This week I thought I should give you a
couple of muscle-cars, Aussie style, though only the Falcon GT
can claim real Australian heritage. This car is what the boys
Down-under flog along the highways “out west”
(up-country), away from radar speed guns, and all they have to
avoid are the country coppers.
The other car, the Mustang, is a real
classic, and this particular vehicle is one I have been in
more than once, the owner Kerry Horgan being the chemist whose
shop was next door to mine! I have also raced against him many
times, and our Down-under correspondent John Weinthal has been
a friend of his for 40 years.
Ford
Falcon GT
When comparing these cars, John describes
them as “one classic - another potential”. Here are the
Words from Weinthal.
“The Ford Falcon GT is Ford’s current
performance car flagship - a 5.4 litre V8 powered muscle car
with 290 kW, or near enough 400 horsepower, to delight anybody
with even the slightest love of raw power, although it comes
in an enticingly velvet glove.
Mustang
GT
“The GT entered the Ford Australia stable
via its fresh new Ford Performance Vehicles offshoot early
this year as a five-speed manual. The selectronic auto version
tested followed mid-year.
“This was the fifth BA Falcon to pass
through our hands after the excellent base XT, the always
exhilarating XR6 Turbo sedan and pick-up.
“This
GT is a stand-out with deep front spoiler, bonnet bulge, large
rear spoiler, optional GT striping and superbly shaped sports
seats with power height adjustment for the driver. The only
handicap to achieving a perfect driving position is the
unforgivable absence of a proper left foot rest.
“The GT can dribble through traffic with
eerie ease. It has a firm but absorbent and relatively refined
ride. A distant V8 thrum reminds one constantly of what is
possible should traffic, weather and whim dictate more haste.
You are always master.
“The
GT has great character. It takes the best of all the BA’s
and adds its own intrigue, including an exhaust bellow to
thrill any true Aussie heart. It can be almost indecently
rapid in its responses.
“Subjectively this Falcon GT, in spite of
its extra 50kW, feels only mildly faster than the exhilarating
XR6 Turbo. The Turbo has a more youthful edge to its urge,
contrasting with the GT’s robust maturity. However you spell
it, this is a well kitted out excitement machine and real
value at just under AUD 60,000 (direct conversion to Thai
currency is around 1.7 million baht).
“The arrival of the GT suggested more
than just a regular review. The opportunity was created to set
it beside one of Ford’s icon muscle cars of the past - a 6.7
litre 1967 automatic Mustang notchback with the full US GT
pack of the day.
“This particular Mustang was imported
brand new in 1967 by its owner’s older brother. The all up
cost, including a host of extras and right-hand-drive
conversion, was just under AUD 6000 which was a heap of money
back then.
“Pharmacist and race driver owner Kerry
Horgan guesses it has covered at least 300,000 km. These
include finishes in five Targa Tasmanias, regular racing at
Warwick’s exciting Morgan Park circuit and Queensland
Raceway plus many Willowbank drag strip outings. It has never
led a pampered existence.
“According to Kerry it is a bit like
grandfather’s axe with a lot of chopping and changing of
parts and performance and safety upgrades over the years. It
has never been pranged and its only repaint was some 20 years
ago. Today it gleams in the same original cream as when it
left Detroit.
“The Mustang began life as a 6.4 litre
V8. It has since been stretched to 6.7 litres with oil coolers
for the engine, power steering and transmission. Its current
output is around the same as the GT’s 290kW or 400
horsepower. However it weighs at least 200 kg less than the GT
and sits much lower thanks to suspension changes for racing.
At Willowbank this Mustang has recorded quarter mile sprints
at 13.5 seconds; more than enough to embarrass the latest GT.
“At about this point all comparisons end.
There is nary a microchip or computer control for any of the
Mustang’s functions. Remote locking, electric windows,
climate control air-con, cruise control, steering wheel
mounted sound system buttons, fully supportive seating and the
sort of refinement and ride comfort we take for granted today
were never on this Mustang’s menu. Kerry reckons his car to
be worth between AUD 25,000 and 30,000 today or half the price
of the Falcon.
“The most interesting race one might
conduct between today’s GT and its 1967 counterpart would be
to the petrol pumps. Both enjoy a drink - at frequent
intervals. Don’t count on more than 350 km between visits to
your favourite servo if you spend most of your time driving in
town. That’s the price of big time grunt in an 1800kg five
seat eye-grabber.”
