By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Cars + graffiti tends to make for a good photo, but you usually see it done with later model and tuner cars. Ras Daniel’s ’64 Falcon in banana yellow really stands out against the black-and-white artwork. See more on his incredible ride page!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out RDP Motorsport’s amazing Ute, which has been near or at the top of Top Rides for the last few weeks. Incredible!

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Hubert Platt’s Georgia Shaker III is one of the more interesting door slammers to come out of the mid-1960s. Platt was a southern match-bash star who had tasted the sweetness of a factory deal in the early 1960s with Chevrolet. It was then that the legend of the Georgia Shaker name was born. The first was actually a 1963 Z-11 Chevy. Platt’s name is linked to Fords and that makes sense because after the Z-11 it was all blue ovals.

In 1964 he would run a Ford Thunderbolt and his name would appear frequently in the pages or regional and national drag racing publications. He was one of the best four speed men in the country and was every bit the competitor as Ronnie Sox and others of his ilk. When Ford built a few Falcons with SOHC engines in them for the exploding A/FX class, Platt naturally requested one. He was denied, but not defeated.

Platt proceeded to construct his own A/FX car in the basement of his house. As the legend goes, the working space was so confined that he actually had to roll the car outside to assemble it. The car you’ll see in the gallery is that car. The Falcon was a stock wheelbase machine when first built, but later Platt moved the rear axle forward to complete the AWB look that was so popular in this era.

Interestingly, Platt’s car was powered by a 427, but not a SOHC motor. He had to build his own wedge engine. Topped with mechanical fuel injection and backed by a four speed transmission, the car was a wheel standing terror that quickly outclassed the mighty SOHC powered factory cars. Continue reading at Bangshift.com

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

It was great getting to the Hot Rod Show on Sunday. However, what it reinforced for me is that all my cars are for driving. I honestly don’t think that I have the time and patience to get any of my cars to the league that these cars are in. Take this Ford GT that I came across. The car looked sensational from a distance but once I got closer I could see the great detail that the owner had managed to get out of the car. The underside of this car was amazingly clean. Just check out the detail of the brakes after the jump. I enjoy spending time working on and cleaning my cars, but I don’t think that I will ever get around to detailing their brakes!

Continue reading "Clean Ford Falcon" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a series where I describe what I consider to be a muscle car, and where you either agree or disagree with me. It has been a fun year last year, and in December I ran a series of posts in which I asked you, the reader, to select your favorites by decade. Well, it’s time to reveal the best, and to do a final vote. Think of it as the Superbowl of Obscurity.

Continue reading (and vote!) after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The Best of 2009" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

This is another installment of the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, when we uncover unusual cars that were built during the era of the “Classic Muscle Car”, and to help redefine what a Muscle Car could be. Show of hands: How many of you realized that there were two different Ford Falcons offered during the 1970 model year? This was an interesting time for Ford, as they were phasing out the Falcon, to supplant it with the Maverick. On the other hand, they wanted to hedge their bets and continue with a nameplate that served the company well for almost a decade. However, when it became apparent that the Maverick was a hit the Falcon nameplate soon vanished. But look what we have here… A car that was produced for a period of less than six months, with a unique body style, and with a 429 Cobra Jet under the hood. Lets take a look at Ford’s six month wonder, the 1970.5 Ford Falcon.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The 1970.5 Ford Falcon 429 Cobra Jet!" »

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Last week I went on a family holiday which entailed catching up with my father. Usually this means flying halfway across the country and then hiring some econ box to get around. We flew into Coffs Harbour on Sunday and much to my surprise I was told that the rental company didn’t have the econobox that I had booked, and would I like a new Ford Falcon XR6 at the same price? For those who don’t know, the XR6 is one of Ford Australia’s performance models. Now I am Mopar guy through and through, but I will take an XR6 over an econobox any day of the week. To say that the XR6 delivered is an understatement. It had the right amount of power, the handling was fantastic and to top it all off I had a big grin on my face every-time I got into the drivers seat. Quite simply it helped make my holiday one of the best that I had in a long time. So have you had a great car rental experience lately?

Continue reading "Holiday Bonus" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Robert S. McNamara, who died last week, was most famous for overseeing the buildup of U.S. forces in Vietnam as the Defense secretary under Kennedy and Johnson. But did you know he was also largely responsible for the Ford Falcon? Check out this article over at the New York Times

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Last year I wrote a brief piece on the Bill Bourke Falcon GT that was for sale. The Ford Falcon GT is an Australian motoring icon which is still highly desirable despite the world economic downturn. Bill Bourke’s car was exported to America and then sent back to Australia. But his car was not the only one to cross the oceans. That’s why my jaw dropped when I saw the photos that my friend Dale e-mailed me. If someone was looking for the Ford Falcon GT mother lode outside of Australia, then this must be it! The only information that I have is that these cars were all found in the same place in South Africa. A number of GTs were exported from Australia to South Africa where they were assembled and sold as Fairmonts.  Although they do not have the same clout in our car market as the “Australian” GTs, they are still highly desirable. If you know anything about this find please let me know. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "The GT Falcon Mother Lode" »

Most countries throughout the world have some sort of national motoring icon. In the US, it might be the Mustang or the Camaro, whereas Germany’s might be a Volkswagen Beetle or Porsche 911. Here in Australia, we have the Ford Falcon GT. What you might be surprised to know is that these cars, which were produced in the late sixties, had a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) when set up correctly, making them the world’s fastest four-door sedan at the time! They were powered by a 400 hp 351 cu-in. Cleveland, a motor so free-revving that Ford had to install rev limiters after the owners of the first GTs blew up their motors. These days, a good example of a Falcon XW GT will cost $120K plus, but this factory one-off on eBay is clearly going to sell for much more. It’s a car I’ve read about but never thought I’d see up for sale. Produced in 1969 for the then Managing Director of Ford Australia Bill Bourke, this XW GT was shipped from Melbourne to Detroit where it was fitted with a 428 Cobra Jet engine before being returned to Australia, the only GT to have this done. It truly is a one-of-a-kind piece of Australian muscle car history, and if I had the money I would bid on it myself. Check it out.