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Car guys can fall into many different categories based on their brand preference, era of cars they enjoy, or what they do with their rides on the weekends. But Lester Combs beats to a different drum. To try and qualify Combs as a normal car guy does him or his rides no justice. If you want proof of this, all you need to do is take a look at the Ultra Street 1964 Ford Fairlane that Combs owns; it’s all-motor, all-Ford, and totally badass.
The addiction to rowdy cars and speed began at a young age for Combs, and he was spurred on by his family and friends.
“My dad worked at Ford, the kids I hung out with were Ford nuts, and they got me into racing and speed. The addiction started out at a young age and just progressed into an expensive hobby,” jokes Combs about how his car obsession started.
The very first car Combs purchased was a 1970 Mustang that he promptly pulled the stock motor out of and replaced with a big-block Ford powerplant. That first car was the start of a need for speed and power that went from a hobby to a career for Combs. “I own Powerdyne, a company that rebuilds engine dynes. We mostly do work for large companies like Caterpillar and GM. Our dynos go into shops in test cells and run for long hours to simulate miles,” explains Combs.
Combs really surrounds himself with powerful piston driven machines at work and at home. Besides the Fairlane, Combs owns a 2007 Shelby Super Snake Mustang, a 2010 ProCharger-equipped Dodge Challenger, a 2013 ZL1 Camaro, and a 1992 Mustang with a nasty 392 cubic-inch engine under the hood. If all of that wasn’t enough, Combs also builds, from the ground-up, tube chassis rock crawlers that are similar to what you see in the King of the Hammers events in the desert.
With all these killer rides, a sane person would question the need for a car like the Fairlane, but the answer is simple: preservation of the other cars.
Classic lines with a great color help the Fairlane to really 'pop' at the track.
“A buddy of mine named Randy Shipp has always been into cars and racing, I told him I was looking for something that would stop me from beating on the Super Snake Mustang so much. He knows I’m a Ford guy and so he found the ’64 Fairlane on RacingJunk for me,” says Combs.
It turns out that the Fairlane was right up Combs’ alley, and was exactly what he was looking for, because it wasn’t just another Fox body Mustang. Shipp called the owner of the rolling chassis Fairlane, negotiated a price, and headed out to Maryland to pick it up for Combs. “The car was actually nicer than they thought, and ended up being a great deal as a roller. It doesn’t happen very often like that,” says Combs.
After getting the car back to his shop, it sat for two years while Combs really tried to figure out if he wanted to just make it a street car or actually race it. He explains what caused the change in plans: “My original intention was to put the car back on the street just to drive and show off. However, after traveling around with Audri McGrane and her X275 Monte Carlo, I caught the racing bug and decided to leave it as a race car.”
My original intention was to put the car back on the street just to drive and show off. However, after traveling around with Audri McGrane and her X275 Monte Carlo, I caught the racing bug and decided to leave it as a race car. – Lester Combs
Combs has the utmost confidence in his team, and his wheelman that gets the all-motor Fairlane down the track.
“Originally Jason came onboard to help shake the car down and make sure it does what it needs to do. But since I can’t drive it right now, he’s taken over the wheel, and I couldn’t ask for a better driver. He cuts consistent and great lights, keeps the car very safe, and knows how to drive. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
The McGrane’s are close with Tony Bischoff at BES Racing Engines, and that’s how Combs was introduced when it came time to pick a powerplant. “I wanted to go all-motor because it’s different, and knowing what BES can do in building a great motor, I was confident that a great engine program wouldn’t be a problem,” he says. That confidence was well placed, as the Fairlane is close to 300 pounds overweight for it’s combination in Ultra Street, but still has run a best of 4.99 using nothing but a brute, big-block Ford with a carburetor for power.
The blue oval mill under the teardrop hood on the Fairlane measures a massive 585 cubic inches. Combs and BES are very tight-lipped about many of the specifications of the engine, including the “steep” compression ratio the engine uses. Inside the Ford powerplant is a Scat crankshaft that rotates a set of Ross pistons and GRP connecting rods.
Under the hood of the Fairlane its all business all the time with some big cubic inches of Ford power on display.
Bischoff and his team carefully matched the top end of the motor with the rest of engine, beginning with a set of their own BES TFS heads. A very large Comp Cams solid roller camshaft helps to keep the top secret valvetrain moving and making big power. A custom BES Trickflow intake feeds all the air into the big-block in unison with the Quick Fuel carburetor that gets its fuel from a MagnaFuel pump. A custom set of 2 ½-inch stepped David Neil Headers move all of the exhaust produced by the engine.
To monitor everything in the Fairlane, a RacePak Sportsman data system with a full sensor package was added to the car. A full complement of MSD products are also onboard, including an 7531 ignition box, coil, and wires, to keep the fire in the pipes on each pass.
A Jake Holdrige-built Powerglide and a Neal Chance torque converter transfer the power back to a 9-inch Ford rearend that’s filled with Moser axles, 4.57 gears, center section, and spool.
The chassis of the Fairlane was originally built by Drummond Race Cars out of Maryland, before Combs purchased the car. Pentagon Race Fab redid the entire front end of the car and removed over 140 pounds of weight, along with making some custom upper and lower control arms that work with the Menscer shocks and AFCO springs. The rear suspension uses all Calvert Racing Caltrac parts, including their amazing leaf springs paired with and a set of Menscer double-adjustable shocks to help keep the car planted and laying down great short times in the 1.14 range.
The Fairlane rolls on a set of Weld Racing wheels all the way around, with Moroso tires up front and Mickey Thompson E/T Pro Drag Radials in the rear. To help save weight and get the mostly steel car to stop, Aerospace Components brakes are used on the front and Wilwood in the rear. All of this helps the car achieve a killer stance that makes it look like a show car, but with some amazing performance on tap.
When Combs started running the car, it was rocking the entire stock interior, but soon was removed for weight savings, based on the all-motor combination. Inside the stock dash is a full set of Autometer gauges to let McGrane monitor the Fairlane’s vitals as it makes each trip down the track.
When you mix all of these ingredients together, it’s easy to see Combs made the right choice putting this car back on the track and not on the street. “All the old-school guys love it, because it’s all-motor and it runs as fast as the guys running power adders. It’s a throwback-type car to when you would see manufacturer versus manufacturer, and they lived by the saying ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’. That, and it’s not your standard Fox body that you see at small-tire races,” says Combs.
Things are kept pretty simple and neat inside the Fairlane.
As a true car guy, Lester Combs always makes sure his rides produce plenty of power and get used to their fullest potential. His Ultra Street Fairlane is one of the more interesting cars you’ll see in the class, because not only is it naturally-aspirated, but it’s all-Ford under the hood to make the big power it needs to run at the front. It only took one season for Combs, McGrane and BES to get this car into the 4.90s, so just imagine what it will do next season with all that Ford power under the hood. Look for this fierce Ford to pick up the pace in 2016 and be a player in the Ultra Street class.
