#Ford XB Falcon GT 351

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Mechanic : The last of the V8 Interceptors... a piece of history!

Mechanic : Would've been a shame to blow it up. 

The Pursuit Special, also referred to as the Last of the V8 Interceptors, is the iconic black GT Falcon muscle car featuring a distinctive supercharger driven by the title character Mad Max during much of the Mad Max franchise, where it appears in Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and in Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as both video games.

The first car shown in the film with the title of Pursuit Special is a 1972 HQ Holden Monaro[V8 coupe stolen by Nightrider (played by Vince Gil), an escaped cop killer, who dies in an accident that destroys the vehicle. The more famous Pursuit Special is a heavily modified Ford Falcon XB GT, built on a vehicle originally assembled stock at the Ford plant in November 1973. Maxwell "Mad Max" Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is offered the black Pursuit Special, as an incentive to stay on the force as their top pursuit man after he reveals his desire to resign. Although Max turns the offer down, he later uses the black car to exact his revenge on an outlaw motorcycle gang who killed his wife and son.

The vehicle started out as a standard white 351 cu in (5.8 L) Australian built 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Hardtop when in 1976, filmmakers Byron Kennedy and George Miller began preproduction on Mad Max. The movie's art director Jon Dowding designed the Interceptor and commissioned Melbourne-based car customizers Graf-X International to modify the GT Falcon. Peter Arcadipane, Ray Beckerley, John Evans, and painter Rod Smythe transformed the car as specified for the film.

The main modifications are the black paint scheme, roof and boot spoilers, wheel arch flares, and front nose cone and air-dam designed by Arcadipane (marketed as the "Concorde" style). Also, eight individual exhaust side pipes were added (only two of them being functional, others appeared to be working because of the vibrations the first two created). The most famous feature of the car is a Weiand 6-71 supercharger[5] protruding through the bonnet. The impressive looking supercharger, in reality, was nonfunctional; functional superchargers are typically driven constantly by the engine and cannot be switched on and off, as portrayed in the first two Mad Max films.

1973 Ford XB Falcon GT 351

Pursuit Special, when the term is used, generally refers to Max's more famous V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special, a 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT 351, commissioned at great expense by Police Commissioner Labatouche and the Main Force Patrol's (MFP) commander, Fifi Macaffee.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Ford Falcon XA GT 351 Hardtop, 1972. Also powered by Ford's Cleveland V8 that was imported for the US for the otherwise all-Australian Falcon. In the XA GT it made 300hp. The Cleveland-powered GT only made through one further generation, the XB, before it was discontinued.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Stuart Gary’s Superbird and the need for speed A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I dreamed of owning a Falcon GT hardtop just like the one my childhood hero Allan Moffat raced at Bathurst. Eventually, I bought an old rust ridden 1976 XB orange Ford Fairmont GS and slowly rebuilt it into my dream car – sort of like the black Falcon Interceptor out of Mad Max. Instead of a supercharger (which was fake in the movie car anyway) my car is equipped with a genuine 1000 hp twin turbocharged 351 under the hood. I often drove this beast from Sydney to Darwin when I was working as a radio broadcaster and journalist at 8DN. It was my daily ride for the commute from the suburbs to the city when I moved to 3UZ in Melbourne. And I got a great shot of it next to Brocky’s 05 Commodore when it was on display in Newcastle while I was working for the ABC at 2NC. Mind you this was always a thirsty beast – just four miles per gallon on the old scale -- a run from Newcastle to Sydney required two tanks of fuel! The heart of the beast is a specially built engine originally put together by Bob Matic at Ford Muscle Parts and later further modified by Ian Benson at Benson's Turbos. For the technically minded, the 351 Cleveland V8 powering the beast is fully blue printed, shot peened, and micro-polished. It’s based around a four bolt Aussie block fitted with 4V O-ringed open chambered BOSS heads, twin TO4 Garrett air-research turbo chargers with 21-pound wastegates, turbo dish pistons, Carrillo alloy rods, stainless steel crank, and a windage tray sump. It uses a three-inch stainless-steel twin exhaust system. The block is cooled by a four-core radiator and there's a separate radiator for the gearbox oil. Those thousand ponies are fed through a 12 inch drag clutch and four speed top loader gearbox to a custom-made drive shaft and GTHO yoke, into a nine-inch LSD and 35 spline rear axles. The Falcon is totally street legal with an engineer’s certificate to prove it. I also own a De Tomaso Pantera, but the two cars are totally different. While the Falcon has a deep throated thunderous growl, rumbling like the approaching storm it is - the Pantera has a short loud bark. The Pantera is very fast off the line (0 to 100 in around 3 seconds) and amazingly nimble -- even twitchy through the corners. But it holds on to the road as if attached to guide rails all the way to its top speed of over 300 KPH. On the other hand, the Falcon is a very different beast. It’s much slower off the line, with those turbos taking a while to spin up to boost. But once that turbo whistle starts, you’re suddenly thrust backwards into your seat and the beast hunkers down and begins accelerating like a bat out of hell -- easily slipping beyond the old 200 MPH mark (320 KPH) as the world outside flashes past. The beast eventually tops out at just over 342 KPH – close enough to warp speed for anyone. It’s a true adrenaline pumping rush taking you to the edge and beyond. Yet, it all changed once I started taking flying lessons. Flying aircraft is a totally different world. Looking down from above, life at ground level suddenly seemed so limiting and two dimensional. I still own both cars – but seldom drive them.

