Tickford TS50

By: Dave Morley, Photography by: Nathan Jacobs

Date: 20.05.2024

An unsung Henry hero that was going the way of the Edsel, now has a loyal following

2002 TS50

Funny, isn’t it, how some cars are completely overlooked when new, but, over time, really grow into themselves.

Take the 1934 Chrysler Airflow; a genuinely innovative car and one that is now super-collectable. Back in 1934, they couldn’t give ’em away; nearly bankrupted Chrysler, apparently. Or what about the Leyland P76 back in 1973? The butt of jokes back in the day thanks to reliability question marks and a bigger-than-absolutely-necessary butt, but these days we’ve come to recognise it for the breath of fresh air it represented. Hell, even the Datsun 120Y has a following these days (not so sure about that, myself).

Which brings us to the AU Falcon-based Tickford range of executive express sedans. In fact, no, go back one step even further: The AU Falcon itself. While we moaned about the homely looks of the original AU, and complained about its build quality issues, we were conveniently ignoring the fact that the AU was – and I don’t make this claim lightly – the best steering Falcon ever made.

That alloy cross-member and the front end geometry (all changed for the facelifted BA model) gave the AU a side-step to be envied among full-sized cars (not just Aussie ones) of the time.

But thanks to the car’s early reputation, even throwing a Tickford driveline at an AU back then and adding the other Tickford touches wasn’t seen as enough, and, like other AU variants, the TE50 and TS50 were the forgotten Aussie performance cars of their era. A situation not helped by the fact that HSV didn’t seem to be able to do anything wrong back then.

If anything, though, HSV’s market success didn’t deter Tickford. In fact, it only made the Broady boys more determined than ever to fight back and land a scoring punch. That became even harder in late 1999 when Holden switched to the 5.7-litre Gen 3 V8 and, in the process, made anything less than that capacity look a bit second-best. When dyed-in-the-wool Ford blokes were ditching their XEs to get in a VT Commodore with an LS engine, you knew the game had changed.

But still Tickford refused to throw in the towel and, instead, went to work on a powerplant that would run the ball back up the field to Holden and HSV. Just as Holden had done back in 1994, the idea was to take a five-litre V8 (in Tickford’s case the old faithful Windsor) and hog it out by adding a stroked crankshaft. But that was far from the end of the tweaks, as Ford sought to take a design first seen in 1962 and give it marketable life 40 years later. 

So as well as locally developed crank, the stroker wound up with top-shelf stuff like shot-peened con-rods, ported heads, better valves and springs, roller-rockers, more aggressive camshaft, lighter slugs, floating gudgeon pins, a three-piece intake manifold with bigger throttle body and a specific exhaust system. There was also a full balance and blueprint job carried out as the Windsor grew from a bare block to a 5.6 stroker. Phew.

At the end of all that, the magic numbers were 5.6 litres, 250kW and 500Nm. Have some of that, HSV. And just as well, because the engine was neither cheap nor, thanks to its hand-built status, quick to build. The new V8 wasn’t perfect, of course, and as well as a level of vibration that some owners liked, some didn’t, the 5.6 was notable for its ability to empty its tank before the thermostat had fully opened. But hey, back then, petrol was still under a buck a litre and if the thing had a bit of a throb to it, it was at least a V8 throb.

So, on paper, Tickford should then have had an engine option to rival (or beat, if you compare the torque outputs) anything HSV was pumping out but, somehow, the whole AU malaise seemed to stick to the end product.

Part of that, of course, was the styling. The basic AU was homelier than nonna’s cooking and even though the four-eyed XR front clip helped enormously, Tickford couldn’t just use that for fear of moving the TE/TS thing downmarket. The solution was to develop a specific Tickford front and rear apron, grille and then paint out some of the shiny bits in the headlights. The end result falls short of supermodel, but it aint bad. And it’s different to the rest of the AU line-up. Important.

But fast-forward almost two decades, and suddenly the fog has lifted and we’re seeing these Tickfords for what they really were, even if we didn’t know it at the time. That’s how the owner of this 2002 TS50 feels about things, anyway. David Earl is a Melbourne-based car buff who reckons the TE and TS Tickfords are finally starting to hit their straps as examples of what great cars this country produced.

And when you look at the TS50 in question, it’s hard to argue. Not only is David’s car a heavily optioned one from the factory, being a TS, it has the alloy cylinder heads from Ford Performance.

The TS bears a 2002 build date and also wears the best AU colour by a country mile; Blueprint, that light metallic blue that reminds us of Electric Blue XY GTs, and that’s probably no accident (Blueprint also made up more than one-third of all Series 3 TS50 production). All TS50s had leather trim, too, and David’s car sports the then-groovy charcoal leather with the bright blue accents. Hmmm, maybe some aspects haven’t matured as gracefully as others.

Not a whole lot is known about the original owner (other than they sure knew how to tick an option box) but from the first time the car changed hands, it’s stayed within David’s circle of mates and also within the four walls of a series of garages. Which is why it’s only travelled 118,000km from new and why it’s in such sensational nick.

And it’s going to stay that way; David has pretty firm views on how to look after cars, and he divides them in to two distinct groups.

"I like my modified stuff for personal use, but when it comes to collector stuff for superannuation – like the TS50 – I like ’em stock standard. And the fewer kays, the better; that’s what collectors are looking for."

Options-wise, this is a burger with the lot, apart from the factory sunroof (which can be more trouble than they’re worth if they start to leak). As such, this car has the Koni suspension (which some claim was standard on the TS50) stainless-steel exhaust, the factory entertainment system with the DVD player and Nintendo system for the back seat ("I think that alone was $4500") and the Brembo brake package which makes lots of sense in the context of 500Nm.

"Back then they were expensive cars. But I think the guy that bought it new spent somewhere between 12 and 15 grand on it in extras."

"I bought the car about 18 months ago from a mate of a mate and basically moved it from his shed to my shed, so it hasn’t seen a lot of daylight over the years. But I remember the Tickfords back in the day. One of the suppliers I used to deal with had one, so I was always aware of them."

"Plus, I’ve always liked the AUs. They were a fantastic car but there were always a few little things that let them down. Overall, that was the shape of the Series 1, but by the Series 3 they were beautiful to look at, drove well, were better appointed than a HSV, and not everybody had one.

"They’re going to be a future classic and they’ve just been left behind a bit. But values are going to go up. COVID brought them back up a little bit, and took them from the 30-thousands into the 50s. I’ll hang on to this for a few years and then maybe see what’s next. For me, they’re a lot like super(annuation) but way more fun."

Now, cast your mind back to when you first saw an AU Forte, and read that last sentence about superannuation again. Never thought it would happen? Us neither. But like we said, some cars just grow into themselves. Surely the Series 3 TS50 must be Exhibit A. 

VITAL STATS

2002 FORD TICKFORD TS50 SERIES 3

PRODUCTION RUN: 224 (Series 3, includes four prototypes)

BODY: Steel monocoque

ENGINE: 5605cc 90-degree Windsor V8, efi

POWER: 250kW at 5250rpm

TORQUE: 500Nm at 4250rpm

PERFORMANCE: 

0-100km/h: 5.9 seconds

0-400m: 14.1 seconds

GEARBOX: 4-speed auto

SUSPENSION: Upper and lower wishbones, coils, anti-roll bar (f); Independent, double wishbones (r)

BRAKES: Cross-drilled discs, 4-piston calipers (f and r)

WHEELS: Alloy, 18 X 8 inches

TYRES: Dunlop SP Sport 9000, 245/40 ZE 18

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