With looks that’ll turn your grandmother on and enough power to wake the dead, FPV have asserted themselves as a major player in the performance game. But it hasn’t always been this way.

Just ten short years ago Ford Australia was in performance car jail. The AU Falcon had not been the VT beater Ford had hoped it would be, on the road and the track.
Its controversial styling had alienated many long time Falcon buyers who had become used to the contemporary, inoffensive stying of the previous E-series (EA-EL).

In 2001 as Ford worked hard on the final pieces of the AU’s replacement, UK based all-round racing and auto tuning firm Prodrive purchased Tickford’s UK parent company (Tickford Engineering).
After some reorganisation and restructuring the Ford – Tickford joint venture re-emerged as Ford Performance Vehicles in 2002, just in time for Ford’s release of the AU’s successor. The BA Falcon would go on to glory completely reversing Ford’s fortune on the racetrack and the street. Not to mention taking out the coveted Wheels Magazine Car Of The Year award, the first time a Ford had done so since the XR Falcon in 1966.

The newly renamed crew at Campbellfield went straight to work developing not only a new range of hyper Falcons, but the V8 that would power them.
Launched in March of 2003 the FPV GT and luxury GT-P (the P stands for Prestige NOT Performance as many punters thought it did) saw the return of the famous Falcon GT nameplate to regular production for the first time in 27 years. Both the GT and GT-P sported the new FPV developed “BOSS” V8 cranking out 290kW (389hp) at 5250rpm and 520nm of torque at 4500rpm. FPV had developed this new engine – the replacement for Ford’s legendary Windsor V8 – by combining the cast iron block from the 5.4L “Triton” V8 (a member of Ford’s Modular V8 family) with the alloy DOHC heads from the SVT Mustang Cobra R. FPV then developed their own crank, rods, pistons, camshafts and inlet manifold. Each engine was hand built by FPV technicians alongside the 260kW versions destined for the Falcon XR8 on Australia’s only V8 engine production line.
Both cars were available with either a 5spd manual or 4spd automatic that featured a manual shift mode or “Sequential Sports Shift” in Ford speak. Later in 2003 the GT and GT-P sedans were joined by the Pursuit utility, essentially a ute version of the GT.

In 2004 Ford updated it now hugely popular BA Falcon. The BA MkII brought a few changes but for FPV the major upgrade was the change from the 5spd to the T56 6spd manual. FPV also changed the stripes and bonnet decal designs and the GT-P received a new 19 inch 5 spoke wheel package.
FPV also introduced the Super Pursuit, a new model based on the Pursuit ute but with some of the added luxuries and extras of the GT-P sedan.
But the big news from FPV in 2004 was the introduction of what is surely the most revered, honoured and worshipped Aussie performance car of the last decade…

THE F6 TYPHOON!

Accompanied by the “Tornado” ute, the F6 is without a doubt the most important car to roll out of FPV’s Campbellfield HQ thus far. Basically a tuned version of Ford’s popular XR6 Turbo (a car that was already reaching “cult” status) the F6 featured a turbocharged 4L DOHC inline six that produced 270kW (362hp) at 5250rpm, but the real talking point was the torque. It grunted out 550nm of torque at 2000rpm and continued to do so all the way to 4250rpm, the highest amount of torque from any Australian car at that time. While the F6 used the same bodykit as the GT-P there were some changes made to help differentiate it from the V8s. The F6 missed out on the GT’s tall rear wing using instead the XR’s rear spoiler on taller legs. It also got a unique upper and lower grille, a new special 18 inch wheel and although the F6 missed out on the stripe package some dealers and owners added them later on. Only available with the T56 6spd manual during the BA MkII run the F6 initially had clutch issues, FPV halted production whilst the problem was fixed by the manufacturer AP Racing.

With the introduction of the BF series, all FPV models now came with the option of the new ZF 6spd automatic. This would completely change the way FPVs drove. The ZF helped bring the Boss 290 into its sweet spot easier and with the new box able to handle up to 600nm of torque it made a welcome addition to the F6’s option list.
The new 6spd auto soon became the box of choice in the turbo thanks to its ability to seemingly tame the wild beast. Drivers found that the new auto made the F6 better behaved when it came on boost and the F6 auto soon found itself being praised as the best performance sedan in the land.
The FPV train kept on rolling with the introduction of the BF MkII. FPV unleashed two new luxury models, the Force 6 and 8. The 6 predictably used the engine from the Typhoon and the 8 used the now falling out of favour Boss 290. These cars featured the top of line full leather interior from the Fairmont Ghia and whilst they both used the same bodykit as the rest of the FPV line-up, the argent/silver highlights were deleted to make the Force look more subtle. Adding to the subtle theme was a small boot lip spoiler instead of the usual batmobile rear wing. Both were also only available with the 6spd auto.

2008 saw the introduction of the new FG Falcon. Many fans and owners waited eagerly for pictures and video from the FPV model launch. Initially most were disappointed that FPV had decided to continue using the same wheels as the BF MkII, but as the road testers reported back that initial disappointment would fade. What did they report? That these new FPVs were fan-bloody-tastic! While many thought the limited edition GT Cobra’s Boss 302 would be the FG’s weapon of choice, they were all blown away when the FG showed up with a new larger manifold, twin throttle bodies, revised cams and compression ratio and a whole raft of other changes. The result? 315kW of HSV smacking power! That’s 422hp (for those who speak Imperial) at 6500rpm and 551nm of torque at 4750rpm. But the real talking point was once again the F6. Now without its Typhoon and Tornado monikers the turbo bad-boy is being held back at 310kW (416hp) at 5500rpm and a V8 spanking torque output of 565nm available from just 1950rpm all the way to 5200rpm!
A simple flash tune can unleash upwards of 30kW at the wheels and this goes to show just how much FPV is holding back the turbo six. The Force luxury models are now gone, replaced by the GT-E. Same concept, different name. It has recently been joined by the F6-E.

So what’s next for FPV? Well the rumour mill is running rife, but what we do know is that the Boss V8 with be replaced by July 2010 (some are saying as early as April).
The new engine is codenamed “Coyote”, measures 5 Litres in capacity and sends out 307kW (412hp) in N/A form. However FPV in conjunction with parent company Prodrive have been developing a supercharged version that’s speculated to make 335kW (450hp). This will be the weapon of choice for the GT, GT-P and GT-E. The CEO of FPV Rod Barret has expressed that he would like to bring back the fabled GT-HO and the new 5 Litre has the goods. The gossip is that the GT-HO would have a 375kW (503hp) version of the S/C 5L, matching the HSV W427s output but with potentially more torque.

Also with the recent success of the limited edition GS, an FPV fettled version of the XR8, rumours have been flowing that Ford will hand over all V8 models to FPV.
This means that in the regular Ford Falcon line-up there will be no V8. Instead FPV will produce an entry level model to “replace” the XR8.
Whether the new car will continue be called XR8 or if FPV will continue the GS’ successful run remains to be seen.

All I know is that whatever happens FPV will continue to produce some of the most exciting and some of the most FUN performance cars in Australia and with the recent announcement of the legendary Allan Moffat as FPV spokesman one can only hope that the return of the king is imminent.

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