Fuchs Gold Coast Customs is a private race team mainly active in historic road racing
Our race car: Ed Diamond's 1966 Trans Am Mustang #5
The History of Ed Diamond's race car
The Nagle Ford sponsored Ford Mustang #5 was build up to participate in the 1966 by SCCA President John Bishop created Sedan Race Championship Series, the SCCA Trans-American Sedan Championship. The name was changed to the SCCA Trans-American (Trans-Am) Championship for 1967 and henceforth. The series was derived from the SCCA's A & B Sedan amateur Club Racing classes and was open to FIA Group 1 & 2 Touring Cars.
Nagle Ford from Rochester/NY sponsored several race cars in different race series. The most famous driver sponsored by Nagle Ford was Maynard Troyer, who successfully participated in Stock Car and NASCAR races. Maynard was also the one responsible for #5’s suspension.
Because Dave Nagle didn’t want to spend so much money, he didn’t buy one of the “expensive sixteen 1966 Ford Mustang notchbacks built by Shelby American” but decided to build up a Mustang race car on his own. He took a used Mustang from his showroom and started modifying the car. The 289ci engine’s heads were send to Joe Mondello in Los Angeles/CA for porting and polishing. In the 1960's, Joe also worked part time for Carroll Shelby building the performance heads and engines that won the Le Mans Grand Prix in 1964. Those Shelby Cobras won 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th places respectively.
After the heads were returned to Nagle Ford, John C. (Jess) Haelen from Rochester built #5’s 289ci High Performance engine. The build-up of the vehicle was done by former race car driver Barry Budlong, who also was Chairman of several SCCA sanctioned races in the SCCA Finger Lakes Region in the 60s.
In early 1966 Dave Nagle asked Edward (Ed) Diamond to drive the Trans-Am Mustang. Ed used to race with Brian Fallon – either they raced together or Ed was driving and Brian was crewing like in Trans-Am racing.
Before racing Mustang #5, in the 1965 season, Ed very successfully participated the SCCA Sports Car Road Race Series and set the lap record at the today defunct Vineland Raceway in NJ in a twin cam Cosworth powered Elva 7. In 1967, Ed won the 1,192 cc class at the Freeport Bahamas Grand Prix for Formula Vee's ( A pro race with Jochen Rindt as well as many other pros of the day) to name a few.
Over the last 50+ years Ed and Brian participated numerous races like e.g. four times La Carrera Panamericana from 2000–2003 on Porsche 356 and 912 or SCCA (HRG) Group 4 and HSR Classic GT on a 1973 Porsche 2.4 911T rebuilt to 1973 2.7 911 RS specs. Here Ed won the GT-4 class five years in a row 2006-2010!
For the 1966 Trans-Am race season the Nagle Ford Mustang received the number 5. The debut was the first Trans-Am race at Sebring International Raceway on March 25, 1966. Ed started from the 2nd position next to A. J. Foyt on Mustang #1, but – according to Ed – he quickly lost ground. Due to engine overheating Mustang #5 did not finish the race and ended after 47 laps on position 28.
Ed raced another Trans-Am race, the V.I.R.400 at Virginia International Raceway on July 31, 1966, several more successful SCCA events that year at Lime Rock/CT and Cumberland/MD. At the V.I.R.400 #5’s engine failed after only 10 laps. The Mustang only ran these 2 Trans-Am races and finished neither.
