We celebrate some of the great Ford V8 legends
From Unique Cars #319, Jan 2011
Back in 1960, if you wanted a family-sized Ford in this country, your options came with English names such as Zephyr or Consul – one a six, the other a turgid four. Neither were capable of getting the serious muscle car lover worked into a lather, in an era when muscle cars didn’t really exist. And while both may excite some passion among a few collectors today, they failed to survive the pace of the ’60s.
Yet their successor, the humble Falcon, which began life as a local family car with American rather than English DNA, thrived through the sex, drugs and rock-’n’-roll era. It began the decade with a wheezy 90hp 2.4-litre six and exited ’69 with a thumping 300hp 5.8-litre V8 rumbling out in front. For progression of vehicle performance, the ’60s was virtually unrivalled … until now, that is.
Think about that for a minute – in 2000, the baddest Falcon you could buy had 220kW and could do no better than a high-14-second quarter mile. Come 2002 and the final 5.6-litre Tickford AU packed 250kW and was capable of a 14.1. And then for 2010, how about an all-alloy, quad-cam, 32-valve supercharged 5.0-litre V8 Falcon capable of an easy high-12, traction permitting?
Yep, just when when Ford’s truck-based 5.4 was starting to feel a bit long in the tooth, along comes this blown beast and blows everything, and everybody, away. And all this is from an engine that has so much latent potential, it’s only running 5.8psi (0.4bar) boost!
So we thought we’d get together a few V8 Falcon legends and rumble them alongside the new chap on the block for 2010. And rumble they did…
Ford Falcon V8 legends:
1. 1968 Ford XT Falcon GT
The XT GT is arguably the sweetest overall package of all the early hot Falcons. Read more…
2. 1971 Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III
The GT-HO never lacked in a straight line, but pulling up required forward planning. Read more…
3. 1973 Ford XA Falcon GT
Ford had to get rid of Phase IV carbs, so they threw them at the manual XA GT. Read more…
4. 1982 Ford XE Falcon ESP
The XE was the last hurrah for the local V8 – we had to wait until ’91 for the next one. Read more…
5. 2010 FPV GT 335
Like the Phase III, the 335 GT is all engine, with the chassis simply trying to keep up. Read more…
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Photography: Stuart Grant