[mikesavagenewcanaan]

Leading 10 Flick Muscular Tissue Cars And Trucks

I made a decision to choose the most effective movie muscle cars that have ever appeared on screens. The goal was to select just muscle automobiles and only from movies so a few major prospects didn't appear on this checklist due to the fact that they were from television series, was not a muscle cars and truck, or simply really did not enter into this listing. Anyhow, I wish to point out 1970-1971 Plymouth Barracuda from "Nash Bridge" [with Don Johnson], Cobra from "Cobra" [with Michael Dudikoff], non muscle mass but unique and iconic 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 from "Back to the Future", 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from "Smokey as well as the Outlaw", 1958 Plymouth Fury from "Christine", "Kitt" - Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from "Knight Rider", 1969 Dodge "01 ″ Battery charger from "The Dukes of Hazzard",1959 Cadillac Rescue from "GhostBusters", and so on. Each of them is a person's dream cars and truck, each is ideal in some ways, however here's our TOP 10 Film Muscle Mass Autos:

1. Bullitt - 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 from "Bullitt", 1968

1968-ford-mustang-bullitt-steve-mcQueen-poster - Most likely this is the only unmodified motion picture Mustang ever. It has substantial 325 HP, an actual American muscle car's heart under the hood - the hostile 6.4 liter V8 engine, 4-speed guidebook transmission [which absolutely looks difficult to move] and sporty back wheel drive to enjoy while cornering. What else do you need from a real muscle mass automobile for chases after, especially back in 1968?

2. 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 from "Vanishing Point", 1971

1970-dodge-challenger-rt-vanishing-point - This set was a hot design with shocking 375 HP, 440 cubic [7.2 liter] V8 which plays probably the sweetest automative soundtrack. Would You handle to discover a far better car for Kowalski to drive from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hrs?

3. Eleanor - 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 from "Gone in 60 seconds", 2000

Mike Savage New Canaan

eleanor-mustang-1967 - Eleanor is possibly the most replicated muscular tissue flick vehicle ever to show up in screens. Although the initial movie from 1974 was a hit, the 2000 took the show for certain. There were 11 Eleanor systems constructed for this flick as well as just 3 of them were real running as well as driving automobiles. In the motion picture it served as Shelby, but actually they were customized Mustang fastbacks. The movie transmission was a 4-speed handbook, however the stunt cars were automated for less complicated act. Genuine tale.

4. The Interceptor - Australian 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe from "Mad Max", 1979

ford-falcon-interceptor-back-mad-max - This was one of the most modified automobile in that film. XB GT Falcon was developed specifically for Australian market as well as there were only 949 devices built. It featured 351 Cleveland engine as well as 4-speed guidebook transmission The motion picture auto maintained most of the original interior, but body had some significant modifications: brand-new nose layout, back looters, Weiand 6-71 supercharger with Scott injector had, 4-barrel carburetor and also the Zoomies - side pipes. Australians boast of this car and also make reproductions of it.

