The fifth digit indicates the engine option, but for 1961 it wasn’t quite sorted for the rapidly developing hipo options. All 61 390 cars will have a “Z”. If you find a solid lifter 375hp (4bbl) or 401hp (3x2bbl) car, you need a window sticker or dealer paperwork to really prove it, even though just about everything under the hood is different than the standard 390/300hp car. There were dealer installed 4 speed transmissions in late ‘61, but I’m not aware of any documented factory installs. Identifying hipo Fords gets way easier in 1962, when the 375hp gets a “Q”, 401hp gets an “M”, and midyear they add 406/385hp (“B”) and 406/405hp (“G”).
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