COUPE DE GRACE
BEAUTY IS MORE THAN SKIN DEEP WITH MIKE KING’S XM FUTURA COUPE
Mike King’s XM Futura coupe has the brawn to match its beauty
UNDER THE BONNET IS A SERIOUS 363CI WINDSOR BUILT BY PAVTEK PERFORMANCE, WHICH STOMPED OUT ALMOST 600HP ON THE DYNO
SIX years after Mike King dragged a sad XM Futura coupe out of South Australia, the covers where whipped off a machine that stopped many Summernats 32 spectators in their tracks. Subtle to the casual eye, the ’64 coupe didn’t have a blower towering out of the bonnet or a retinapunching paintjob; it actually seemed to hide the extreme number of custom touches Steve Alldrick and the team at Deluxe Rod Shop packed into the build!
Every part of the car has been modified, with custom metalwork running from stem to stern, a near-600hp Windsor up front, pro touring suspension and brakes, and fit and finish to rival a brand new high-end supercar. And it has taken three years of hard work by the Deluxe crew to attain such a killer outcome.
“It was a complete driving car, but full of bog and chicken wire,” Steve explains. “Mike stripped the car himself and it was delivered to me sandblasted and ready to go. He said he wanted a driver, but I don’t do flat-black underbodies.”
Although the underpinnings were straight, the body of the XM was so tired it may as well have been narcoleptic. Steve and Mick Mccallum from Deluxe got busy with the English wheel, rolling up new door skins, quarter-panels, lower radiator support, inner front guards and a new firewall, as well as raising the bonnet two inches in the centre to clear the engine, and lengthening the boot and bonnet 10mm each to improve the panel gaps.
“The only original panel on the car is the lefthand front guard,” says Steve. “We put a new tunnel in it, mini-tubbed it, kicked up the rails, and put a firewall in it.” You really need to park a standard Falcon next to it to understand just how many modifications have been done to the car.
“Being a coachbuilder is second-nature to me,” Steve says. “All the sheet-metal work was done in around 4.5 weeks, fairly early on in the project’s life. I made the firewall in a day, both inner guards were a day each side, it was about a week to make each quarter panel, the flat floorpans were a day each, the sump took a day to build, then the two new door skins weren’t hard.”
Steve was actually halfway through making a plug to fix the hole left by the sunroof when a lucky internet search saved some time. “As I was wheeling up a custom roof panel to fill in the sunroof, Mike found a whole XM turret on ebay for $300,” he laughs. “Mike actually bought so many new-old-stock parts for the car it’s unbelievable, but six years ago these cars hadn’t exploded in value like they have now.”
Under the bonnet is a serious 363ci Windsor built by Pavtek Performance, which stomped out almost 600hp on their engine dyno. Built off a Dart SHP block wearing Cnc-ported RHS alloy heads, the angry small-block runs a forged Scat crank and H-beam rods, with flat-top SRP
EVERY PART OF THE CAR HAS BEEN MODIFIED, WITH CUSTOM METALWORK, PRO TOURING SUSPENSION AND BRAKES, AND FIT AND FINISH TO RIVAL A BRAND NEW HIGH-END SUPERCAR
MIKE WANTS TO BELT IT UP AND DOWN THE BEACH AT BRIGHTON. IT’S GOING TO VIBRATE!
forged slugs and a custom solid flat-tappet cam.
The Edelbrock Victor Jr intake was Cnc-machined before the Holley Sniper throttlebody EFI was added, while Steve and the Deluxe crew made a custom exhaust from the 1 7 /8-inch headers back down the twin three-inch system and to those precision-fit tips poking out under the back bumper.
A Mcleod twin-plate clutch lives behind the angry Windsor, bolted up to a Tremec TKO600 five-speed manual and a tough Ford nine-inch filled with Extreme floating axles, Truetrac LSD and4.11:1 gears.
“It was never having an auto,” says Steve. “Mike’s family has always had V8 Fords all his life, so he’s grown up around them.”
The trim, handled by North Central Motor Trimming, offers an instant trip back to the 60s, with stock seats cut and sectioned 2.5 inches lower, then wrapped in black leather, while a billet alloy gear shifter pokes through the plush European carpet, just like they did in 60s muscle cars. The instruments actually work through an ipad hidden in the glovebox, while Mike will grip a Billet Specialties steering wheel when pedalling the XM.
On top of being featured in the Megiuar’s Great Unveil at Summernats 32, Mike’s Futura also landed in the Top 10 and took out the PPG Supremeentrant award.
“This is probably the car that tested me the most, so I was rapt to win PPG Supreme on the Sunday,” Steve beams. “It was an absolute dream for me! love building cars, and I can’t stop it.”
The Futura backed this up by winning Top Street Machine, Top Two-door, and landing in the Top Five at the Victorian Hot Rod & Cool Rides Show a couple of days after our photoshoot. Although car-show accolades are great, Mike, the XM’S owner, apparently isn’t all that keen on them.
“That’s not what this car is about,” Steve laughs. “He wants to belt it up and down the beach at Brighton. It’s going to vibrate and be anawesome car.”
If it looks this good sitting still, we can’t wait to see it under power!