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Lee Holman

The Holman - Moody Era of Ford Racing
The Mustang's first win at the 1964 Tour de France, the 1966 GT-40 win at Le Mans and other historic racing achievements

Holman - Moody

Founded in 1957, Holman & Moody was for years the Official Racing Contractor for Ford Motor Company. We built and prepared the famous GT Mark IIs, A/FX Mustangs, Shelby Cobras, Falcons, and Stock Cars. Holman & Moody won races in NASCAR, sports car races, drag racing, off road events, road rallys, hill climbs, and boat races all over the world.

In 1968 and 1969 Holman & Moody won the championship in NASCAR with David Pearson driving for the team.

Holman & Moody had the best drivers in the world; men like: Fred Lorenzen, Mark Donohue,Bobby Allison, Ronnie Bucknum, Parnelli Jones, Ned Jarrett, Walt Hansgen, Marvin Panch, Peter Revson, David Pearson, Nelson Stacy, Al Unser, Joe Weatherly, Cale Yarborough, Dan Gurney, A. J. Foyt, Bo Ljungfeldt, Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Junior Johnson, Dick Hutcherson, Augie Pabst, Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, and Bobby Unser.

The race and rally cars built by Holman & Moody have won and continue to win at major tracks around the world. Daytona, Riverside, Sebring, Le Mans, Tour de France, Silverstone, Nurburgring, Goodwood, Elkhart Lake, Reims, Charlotte, Mont-Tremblant, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock and many others

