Thunderstruck95
2nd Gear Poster
Tony Angelo Mark VIII Build
- Thread starter Thunderstruck95
- Start date
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
To his credit that's more "let's fuck around with a less popular car/drivetrain" content covering a Ford 4.6 than I've seen anywhere else. Not saying there aren't YouTube channels for the Mod stuff, just that these known TV show guys (as opposed to expert engine guys) usually go the Coyote/Gen III Hemi/LS motor route or rebuild the classic carbed engines. As soon as the Coyote showed up, even with it's gigantic heads that makes it really hard to swap into many cars, most of these guys forgot that the 4.6 even existed (and obviously the only Ford ever made was a Mustang). Of course the 4-valve 4.6 is pretty damn wide on its own, but still. I just wish more of these shows would finish the cars, I'm getting a bit tired of these dudes driving around thinking they accomplished something really cool when half the interior is missing, the air conditioning doesn't work or was removed, half the body is dented up or has rust patches, etc.
Most people don't care about the finished product, they just want to see the running driving car. Because of that these guys only get them to that point to create their content and move on.
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
FWIW, the teksid that I have pix of the cross-sections of, failed at 21psi and a 150 shot of Nitrous! These guys are Ameteurs!
It’s just the relentless churning out of sponsor driven content, and in reality even going back to mags it always has been. What do Coyote/Gen III Hemis/LS have in common? They’re in current or late model muscle cars. Putting these engines in older cars for their channel and installing the requisite mods in addition(cams, intakes, headers, turbos etc) isn’t to try to influence people to do that to the same old cars they used but to get viewers living vicariously through them to buy those upgrades for their newer cars with those engines stock. Using old cars just gets them more clicks than a common late model.
Forget the 4.6 how often do you even see 351 Cleveland, 400, or 460 based builds on YouTube? Engines whose core architecture is objectively superior to the Windsor 5.0/5.8 or FE. The only older carbed engines you ever see them work on are the SBC, BBC, Windsors, and the Mopar B/RB and LA/Magnums. Never the Cleveland, never the other GM BOPC engines, never the second Gen AMC V8s which were every bit as good as the big three…. They don’t have the same aftermarket to get the content creators discounted parts. Roadkill garage used to dwell into that stuff but since the show’s been swallowed by Motortrend channel(aka Discovery) and their typical corporate influence/budget/timetables are now followed it’s become mostly drone shots and scripted shop banter with insipid episodes like the “bro Charger”.
Oh and all these shows completely fucked the classic project grade car market. 10 years ago a classic non muscle car package coupe with shitty paint that needed floors was something you could buy for under 5 grand, but now that’s “patina”, and you can’t touch one that isn’t even project worthy for less than $10,000. Everyone thinks they’re worth something because of vice grip garage et al get millions of views with cookie cutter “will it run” content… “gee I wonder where he’ll run the fuel hose to the plastic 5 gallon jug in this episode!”
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 877
- Location
- Las Vegas
- Vehicle Details
- 1995 Ford Thunderbird LX No Engine No Trans
Well stated!
The only reason a business specs money is to make more of it, so you ask yourself why do they pay for this content or even who is paying for this content, then why. And XR7-4.6, I think you hit the nail on the head there.
I wish I was prettier so I could ruin cars and make money doing it 
Vicinity
Stock CD Player
I wish I was prettier so I could ruin cars and make money doing it
Get some hookers to do it!
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2023
- Messages
- 1,036
- Location
- Franklin, MA
- Vehicle Details
- 1997 Thunderbird LX 3.8L/4.2 Wannabe
My first car had a Cleveland in it, a 70 Mach !. It was always fun trying to buy something and explain to the parts guy the difference between the Cleveland and the Windsor. Then if it was a 2 or 4 barrel carb, man, the ports in those 4 barrel heads were big!
Joe
Joe
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
The fe block 390 in the tbird my dad gave me because it had no powersteering or windshield wipers, the radiator wouldn't hold water, and the floorboards were gone, and it had sideswiped a bridge on the pass side; did come with spare parts, a 4bbl on it, a 2bbl and manifold, and a 3x2bbl carb set and manifold. And a dead steering pump in the back seat. On the good side, theInterior had been reupholstered, all the power windows and seats worked, and it had a new water bag for the windwasher fluid. 
Spot on...
After seeing a few "will it drive this many miles home" , they do get dull. I enjoy his dry sarcastic humor but it gets repetitive quickly.
