1968 TALLADEGA!

So far this year we have located a Gap Talladega that no one knew about and now Rick Ochs and Bill Holbrook bring us a 1968 Talladega. No, that is not a typo; it is a 1968 Talladega. Read below what Rick and Bill describe happened in 1968.

Contributed by Rick Ochs and edited by Richard Fleener:

Over the years of looking into the history of  Talladega’s  the same old question comes up. How many Talladega’s were built? Well, do you mean production cars? Proto Type Talladega’s, Pilot cars, or the total number of cars Ford built called Talladega’s? 

I have always said there were 754 cars Ford built and called Talladega’s.  We can go back and look at the first Talladega Registry put together by the Speedway Ford Club and the one printed in book form by Mark Moses and now we have this site, TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com , which lists all the Talladega’s for the world to see at the click of a mouse. 

One thing missing from all of these sources is a car I think, we Talladega enthusiasts, should put in the Registry is the 1968 Talladega. However, before the e-mails come flying in about there was never a 1968 Talladega, only 1969 Talladega’s, here is the evidence. 

Up until now you would never have found this 1968 Talladega listed in any of the 3 registry’s mentioned above. Nor will you get a Marti Report on it or even a Ford 999 Report because this car was never released by Ford or ever intended to be for sale so the vin was never recorded. I have talked to people in person who worked on this car.

Here is how the story goes. During a trip to the Motor City I had a talk with Mr. Bill Holbrook and I asked him about the so called Talladega that was built in 1968. On another trip to the Motor City I was told by a former Ford employee what happened to the hand built front end of this 1968 Talladega. However, until recently this is all the evidence I had.

A few weeks ago, thinking about the Forum Posts going back and forth on this site about the number of cars called Talladega’s I decided to pursue this subject a little more.

I called Mr. Holbrook and told him I think this car should be listed in the registry and would he take the time to send me a story of the 1968 Talladega. I was told he had a story he had put together some time ago about this car and gave me his permission to use it as I wanted. Here is the story in his own words as it was sent to me in the mail.

Now that you have read this story what do you think? Should this Talladega be in the Registry or not? Rick and I feel this is part of our Talladegas’ history and should be saved not lost .

You might want to check out  one of our previous Post on insider Ford Memos (there are many) and see how this story relates to those. Click Here.

If you know were any additional memos, photos or other relevant information is regarding this 1968 Talladega please forward it to me at rfleener@comcast.net.

THANK YOU!