Holman & Moody History Timeline

Credit Holman-Moody.com

Date	Of Note:	Racing
1956	NASCAR John Holman moved from California to Charlotte, NC, to take over the Ford racing effort in NASCAR. He had been working for Bill Stroppe and the Western arm of Ford’s racing effort. Holman develops special stock racing wheels, which become the standard.
1957	NASCAR The season started with Ford winning race after race, and the other teams began to complain. NASCAR allowed a new Chevrolet engine to even things up, so Ford countered with the introduction of the supercharged 312. John Holman and Ralph Moody put what money they had into buying additional cars and equipment, and Holman Moody was formed. Lee Holman was given the job taking inventory of all the spare parts. The Holman Moody Fords won their first two races in 1957.
1958	NASCAR Holman Moody entered two 1958 Fords at the last two races on the beach at Daytona. The same two cars, one driven by Curtis Turner and the other driven by Joe Weatherly, raced to first and third in one race and second and fourth in another. Holman Moody began to change from a racing team to a racing factory. In addition to building and racing their own cars, the shop was now building cars and selling them to other teams. By late 1958 Ford support was slowly returning to racing. This support helped the Holman Moody team in the construction of ten 1959 Thunderbirds. This was the first time Holman Moody was able to get bare bodies off the assembly lines. The production line was stopped while Holman Moody got the bare chassis and parts they needed to build the race cars. All unnecessary items in the production automobile were left off.	Curtis Turner wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Champion Speedway (3/15), Lakewood Speedway (4/13), and the Southern States Fairgrounds (4/18).
1959	NASCAR Holman Moody Power Products Thunderbirds are the talk of Daytona. Johnny Beauchamp in the Holman Moody car and Lee Petty in an Oldsmobile finish in a virtual dead heat. After three days NASCAR officials decide Petty is the winner by inches. The two cars averaged 135.521 mph, which made it the fastest stock car race in history. It is slightly under the Indianapolis 500 record average speed of 135.601 mph.
1961	Holman Moody makes several important developments including the three-piece sway bar.	Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Martinsville (4/19), Darlington (5/6), and Atlanta International Raceway (7/9).
1961-1996	NASCAR Holman Moody is building engines for the Woods Brothers #21 cars and grinding cams for many other NASCAR teams.
1962	Road Racing Holman Moody enters the "Challenger" in the 12 Hours of Sebring. The "World’s fastest Falcon" was driven by Marvin Panch and Jocko Maggiacomo. A Holman Moody prepared small-block AC Cobra, driven by Augie Pabst, is one of three Cobras entered in the Nassau Speed Weeks. The Cobra is still in the development phase, and none of the three cars finish.	Nelson Stacy wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Darlington (5/12), Charlotte (5/27) and Martinsville (9/23).
1963	Road Racing Holman Moody enters a small-block AC Cobra in the 12 Hours of Sebring. While the Cobras posted the fastest lap times, they lacked durability, and the Ferraris prevailed. Holman Moody makes several important developments including gas cans and window nets.	Dan Gurney wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Riverside International Raceway (1/20).Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Atlanta International Raceway (3/17), Charlotte Motor Speedway (6/2), Bristol International Speedway (7/28), Asheville-Weaverville Speedway (8/11), West Virginia International Speedway (8/18), and Martinsville Speedway (9/22).Fireball Roberts wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Bristol (3/31), Daytona (7/4), and Old Bridge Stadium (7/19).
1964	NASCAR Holman Moody develops the box steel chassis for NASCAR racing that became the standard for all cars. They also make other important developments including screw jacks and wheel studs.	Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Bristol (3/22 and 7/26), Atlanta (4/5), North Wilkesboro (4/19), Martinsville (4/26 and 9/27), Darlington (5/9), and Charlotte (10/18). Fireball Roberts wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Augusta International Speedway (11/17).
1965	Road Cars Holman Moody takes over production of the Intermeccanica Omega, a Ford Powered Italian sports car. Thirty-three Omegas were built. Drag Racing Holman Moody builds 10 altered wheelbase A/FX Mustangs for the Factory Experimental class of drag racing. Eight of the cars were powered by 427 SOHC (single overhead cam) engines, and the other two had 427 Hi-Risers. All these cars ran dual 4-barrel carbs except Les Ritchey’s, which had Weber’s. Les Ritchey managed a 10.51 sec/134.24 mph quarter mile. Bill Lawton won the NHRA Winter Nationals A/FX class with a 10.88 sec/129.84 quarter mile. The Wickersham Mustang with its 427 Hi-Riser, was driven by Clester Andrews to 40 wins in 42 match races.	Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Daytona (2/14), Martinsville (4/25), and Charlotte (5/2 and 10/17).Dick Hutcherson wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (4/17 and 6/19), Fairgrounds Speedway (6/3), Rambi Raceway (6/24), Smoky Mountain Raceway (8/13), Augusta International Speedway (8/15), Dog Track Speedway (8/24), Lincoln Speedway (9/14), and Orange Speedway (10/24).
