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By
EWAN KENNEDY
12 March 2006
The GT40 is one of the most famous of all high-performance Fords.
Built for – and winning – the Le Mans 24-hour classic in the late
1960s, it still looks stunning decades down the track. A low-slung
beast, the GT40 stood just 40 inches tall, hence the name. (Making it
just a tad over a metre high.)
At around the same time, 40 years ago in 1967, Ford Australia
introduced a slightly less outrageous high-performance Falcon. One
that arguably means even more to the average Aussie muscle car
lover than the legendary Le Mans racer. Nowadays, the Ford GT
Falcon is the most sought-after of all Australian classic cars,
particularly in Phase III format.
Fast forward to 2007 and Ford Australia has announced that it
is celebrating the GT Falcon's 40th anniversary in Australia with
a standout special model.
Standout is the right word, this special Falcon is certainly
not a car for the shy and retiring driver. Ford Performance
Vehicles (FPV) has come up with a sensational paint job, using
Silhouette Black as the main hue, with bold Gold stripes that run
over the top (pun intended!) for the complete length of the car.
The big stripes are duplicated along the lower flanks of the GT
and carry inbuilt ‘GT 40th anniversary’ logos. These logos are
cunningly designed to look as though they read GT40, thus bringing
back memories of that other hot Ford racer.
Alloy wheels with a diameter of 19 inches carry on the mean
black theme, having glossy inserts in just that colour to complete
the exterior package.
Inside, specially worked FPV sports seats are finished in
leather and suede and feature embroidered GT logos. The silver
thread highlights in the seat trim work particularly well.
This GT Falcon is not intended to be a racing car, rather it’s a
grand tourer, which is what GT really stands for. However, it is
fitted with what FPV calls its R-Spec handling pack, which should
permit it to hold its head high at track days without overly
compromising its comfort in daily driving. Ford racing car driver
John Bowe played a large part in the development of the pack.
Only 200 examples of this special 40th anniversary GT Falcon
are going to be built. They will be individually numbered and
carry a certificate of authenticity. These cars are priced at
$65,110 (with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic)
and go on sale in April. They look destined to sell out very
quickly and we recommend getting in touch with your FPV dealer as
soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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