(Thank you John for the comparison, but while I agree that
the Mustang is a classic, I do not believe the new Falcon GT
will ever get into that category. The original Falcon GT’s
were, like the Mustang, brute horsepower cars that really
required hanging onto. Step on the go pedal injudiciously and
these things would immediately go sideways! The new cars are
far too sophisticated. However, looking at the interior shot
of the Mustang, doesn’t the steering wheel show its age! Dr.
Iain)
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Drive Days
How many of you have been on factory
sponsored “Drive Days”? You know the deal, where the
factory takes you to a racing circuit and supplies race
drivers to take you round and show you just how well the new
product stops, goes, steers, etc. From the non-racers point of
view, these can be quite an exciting event, but from the
racer’s point of view, it is quite different, let me assure
you. They are work.
The first one of these I ever went on was
for British Leyland in Australia. As a member of the “Works
team”, I was expected to attend, there was no excuse
accepted, and way back then, I was actually quite excited
about it. Silly boy!
A national newspaper had run an article
asking whether the readers felt they were skilled enough to be
good drivers. Of course they got a response - hundreds of them
replied, so all the works teams in Australia were approached
(Nissan, Ford, Holden, British Leyland) and we took turns
every weekend. The parent manufacturer supplied the cars and
their race team drivers and the newspaper supplied the happy
punters. In our case, that was FWD Morris Nomads (a 1500 cc
Morris 1100 built in Oz). These were thereafter known as
Morris Go-Mads, but that’s another story yet again.
The punters came in two types. There were
the “wannabe’s” and the “bloody hopeless”. There
seemed to be nothing in between. If given the choice, we
always went for the wannabe’s. They were so intent on
showing us that they were the natural heir apparent to Sir
Jack Brabham’s world title that it was easy to trick these
guys up. As soon as we had them on the track, on a long
sweeper, we would ever so quietly reach down between the seats
and pull the handbrake on. With the FWD this produces instant
oversteer as the back steps out of line, and by the time our
boy wonder had got the wheel turned into the slide we would
have dropped the handbrake and he was in trouble all over
again. They had no idea why the back had suddenly stepped out,
and we certainly weren’t going to tell them.
However, one particularly hopeless woman
has remained firmly in my memory. One of the other drivers,
John Leffler, brought her to me. “You won’t believe this
woman,” said Leffo, and I was left with this rather
uninspiring 40 year old. I took her around the track at
trundle speed and then we stopped, changed sides and we took
off with me in the suicide seat. This was no wannabe, she did
not speed. At a constant 20 kph she drove down the track, not
moving the steering wheel in either direction. As we slowly
crossed over the centre line, I kept on thinking to myself,
“She’s going to turn back on course, surely.” No. Just
as surely, we continued on unabated until she had four wheels
in the dirt on the other side of the track and heading
directly for the safety fence.
I decided to get the car on the track
again, leaned over and pulled the wheel over till we were once
more doing 20 kays, but back on the bitumen. We rolled along
fine till we came to the corner and she just sat there, the
steering wheel never moving, until we again ran out of road.
This woman was physically incapable of steering. Not one clue.
After I steered her back to the starting
point, Leffo came over. “Howdja go, mate?” he asked. I
shook my head in disbelief and began to explain what had
happened, but he stopped me, saying “Don’t tell me, she
was exactly the same with me, but I thought maybe I had
frightened her or something!” We then asked her if she
actually had a drivers licence and she said that she did. We
then told her that best thing she could do was to nail the
licence to the mantelpiece and never drive again!
So much for “Drive Days”!
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Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked when did the first
power top convertible go into production, and what was the
make of the car? The answer was 1934 with Peugeot’s
‘decapotable electrique’.
So to this week. The normal piston
engines have one piston per cylinder, and the usual layout
of the cylinders is either in-line, or in a V formation,
or horizontally opposed. However, there were a few engines
that were made with more than one piston per cylinder,
working outwards from a central combustion chamber. These
were made in Scotland and France. What were the makes
using this? Clue - the Scottish one with a two cylinder,
four piston engine won a Tourist Trophy race!
For the Automania FREE beer this week,
be the first correct answer to email
[email protected]
Good luck!
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