Ford reveals Webber’s local wheels
March 31, 2009 by George Skentzos
Seemingly bursting with excitement, Ford has revealed our very own Mark Webber tore up the streets of Melbourne in a new FPV F6 310 during his brief stay for last weekend’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix.
Ford had remained tight-lipped on the Red Bull driver’s local wheels until Renault bosses had left the country, with Mark enjoying his time in the driver’s seat of the Australian-built muscle car.
A nostalgic Mark Webber handed the keys back to Ford this morning before jetting off to Kuala Lumpur for the upcoming Malaysian F1 Grand Prix.
“What a great car … this is what I miss in Europe … awesome Aussie muscle cars,” Webber said.
According to Ford, Mark last drove one of its cars back when he was with the now defunct Jaguar F1 team.
Print it: 
Alonso, Hamilton, Raikonnen, Kubica, Massa (when he’s not spinning), Button, Barichello, Vettel (when he’s not taking out other drivers), Heidfeld, Rosberg are all better than Webber IMO. Wait a sec…. that’s half the grid.
It still takes plenty of skill to get an F1 seat and stay in the game for 8 years but I wouldn’t put him in the upper echelon of the grid. He was outshone by Heidfeld at Williams in the first half of the 2005 season. And he passed up a seat an Renault. He’s a good qualifier but has no race pace.
Agreed BM – Like he says there’s nothing in Europe the same, certainly at that low cost.
How can you call a straight 6 turbo a muscle car? In my mind a muscle car has a large displacing V8 engine up front.
The F6 is no more a muscle car than say a WRX.. rice at best? Sure it’s quick, I’m not denying that, but muscle car? Nah.. I don’t think so.
Allan, you’ll find those turbo cars you call ‘rice’, many will have more muscle (ie. power) than your V8s… Gotta love it when I chop some ‘muscle’ V8 with my 180SX…
Allan D – so a charger isn’t a muscle car then? oh dear…
G – not to put too finer point on it, Webber beat both Heidfeld and Rosberg in the world championship when he was team mates with them… Heidfeld beating him in the first half of the year means nothing, You don’t win a world championship over half a year, you win it over a full year.
Raikonnen is brilliant when he is focused, which isn’t very often. Massa is phenominal when he is concentrating which used to be not very often but he has matured and is now one of the best. Alonso is the best, period. Kubica is very very good, Webber himself actually rated him as the best driver in F1 last year in an ITV interview. Button is great, very much the same as Webber, never had the car to show his talents, hopefully that will change this year, i’d have him on about a par with Webber. Barichello was very good, is now past it and never really did anything special in F1 other then hanging around a long time, had access to a multiple championship winning car in F1 and never used it. Vettel is too young to tell, but I think he could take the mantel of the best of Alonso in the future. Hamilton speaks for himself BUT has never had to endure a difficult car yet, no driver is ever great untill they have proven their abilities in a difficult car, this opportunity will come this year.
I never said Webber was the best, but he can match it with these guys no question. He has never had the car to prove himself, a lot like Button, but interestingly and thankfully it looks like both Jenson and Mark have the equipment to prove themselfs once and for all this year.
besides, Webber is actually a decent bloke! Same can’t be said about all F1 pilots… and at least he is interesting in interviews unlike some of the other drivers! or should I say MOST of the other drivers…
I have never really noticed this before, but that picture shows just how much is going on in the design dept on the frount and its not good…
Webber is the unluckiest driver in F1, like Cam McConville is the unluckiest man in V8’s. Its funny i bet most of these nay-sayers have never heard of Chris Amon. Considered the best driver never to win a Grand Prix. He never had the equipment to win but had the praises of his peers. What about Stirling Moss, he never won a championship but still is considered to be one of, if not the best driver in grand prix history. If Mark has the pace all year that the Red Bulls showed in Melbourne, he will be a regular podium finisher. Just remember Mark was a bee’s d**k away from winning the 1998 GT1 championship with Mercedes until he’s teammate buggered up in the last round. Also finished 2nd in the 2001 F3000 Championship. He can drive. Oh yeah nice ride for him in oz
Richo – It wasn’t hard to beat Heidfeld in the championship when he was only racing for 2/3 of the season, he sat out the last 1/3 injured.