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
Yes and no. I mean there seems to be 3 kinds of those cars - the mostly restored classic muscle cars (and muscle car adjacent), the modern muscle cars sold now and then the classic cars with most of the guts replaced with either aftermarket parts or whole systems from the modern muscle cars. I mean, I've been to quite a few car shows in the last 8+ years and 80% of them are the old cars that have been restored with maybe some Day 2 mods. The other 20% are mostly the representative modern muscle car for the group (Challenger/Charger, Mustang, Camaro) and then some old cars with modern guts. I'm sure there are car shows that are mostly centered on just modern cars but I haven't been to them (I would go, but I haven't noticed any around here).
Ya, it's disappointing. When there is a car restoration show that does that sort of thing, it tends to not last long. I'm thinking of something like "Hand Built Hot Rods" with Steve Strope's shop. Amazing work, if you had the mountains of money to hire his team. But he would work on oddball cars and they would stay oddball usually. The main shows I watch to see the non-most popular drivetrains are "Garage Squad" (since their focus is getting whatever it is looking good and running, not winning awards or races) and "Wheeler Dealers" because they deal with lots of cars that aren't muscle cars and they tend to leave everything as-is, just fix what's broken and possibly upgrade here and there.
FantomWorks was great for dealing with lots of cool muscle cars, including the weird and rare ones. I liked the crew, there was a minimum of bullshit scripted drama or "Will they finish the car in time?!?!?!" fake deadlines. Some of their cars took a year or two to finish. Holy shit, they're back? On YouTube? I may have to watch their new shit.
I also like the PowerNation shows, Engine Power and Detroit Muscle, they will very often stick with what type of engine (and the rest) came with the car even if they get a better block or aluminum heads or whatever. And overdrive transmission. But they many times insist on the cursed coil-over suspension swaps. Still, seeing a straight-6 or an AMC or Oldsmobile engine built up is a joy, they don't overdo it with LS everything or Coyote everything, though they have done a few swaps. At least they show what hell awaits those owners of old cars who want to do the same thing, like removing the shock towers on old Mustangs.
Also, All Girls Garage and Car Fix tend to do less popular cars and drivetrains.
Shows like Iron Resurrection and Texas Metal lean hard into the LS swap mentality. Still, their body work is usually solid. I think the worst example I saw was on that show Trans Am, with those 2 Warmack brothers who have the rights to "Trans Am" and "Firebird", I think, so that they can make modern conversions of new Camaros into Trans Am-looking Pontiacs. Of course they picked the wrong fucking generation, they should have tried for the '69 Trans Am look since the new Camaro sorta mostly looks like a combo of all 1st gen Camaros but they went with the Bandit look. And they also do work on other cars. So this guy shows up with a really rare Oldsmobile station wagon, a Vista Cruiser? Or he asked them to track one down? This guy wanted it all restored and moderned up, meaning the drivetrain (overdrive trans, disk brakes, etc.) along with body work. Dumbass, without telling the owner, decides to swap out the Olds engine for an LS. His brother (or someone else) tries to warn the guy not to do this. He does it anyway because he knows better, the owner will agree with him, it's so obvious that it's the better decision! Car gets built up, he delivers it to the dude who gets a good look at it... and wants nothing to do with it. The dumbass even convinces him to go on a test drive with him, see how fast and responsive it is? No thanks, keep it. Stupid bastard still wouldn't admit he was wrong, that some people don't want a goddamn LS motor in a not Chevy.
I agree. I like the show, and Derek's humor (he's got that classic early Chevy Chase look on his face), but I am in a stabbing mood when I hear "patina" on these shows now. At least a couple times now he has revisited one of his jerry-rigged limped home cars to get it to actual driving condition. Not sure how common that will be, though. I think it's more of a challenge, can you get this rusted piece of shit that hasn't moved in 50 years to run? With just the tools in your truck?
These swaps aren’t representative of the bulk of classics just like you observed, but they have more entertainment value to the casual viewer so you get a disproportionate amount of these sorts of swaps featured on TV/YouTube. If a viewer sees an episode featuring an old Mopar with a Gen III Hemi they might be motivated to buy upgrades for their late model Challenger or even Ram pickup with the same mill with similar parts they saw used on the show.
