21st century GTHO

[BA RTV V8]

$125k Ford muscle car in the pipeline

By JEZ SPINKS - Drive.com.au | Wednesday, 21 May 2008

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COMEBACK: Ford's iconic Falcon GTHO could be set for a 21st-century revival.

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Ford Performance Vehicles boss Rod Barrett says the company is determined to build a modern-day version of the iconic, Bathurst-winning Falcon GTHO.

A 21st-century revival of Ford's iconic Falcon GTHO would be powered by a V8, be faster than any other Falcon, and cost about $A100,000 ($NZ124,000)

That's FPV boss Rod Barrett's vision for a new Falcon GTHO, a model he is still determined to make happen during his tenure of Ford's go-fast division.

"I will pursue the GTHO as long as I'm at FPV," says the man who only took the helm of FPV in July 2007. "It's a car that is so iconic in the Ford family ... [FPV is] that representative of that halo effect within Ford, and it needs to be FPV that does it [builds the GTHO]."

"I've got it planned out in my head of what a GTHO's rolling chassis [basic mechanicals, such as engine and transmission] would look like, I know how many I want to build, I know what colour, what transmissions, and what wheels," says Barrett. "But it's about getting it down on a discussion paper once we get serious about doing it.

The legendary Phase III GTHO of 1971 is regarded as one of the most desirable Australian muscle cars. It was then considered one of the fastest four-door cars in the world and sparked the supercar scare of the '70s.

Phase IIIs have boomed at auctions in recent years. Some 300 were built in the '70s, and experts believe about only 100 remain. In one auction a GTHO Phase III sold for $A750,000.

Barrett promises Ford fans that if FPV goes ahead with the project, the GTHO would live up to the reputation of the original.

"It will not be [a] badge engineering [exercise]," he says. "It won't be a case of, ‘Here's some stripes, here's a GTHO badge, and here's free leather with sat-nav.' There's a whole methodology involved in planning this vehicle."

Barrett's GTHO vision has yet to go to concept stage and serious discussions with Ford have yet to get underway. And the car would have to be profitable for it to happen, says the FPV boss.

"With any special vehicle, you don't want to build too many, but you've got to build enough to make it a viable proposition," says Barrett. "[The GTHO] needs a hard, long look at as a business case."

HSV will launch a brand new flagship model in July with its 7.0-litre V8 W427, which it says will cost up to $170,000.

Barrett is surprised by the W427's high pricetag and says a GTHO would cost nowhere near as much.

"[$A170k] is a hell of a lot of money for an Australian performance vehicle," he says. "I'm not thinking those kind of numbers for a high-performance Falcon [flagship].

"If [the GTHO] is a $A100,000 car, that's fine, but I wouldn't want it to much more than that. I want it to be affordable."

FPV's managing director also believes the GTHO would carry significantly more kudos among Australian muscle-car enthusiasts than HSV's W427.

"The W427 is a brand that was introduced [for the first time] at the 2008 Melbourne motor show," says Barrett. "The GTHO is an iconic, Bathurst-winning car of 1970 and 1971 that people aspire to own - and one that people are paying up to $1 million to buy."

Barrett says a modern-day Falcon GTHO would definitely be powered by a V8, just like the original. FPV is already scanning the global Ford empire to find new engines for its future line-up.

The current, US-sourced 5.4-litre V8 - recently uprated to 315kW for FPV's new FG Falcon-based performance range - is expected to be dropped beyond 2010 for a smaller-capacity V8.

Drive understands that a new Jaguar/Land Rover 5.0-litre V8 is being considered for future FPVs, although the two British brands have recently moved out of the Ford family and into the hands of Indian company Tata.

Barrett will say only that all engine options are being considered, which would also include supercharged or turbocharged V8s.

One thing's for certain, to be in keeping with Barrett's vision, the GTHO V8 would need to offer greater performance than the mighty 310kW turbocharged inline six-cylinder fitted to FPV's new F6.

With HSV set to launch the 370kW W427 and many European manufacturers bettering that, it's clear a GTHO would have closer to 400kW of power than 300kW.

:

[RG]

"It will not be [a] badge engineering [exercise]," he says. "It won't be a case of, ‘Here's some stripes, here's a GTHO badge, and here's free leather with sat-nav.' There's a whole methodology involved in planning this vehicle."

That's comforting to know. They really need something special if they are to revive the badge.

[RAPTOR_XR8]

Turbocharge it, keep it a 5L and go for broke.

We all know how easy it is to get power out of turboed vehicles.

[ED Classic]

400kw has to be the target for sure, The way things are going the regular FPV's, HSV's will be pushing 350+ over the next 5 years or so, so a HO being surpassed in such a short time is not on and cant happen

[deesun]

It will have to be special otherwise its just another car with another engine. Back when, GTHO was special and it earnt its kudos. Nowdays the track cars are nothing like whats on the road so its harder to earn respect. The fast roadcars are all full of accesories to justify a price. Real performance costs real money so they need to build a stripper version and make it light and as nimble and raw as possible. Only then can they put a GTHO badge on it with any respect.

[InfernoSR]

I so hope this happens... and soon!... just need some pics

[Quasi]

Originally Posted by deesun

It will have to be special otherwise its just another car with another engine. Back when, GTHO was special and it earnt its kudos. Nowdays the track cars are nothing like whats on the road so its harder to earn respect. The fast roadcars are all full of accesories to justify a price. Real performance costs real money so they need to build a stripper version and make it light and as nimble and raw as possible. Only then can they put a GTHO badge on it with any respect.

I agree. What FPV needs to keep in mind is that it is likely to be true enthusiasts lining up to put an order deposit on one of these things (if & when it happens), so let's lose the frilly bits and get on with the business of a true factory muscle car.