But your other comment was spot on – Webber seems like a pretty down to earth approachable guy. Not like some of the other guys with the attitude.
You can’t tell me Barichello’s underperformance in the Ferrari was the driver – there would have been a lot of team orders/strategy to put Schumacher first.
BTW the cars not bad, I would say the best Aussie built car out there by far.
All I got to say about Webber is… Unlucky… or maybe a bit reckless.
The guy can drive no doubt, you dont get selected to drive in F1 if you are shabby. But most of his races in his F1 career either ended up not finishing or crashing early… never really contended.
And to someone who mentioned Toyota never winning in their 8 years F1, well they never really had the “policy” and “thinking” to win at the start at least, now they are atleast getting help by recruiting experienced F1 staff. They do have the budget but just not the “thinking”. But F1 is very influenced by experience in the end, as Toyota has proven to be successful in other form of motorsports… Rally, LeMans etc.
BIGDOG: Webber wasn’t paid for this.
Strange how many here focus on performance and nothing else. I guess that’s FPV and HSV’s target market – 0-100 times only… no matter if a car looks cheap, feels cheap, has below par after sales service…
FPV could have been a looker – nice rims, LED’s, xenons, but no, they had to go for the tarted up BF Falcon look… HSV’s are still in front in this respect.
Where’d all the tax payer monies go? Detroit?
Last thing I read he had a couple of cars back in England a V10 M5 he got when driving for BMW & a RS Megane from Renault being amongst them & he was considering getting an Audi R8 so he has driven a few decent euro road cars to compare it to.
Exactly Motorhead.
As a teenager I was heavily into Horses {just prefer multiples of hundreds since I got a little older} you would jump on a well schooled and educated Quarter Horse and enjoy what he could do with little effort,but then sometimes you just wanted to jump on a freshly broken Thoroughbred because he was so feisty, you had to rein him in to control him but let his head go and the adrenaline pump was a blast.
Thats the appeal of our Muscle Cars ,unpretentious .
@The Realist: OMG…didnt have LED’s HID’s or Xenons?
Take a look under the skin of the FPV’s and you’ll see there is a wealth of technology, particularly in the 6 Cyls.
If you’re perception of quality is based around little niceties like nice head and tail lights then maybe you should read into the FG Development story.
The tax payers money in majority went to making the FG I6 Engine compliant with Government emission requirements (including ANCAP 5 Safety, the first in an Australian car….)..The Fuel consumption of the F6 and XR6T are along testament to where the dollars went…Also.. Take a look at the HMI on the Dash in the FG’s…It puts BMW’s iDrive system to shame (well until very recently anyway) Do you think things like this are cheap to produce and put through R&D? Hardly.
There is a tonne of great engineering in the Falcon and If I had a choice between a better quality car or things like LED’s and and HID’s, i know which one I would be picking.
Great car, great bloke!
Nothing much more Aussie than that!
PS Webber has been rated in the Top 5 best drivers in F1 for the last 3years straight by crash.net
I heard that when Webber first started Shuey thought he would welcome him to the sport and play friendly with him,once Mark showed he was more than just a pretty boy from down under Shuey didnt want to speak to him much after that.
Oh and antispam word…………..Webber,spooky!
U holden or for/fpv doubters r so f*$ked in the head, the F6 is the best performance car in the world for under $100,000, Im not talkin bout the interior, im talkin bout performance, on road, sideways make u smile ear to ear fun!!! U cant get that from a gts or gt, even a w427!! n thats 155 grand!!! lol what a joke that is. N u Holden/HSV/Brocky bogan Pushrod 2 valve wanks, use r stuffed june/july next year as the hsv killer V8 come to Australia, n will be still produced her u ass lickers lol. Bring it holden n hsv!!! Ford/fpv new logo, n its a real good one u holden girls will like it, hsv i just’BEAT’one
good to see the euro badge snobs providing a laugh…clearly their performance driving involves a toddle through the countryside in a 3 series convertible laden with wine and cheese, or ducking down to the cafe for a latte.