Likewise the lower ratio of modern cars you’ll see at local car shows is the same reason you don’t often see them featured on TV, they’re just too new and too common and many owners have enough self awareness as to not take up space at a predominantly classic car show with them, for better or worse. Nobody liked the PT cruiser crowd from 20 years ago and don’t want to be “that guy”.
I can’t really comment on the specific shows but there are some better than others with cars and content for sure, but overall the TV format is just too American Choppery for me across the board, I just cannot find entertainment watching 5 or more people put someone else’s car together on a 4 post lift with the requisite emotional reveal to the actual owner. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing that vista cruiser one because I have fascinated for almost 20 years how negatively I’d react if my car ever got Overhauled by Chip Foose, I think I’d give Chris Jacobs a black eye at the very least with his smarmy punchable face
Powernation shows seem like straight up infomercials for products.
I like Vice Grip Garage overall too, the “does it run” catagory is repetitive(because in reality unless the car is exotic or particularly bad, there’s not much to it) but he has a fun persona most YouTubers doing it lack and I appreciate his production is literally a camera on a tripod put together with good editing, I really truly think the lower, or more accurately, less flashy production value the better the content. All the Motortrend shows seem to have giant film crews, including his roadworthy rescues show which I find unwatchable. He goes out of the carbed/points comfort zone now and then too, the Cadillac 8/6/4 episode with the ancient CFI system was hilarious to watch him struggle with, as was the Grand National with the same infamous Teves ABS system we know and love on early SCs(I knew right away that one wasn’t going on a road trip lol)
I don’t really like Dereks revisits much though, he’s been building a Duster from a previous will it run for seemingly 2 months on now and just the one episode I watched was a slog. The 318/LS1 hybrid just seemed plain stupid, and just reveals his Chevy bias, or is pandering to the viewers who have it.
I don’t mind ratty cars but the jerking off to rust patches the patina guys do is just weird. Derek bought the Vanishing Paint Challenger Freiburger and Dulcich built and removed the goofy gumball decals they added(good) but proceeded to apply some sort of wipe on clearcoat to “preserve” the patina
. Just paint the damn thing dude, even Freiburger said he wanted Dulcich to paint it the original F8 green when they were first putting it together!
Last edited:
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
We should do some stupid crap like this: pool together shit to break the fuck out of a JY motor. I have a blower I'm going to ship to gordo, he's already doing videos; we could up their game. Between all of us we have some esoteric shit...Thoughts?
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
Oh! I had a thought, if we could bring oscar back, his 10k+ build would make some interesting fodder: We should encourage him more! I've seen him on, but not much. Changing careers will do that, I know. Having ministrokes degraded my performance, I made a mistake, and was summarily fired. Shit happens. 500 dollar mistake. As I was walking out the door, they were figuring out the 'key expert' had made a 50,000 dollar mistake, again, lol. HR dude didn't see the humor.
I managed to find the best job of my life, and was working there when I was involuntarily retired. I'm just happy the hot HR Director cared enough to see wtf was going on, when I was unconcious on the floor. for three days. I was just about dead when they found me. When dude was loading me on the helicopter, I remember the medic asking, "does anyone have a blood pressure cuff that goes over 300"
I managed to find the best job of my life, and was working there when I was involuntarily retired. I'm just happy the hot HR Director cared enough to see wtf was going on, when I was unconcious on the floor. for three days. I was just about dead when they found me. When dude was loading me on the helicopter, I remember the medic asking, "does anyone have a blood pressure cuff that goes over 300"
Last edited:
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
I don't think it works out that way. I'm no expert but based on your comments I'm sure I watch more of this crap than you do (higher tolerance for produced content I guess, hahaaha) but most of these modern engine into old car swaps don't really highlight much that a new Camaro/Mustang/Challenger owner can use. Because a lot of them delete functionality or certain elements of the new engine/drivetrain in order to get the thing to work with Old Shit. So it's rip out the harness and replace with Holley ECU or figure out a way for the Dodge ECU to talk to an old 727 auto trans or delete this or that. No modern muscle car owner will deal with that bullshit unless, possibly, if he/she is trying to convert a new Camaro or Challenger or Mustang into a dedicated track car and wants the programmability and data logging. But otherwise, it's 3 lefts to make a right and they're already there simply by owning the modern version. Some of those swaps wind up looking like race cars, meaning a panel of toggle switches, no interior and a roll cage and other gear that would ruin a modern car.
