George
<<By the way what is a 1997 Ford Falcon?
Ford of N.America produced a Falcon starting in
1960 but concluded the run about 1975. It was
Ford's 4 to 5 seater attempt to compete against the
VW, Mini and early Datsuns. We referred to it as
an econo-box, as its initial 220 cid 6 cylinder
variant was the stereotype of gutless wonders. =
Later variants came with the 260 and 289 cid V8,
although some enthusiasts found the right shoe
horns to fit the 390 and 426 cid V8 into it. =
The Falcon frame was breathed over by John
DeLorian and Lee Iacocca and thus shared by the
Mk. I Mustang.
Is Ford Aus continuing to produce a car under that
name? >>
You're pretty correct with your assumptions .. the Aussie Falcon can trac=
e
its roots back to the same car of the 1960's.
We got V8 fever around the same time as the 289's were being put into the=
Mustang. The largest engine we ever saw was the 351 and today we're back=
with the 302 - (5 litres for those of you on the list who don't understan=
d
the American measure!)
Our car is a XR8 which is the current high performance version with a 5
speed box. The car is built by Tickford which takes the base vehicle off=
the Ford production lines and adds their bits which are mainly handling
plus a body variant. =
The suspension was sorted by a combination of Stephen Hoinville and John
Bowe.
Steve works for Tickford and won the Grand Prix Rally a couple of years a=
go
with his old man Graham who is part of the heirarchy at CAMS - the Aussie=
FIA affiliate and motorsport governing body.
John Bowe is a Ford works driver - he runs one of the Dick Johnson Racin=
g
Falcons - and one of the best steerers in the country.
The end result is a big comfortable car with quite good performance by an=
y
standard at a very affordable price. It's a good tow car and performs
amazingly well on the circuit itself.
regards
Jeremy Braithwaite
Age & Treachery Racing Australia
For details of FF rentals, test days and corporate days see:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/atroz
1970 Lotus 61MX - Team Holland
1976 Bowin P6F
1983 Reynard FF83 =
1986 Isuzu FVR Pantechnicon
1972 Datsun 240Z
1993 RF93 Van Diemen with 95 update - deposit paid
1997 Ford Falcon XR8 Tickford
A large collection of model cars
Investor in the Lance Ruting Collection of motorsport photographs
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