If you grew up when compact Fords still wore chrome and attitude, this little hardtop will tug every heartstring you’ve got. Before the Mustang made teenagers unbearable at traffic lights, the Falcon Sprint proved the formula: lightweight body, small-block V8, bucket seats, and a four-on-the-floor swagger.
The car you’re looking at takes that history and dials it up—built by a respected vintage-race shop, refined by Bring a Trailer’s co-founder, and now offered at no reserve. It’s the rare classic that blends story, spec, and soul.
The Headline Here Is Provenance With Purpose
According to Bring a Trailer, this 1963½ Falcon Sprint was built around 2014 by Dralle Engineering, a vintage racing specialist, using a California black-plate car as the foundation.
Under the hood: a hand-built 331-cid small-block based on a Mexican 289 block—balanced, blueprinted, and packed with thoughtful hardware (Eagle crank and H-beam rods, Mahle forged pistons, hand-ported Edelbrock aluminum heads, MSD ignition, Doug Thorley headers, an Aviaid seven-quart pan, and an aluminum flywheel and Centerforce clutch).
A Tremec TKO 5-speed feeds a narrowed Ford 9-inch with a Truetrac limited-slip, and four-wheel discs hide behind satin-black 15-inch steelies. It’s the kind of spec that reads like an enthusiast’s shopping list because that’s precisely what it is.
Chassis Tuning That Respects the Badge
The Falcon name doesn’t mean much without light, lively steering and a front end that doesn’t fold in a fast corner. Dralle reinforced the shock towers, added an export brace and Monte Carlo bar, relocated the upper control arms à la Shelby, and paired Koni dampers with stiffer springs, a panhard bar, heavy-duty tie rods, and upgraded spindles.
The result is a Sprint that finally feels as quick as it always looked—more SCCA-club racer than grocery-getter. The listing is candid, too: a high-speed rear-end vibration persists above 85 mph despite a rebuilt, balanced driveshaft. That’s the honesty you want when planning to drive your classic.
The Ford France Rally Look Isn’t Cosplay, It’s Character
Following its 2016 BaT appearance, the car was treated to a rally-inspired makeover: Marchal and Hella lamps, Lucas rear fog light, a Rally Genève hood decal, offset blue stripe, and Ecurie Ford France graphics over Corinthian White.
Inside, you’ll find proper Cobra-style buckets trimmed in red leather, a bolt-in GT350-style roll bar, Crow harnesses, an 8,000-rpm Smiths tach placed in your eyeline, Stewart-Warner auxiliaries, a brake bias knob, and even exhaust cut-outs so you can choose between straight side pipes or a more neighbor-friendly exit. It’s less a theme and more a mission statement: this Falcon wants miles, not museum lighting.
A Story You Can Tell Without Opening the Hood
Here’s the hook your friends won’t expect: BaT co-founder Randy Nonnenberg owned and further refined this car, then drove it on the Copperstate 1000 and to various BaT events before it sold again on BaT in May 2025. That’s automotive social proof—the car has already done the things most of us dream about, and it did them reliably enough to keep earning its stripes.
Today, it’s consigned and offered with build and service records, a California title, and enough detail in the listing to make due diligence painless. Oh, and it’s no-reserve. Someone is taking this home when the clock hits zero.
Mid-year 1963 was when the Falcon got serious: the Sprint package arrived with a 260-cid Challenger V8, bucket seats, and a sportier stance. In hindsight, it was Ford’s rehearsal for the 1964½ Mustang—many interior, chassis, and drivetrain cues moved straight from Sprint to pony car.
That makes any clean 63½ Sprint historically interesting; this one, with its race-shop build and documented life, lands squarely at the intersection of significance and seat-of-the-pants fun.
Liveability Baked In
The seller notes practical upgrades a driver appreciates: Dynamat in the floors and trunk, black carpeting, a 16-gallon Fuel Safe cell, relocated battery, dual-master-compatible export brace, and modern rubber in the classic BFGoodrich raised-white-letter look.
The interior keeps its Falcon charm—factory cluster and a wood-rim Moto-Lita wheel—while giving you the information (and restraint) a warmed-over small-block demands. It’s rowdy when you ask, calm when you cruise.
Reason To Care Right Now
Because this is precisely the kind of car that makes classic ownership rewarding. It’s not a numbers-matching trailer queen. It’s a thoughtfully built, proven driver with event pedigree, a known history, and parts you can actually buy. It honors the original Sprint’s mission—compact, charismatic, V8-powered—while solving the weak spots that once made early Falcons feel fragile.
If the Mustang story speaks to you, this is its prologue with a better punchline. And as of today, it’s a no-reserve auction ending Thursday, September 18, 2025, on Bring a Trailer.
Quick Specs at a Glance
• 1963½ Ford Falcon Sprint hardtop; Corinthian White over red-trimmed buckets
• Hand-built 331 V8 (Mexican 289 block), roller cam, forged internals, Edelbrock aluminum heads, Doug Thorley headers, MSD ignition, Aviaid 7-qt pan
• Tremec TKO 5-speed; narrowed Ford 9-inch with 3.50 Truetrac LSD
• Shelby-style UCA drop, Koni shocks, reinforced towers, export brace/Monte Carlo bar
• Four-wheel discs; 15-inch steelies on 205/60 BFGoodrich Radial T/As
• Rally-style lighting and livery; roll bar, harnesses, Smiths tach, SW gauges
• High-speed (85-mph+) rear-end vibration noted; TMU; California-assigned VIN
• No-reserve sale; BaT co-founder provenance; Copperstate 1000 participant
The Bottom Line
Some classics ask you to protect their past. This one wants you to add to it. If you’ve been waiting for a Falcon Sprint with the right pieces, the right story, and the proper invitation to drive—this is your green flag.