Commonly referred to as the “Cammer” or “SOHC (pronounced sock) motor”, the single overhead cam 427 was Ford’s answer to Chrysler’s 426 Hemi in the mid-1960’s. The boys in Highland Park were clobbering the competition in the ranks of Nascar and drag racing, and for the boys in blue, who were promoting an era of “Total Performance”, it was an intolerable beating that couldn’t go unanswered. Amazingly, Ford fired back with a knockout blow of their own in a mere 90 days.
Based on Ford’s FE block design, the SOHC 427 featured hemispherical combustion chambers and free-flowing cylinder heads that housed one camshaft per bank, which were driven by six feet of timing chain hidden behind a massive sand cast cover. With a single 4-barrel carburetor, the Cammer was capable of laying down a whopping 615-hp at 7,000-rpm and 515-lbs/ft of torque at 3,800-rpm, or 657-hp at 7,500-rpm with dual 4-barrels. Later supercharged variants of the SOHC 427 powerplant were known to produce an earth shattering 1,000 to 2,000 horsepower, if not more.
Without question, it was one of the baddest powerplants ever built, producing the most power any production or race engine had ever made, easily equaling the best that the Hemi had to offer, and then some. Even though Ford managed to sell (over the counter) the required number of units to homologate the SOHC 427 for stock-car racing, changes in the rules prevented it from competing in Nascar. But not in AHRA and NHRA drag racing. After some initial development, the Cammer powered Fords quickly became formidable opponents in nearly everything from A/FX to Pro Stock competition, even Top Fuel, up through the early 70’s. Today, the SOHC 427 is respected as one of the fiercest engines ever produced, and a legend among the brigade of blue oval enthusiasts.
Despite the fact that the Cammer was never factory installed in a regular production vehicle, this hasn’t stopped the boys at GMP from having a little fun by shoehorning the pavement pounding powerplant into their 1/18-scale 1967 Ford Fairlane, transforming the attractive boulevard brawler into an uber-mean street machine. Dressed in Tungsten Gray with a healthy dose of metal flake, the Fairlane features an aggressively raked stance with a set of detailed Drag Star wheels rolled up in scuffed slicks out back and skinny drag tires up front. Always the clever type, GMP crafted a nifty feature just for this release - a rear bumper which has been fabricated to mount a Georgia state license plate, for cruise night at the local ice cream joint, or a Simpson drag chute, complete with fabric bag and release cable, that’ll come in handy on your next trip to the drag strip.
For me, the hands down coolest feature of this model is the enormous supercharged SOHC 427 erupting from the Fairlane’s fully exposed engine bay. With its shiny finned scoop and Hillborn injection system positioned above a GMC 6-71 blower and massive black valve covers, the wide shouldered Cammer fits so tightly between the custom aluminum compartment walls that there’s barely enough room for the radiator and master cylinder. Although its surroundings are essentially vacant of detail, the engine itself has been assembled with plenty of eye candy, including a fully wired distributor with wire looms, a properly detailed oil filter, real metal throttle springs, a rubber drive belt, and a host of other lines and hoses with red and blue anodized fittings. Custom diecast builders will be pleased to know that GMP is selling the SOHC 427 as a separate part.
The interior of GMP’s Street Machine Fairlane is an amusing case of multiple personalities. On the surface, it appears to be the cockpit of a race car, with race-style bucket seats, 5-point racing harnesses, a competition-rated roll cage, a tachometer on the steering column, and a competition shifter on the floor. But beneath all of that is a relatively stock interior, fully carpeted with posable sun visors, roll-up windows and genuinely patterned door panels affixed to the models realistically hinged doors, along with a factory 3-spoke steering wheel, dash, and instrument panel; even the stock rear bench seat. Behind the rear seat is a trunk space that’s pure business, complete with a heavy duty battery box, the top end of the custom fuel cell, and the trailing arms of the roll cage.
GMP
#G1801114 SOHC 427 1967 Street Machine Fairlane
Tungsten Gray Metallic
Photography & Review by Dave Nicholson
GMP
#G1801114 SOHC 427 1967 Street Machine Fairlane
Tungsten Gray Metallic
Photography & Review by Dave Nicholson
The chassis of GMP’s hefty Ford features more than a few quality highlights of its own, including a painted oil pan, custom race headers, and an accurately reproduced heavy-duty C6 automatic transmission mated to a driveshaft that rotates with a turn of the rear wheels. A steel fuel line runs along the outer edge of the chassis to a painted gas tank and painted brake lines are molded into the floor pan with sections of steel wire routed to the rear drums. The undercarriage also features a working suspension with coil springs up front and rear metal leaf springs in back that flex when compressed. The leaf springs are fastened to the rear axle with realistic miniature U-bolts, complete with painted shocks and ladder bars.
When it comes to designing and manufacturing one-of-a-kind custom diecast replicas, GMP has proved many times that they have this niche cornered, hands down, and with its sleek paint job, exotic powerplant, and menacing persona, the 1/18-scale SOHC 427 Street Machine Fairlane is, in my opinion, the coolest old-school inspired piece in GMP’s Street Fighter series. With a limited production of 1,250 units, I don’t imagine it’ll be long before this unique tire thrasher has vanished in a plume of white smoke.
Happy Collecting,
DetourDave
