Ralph Moody Prototype Talladega

I am often asked if I know what the status is of the black Talladega owned by Ralph Moody. For some time now Ralph JR. has been in the process of restoring his dad’s car. This post was originally published back in April 2011. At that time Ralph Moody, Jr. hoped to have his Dad’s (Ralph Moody) 1969 Ford Talladega completed that year. Due to many circumstances that did not happen. This car is one of two R-Code Talladegas. The other was owned by Banjo Mathews. It was purchased from Banjo and restored by Clarence and Jason Thompson and subsequently sold at Barrett Jackson Scottsdale Auction. In the next few days I will be posting an UPDATE on the Moody Talladega along with some new photos! Keep checking back for the update.

We are featuring the Ralph Moody BLACK 1969 Ford Talladega PROTOTYPE now owned by Ralph’s son, Ralph Jr. Rather than retell Ralph’s story I will simply reprint the information he gave to us in his own words. This is VIN 9A46R1211309. Ralph Jr. has stated his goal is to have the car completed for the Talladega Family Reunion!

The Black Talladega by Ralph Moody

“The Black Talladega was my Dad’s personal car, which he kept after leaving Holman Moody in 1972.”

“Lee Holman (John Holman’s son) still runs Holman-Moody which is a trademarked company name.”

“The black car stayed in the family and we had started to restore the car before my dad died, which had sat in my Dad’s carport for many years.
I had a good friend doing some of the restoration and he closed his company, so I retrieved the car and have been a little slow with progress since I’ve not had the time to devote to the project over the past few years.”

“Attached are two photos of the car, which has been stripped, blasted, and primed. Bracing was installed to allow removal of the floor pan on the passenger side. There was some rust (heater core leak), but this has been cut out and replaced, and the body is going onto a rotisserie for final welds on the bottom side before heading out for painting sometime in 2011.”

“I just got the engine back this summer and have run it on a test stand  this fall with all the hardware back on the engine. It’s the original block, heads, and rotating assembly, albeit with 0.030” over pistons.”

“It is an “R” code car with the Ram air system, PS/PB/AC.   It has the standard   black interior (bench front and back), C6 automatic, and all Black exterior. (hood color matches body).”

“The car was partially assembled at Holman Moody, and it’s still visible to see pop rivets and cut/weld marks where the rockers were removed/replaced on this car.   My dad had indicated the body sat on a surface plate at HM for some time as a template car, and then was assembled/reassembled into a street car.   Some of the parts needed came thru Don Sullivan at Ford, who he had known for years.”

“Hope this helps with some info on the car. Will try to be ready for next fall, but will see how much time/effort I can devote this coming year! Hearing the engine running again has inspired some new goals.“

Thanks to John Craft for supplying this newer photo.