Falcon performance cars – the attraction continues

The first Falcon GT I drove was appropriately an XR GT.

It was a pristine example from the original run of the 289 cu in powered gold painted XR GTs. The owner absolutely cherished the car; it was well-serviced and in impeccable condition.

I slid behind the wheel – a task made easier by the fact that all the Falcon GTs of the era featured vinyl-covered bucket seats. Prior to twisting the key I paused for a moment to savuor the masculine ambience of the car.

With the car fired, it settled into an easy smooth idle. Although heavy by modern standards, I depressed the clutch and used the incongruous chrome Hurst shifter to ease the Borg Warner box into first gear.

Rolling out onto the quiet street I was struck by how completely normal the car felt. It was quiet and quite civilised. The mild 289 was never going to overwhelm the chassis, and the overall feeling was one of restrained performance. Yes, it was a special car to drive but the performance had already been eclipsed by newer iterations of the Falcon GT theme.

I later drove an XA GT. The car was green with bone trim, and was factory fitted with the 780 manual choke Holley, twin plate clutch and a nine-inch limited slip differential. I suspect this example was one of the vehicles Ford had used to disperse leftover performance components from the stillborn Phase 4 GT HO project.

The car was fairly new, and with the owner present I was being somewhat conservative, short shifting the top loader and riding the torque band of the Cleveland. Shortly the owner advised that short shifting was not the way the car should be driven, and it would respond better when driven in anger!

Needing no further invitation, we halted on an empty road. The revs came up to around 3,500 and the clutch was popped. With clearly audible howls of protest, the rear Aquajets struggled and failed miserably to transmit the torque of the free-revving 351 onto the bitumen.

The 351’s abundant torque necessitated some deft modulation of the accelerator to prevent the wailing Cleveland from crashing into the rev limiter. With a dab of corrective left lock applied (live rear axles and an LSD pulling the rear of the car to the left during vigorous acceleration), a quick glance to the left revealed the owner, sitting there with an enormous grin on his face.

While the XA (and XB/XC) body shape is not my personal favourite, being given free rein to drive and savour the snarling free-revving GT that day left a positive impression that has lasted for years.

My preferred shape of the early Falcons is the iconic XY. Although a mild facelift of the previous XW, the XY underwent a revision to the tail lights and rear panel that tidied up the rearand the grille and corner lights made for a more aesthetically pleasing and integrated front end.

The GT variants were equipped with the famous “Shaker” – this was the top of the engine-mounted air cleaner poked through the centre of the bonnet.

The purple (Wild Violet) XY GT I drove was not stock – the owner had invested in a number of enhancements to ensure this car was capable of greater performance than the legendary Phase 3 GT HO.

Hopping into the black, Fairmont-sourced seat I stole a quick glance through the three-spoke wheel at the gauges prior to twisting the ignition key to wake the slumbering beast.

The starter churned for a moment before the 351 cackled into life. A couple of blips of the throttle had the Shaker air intake dancing happily around in the bonnet aperture. A quick glance at the gauges ensured all was well, and I depressed the heavilyweighted clutch pedal to disengage the twin plate clutch. The heavy duty “top loader” box was eased into first, and the heavy, but surprisingly smooth, clutch gently engaged, and we were on our way.

With the car now straight and the clutch out, a judicious prod on the loud pedal had the nose rising and the rear hopping to the left. All that was left to do was apply the requisite left lock, hang on and enjoy the ride.

Each time the revs snarled past 6,500, I dipped the clutch and banged the top loader up a cog, the taps held wide open as the GT lunged on towards the day’s target of 7,000 in top.

Hard out in top cog with the accelerator mashed to floor, a small crest lightened the car, and the rear tyres broke traction for a few moments. The car was completely unfazed, and just kept on pushing harder through the air. A few seconds later, and the required target of 7,000 achieved, the pedal was lifted and the car allowed to gently ease back to a more relaxing pace.

The passenger and I exchanged grins, and we headed back to our starting point. Closing on our destination we entered an open corner, banged the box back into third, applying a goodly prod on the gas and drove through in a huge and very satisfying power slide. The short blast in that special old beast kept us grinning for hours.

Looking back at those and other wonderful cars of the sixties and early seventies, we ponder what really made them magical.

Why would a (relatively) sane individual be motivated to pay in excess of $300,000 for a 40-something years-old mass market sedan?

In a word they are engaging – all the driver’s senses are stimulated; the sound of the engine, the metallic click clunk of the shifter, the twitching and feedback from the (often heavy) steering – even the smell of a hard-worked engine (not to mention the typically inadequate brakes).

In comparison to driving a modern anodyne appliance of a car, driving one of these charismatic beasts is an experience. Your senses will come close to overload and you will be provided with a memory that will make you grin for the rest of your life.

Today we are waiting on the imminent arrival of the final iteration of the Falcon name plate.

The V8 performance version of the 2015 Falcon will be identified by the reintroduced XR8 name plate. The 2015 XR8 uses a 335kW version of the Australian-developed, 5-litre supercharged “Miami” engine.

Visually the bulged bonnet sets the XR8 apart from its stable mates, and a revised exhaust will let through some of the engine howl.

Take your XR8 to a track and savor the experience – there will be more than enough of the old animal lurking under the disguise of a modern car to bring a smile to your face.

The days where you can purchase a family sedan with a willing V8 that may have a manual transmission that will induce a grin a mile wide are very much numbered – get one while you still can.

Sprint down to your local Ford dealer, work through some of the available options, and order one to suit your individual tastes before they are all gone!