1966	Holman Moody makes several important developments including fuel cells and a fuel check valve.	Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Martinsville (9/25) and North Carolina Motor Speedway (10/30). Dick Hutcherson wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Bristol (3/20), Orange Speedway (9/18), and North Wilkesboro (10/2).
1967	Holman Moody makes several important developments including the chassis frame.Can Am The "Honker II" makes its debut. The car was named after John Holman, who liked to use the air horns on the eighteen-wheeler transporters he drove. The Honker II was designed by Len Bailey (from the GT program) and built by Alan Mann Racing. Holman Moody prepared the car, and Mario Andretti drove it. The metallic purple car was powered by a 351 Cubic inch engine (and later a 377 CID). The handling and brakes were never sorted out, and it did not place in the two races it entered. Lee Holman brought the restored car to the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) convention in Charlotte, NC in June 1991.	Fred Lorenzen wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Daytona (2/24). Mario Andretti wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Daytona (2/26).
1968		David Pearson wins his second Championship with sixteen wins in Holman Moody prepared Torinos: Bristol (3/17 and 7/21), Virginia State Fairgrounds (3/24), North Wilkesboro (4/21), Asheville-Weaverville Speedway (5/5 and 8/18), Darlington (5/11), Beltsville Speedway (5/17), Langley Field Speedway (5/18 and 8/24), Middle Georgia Speedway (6/2), Fairgrounds Speedway (7/27), Columbia Speedway (8/8), Bowman Gray Stadium (8/10), Hickory Speedway (9/6) and Augusta Speedway (10/5).
1969		David Pearson wins his third Championship with eleven wins in Holman Moody prepared Torino Talladegas: Daytona (2/20), North Carolina Motor Speedway (3/9), Augusta Speedway (3/16), Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway (4/13), Langley Field Speedway (5/17), State Fairgrounds Speedway (6/26), New Thompson Speedway (7/10), Trenton Speedway (7/13), Bristol (7/20), Michigan (8/17), and North Wilkesboro (10/5).
1970		David Pearson wins in a Holman Moody prepared Torino Talladega at Darlington (5/9).
1971		David Pearson wins in a Holman Moody Ford at Daytona (2/11) and Bristol (3/28).
1972	Ralph Moody’s stock in Holman Moody is bought back by the company, and he goes on to other racing teams. The company name remains the same. To clear away old race cars, the company has the first of several auctions. Holman Moody sells all nine GTs, some Can Am cars, and some retired stock cars to make room for new projects.
1975	John Holman has a heart attack and dies while testing a new truck intercooler that he hoped to patent.
1976	Holman Moody is being run by a bank trust department.
1978	Lee Holman takes over as President of Holman Moody, Inc., and injects new life into the struggling company. His first goal was to get back into racing, so Holman Moody began building race cars again. They built a Mazda which raced at LeMans, and continued with their engine building program, which included Can Am and NASCAR engines.
1982	The Charlotte airport gave Holman Moody notice of their intent to condemn the Holman Moody building in preparation for a new airport runway. The Board of Directors chose not to fight the airport and thought that it would be a good time to let any of the stockholders who wanted to cash out do so. The company held an auction to sell off the equipment, and Lee Holman bought much of it. Holman Moody was then going to divide the cash from the building and equipment among the stockholders, and the new company, Holman Automotive, Inc., would continue the work of building race cars and engines in a new facility. As of 1997, the Charlotte airport has not condemned the six-acre property and the two companies, Holman Moody and Holman Automotive, continue to operate out of the same 75,000 square foot facility.
1991	Road Racing The first of the continued production GT MKIIs, chassis P201, is shown in incomplete form at the Shelby American Automobile Club convention (SAAC 16) in Charlotte, NC. An article featuring the continued production cars and chassis P201 appears in the November 1991 issue of "Mustang & Fords".
1992	Road Racing GT MKII chassis P201 is completed in September. This is the first of sixteen continued production GT MKII’s using original tooling, suppliers and components. See the "GT Mark II" section for more production information.
1993		Road Racing GT MKII chassis P201 runs at the Jefferson 500 (Summit Point, WV) and Targa ’66 (also at Summit Point, WV). It also runs in the Walter Mitty Challenge (Road Atlanta, GA) and the Lime Rock Vintage Festival (Lime Rock, CT) and SAAC-18 (Watkins Glen, NY).
1994		Road Racing GT MKII chassis P201 runs at the Jefferson 500 (Summit Point, WV) and Targa ’66 (also at Summit Point, WV). It also runs in the Walter Mitty Challenge (Road Atlanta, GA) and the GT 30th Anniversary Reunion in July of 1994 (Elkhart Lake, WI).
1995		Road Racing GT MKII chassis P201 runs at the Jefferson 500 (Summit Point, WV), Targa ’66 (also at Summit Point, WV), and the Walter Mitty Challenge (Road Atlanta, GA).
1997	Holman Moody and Holman Automotive, continue to operate out of the same 75,000 square foot facility next to Charlotte-Douglas Airport. We are currently building the GT MKII, performing mechanical restorations on other GTs and other Ford powered race cars, building engines for the Woods Brothers NASCAR team as well as other customers, and grinding cams for many NASCAR teams and customers. See the list of "Services" for a complete description of what we can do for you! Future plans include the prospect of a Holman Moody racing museum.	Road Racing MKII chassis P201 will be running at SAAC-22 (Elkhart Lake, WI).