If I was buying one I would already likely have a daily driver with the all the luxury stuff, so would be looking at a GTHO that offers me the 'ANIMAL' side of a modern Falcon.....not a hyped 5.4 wrapped in pure comfort.

Shopping list:
R-Spec or better suspension
Manual trans only
Less weight
Full on exhaust with REAL headers/extractors
Minimum 400Kw

[flappist]

Originally Posted by BA RTV V8

The current, US-sourced 5.4-litre V8 - recently uprated to 315kW for FPV's new FG Falcon-based performance range - is expected to be dropped beyond 2010 for a smaller-capacity V8.

Drive understands that a new Jaguar/Land Rover 5.0-litre V8 is being considered for future FPVs, although the two British brands have recently moved out of the Ford family and into the hands of Indian company Tata.

:

So along with the new V6 there is possibly going to be a TATA V8 in the XR8/GT.

Well at least they will be able to outsource their tech support to Telstra.

[RG]

Originally Posted by flappist

So along with the new V6 there is possibly going to be a TATA V8 in the XR8/GT.

Well at least they will be able to outsource their tech support to Telstra.

Come on...

You and I both know that it is going to be powered by a twin turbo AND supercharged hybrid diesel V10


Sorry I couldn't resist

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by Russell

That's comforting to know. They really need something special if they are to revive the badge.

Unlike what Ford did with GT and Cobra.

I'll wait and see if they actually make it and if it's just another name rape like the last two.

For the "HO" to be taken serious it has to be based on race car not another V8 with leather, climate, and a body kit..

[Ironkoala]

take the fg add r-spec suspension and strip everything out of it, and replace what ever they can with light weight panels. Then add a bonnet similar to the dri6 bonnet. replace the engine with the v8 from the Ford GTX1 (520kw 5.4l) then, and only then are the boys at FPV allowed to add badges and stripe packs

That way you have a car that would be very close to being the worlds fastest 4 door (the drif6 car is 200kg lighter then the rocket) and having iconic styling.

[GTP290]

Just like the retro Cobra concept, the GTHO should be vermillion fire red, with black stripes, black interior, retro style globe mags and ofcourse an retro restyled alloy bonnet shaker scoop. Supercharged 5.4 litre as in the GT500KR Mustang, massive brakes(8 spot fronts), full of safety devices(keeps the supercar scare isue biting us in the bum again) no sat nav, no dual zone no subwoofers, just a pure road track car,keeping weight down to a bear minimum, similar weight to a v8 supercar and simliar concept as the Porsche gt3s, with very low gearing as an option for 1/4 mile bragging rights. ofcourse it will be speed limited to prob 250kms, it just has to be a pure weapon!

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Ironkoala

take the fg add r-spec suspension and strip everything out of it, and replace what ever they can with light weight panels. Then add a bonnet similar to the dri6 bonnet. replace the engine with the v8 from the Ford GTX1 (520kw 5.4l) then, and only then are the boys at FPV allowed to add badges and stripe packs

That way you have a car that would be very close to being the worlds fastest 4 door (the drif6 car is 200kg lighter then the rocket) and having iconic styling.

This fixation on a "race car" is futile. It will never happen.

a) The original GTHO was a FAIRMONT with a big engine, you know the luxury version not a caged monster.
b) to replace panels will require huge amounts of engineering ingluding all crash testing, road testing etc. etc. and cost multi millions that would have to be recouped OR make the GTHO not registerable.
c) to strip out all the safety stuff like airbags etc would set FPV up for the dump big time the first time one goes splat.
d) to strip out all the comfort items will restrict sales to a few (as in very few) cashed up hard core enthusiests as the majority of those who can actually afford a $100,000+ car are not fanboy weekend warriors and do not want to arrive at their destination sore and smelly.
e) if the GTHO was made as a stripped down race car that could be registered then this will set us ALL up for another Evan Green to make a name for himself. Dedicate road going race cars in the age of every K over is a killer, are you nuts????????

So the GTHO will HAVE to be a GT-P with extra goodies or it will be a disaster. HSV made a GTS-R skaife special track car some years ago and sold one I think.

[RG]

Originally Posted by flappist

This fixation on a "race car" is futile. It will never happen.

a) The original GTHO was a FAIRMONT with a big engine, you know the luxury version not a caged monster.
b) to replace panels will require huge amounts of engineering ingluding all crash testing, road testing etc. etc. and cost multi millions that would have to be recouped OR make the GTHO not registerable.
c) to strip out all the safety stuff like airbags etc would set FPV up for the dump big time the first time one goes splat.
d) to strip out all the comfort items will restrict sales to a few (as in very few) cashed up hard core enthusiests as the majority of those who can actually afford a $100,000+ car are not fanboy weekend warriors and do not want to arrive at their destination sore and smelly.
e) if the GTHO was made as a stripped down race car that could be registered then this will set us ALL up for another Evan Green to make a name for himself. Dedicate road going race cars in the age of every K over is a killer, are you nuts????????

So the GTHO will HAVE to be a GT-P with extra goodies or it will be a disaster. HSV made a GTS-R skaife special track car some years ago and sold one I think.

The blown 5.4 from the Ford GT or GTX1 would be nice and easy though. Just add a few tarty bits inside and out plus that engine and we would all be happy.

[Ironkoala]

Originally Posted by flappist

Lots of stuff that im not going to quote, as it would take up most of my post

Yeah, I know. Still it would be awesome to sit inside a falcon that looked like the insides (or lack of) of the porsche GT3 RSR.

[Falcon Coupe]

http://fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11221158