5. Bumblebee - Chevrolet Camaro from "Transformers", 2007

Transformers Autobot Towers Over Chicago Vehicle Program Crowd - The Transformer's Bumblebee made Camaro one of the most popular auto of the year. Well, not just it changes and looks excellent, however has a modern-day amcar engine - 6.2 liter V8 which ranks 426 HP and also does 0-60 in 4.8 seconds ...

6. 1968 Dodge Battery Charger R/T 440 Magnum from "Bullitt", 1968

Dodge-charger-from-bullitt - This triple-black, 4-speed Charger went after the Mustang in the "Bullitt" film and made one of the best automobile chase scenes ever before shot. When the jumping act was performed over the San Francisco hillsides the Charger never fell short with the suspension. Would you be able to call an automobile from nowadays that could do that without ending as scrap?

7. Cobretti's personalized 1950 Mercury Monterey from "Cobra", 1986

mercury-monterey-from-cobra-2 - Cobretti's [Sylvester Stallone] 1950 Mercury is possibly the most crucial thing in the whole film. It was previously had by Stallone himself and also later on built for the film by Cinema Automobile Providers. They double-scooped the hood, cleansed all extra trim, fitted 383 Chevrolet small block, topped it with nitrous-aided 4-barrel Holley carburetor which additionally had Weiand 144 supercharger. The transmission was a 400 Turbo Hydraulic with 4-wheel brakes. A good automobile to disclose Cobretti's character as well as join this Leading 10 listing.

8. 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra from "The Gumball Rally", 1976

Shelby-cobra-427-gumball-front-2 - The movie itself was inspired by a cross nation driver Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker who took care of to drive throughout the country from coastline to shore in concerning 54 hrs. This funny had several interesting vehicles on act, such as Ferrari Daytona, Porsche 911, 600 HP Camaro, Jaguar E-type, Exchangeable Corvette, Mercedes Roadster as well as even a Kawasaki motorbike. There were only 2 different, but original Shelby Cobra autos in this flick [CSX 3243 as well as CSX 3255] These 427 cubic [7 liter] OHV muscle mass automobiles took care of to inflate to 355 HP. This was actually excellent trip across the country with legendary muscular tissue cars and trucks ...

Mike Savage New Canaan

9. Bond's 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from "Goldfinger", 1964

aston-martin-db5-james-bond-movie - The DB5 is renowned for being the initial and most recognised film auto in James Bond films. DB5 had 4 liter [282 HP], 5-speed transmission. Originally, Ian Fleming [the unique writer] had positioned DB Mark III, but DB5 was the latest Aston at that time. In fact, they made use of the prototype cars and truck and also fitted it with lots of weaponry that fat stripped after the film and also resold. The same car showed up in a few other Bond's movies also. If You would certainly ask somebody to say "what Bond's vehicle is", the one would most definitely name Aston Martin. Good auto completely agent.

10. 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 from "Rumbling Roadway", 1958

1957-ford-fairline-500-thunder-road - The movie personality actually drove 2 automobiles there - 195 Ford Coupe as well as 1957 Ford Fairline 500 which was the top of the Ford line. The 312 cubic V8 engine created 245 HP and had automatic transmission. Good selection for 1950s if You actually need "to take somebody out".

[march-hare01]

Ford Falcon XBGT

[radracer]

Ford Falcon GT 351 Coupe xb

[ukclassiccars]

eBay: Australian Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe 1974 Cleveland 351 V8 like a Mustang XA XC GS http://rssdata.net/QyxjPT http://rssdata.net/QyxjPT

[highwaytohellfic-blog]

Violet Demétria De Angelis

Violet é uma pessoa impulsiva e que não suporta ser diminuída por causa de seu sexo, procura sempre provar e esfregar na cara daqueles que duvidaram de sua capacidade o quão forte e determinada ela é, mesmo que não haja necessidade. Gosta de ser respeitada e muitas vezes temida, seu maior objetivo é lutar por seus direitos, principalmente nas pistas, onde acaba sendo desrespeitada e subestimada por ser uma mulher. Sarcástica e divertida, seu humor é umas de seus características mais marcantes, porém um tanto difíceis de lidar. 

