Trivial weight reduction

[Petrus]

Just a trivial but imo cool anekdote about weight reduction.
When Ford wanted to market a homologated lighter version of their ´63 Galaxie for Sunday racers, they:

fitted a fiberglass hood, trunk lid, front fenders, and fender aprons-
Aluminum bumpers and mounting brackets, transmission cases, and bellhousing.
Hood springs, heater, trunk lining and mat, spare wheel and tire icl. mounting bracket, rear torsion bar, jack, lug wrench, one horn, armrests, rear ashtrays, courtesy lights and dome light were removed.
The first 20 cars had functional fiberglass doors but these were deleted because of Ford's concern for safety if used on the highway.
Furthermore the cars had all sound-deadening material removed, lightweight seats.
No floormats. No options.
They were not equipped with cold-air induction and were built on the lighter Ford 300 chassis.
 
In all, these cars were 375 lb (170 kg) lighter than before (425 lb - 193 kg, with the fiberglass doors).

Not bad but starting from 4000 or so lbs. not all thát spectacular but still fun to read that Ford officially did what ´we´ do :-)


Because it was still overweight, they next turned their attention to the Fairlane and went several steps further, even to plexi side windows,
They rivited a plate inside the glovebox reading:

This vehicle has been built specially as a lightweight competitive car and includes certain fiberglass and aluminium components. Because of the specialized purpose for which this car has been built and in order to achieve maximum weight reduction, normal quality standards of the Ford Motor Company in terms of exterior panel fit and surface appearance are not met on this vehicle.
This information is included on this vehicle to assure that all customers who purchase this car are aware of the deviation from the regular high appearance quality standards of the Ford Motor Company.

[Petrus]

Another interesting perspective it that the sixties Porsche 911 with flat 6 had 130 hp and a curb weight of 1080 kilos. ou needed to pay serious money extra to get under 1000 kilos or buy the one with tuned 85hp flat 4 VW Beetle engine. Or again pay serious money extra for a larger capacity VW van engine with 100 or so hp and a few more kilos too.