Falcon XR8 returns for Ford’s final fling

November 11, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

Ford Falcon XR8

The famous Falcon GT badge will be killed off next year when Ford shuts down its go-fast arm, Ford Performance Vehicles.

But the carmaker has attempted to soften the blow somewhat by resurrecting the Falcon XR8 – if only temporarily.

The XR8 will be sold alongside existing XR6 and XR6 Turbo models when the updated final Falcon and Territory range appears late in 2014, two years before Ford ends vehicle manufacturing in Melbourne.

Ford says it will ensure that the last of the FPV models next year will salute the brand’s iconic status.

“We appreciate all of the great team members, dealers, customers and fans who have supported FPV through its history,” said Ford NZ managing director, Corey Holter.

“FPV has been very successful for the last 12 years and our relationship with Tickford for many years before that.

“We look forward to sharing further details of the final FPV models and the new XR8 over the coming months.”

The Falcon XR8 was dropped in 2010 when its 5.4-litre V8 engine failed to meet strict new emission standards across the Tasman.

The new XR8 variant will be powered by the same 335kW/570Nm supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine that is used in the current FPV GT.

The new car will certainly be cheaper than the FPV GT, priced on the Ford NZ website from $88,340.

The FPV arm began business early last decade, taking over from Ford Tickford Engineering.

Britain’s Tickford had been tweaking Falcons for Ford since the early 1990s, including limited editions carrying the GT badge.

But the GT nameplate – first seen in the late 1960s – returned in a big way with FPV.

The GT isn’t the only iconic Falcon badge that will be missed. Ford has confirmed that the GT-HO moniker won’t appear again.

Ford Falcon GT

If you are in a position to shell out upwards of NZ$600,000 for the 60^thanniversary Porsche 911 S/T or optional Porsche 911 S/T Heritage, you’ll no doubt want the signature titanium watch that goes with it. That’s how Porsche figures it anyway. Or, if you want the watch you’ll need to get the car. Both the car and the watch are limited to 1963 units, the year the original 911 model broke cover. The watch – Chronograph 1 911 S/T and Chronograph 1 911 S/T Heritage – and the car carry matching edition numbers. The watch is priced at $US13,500, or around $NZ22,200. The car, says Porsche NZ, starts at $NZ608,000. A “strictly limited number” will go into production for NZ early next year.

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The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.