Ama a velocidade, a sensação de liberdade e o vento em seu rosto quando corre. Não perde um evento de moto com o grupo de motoqueiros fundado por seu pai, os "De Angelis". É um dos eventos mais esperado por ela em todo o ano, ocorre normalmente entre os meses de abril e maio e promete muita música, bebida e diversão. 

Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe

A queridinha de Violet, outro presente de seu pai pelo bom empenho e dedicação. Sempre fora apaixonada pelo modelo da moto. Seu pai, quando jovem, possuía um modelo da década de 90, costumava levar a menina para passeios na cidade, mas precisou vendê-la quando as coisas apertaram para garantir o bem estar de sua família. Violet nunca se conformou, mas precisou aceitar, não havia nada que pudesse fazer na época. Em 2007, seu pai comprou um novo modelo e desde então ambos foram apaixonados pela moto, mas no seu décimo sexto aniversário, quando anunciou sua primeira corrida, Théo a presenteou com sua máquina da sorte, "Janis". 

Ford Falcon XB GT 351 de 1973 

Originalmente de seu namorado, Johnny, Violet tomou posse do carro para competir em seu lugar devido a um acidente que o levou a ter uma das pernas quebradas. 

[berliozthesecond]

1973 Ford XB Falcon GT "Mad Max 2" (AutoArt 1:18)

The history of cinema is filled with cars that have proven both lastingly memorable and iconic in the realms of popular culture. The DeLorean time machine from "Back to the Future" and Ecto-1 from "Ghostbusters," the Dodge Challenger of "Vanishing Point" and the Mustang/Charger duo in "Bullitt," the Volkswagen Bug in the "Herbie" series of movies and the mean Plymouth Fury in "Christine," to name just a few. But no list like this would ever be complete without the inclusion of Max Rockatansky's customised Ford XB Falcon "Pursuit Special" or "Black-on-Black" as seen in the first two "Mad Max" films (the oft-used "Interceptor" name is a misappropriation from a line of dialogue from the second movie). Nobody had any idea just how incredibly successful George Miller's original low-budget dystopian movie about a cop trying to stay sane in a society barely holding itself together, with the loss of his family ultimately driving him to a road of personal vengeance at the movie's climax, would become. Not only was it the most profitable film in Australia's history (no doubt helped by the movie's shoestring budget), but also made Miller and star Mel Gibson into celebrities. Thus a sequel was not long in coming, this time saddled with a much bigger budget, and changing the aesthetics away from a dystopian future to that of a post-apocalyptic Western with cars and filled with gangs fighting over scraps of gasoline to keep their machines still moving.

With an established distributor, it was no surprise that the sequel also proved even more successful, with the movie re-titled abroad as "The Road Warrior" to mitigate the possibility of confusion over a sequel whose first part many had not even known of due to problems with the original's distribution. Thus it was this second movie that also ended up being many people's first touch with Mad Max and solidified the franchise's aesthetic for all the future films, with humanity's descent into a tribal post-society a marked characteristic that subsequently left many bewildered over how different the first movie in this series truly was when seeing it out of sequence the way so many did. Of course, with so much focus on high octane action and souped-up cars, the hero car had to be something truly distinctive. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Australia's car manufacturers had increasingly began to take on to the rising muscle car wars that were sweeping across the United States by pushing out their own, increasingly original home-made alternatives. By the turn of the 1970s, Australia was already home to several manufacturers who had taken the lead from their American examples and forged their own path that was entirely their own and wholly successful even when the muscle car days were drawing to a close in the States.

Ford Australia was one of the big ones at this and particularly their steady appropriation of the humdrum compact Falcon into a brawny performance machine saw its apex when they introduced the third generation XA Falcon in 1970.Though the Falcon continued to exist in more modest forms as well, it could be tickled up significantly with a range of V8 engines, including the 351 Cleveland, that were mostly made in Australia now as well. The XA, however, didn't last very long and was supplanted by the face-lifted XB model in 1973, which gave it an increased muscular style over its predecessor. For the film, director Miller and producer Byron Kennedy acquired a white '73 Falcon GT, which was then modified by the Melbourne-based customising firm Graf-X with added wheel flares, spoilers both on the roof and the rear deck, and a "Concord" nosecone and air dam designed by Peter Arcadipane, who also supplied similar nose kits for other customers to install on the XA and XB Falcons. The most notable feature was the installation of a fake Weiand supercharger over the engine, which on film could be engaged through a switch on the gear shifter, but which in reality was operated simply by a separate electric motor giving the impression of functionality.