On the other hand, there are a lot of shows that go into the engine itself and upgrade it. Those episodes I think are aimed at the modern muscle car fans. Engine Masters is a great show for that, half their experiments are on Gen III Hemis or LS engines (rarely a Coyote) - new cams, lifters, pistons, heads, intake, etc., and they do a lot of comparisons of similar parts, is this one really better than that one? Hot Rod Garage isn't bad, either, they will sometimes take a slightly older modern car and try to get it as up-to-date as the current versions.
When I go to local Mopar shows (Fall Fling/Spring Fling) there is usually a row of modern Challengers and Chargers. They're popular enough but there's nothing to see, really, except dress-up shit (chrome, aftermarket wheels). Same with Ford shows, though they have a lot more modern Mustangs, like 2 rows of that shit. I mean, Fabulous Fords Forever feels like a quarter of all the cars are newish Mustangs (along with, typically 2-3 MN12/FN10 cars). At least they're all in the same area but I'm more interested in any old Torinos I can find (and Mavericks which I used to hate, hahaaha). The Chevy stuff is different because the few shows I've gotten to, even if it says Chevy, is usually all GM. Which is cool, seeing old Cadillacs and Buicks. But I think all those modern owners knows that there's very little they can do to their cars because they're already complete, they already have 2-4x as much horsepower as the older cars, handle way better, and are too regulated to modify very much. There's nothing to improve or fix, just make prettier. Cup holders, man, they're not in the mood to make their cars less comfortable after spending $90,000 to get them in the first place.
I can’t really comment on the specific shows but there are some better than others with cars and content for sure, but overall the TV format is just too American Choppery for me across the board, I just cannot find entertainment watching 5 or more people put someone else’s car together on a 4 post lift with the requisite emotional reveal to the actual owner. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing that vista cruiser one because I have fascinated for almost 20 years how negatively I’d react if my car ever got Overhauled by Chip Foose, I think I’d give Chris Jacobs a black eye at the very least with his smarmy punchable face
I'm surprised he only got hit once (at least what they were willing to show). I think not long after that they steered away from the pretend we stole it/impounded it gag. I'm sure people were starting to recognize them, anyway, but that was like 5-10 minutes of wasted car fix air time. Ya, some of Foose's design ideas suck (but no one will tell him 'no'). And I don't get making over a modern car, those were always thee most boring episodes. Oooh, we're going to bolt on an aero kit! And repaint it!! And bolt on new Foose rims!!! At least the old cars, especially the bland ones, would benefit from the tucked in bumpers/new interior/swapped grille and lights/upgraded drivetrain treatment. But ya, I felt my stomach clench when dumbass took out that Olds motor in that Vista Cruiser and "stabbed" in the LS (Odin, how I hate the use of that word all over the car TV show world).
True, but at least they are straightforward about the steps necessary to achieve the end result, and they're pretty detailed about it unlike some regular car shows that just magic up success behind the scenes without showing how that was actually done. Engine Power shows a lot of these things go here, those things go there, torque to X ft/lbs, blah blah blah. Like a manual. I don't care if they're product heavy because somebody has to manufacture all that shit and 9 times out of 10, I would have bought the same parts. And it's not always the same manufacturers, either, some weird engines necessitate going with specific parts because that is the only company who will even bother to make hi-po parts.
I think Bitchin' Rides is the show I watch the least, too much manufactured "humor" (they're not funny, like at all) and drama. Kindig, you can't act and you're not funny and you look like a gnome!!
I know it has absolutely nothing to do with actual car maintenance or improvements, but the TV shows that bother to have the occasional cute girl host help to smooth over the negatives that the show may have, hahaaha. As much as I like Tony Angelo, his knowledge and especially his humor, I commend Hot Rod Garage for going with Alex Taylor once Tony decided to leave. Garage Squad was pretty consistent there, though I never got over Lauren Bohlander being on only the first season (dammit!).
At least the Sarah -N- Tuned YouTube show is still putting along, I can't wait to see that old Celica finally finished! She is also one of those no-crew hosts, she sets up all the cameras herself and edits everything. I like the occasional cleavage shot (usually when trying to reposition a camera) and her "It's ok, I know how my bills get paid" comments, hahaaha. She is almost OCD with how much of the cars that will never be seen she winds up cleaning and/or repainting. She is my current favorite, not because she's legit hot but because she shows everything involved, which means she can get 12 episodes in and the fucking car still isn't finished. Compare that to other shows that cram all of it, regardless of actual time involved, into an hour (occasionally a 2-parter). But because of that level of detail she hasn't done many cars, obviously.
