Ford and muscle cars are a classic combination that’ll never get old, just like biscuits and gravy. Before muscle cars like the Ford Torino and Ford Mustang were even a thing, classic cars like the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt and Ford Galaxie 500 were tearing up streets in America. Even over on the other side of the ocean, Ford was building cars for true gearheads. The muscle car craze had well and truly spread like wildfire.
Introduced in 1967, the Ford Falcon GT was Australia’s first ever muscle car. Built on the XR-series Falcon with a 289 cubic inch V8 from the Mustang, its stand-out feature was that it was a muscle car with four doors. It was popular enough that Ford released the XA-series Falcon in 1972, finally available as a two-door coupe. The XB-series that came a year later shot into the limelight with a starring role in the 1979 Australian action classic, Mad Max, which gave rise to the series we know and love today.
This Ford Falcon XB GT restomod rendered exclusively for HotCars by digital artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel brings back some of those Mad Max-vibes, but in a completely different way. This custom is all about power. While several Falcon GTs made it to the drag strip, this one is all about big power, and big, bold style.
This Falcon GT Is For Mad Max: Killer Drag Race
We are only joking. Mad Max: Killer Drag Race isn’t actually an installment in the series. But we’d by lying if we said we would definitely watch it twice if it did exist. Instead, this Ford Falcon XB GT render embodies the ‘go big, or go home’ school of thought.
Wild paint job, widened bodywork, overkill engine and blower, and the widest wheels and tires that can possibly fit. This Falcon XB is sort of a mix of low-riding bagged custom, sparkly show car, and quarter-mile race monster.
The original Falcon XB GT is a full-size muscle car with some classic styling cues that American Ford fans will pick up on, even if the Falcon isn’t immediately familiar-looking. You’d probably pick up on the Ford Mustang Boss 351 vibe, though the Falcon seems more… substantial.
The main differentiator being the huge expanse of rear quarter panel that forms a lip over the rear wheel. In this exclusive render, even the front wheels are tucked when the air suspension is lowered. Which is largely what gives it that stanced-look, an uncommon sight when it comes to these classic cars.
We do start to get into familiar territory when we address the elephant in the room: that massive blower poking out the hood. This is where there’s a bit of movie magic in this render, throwing back to the original Mad Max Interceptor. The side exit exhausts in their heat shields look about wide enough to spit out entire pistons if the engine ever blew.
Finishing off the drag-special look is the trunk lid extension that works as an aerofoil. It’s a pretty classic drag car look, that contrasts nicely with the modern diffuser underneath. Our favorite part of the car has to be the deep candy purple paint, though.
The Ford Falcon GT Is An Australian Muscle Car Icon
The 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT actually came in a similar shade, called Kwikasair Violet. Since it was such a polarizing color, not many were ordered in that spec making it quite rare today. That fact aside, the Ford Falcon GT was both Australia’s first muscle car, and the reason why muscle cars were killed off in the country!
As the story goes, a review of a Falcon GT in an Australian car magazine had a picture of the dashboard, where the speedo had been digitally retouched to show it doing a 100 mph. It was actually doing closer to 140 mph. The moment the truth broke out, the Australian government knew it had to do something to shut down the muscle car craze in the name of public safety, considering most rural roads were unrestricted. This came to be known as the Supercar Scare of 1972.
Almost overnight all the homologation specials that had come about to fuel the manufacturer’s racing ambitions were killed off, and with it, the Australian muscle car scene.
How About This Falcon GT’s Tower Of Power Motor?
Fortunately, that’s not something that needs to be worried about now. The hottest Ford Falcon of the time was the Falcon GT HO with a 351 motor that was said to be good for about 450 hp. This digitally reimagined restomod ups that considerably, with a blower the size of a small-block sitting on top of the motor.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine a super high-compression built motor, running aggressive cams with a nice lopey idle that screams high-revving performance. Horsepower? We’d reckon an easy 800 hp to the rear wheels. If there’s a classic muscle car that the law should’ve been scared of, it’s this.