After filming was done, the blower and the exhaust pipes were removed when the car was sold by the filmmakers to pay off debts, but by the time the sequel came about, it was re-purchased to continue its role in the production. By that time the original blower had disappeared and was thus replaced with a new one (hence it's not quite the same as in the first movie), the air dam underneath was removed for better ground clearance, and the rear was equipped with two large gas tanks on top of the car being re-painted and weathered to show off the effects of years of hard use and robust repairs. In addition, a second car was also acquired and modified for the sequence when the car gets rolled down a hill and blown up, leaving the original still intact. Once the movie was completed, the "Last of the V8 Interceptors" sat for a few years in a wrecker yard before being again found and then restored by a man named Bob Fursenko for touring in various locations, the Falcon subsequently finding its home at the Cars of the Stars Museum in England. Today the original car is located at the Dezer Car Museum in Miami.

On the model side of things, the Pursuit Special was until 2007 effectively only available through hard-to-find plastic model kits or conversion kits, which left many enthusiasts at times needing to work out their own custom conversions in place of more official releases. However, a change to that came in late 2007 when the precision model company AutoArt unleashed the above 1:18 reproduction of the Mad Max 2 car for what was to become an influx of other subsequent offerings of the Mad Max cars over the following years, likely also helped by the release of the long-in-development "Mad Max: Fury Road" in 2015 that helped revitalise interest in the franchise. Based on the old Biante moulds, that have for years now provided high quality 1:18 models of various Australian muscle Falcons, including the XA, XB and XC coupes, it is interesting that it took so long for an actual MM variant to come out, but the wait was certainly worth it. As said, the body is clearly using the already existing stock Biante shell on which a spoiler near the rear of the roof and side flares have been attached to. These admittedly smell more like shortcuts for them to not be forced to re-craft the old moulds for these additions, but neither do they look so bad as to be truly disappointing and the fitting of these additional component are clean and tight, though the spoiler doesn’t sit quite as snuggly as one would hope.

The body is flawlessly painted all in black, with the main portion being in gleaming gloss black and the bottom skirts featuring some satin black that noticeably wraps itself upwards before the rear wheel arc towards the remnants of the rear spoiler (hence the car's alternate name "Black-on-Black"), while there is also a similarly matt black streak running across the hood in the style of American GT accent striping. Now this being the Mad Max 2 version, the body has been customised to meet the details of that film. The bottom air dam of the "Concorde" custom nosepiece (the biggest modification done to the body) is accurately missing, while the tires and wheels of course are fat and wide Goodriches, perfectly suitable for usage on "badly" kept roads where endurance counts, and are also accurately mismatched from one another front and rear. The entire backside of the car is dominated by the two, huge gas tanks that take up the entire boot area and go all the way through the old rear window frame, both sturdily strapped in with a fastener. The fitting of the doors is perfect with no ugly cracks taking away from the look of the body and neither door is left popping out due to poor fit. The doors themselves have been realistically hinged with smaller low-swing hinges, a truly positive trait that has taken hold with precision scale models over those older bulky dog leg hinges of yesteryears. Lights are also realistic and well detailed from the red/orange/red taillights, the smaller sidelights and the square Falcon XC front lights hidden behind the gold-coloured, striped mask covers, making the front end look like the headpiece of a knight's helmet.

