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.

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