Bangshift Feature: Tasca Ford’s Mod Shop Upholds A Long Legacy of Ford PerformanceBy Brian Lohnes Posted 12/07/09
Bangshift Feature: Tasca Ford’s Mod Shop Upholds A Long Legacy of Ford Performance – By Brian Lohnes Posted 12/07/09
There are few car dealerships in the country that gearheads recognize from coast to coast at the mere mention of their name. The great high performance dealers from the 1960′s and 1970′s are largely memories from the golden age of Detroit performance and the few that do survive are normal workaday car dealers with an interesting history. Rhode Island’s Tasca Ford stands in stark contrast to that humdrum fate. These guys are still building, racing, and winning in high performance Fords, just like they were during the wild days of the ’60s and early ’70s.
We heard that Tasca was one of the few places in the country that was authorized by Shelby to perform the upgrades to change Mustangs into Shelby Super Snakes, we also heard that they were cooking up some interesting stuff on their own that would result in them selling brand-new, hot rodded Mustangs, with a factory warranty. Like the days of Baldwin-Motion, they are developing performance packages that buyers can select to take their factory stocker to more than 500hp at the wheels, and still keep the factory warranty.
Here’s a gallery of photos from our visit.
One thing we can say for 100% sure is that these guys walk the walk. When we passed down one hallway of the massive dealership, where the management offices are located, one of the first doors we passed was the office of Bob Tasca III. If the name is familiar, it’s because Bob is the driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Nitro Funny Car. His office wall is lined with Wallys he earned while racing his Alcohol Funny Car and the current fuel burner. Prior to stopping into Bob’s office we heard the sounds of someone wailing on a car at the drag strip. We naturally assumed it was Bob looking at some video, but we were wrong. Those sweet sounds were coming from the next office, occupied by Carl Tasca, the driver of what is the quickest 2009 Cobra Jet Mustang in the country. He’s been in the 9.20s at more than 140mph with the car. Carl was studying video and looking at Racepak data with Ralph Porier, a 50-year employee of the dealership and one of the guys who helped build cars like the original Thunderbolt, and the cars that would serve as the template for the legendary 1968 Cobra Jet Mustangs. They started swapping stories about Bill Lawton’s vitctory at the 1965 Super Stock Nationals at York, Pa. Like we said, these guys are the real deal.