Taking a look inside the engine compartment, we get to see the fully detailed 351 Cleveland V8 engine with all wiring, labels and other details you'd expect to see under the hood, all of it capped off with the huge blower sitting atop the engine block. In fact, no matter how hard you peer down into the engine compartment, the same attention to detail will continuously make you notice new gratifying things in its striving for authenticity. The interior itself is likewise detailed, though the insides of the car are stripped very bare of any additional material, apart from a heavy roll bar that has been added behind the driver's seat. The dash, as expected, features detailed meters and gauges (including a huge fuel gauge sadly showing a very low amount of guzzoline on board), while the gear shifter with the red supercharger activation switch attached to the side is of course also there. As per the film, the passenger seat has been removed and in its place is a sideways doggy seat attached to the door, leaving the interior considerably more barren than what the original Mad Max car would have been like. The underside is also decently enough detailed, the most noticeable component being the exhaust pipes that branch off into four separate flutes and shoot out from both sides of the car between the doors and the rear wheel arches. A nice detail is also the little explosive device strapped near the rear of the car for that little additional bit of film accuracy.

In line of that, the model comes with a number of little accessories that include a spare wheel surrounded by a chain, two jerry cans, two machetes (one housed on the driver's side door and one underneath the car beside the bomb), and a brown box of Dinki-Di dog food, complete with two separate cans that are accurate right down to the little doggy face on them. And to complete the car, Max's faithful "dog" is also included, though seeing as I can't seem to find my own, he must have wandered off into the wastleland. A point of contention may be the spotless paintjob considering the decided wear apparent on the movie car, but AutoArt later also issued a variant version with added grime and mud applied to it for those wanting closer film verisimilitude, along with one that has a detachable front end to simulate the damage the car sustains in the film’s beginning. I originally ordered this from Japan in 2007 at a rather reasonable 95 Euro cost considering current AutoArt models (including their new MM1 Pursuit Special) now sell for well over 200 Euro new, so on today's market the price that I paid would now be an absolute steal. This model itself is based on the replica car built by Gordon Hayes, which has led some to complain about inaccuracies that then were also replicated on the model, but this is an ultimate nitpicker hang-up really to not pay any mind to in face of such a hugely well crafted scale model. This particular one may be a bit hard to find today seeing its limited edition nature and being a good 10 years old now, but it is certainly a keeper if it ever comes your way.

Final rating: 5/5

[bai4zi]

The V8 Interceptor from Mad Max. IMHO the sexiest automobile ever built. Built on a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe. Cleveland 351 V8. Non functional blower (prop only) 撸先生：看片神器，每日更新，高清流畅，无需翻墙，t.cn/EVvnoK4

[oddcars]

XY Ford falcon So u just watched crocodile Dundee for the first time and I’m a bit in an Ozzy mood so here we are the XY falcon. The Australian falcon is little known in the muscle car community outside Australia as they where never sold in Europe or America and not many over here as it’s a bit of a drive from down under. The only real famous one is mad maxes XB(the later model) but as a Ford guy I think these are pretty cool. Powered by a 200cu 6 cylinder to a 351 Cleveland GT which was the top dog, it was the fastest sedan on sale at the time.I’m going to post four more Australian cars over the next couple of days so stay tuned.

[onwheelsxyz-blog]

The original Ford Interceptor from 'Mad Max' is up for sale The, uh, first of the V8 Interceptors used on-screen in the cult classic film Mad Max is being put up for sale in Florida by the Orlando Auto Museum.Titular character Mad Maxs ride of choice was a 1974 Ford Falcon XB GT, modified with a Concorde nose and nicknamed the Pursuit Special. The car was built in 1977 for Mad Max, which saw wide release in theatres in 1979.Ray Beckerley at Graf-X International built the vehicle with the help of Ford designer Peter Arcadipane, who fitted the Concorde nose; Errol Platt installed the roof and tail spoilers. Beckerley fitted the blower himself, but unfortunately, it doesnt really work it was originally just plonked on top of the air cleaner.The vehicle was already something of a rarity before it was transformed into the car we see today, but back in 1977, it just didnt have the value it has now. The Falcon GT was a JG66 example, that is to say a real XB GT. Standard features included a 351-cubic-inch V8, a Toploader four-speed manual transmission, nine-inch rear end, four-wheel disc brakes and sway bars.The crew tried to sell the vehicle after the film was finished, but there were no bites at US$7,500, so they gave it to mechanic Murray Smith for unpaid work. Murray would sell the vehicle back to the production team for the filming of the second movie, Max Mad 2: The Road Warrior. It was then that it was fitted with the dual tanks in the trunk. Thought destroyed after the second movie, it actually sat at a junkyard for

