Bob McArthur

Cars: Ford XD Falcon Police Pursuit and Ford AU III Falcon XR8 Hometown: Sydney, NSW

What are they?

The rst is an XD Falcon, 351 manual, ex-Police Pursuit car; the other an AU III XR8, again manual.

When did you buy them?

I bought the XD in 1983, straight from the police auctions, and I bought the XR8 new from Peter Warren Ford at Smith eld in 2001 – although I didn’t actually get the car until January 2002. There is a bit of a story to the XD. Many years ago I owned an LC GTR Torana, (wish I still had that!) another ex-police pursuit car, this time from Taree, and it doubled life as my race car as well as the family hack. It went to the shopping centres, Amaroo and Oran Park, and then hooked the caravan behind and went on holidays. When the kids in the back complained of the roll cage as well as the lack of leg room, particularly as they got a bit older, I was on the lookout for a new family car. Then one day we were towing the van down to Victoria when unfortunately the fuel gauge decided that it wanted to show more than was actually in the tank. We ran out of petrol and, being the young guy that I was, I headed off jogging down the Hume Highway, when a Police car pulled up beside me and asked if I was OK. He said that he saw the Torana stopped with the van on the back and the family inside and offered to give me a lift to the next service station. He was in an XD. After he dropped me off, he told me that he was only serving a summons down the road and if he saw me again he would give me a lift back. As I was walking back, up he pulls and says ‘jump in – I am chasing that little white thing up ahead.’ I jumped in, fastened the seat belt and he took off. By the time he got into third gear I thought, I gotta have one of these! Room for the kids and it goes like the clappers. So the next opportunity I went to the auction and after a few attempts came home with one. The irony of that was, if I had have jogged in the opposite direction, a service station was only about a kilometre over the next hill, I would not have been picked up

and probably would still be a Holden man today. After all this time, entering into a discussion about the legalities of what that cop did for me is quite irrelevant.

As for the XR8, this might sound strange, but the minute I saw the AU XRs I really liked the modern and individual shape. So despite all the knockers and bad publicity, again, I thought, I gotta have one of those. I waited until the last version as I had already had two rst versions of a model, in the LC and then the XD, and this time I thought I would wait until the last version came out. Also in my mind was the fact that the new BA was going to have an alloy engine and that gave me concern as I felt they would most likely have a bit of trouble initially. I thought that I could always update to the BA, should I so desire. Right or wrong, that was the reason I went with the AU, with the cast iron Windsor. A decision I have never regretted and am very happy that I decided to stick with the AU.

What can you tell us about their history?

The XR8, has no real history, other than I bought it new and apart from rego checks, no one else drives it. The XD, on the other hand, does have a bit of history. It was bought by the Police in March, 1982, around about the last of the XDs, from Thompson Ford at Parramatta, and then after its t-out it went to Lithgow Highway Patrol. Recently at a Falcon GT Club meeting I met a fellow who used to be a mechanic for the Police, and when he asked where the car had come from he was quite delighted because he used to work at Lithgow. He then showed me everything he had done to the car then – his name was even in the log book. When he told me they used to give those 351s plenty of stick, I wanted to deck him for thrashing my car! No doubt it has done a few laps of Mount Panorama. He actually remembered my car as it was the last XD he had worked on and it has a lot of little trick bits that I didn’t even realise. The XD then took over the role as the family car; we updated the caravan and together we have been all over the country.

How do they go?

It is a bit hard to compare the two as they are a bit chalk and cheese to actually drive. I have put them both around Eastern Creek. The XD without power steering gets a bit tiring around all those corners, but the 351 pulls out of corners beautifully, whilst the XR8 is probably quicker and easier to drive. However, on the open road, the XD is the better car to give you the driving experience; you feel the car into corners and the response is fantastic. It is also so open and light, with good vision all around. It is a joy to drive. The XR is still very good to drive, on long distances it just eats up the miles and even after a 12-hour run back from a trip away, the cruise control is brilliant and I can get out of the car without stiffness or any other problem. Just a great car for the open road. And yes, I use cruise control on a manual towing a caravan.

The XD also likes to visit the service stations a little more often than the XR, despite its 85-litre tank. Both are great cars and great to drive, even though they are different. I don’t drive either car in the city, particularly the XD. I tted a new clutch to it, an 11-inch Chev unit, and if you hold the clutch pedal down too long the blood drains from your leg, it is that heavy. But once in top, no problem.

Anything else to add?

Neither car has ever been bent. The XD has never had the heads off, is pretty much completely as it came, even the same radiator, starter motor, gearbox and diff. The only things I have had to look at, over the 38 years I have had it, are the brake master cylinder and slaves and the clutch. I don’t think the cops were very gentle with their take offs as the clutch died very early on in its life with me (although the caravan might not have helped as the rst gear ratio is quite high). The XR handles that OK. I have tted new discs to the XR as the standard ones were a bit prone to develop shudder. Other than that the little Windsor is a great motor, almost as good as the Cleveland.

The XR is now the family car, although the kids have now gone and I could still have a Torana, whilst the XD enjoys a life of luxury, only coming out every month or so, as long as it is not raining, not too hot or cold or when it is dark. Dirt roads... never.

My only disappointment is that when I went to purchase a new car, neither the XD nor the XR had GT derivatives, and I have always regretted that. Not quite GTs.