Another YouTube show I'm starting to get more into, because of the all info/no bullshit aspect, is Uncle Tony's Garage -
He's not really camera charismatic or anything, it's just loads of info.
True, but there’s another form of advertisement in using the modern stuff, Holley is a major sponsor for these shows so you see the sniper pitched for just about everything, obviously most commonly with the LS/Gen III Hemi swaps but in the real world I’d bet a significant portion of buyers use it for EFI conversions of more conventional engines. Personally I don’t trust that Holley system at all, I’d rather see retrofits of OEM EECs, trim the fat from the harnesses and run tuning software but there’s not much avenue for sponsorship in that and obviously not the time on a professional timetable, but it would be far more reliable, which is the whole point of EFI in the first place.
Yes, I have an extremely low tolerance for this stuff. Like I alluded to, I watched American Chopper American Hot Rod Overhauling and those powernation shows etc back in my childhood practically religiously and I’m still burned out from it, all the newer stuff is just the same formula in varying quantities, and at the end of the day it just isn’t that interesting to me, I’ve done everything there is to do on a car besides paint/bodywork so watching 5 dudes and token gal install a motor mount adapter is just kind of boring to me personally, best case scenario it reminds me to work on my own project and click off on the remote
I just don’t like watching the business of “builds”, it just sucks the fun right out of this hobby for me, same with car flippers.Top Gear UK with the Clarkson/Hammond/May trio, roadkill only if Freiburger and Finnegan are hosting, roadkill garage only if Freiburger and Dulcich are hosting, vice grip garage occasionally and some other will it runs if the cars appeal to me are about the most I can tolerate. I’ll watch the Mecum auctions too, usually on mute. Roadkill early on was great because it really seemed grounded in reality, Craigslist grade cars held together with junk you find at autozone and roadtripped. It lost its luster when Dodge became a sponsor and suddenly every other episode was a now impossible to find mopar Dave or Steve got for $500(30 years ago), when they left YouTube and moved to motortrend cable channel good episodes became really sporadic. The host mixing since then too is really jarring. I used to subscribe to their app but the quality of everything declined so much
Uncle tony is pretty funny, he’s been pushed into my suggestions lately and I’ll catch his livestreams occasionally. Some of his opinions are whackadoo but he seems to have the same cynical outlook I have with the automotive media lol
Last edited:
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
I would bet that the Holley Sniper stuff is pretty reliable if you're going down the turn your car into a weekend race car path. For the data logging and nitrous triggers and all the rest of that. But then you're also probably not running A/C or power seats anymore, either. And I can see that being useful for the cars that just want EFI/electronic ignition but want to keep the dash gauges and original transmission the same. Of course the easier way is replace the whole dash with a digital version to talk to those modern CAN bus sensors, anyway, if it's a Gen III/LS/Coyote engine instead of trying to make those things talk to old Stewart Warner gauges.
That's an interesting idea, if you're going to do EFI on old engines it might be better to use an OEM harness and all that car make-specific gear with an ECU that is tuned for everyday driving. Though I think that would be better for just regular cars, not future track cars, cars with retrofitted ABS or overdrive or whatever that the stock computer likes, anyway. I have to believe, though, that it could be a nightmare making sure to either delete enough from the harness or add enough sensors and whatnot so that the ECU doesn't freak out and prevent the engine from running because some goofy unrelated function is blind or not reading correctly. I've certainly fallen victim to error code XXXX that says it's for this but really the problem is that.
I’d use a EEC from our era, all engine/trans controls, plenty of capability and most importantly no canbus or security crap.
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
That's a solid idea. Has anybody actually tried that on an older Ford motor? Seems like a straightforward way to get EFI working though I suppose the CATs might be an issue?
By the way, love your avatar image, I saw one of those Super Roo cars years ago at a Fabulous Fords Forever show. Finally tracked down a decent looking t-shirt at Uncle Henry's -
I just wish they had more color choices besides black or white.
I tried to use a 94 markviii ecu in my fox, was a lot of hassle wiring it up and after all that i couldn't get it to run how i wanted. Went with holley term x max and was way easier to install. Car runs great as well.
I like DD speed shop, Sleeperdude, Street Racing Channel/Old
man's Garage, Alejandro Flores, zip ties n bias plies, boosted lifestyle, etc. VGG was good in the beginning and he is pretty funny at times.