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Ford Falcon GT, 1976. An immaculate, original Red Paper XB Falcon 351 GT is for sale in Australia. The car has passed through the hands of numerous Ford collectors and has travelled 27,807km (17,278 miles) from new, it is still rides on the factory-fit Olympic ER70H14 G800 red wall tyres. The asking price is AU$265,000 (US$190,000).

sales listing

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Stuart Gary’s Superbird and the need for speed A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I dreamed of owning a Falcon GT hardtop just like the one my childhood hero Allan Moffat raced at Bathurst. Eventually, I bought an old second hand rust ridden 1976 XB orange Ford Fairmont GS and slowly rebuilt it into my dream car – sort of like the black Falcon Interceptor out of Mad Max. Instead of a supercharger (which was fake in the movie car anyway) my car is equipped with a genuine 1000 hp twin turbocharged 351 under the hood. I often drove this beast from Sydney to Darwin when I was working as a radio broadcaster and journalist at 8DN. It was my daily ride for the commute from the suburbs to the city when I moved to 3UZ in Melbourne. And I got a great shot of it next to Peter Brock’s 05 Commodore when it was on display in Newcastle while I was working for the ABC at 2NC. Mind you this was always a thirsty beast – just four miles per gallon on the old scale -- a run from Newcastle to Sydney required two tanks of fuel! The heart of the beast is a specially built engine originally put together by Bob Matic at Ford Muscle Parts and later further modified by Ian Benson at Benson's Turbos. For the technically minded, the 351 Cleveland V8 powering the superbird is fully blue printed, shot peened, and micro-polished. It’s based around a four bolt Aussie block fitted with 4V O-ringed open chambered BOSS heads, twin TO4 Garrett air-research turbo chargers with 21-pound wastegates, turbo dish pistons, Carrillo alloy rods, stainless steel crank, and a windage tray sump. It uses a three-inch stainless-steel twin exhaust system. The block is cooled by a four-core radiator and separate radiators for the engine and gearbox oil. Those thousand ponies are fed through a 12 inch drag clutch and four speed top loader gearbox to a custom-made drive shaft and GTHO yoke, into a nine-inch LSD and 35 spline rear axles. The Falcon is totally street legal with an engineer’s certificate to prove it. I also own a De Tomaso Pantera, but the two cars are totally different. While the Falcon has a deep throated thunderous growl, rumbling like the approaching storm it is - the Pantera has a short loud bark. The Pantera is very fast off the line (0 to 100 in around 3 seconds) and amazingly nimble -- even twitchy through the corners. But it holds on to the road as if attached to guide rails all the way to its top speed of well over 300 KPH. On the other hand, the Falcon is a very different beast. It’s much slower off the line, with those turbos taking a while to spin up to boost. But once that turbo whistle starts, you’re suddenly thrust backwards into your seat and the beast hunkers down and begins accelerating like a bat out of hell -- easily slipping beyond the old 200 MPH mark (320 KPH) as the world outside flashes past. The beast eventually tops out at just a fraction over 342 KPH – close enough to warp speed for anyone. It’s a true adrenaline pumping rush taking you to the edge and beyond. Yet, it all changed once I started taking flying lessons. Flying aircraft is a totally different world. Looking down from above, life at ground level suddenly seemed so limiting and two dimensional. I still own both cars – but seldom drive them.

[inspiacreative]

1975 XB Ford Falcon GT Hardtop Coupe 351 V8. Pencil on canvas by Wayne Sotogi - Gold Coast

[lelandwestfresno-blog]

Top 10 Movie Muscle Cars

Below is our TOP 10 Movie Muscle Cars at Leland West Insurance:

1) Bullitt - 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 from "Bullitt", 1968

1968-ford-mustang-bullitt-steve-mcQueen-poster - Probably this is the only unmodified movie Mustang ever. It has massive 325 HP, a real American muscle car's heart under the hood - the aggressive 6.4 liter V8 engine, 4-speed manual transmission [which definitely looks hard to shift] and sporty rear wheel drive to have fun while cornering. What else do you need from a real muscle car for chases, especially back in 1968?

