Autoblog

Ford Performance Vehicles, otherwise known as FPV, is celebrating its fifth birthday as being the sharp end of Ford Australia's performance stick. FPV presented itself with a gift at this week's Australian International Motor Show in the form of a special edition FPV 5th Anniversary model. Only 200 units will be produced of the rear-wheel-drive Falcon-based birthday present, ensuring instant collector car status for the discerning Aussie buyer. The car features Alpine Silver 19-inch multi-spoke wheels, 6-piston Brembo brakes, sports seats upholstered in Nudo leather and special "5th Anniversary" decals on the trunk, ahead of the rear wheels, embossed on the front headrests and on the floormats. The FPV 5th Anniversary model will be available in Lightning Strike or Silhouette, both with striping, and starts at $71,890 in Australian dollars, which FPV says equates to $9,600 worth of extra goodies for only $5,300 more than the FPV GT sedan. So happy birthday to FPV, and we hope that Ford invites us to your rear-wheel-drive performance sedan party some time soon.


[Source: FPV]

FPV vs. HSV is basically Australian for "Ford vs. Chevy," but on steroids. The two performance divisions have elevated the production of the muscle sedan to an art form, with audacious looks and big power ruling the day. It's as if the original American muscle car era never ended, but got a passport and moved Down Under. Granted, we in the States don't have much to complain about lately, with Aussie muscle now available in a Pontiac wrapper, as well as the 21st century editions of Camaro, Challenger and Mustang waiting to wreak havoc at stoplights.

Still, the sweetest fruit is that which is forbidden, so you might be interested in the Motoring Channel's super acronym showdown: FPV GT-P vs. HSV GTS. The FPV is based on the new Ford FG Falcon, which arrived earlier this year, while the HSV's Holden Zeta platform underpinnings are now a couple years old. Both have V8s, both look evil, and tires break into cold sweats at the mere thought of being mounted on either machine's rear axle. With these two rides, the differences are such that picking a winner is akin to choosing between porterhouse and prime rib. It's not as if you're going to be disappointed either way, but deep down, you do have a preference. Click here to read which menu item the Motoring Channel likes best. Thanks for the tip, Torrent!



[Source: Web Wombat/Motoring Channel]

"You guys are obsessed with rear wheel drive," Alan Mulally mused to the Australian press after a browbeating about which pair of wheels might propel the Falcon into the future. Try as they might, the Ford Chief would not be pinned down about the chassis architecture of future Falcons, saying only that the choice would be customer driven, and plugging front and all-wheel drive vehicles as "pretty spectacular."

Mulally is right that Ford's global push to put exceptional small cars in showrooms is what the automaker's focus is and should be. The Falcon has long fallen off its sales peak from the halcyon days of two decades ago, and while Mulally agrees that it's "an absolutely dynamite vehicle," small cars in the future will prop up the more niche-y vehicles like the FG Falcon. Mulally went on to say that Australia will serve as an engineering and product development outpost for Ford, and the big-vehicle prowess in Oz will be useful regardless of layout. As Ford pulls its global platforms together, the Ranger and Focus will come at us from Australia, too.

Click above for photo gallery. Follow the jump for the video.

Ford Performance Vehicles' new range of Ford FG Falcon-derived super sedans and utes is mind-bendingly appealing. Big turbocharged or NA power, bright colors, and that menacing Alice Cooper eye makeup in front make for an entire farmer's market of forbidden fruit. Sure, on this side of the world, Ford's SVT performance division gives us the Shelby GT500 and the even more monstrous Shelby GT500KR -- but seriously, as hot as the factory super-Stangs are, the lineup of FPV rides you see above is hot enough to turn that desert sand into glass. Only, they can't -- because everything you see there is virtual. Both the backdrop and the cars are CGI. The photo-realistic vehicle models were created using the real cars' CAD data for a brand new FPV TV spot that premieres in Australia this Sunday. If you don't live in Oz, no worries -- FPV sent us a copy of the spot, which is now embedded after the jump for your enjoyment. And you will enjoy it. Right now, there's a void in our lives shaped like an all-black FPV F6, and this commercial's as close as we're going to come to filling it.


[Source: FPV]

Click above for high-res gallery of the FPV F6, more galleries after the jump

FPV's seemingly endless rollout of its new FG Falcon-based lineup has finally culminated in the actual launch of the cars (how novel), which we've already touched upon. To that end, we'll keep this brief and turn you loose on the multiple new photo galleries now available (check out the rest after the jump). The FPV range encompasses both Falcon sedan and Ute bodystyles, and power comes from either the turbocharged F6 inline-six or the 5.4L Boss 315 V8. The six delivers 415 horsepower and a tire-humbling 416 lb-ft of torque. The eight's no slouch either, pumping out 422 horses (315 kW, hence the engine's name) and 406 lb-ft. A Tremec TR6060 6-speed stick is available across the full range of cars.

Speaking of that, here's the rundown:

• FPV F6 Ute
• FPV Pursuit (V8 Ute)
• FPV Super Pursuit ( Top-of-the-line V8 Ute)
• FPV F6 Sedan
• FPV GT (V8 Sedan)
• FPV GT-P (Premium version of the GT)
• FPV GT E (Top-of-the-line V8 FPV sedan, more subtle styling than GT, GT-P)

You can see galleries of everything below and after the jump. We'll take an F6 sedan in the lime green. In fact, we need one of those approximately yesterday.