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
I have full engine swap privileges on mbe2 eeec's, It's programmable enough to totally destroy the engine, or transmission, if you screw up.
Thank the gods that if you fuck up too bad it only gives you 2nd gear, lol.and probably 2500rpms with ~4 horsepower, it feels like.
I'd totally recommend a tune after you get your mods in, or during.
Back to what Matt was saying: Modern engine mods: Old chevy or ford motors, if you had a setback, that ate a piston, you bored it the next size over, bought new pistons, and had another 3cc's displacement. A coyote motor has a sprayed in liner; it's toast if you score the walls. It can't be bored, and If I'm sleeving one, it wont be a fbw motor.I'd sleeve a 4.6 to 5.3, and say fuckit.
Thank the gods that if you fuck up too bad it only gives you 2nd gear, lol.and probably 2500rpms with ~4 horsepower, it feels like.
I'd totally recommend a tune after you get your mods in, or during.
Back to what Matt was saying: Modern engine mods: Old chevy or ford motors, if you had a setback, that ate a piston, you bored it the next size over, bought new pistons, and had another 3cc's displacement. A coyote motor has a sprayed in liner; it's toast if you score the walls. It can't be bored, and If I'm sleeving one, it wont be a fbw motor.I'd sleeve a 4.6 to 5.3, and say fuckit.
I’d use a EEC V 96-98 era PCM, much easier to deal with on the programming side of things than OBD I and virtually the same capabilities with software like Pro racer like a few of us here use and others. Wiring obviously is involved but realistically if I had one of those holley kits I’d be rerouting their scheme anyway.
That's a solid idea. Has anybody actually tried that on an older Ford motor? Seems like a straightforward way to get EFI working though I suppose the CATs might be an issue?
By the way, love your avatar image, I saw one of those Super Roo cars years ago at a Fabulous Fords Forever show. Finally tracked down a decent looking t-shirt at Uncle Henry's -
I just wish they had more color choices besides black or white.
Thanks! I love Aussie muscle, the XR-XY Falcons use the basic US 4 door body with some slight but simple alterations, I’d really like to clone one. I never had luck buying cars from junkyards but this was the last one I tried to save.
I don’t think anyone else at the yard saw what I saw
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
I remember the falcon; The gt's were cool. There was also the Grandpa version, with a 4 or 6 cylinder, it would barely get out of it's own way, but he managed to elude the police, and made it into the theater, watched a movie, and then got busted. Of course he told the cops he was in the movies, and his car was stolen, lol. He got away with it. Another buddy built a white one, in pearl white. It had a ford big bock in it. Ladder bars, whole 9 yards. It would do wheelies at redlights.
Another buddy built a white one, in pearl white. It had a ford big bock in it. Ladder bars, whole 9 yards. It would do wheelies at redlights.
rampagingsloth
3rd Gear Poster
I remember the falcon; The gt's were cool. There was also the Grandpa version, with a 4 or 6 cylinder, it would barely get out of it's own way, but he managed to elude the police, and made it into the theater, watched a movie, and then got busted. Of course he told the cops he was in the movies, and his car was stolen, lol. He got away with it.
Those cars are cool, interesting "what if" designs that we never saw. I just never got their preference for 4-doors. Performance cars were never meant to be practical or utilitarian, that's for the lesser cars (which include the 4-doors). But in Australia they seem to prefer the 4-door versions. I used to wish I had one of those 2-door Falcons like Mad Max's black car, but I wanted to paint it "normal" with the yellow/red/blue police livery and "Interceptor" on the back. But they're too rare, too expensive. And then I notice that certain Torinos look like slightly larger versions, anyway, especially the back window/C pillar area.
At least the Valiant Charger went the right direction.
Cohort Classic: 1971 Australian Valiant Charger RT Hemi Six Pack - That Thing Got A Hemi? Um; Not Quite. - Curbside Classic
(first posted 6/25/2012) Bryce posted these shots of a 1971 Valiant Charger Hemi Six-Pack, and I don’t really have the time to do an in-depth write-up on these fascinating […]
What is it with Australian performance cars and those really flat grilles?
I remember the falcon; The gt's were cool. There was also the Grandpa version, with a 4 or 6 cylinder, it would barely get out of it's own way, but he managed to elude the police, and made it into the theater, watched a movie, and then got busted. Of course he told the cops he was in the movies, and his car was stolen, lol. He got away with it.