2) 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 from "Vanishing Point", 1971

1970-dodge-challenger-rt-vanishing-point - This one was a hot model with outrageous 375 HP, 440 cubic [7.2 liter] V8 which plays probably the sweetest automative soundtrack. Would You manage to find a better car for Kowalski to drive from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours?

3) Eleanor - 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 from "Gone in 60 seconds", 2000

eleanor-mustang-1967 - Eleanor is probably the most copied muscle movie car ever to appear in screens. Even though the original movie from 1974 was a hit, the 2000 stole the show for sure. There were 11 Eleanor units built for this movie and only 3 of them were actual running and driving cars. In the movie it acted as Shelby, but really they were modified Mustang fastbacks. The movie transmission was a 4-speed manual, but the stunt cars were automatic for easier act. Real legend.

4) The Interceptor - Australian 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe from "Mad Max", 1979

ford-falcon-interceptor-back-mad-max - This was was the most modified car in that movie. XB GT Falcon was built exclusively for Australian market and there were only 949 units built. It came with 351 Cleveland engine and 4-speed manual transmission The movie car kept most of the original interior, but body had some serious changes: new nose design, rear spoilers, Weiand 6-71 supercharger with Scott injector had, 4-barrel carburetor and the Zoomies - side pipes. Australians are proud of this car and also make replicas of it.

5) Bumblebee - Chevrolet Camaro from "Transformers", 2007

Transformers Autobot Towers Over Chicago Auto Show Crowd - The Transformer's Bumblebee made Camaro one of the most popular car of the year. Well, not only it transforms and looks good, but has a modern amcar engine - 6.2 liter V8 which rates 426 HP and does 0-60 in 4.8 seconds...

6) 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum from "Bullitt", 1968

Dodge-charger-from-bullitt - This triple-black, 4-speed Charger chased the Mustang in the "Bullitt" movie and made one of the greatest car chase scenes ever filmed. When the jumping act was performed over the San Francisco hills the Charger never failed with the suspension. Would you be able to name a car from nowadays that could do that without ending as scrap?

7) Cobretti's custom 1950 Mercury Monterey from "Cobra", 1986

mercury-monterey-from-cobra-2 - Cobretti's [Sylvester Stallone] 1950 Mercury is probably the most important thing in the whole movie. It was formerly owned by Stallone himself and later built for the movie by Cinema Vehicle Services. They double-scooped the hood, cleaned all extra trim, fitted 383 Chevrolet small block, topped it with nitrous-aided 4-barrel Holley carburetor which also had Weiand 144 supercharger. The transmission was a 400 Turbo Hydraulic with 4-wheel brakes. A good car to reveal Cobretti's personality and join this Top 10 list.

8) 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra from "The Gumball Rally", 1976

Shelby-cobra-427-gumball-front-2 - The movie itself was inspired by a cross country driver Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker who managed to drive across the country from coast to coast in about 54 hours. This comedy had many interesting cars on act, such as Ferrari Daytona, Porsche 911, 600 HP Camaro, Jaguar E-type, Convertible Corvette, Mercedes Roadster and even a Kawasaki motorbike. There were only 2 different, but original Shelby Cobra cars in this movie [CSX 3243 and CSX 3255]. These 427 cubic [7 liter] OHV muscle cars managed to pump up to 355 HP. This was really impressive ride across the country with iconic muscle cars...

9) Bond's 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from "Goldfinger", 1964

aston-martin-db5-james-bond-movie - The DB5 is famous for being the first and most recognised movie car in James Bond movies. DB5 had 4 liter [282 HP], 5-speed transmission. Originally, Ian Fleming [the novel writer] had placed DB Mark III, but DB5 was the newest Aston at that time. In fact, they used the prototype car and fitted it with lots of weaponry that fat stripped after the movie and resold. The same car showed up in a few other Bond's movies as well. If You'd ask someone to say "what Bond's car is", the one would definitely name Aston Martin. Good car for good agent.

10) 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 from "Thunder Road", 1958

1957-ford-fairline-500-thunder-road - The movie character actually drove 2 cars there - 195 Ford Coupe and 1957 Ford Fairline 500 which was the top of the Ford line. The 312 cubic V8 engine produced 245 HP and had automatic transmission. Good choice for 1950s if You really need "to take someone out".