[Source: FPV]

Dogs are common sights in the cabs of pickup trucks. Sometimes you'll see one riding back in the bed. But underhood? Not so common, but that's exactly what Walter Witthoef found in the engine bay of his F-150. There, head poking up behind the motor, was a growling but otherwise healthy pit bull. Somehow, the dog wound up stuck inside the engine compartment, where it whiled away the time by using the fuel lines, distributor wires, some hoses, and pretty much everything else within reach as chew toys. After her discovery, Animal Services arrived on scene and freed the pooch, who was reunited with her people the next day. Hopefully they'll be willing to pick up the $1,000 tab for the additional damage she allegedly caused to Mr. Witthoef's ride. Bad dog! No biscuits! Thanks for the tip, Ben.

[Sources: KPIX TV, PickupTrucks.com]

Click image for a hi-res gallery of the turbocharged FPV F6

Despite how it might seem, all the action at the Melbourne motor show is not happening over at the Holden and HSV stands. Dearborn's Australian outpost put on its brass knuckles too and is teasing Melbourne showgoers with Ford Performance Vehcie's latest, greatest muscle. The arrival of the new FG Falcon means that a full lineup of FPV variants follows, and the new F6, GT and Super Pursuit ute are all on display. Like HSV, which hasn't announced power numbers for its W427, FPV is keeping the stats for its new machinery under wraps for now.

We're confident that the numbers will match the cars' gloriously extroverted looks. Colors out of a gumball machine, matte black accents, and stripe packages give the cars a vintage musclecar vibe. Big wheels, big brakes and all the requisite badges and bulges complete the look. The F6 (above) is particularly evil, with its black wheels, "eye black," and visible intercooler. The interiors of all the cars appear to be very well-detailed, with snazzy instrumentation, sharp looking accessories (look at the shift knob), and very inviting seats.

As with the higher-end standard FG Falcons, power comes from either a turbo inline-six or a beefy Boss V8. FPV takes those already-impressive engines and makes them even more imposing. We know we have the Mustang and its impressive Shelby-badged factory specials, but man, what we wouldn't give for some of this Aussie muscle. We'll be eagerly awaiting the official June launches.




[Source: FPV]

UPDATE: Back by popular demand, direct download of the podcast has been added as a link below.

The biggest news of the past week: the suckfest that was the Knight Rider movie. Alex liveblogged it so that we didn't have to watch. Sure it was crap, but was it really that bad? The original was a clunker, too, remember. There's car stuff going on, too, and we move on to covering what's in our respective Autoblog Garages. Keep an eye out for some new reviews, and John has a podcast-exclusive announcement, too.

We spin off into a small car smackdown, postulate on who should buy Jaguar if Tata flips them, and boomerang back to our MINI vs. Aveo sales number deathmatch. In this week's installment of "Fords We Don't Get," there's a new Austrailian Falcon that is available in full-on sinister. It's badass in FPV trim, not available here, and Alan Mullaly wants one, too. One Ford we are getting is the Fiesta (Verve) and that's something to actually be excited about. That's about it, thanks to Adam Curry for the plug, it's 52 minutes of fun this week.

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Click image for hi-res

FPV will tease everyone with its new lineup of FG Falcon-based sedans and Utes at the Melbourne show, but the tech specs will remain under wraps until sometime closer to June, when the tire-shredders are scheduled to launch. We do know some things, though. As before, power will come from turbo inline-sixes or brawny V8s stuffed under the decaled, domed hood (at least in the case of the wicked FPV GT, above, which has a Boss V8 lurking under there).

Gone are all the Ford badges, too. In their place are oval FPV insignias, which make it crystal clear that these are not mere Falcons. The front fascia on the GT is menacing, with "eye black" under the G-Series-style headlamps (hence the Alice Cooper reference), and a pronounced honeycomb lower bumper insert. The offset GT grille badge carries over from past models. Additional matte black decals can be found on the sides of the car, and beefy (probably 19") 5-spoke wheels hide Brembo stopping power. The new FPV roster lets buyers choose manual or automatic transmissions at no additional cost. Hey Alan Mulally, CAFE-schmafe -- move the steering wheel over and send this to America so we can have the big, bad V8 Interceptor we all want. As for Australia, those GM guys at HSV better prepare for some stiff, new competition.

UPDATE: Sweet live gallery at the Herald Sun.

[Source: FPV]

Click image for hi-res gallery

Introduced at last year's Sydney Motor Show, the Ford territory-based FPV F6X has launched Down Under. It's just another in the string of Oztacular FPV products exclusive to the island continent, and it is the first FPV machine that isn't based on the Falcon sedan or ute. With looks that are reminiscent of the Freestyle/Taurus X, the all-wheel-drive F6X won't ever be confused for either thanks to its turbocharged 362 hp (270 kw), 405 lb-ft (550 nm) inline six and the performance it brings. The suspension is ret-uned for sport duty and the 18-inch rims hide upgraded brakes, featuring 6-pot Brembos in front, which heel the beast when necessary. Inside, a spiffy two-tone leather motif is standard, and outside, exclusive badging and optional striping are all part of the appearance package. Overall, it's pretty cool. The same can't be said for its price: $75,990 AUD is the starting number -- no small amount of cabbage for our Australian friends. Note to Ford: See? If you offered more cool stuff like this in the US, the brass wouldn't be reduced to making Homer Simpson jokes about the current product. TwinForce EcoBoost Taurus X SHO... do it already.

[Source: FPV]