still have 2 plus a 64 Comet Cyclone,a 66 Mustang convertible, a 1950 F-1 pickup, 68 and 69 Torino convertibles (unrestored), a 55Chevy (almost finished), a 67 GTO convertible, and an 86 El Camino. Out of all these cars, the Sprint is always my favorite. On a nice day I can shift through the gears and feel like a teenager all over again. How often do we get that feeling? How much is that worth?
Joe Wall
Joe's Car Collection
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