We never got Falcon GTs in the states, sportiest version we got was the Sprint
Those cars are cool, interesting "what if" designs that we never saw. I just never got their preference for 4-doors. Performance cars were never meant to be practical or utilitarian, that's for the lesser cars (which include the 4-doors). But in Australia they seem to prefer the 4-door versions. I used to wish I had one of those 2-door Falcons like Mad Max's black car, but I wanted to paint it "normal" with the yellow/red/blue police livery and "Interceptor" on the back. But they're too rare, too expensive. And then I notice that certain Torinos look like slightly larger versions, anyway, especially the back window/C pillar area.
At least the Valiant Charger went the right direction.
Cohort Classic: 1971 Australian Valiant Charger RT Hemi Six Pack - That Thing Got A Hemi? Um; Not Quite. - Curbside Classic
(first posted 6/25/2012) Bryce posted these shots of a 1971 Valiant Charger Hemi Six-Pack, and I don’t really have the time to do an in-depth write-up on these fascinating […]www.curbsideclassic.com
What is it with Australian performance cars and those really flat grilles?
Australia was always a utilitarian culture compared to our consumer culture. Cars are more of a fashion statement here, and indeed the Falcon Coupe and Valiants were designed in Detroit studios, the Torino resemblance isn’t a coincidence, but that American influence never translated into large sales numbers. People bought cars to keep, for a largely rural population, that’s why they were designated by series (XB, etc) rather than year, 4 doors and utes dominated sales. Speed still sold but speed isn’t exclusive to two doors, that’s really an American thing, perhaps influenced by exotic Italian design.
Besides, the population was much smaller to support a domestic automotive industry, then as now(hence Falcons and Commodores being dead), only back then there were protectionist policies in place to keep local manufacturing rather than being reliant on imports. The Falcons were were assembled in Australia with many unique aspects tailored to the harsh environment, wasn’t really economically sustainable to manufacture multiple body styles until the healthy late 60s-early 70s economy allowed for extravagance. Even “vans” were just enclosed “Utes”.
Flat simpleish noses are conducive to outback driving. Mad Max aesthetics weren’t that far off from reality. But really that’s not that different from US cars of the era, like Dusters, cars like 70-72 Torinos and Montegos with elaborate W shaped noses had zero protection with totally decorative bumpers, they and a few other models were really what spurred on the 5mph bumper laws for 73-74
The thing everybody gets wrong including George Miller in later movies with the black “interceptor” is it wasn’t an interceptor! It was a V8 pursuit special just like the black Monaro coupe the knight rider was fleeing in at the beginning of MM1, the pursuit and interceptors were the yellow and blue 4 doors, there were two interceptors in the opening chase, the first one pursuing knight rider was a XA, then rupe and Charlie in the standard pursuit XB, then after they wrecked Max in his XB interceptor. Pursuit specials were heavily modified cars built strictly for speed.
Last edited:
Grog6
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
- Messages
- 3,415
- Location
- Harriman, TN
- Vehicle Details
- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
The one you called max maxesque looks like a 68 cougar with extra lights, lol
I guess the locals just took the grampa version like my buddy hal had, and dropped a beast of an engine into. There were a few running around town. Id bet Dave Thomas of oak ridge is on facebook, he had the white one, but it's been 40 years, he's into bikes these days, iirc. But he might still have it; I need to talk to him about some cams, I heard he totalled a cobra a few years back that was a 4.6.
I guess the locals just took the grampa version like my buddy hal had, and dropped a beast of an engine into. There were a few running around town. Id bet Dave Thomas of oak ridge is on facebook, he had the white one, but it's been 40 years, he's into bikes these days, iirc. But he might still have it; I need to talk to him about some cams, I heard he totalled a cobra a few years back that was a 4.6.
Overlooked asset of those 66-70 Falcons you could physically fit and bolt in a 429/460 with no chassis alterations since they are literally just shortened and much lighter 66-71 Fairlane/Torinos under the skin, that’s what made them so formidable in Australia with the 351 Cleveland’s, they had a better power to weight ratio, less overall weight and better f/r balance than a 351C Mustang Mach 1, which Ford in their infinite wisdom loaded with tar sound deadener like a luxury Grande. They’ve got every bit of potential as 68+ Novas and 67+ Darts but for some reason most Ford guys in the US just don’t see the potential.
