Jim Clark tests new Ford Falcon!
Jim Clark and Graham Hill were both Ford-contracted drivers from 1967 onwards – and Ford of Australia duly put their testing talents to use during the 1968 Tasman Series. In this short Movietone News clip, courtesy of AP, we see Jim and Graham at Ford’s You Yangs test track in Victoria, examining the new Ford Falcon and driving demonstration laps for the camera. Interesting to see that Graham wears his Buco helmet while Jim chills in the Aussie breeze. There’s no mention of the reigning World Champion, Denny Hulme, in the period voiceover, but that is Denny with Jim and Graham at the start of the clip. Being a Ford Galaxie man in Europe, Jim, I imagine, would have been quite impressed with the Falcon – and would particularly have liked its future high-performance derivative, the GTHO. Sadly he died only few weeks after this video was filmed.
There is also a very nice little video on the Ford Heritage U Tube channel, “Jim Clark tests new Corsair”. A must view for those who haven’t already seen it. Still enjoying these posts!
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Yes – love the Corsair film. This Ford Australia action, however, is to my knowledge only just starting to appear. I wasn’t aware at the time of any publicity around it.