Special squad Falcon

Firstly, since the rst issue one I have had every issue of AMC. It’s always good reading, and as a police car fan I especially liked your comprehensive feature on police cars in the Special Squad story back in issue #49.

I read with interest a letter in the following issue’s (AMC #51) Muscle Mail from Keith Hammond talking about his Falcon XA 351 exVictoria police Interceptor. This would have been a sister car to the one I had purchased from BS Stillwell in 1973.

My car unfortunately is no longer around, but I found out that since the 1980s the engine is still registered in a 1984 XE Ford in Victoria. If the owner or anyone knows of the Ford XE tted with a 1972 JG23MD-pre xed engine number (this ex-police car and or engine has an unusual Ford number AG62MD ***** connection), I would love to be able to get in contact with them.

As mentioned, I’m interested in the police Falcons from this period and I run a dedicated Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/ groups/8XAcandycars – that has over 800 members.

We have located one of the ‘XA candycars’ used by the Victorian police force, a 1972 model XA 351 Police Pursuit. This car had a downgraded engine change to K code 2v, with a very strange engine number starting with the pre x DK.

On re-reading Keith Hammond’s letter, I noticed that his ex-police pursuit car had a new 351 engine-change (the new engine being downgraded to K code 2v). It makes me think that this car is the one Keith Hammond owned.

Tracing the history of this car through Vic Roads, there is a gap of missing les of the

owners after it was sold off by

Victoria Police. Ian Meates from the Victoria Police Historical Society informed me through his research, that the main driver of the pursuit car mentioned parked the car with smoke bellowing out of the near side of the dual exhaust –the motor had had it.

So after that Police use it was decommissioned, and through a tender process BS Stillwell acquired the car in September, 1973. There is missing information on its history from 1973 to around 1987.

The Vic Roads documents con rm an engine change had taken place. Until I re-read the article, I had been uncertain if the police mechanics replaced the engine or it was done at BS Stillwell’s.

Keith Hammond’s letter con rms it was the car dealership who did the engine work. It also mentions the cars in the BS Stillwell car lot were similar to what I saw – four XA Falcon ex-police 302 V8 autos price around $3200 and three fourspeed, oor-shift 351 imported 4V T-Code, priced between $3800 to $4000.

I would like very much for Keith Hammond or his family to contact me (through AMC) to con rm the VIN or engine number of his brother’s special highway patrol car as I reckon it is the same car. The opportunity is possibly available for him and his brother to be re united with the car.

Chris Isgood email