The F6 is an exceptionally capable car for the money, mighty power, trustworthy chassis and strong brakes. Doesnt have HIDs though LOL.
Chris Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
“Take a look under the skin of the FPV’s and you’ll see there is a wealth of technology, particularly in the 6 Cyls.”
And what technology might that be?
“If you’re perception of quality is based around little niceties like nice head and tail lights then maybe you should read into the FG Development story.”
What story’s that? How not to run a business?
“The tax payers money in majority went to making the FG I6 Engine compliant with Government emission requirements (including ANCAP 5 Safety, the first in an Australian car….)..The Fuel consumption of the F6 and XR6T are along testament to where the dollars went…”
Which is great – but isn’t it pouring money down the drain if no one’s buying the car?
BTW fuel consumption is nothing to write home about.
“Also.. Take a look at the HMI on the Dash in the FG’s…It puts BMW’s iDrive system to shame (well until very recently anyway) Do you think things like this are cheap to produce and put through R&D? Hardly.”
HMI comparable to I-Drive? Puts it to shame?? I’ve used the Falcon system mate – it’s called cheap and nasty. I wouldn’t use acronyms like “R&D” with HMI. Now I know you’ve never used I-drive, and are full of sh##.
“There is a tonne of great engineering in the Falcon and If I had a choice between a better quality car or things like LED’s and and HID’s, i know which one I would be picking.”
Quality? For $80K you can get some pretty decent quality cars from BMW, MB and Audi… and the second hand market is even better.
erko Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:26 am
“good to see the euro badge snobs providing a laugh…clearly their performance driving involves a toddle through the countryside in a 3 series convertible laden with wine and cheese, or ducking down to the cafe for a latte.”
Being labelled a euro badge snob is better than being labelled a bogan, or derro, or whatever you want to call it. Wine and cheese is much more preferable to big macs and VB. :-)
Seriously, thanks for the good times – nothing better than seeing simple folk like you being duped into forking over $80K for a rep mobile.
“The F6 is an exceptionally capable car for the money, mighty power, trustworthy chassis and strong brakes. Doesnt have HIDs though LOL.”
Keep convincing yourself of that mate.
BTW thanks for the laugh Ben – your post brought a smile to my face. :-)
@ The Realist : exceptional response.
“Being labelled a euro badge snob is better than being labelled a bogan” How so? I see for you a Car is an accessory, no doubt you are sporting around in a 318 Auto.Most likely also trying to escape a bogan upbringing and trying to repress your innate bogan tendencies…mate.
You seem to think thats buying up the luxury brand marketing means you are ahead of the game LOL.
erko Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
“How so? I see for you a Car is an accessory, no doubt you are sporting around in a 318 Auto.Most likely also trying to escape a bogan upbringing and trying to repress your innate bogan tendencies…mate.”
Did I touch a raw nerve bud? :-)
I actually sport around in an M5. Never eaten a Big Mac in it either!
“You seem to think thats buying up the luxury brand marketing means you are ahead of the game LOL.”
If you mean being able to afford the car I drive is being ahead of the game, I guess I am.
Never eaten a big mac eh, who is this?? Montgomery Burns?No doubt your mobile snack of choice is a foie gras sandwich washed down with a glass of blood from the working man, you Captain of Industry you. What a laugh.
erko Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
“Never eaten a big mac eh, who is this?? Montgomery Burns?No doubt your mobile snack of choice is a foie gras sandwich washed down with a glass of blood from the working man, you Captain of Industry you. What a laugh.”
Wow, the claws are out… and I didn’t even get started.
:-)
@ The Realist
mmeeeeooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww
please “get started” please educate the great unwashed with your tales of the finer things of life :)
Mark Webber prob won’t be able to fit in any supercars. But then again the F6310’s prob the closest thing Ford Australia make to a supercar.
i just bought one and now it has 410kw now where talking good b4 now its chalk and cheez
WEBBER…..ONYA!!
AussieAussieAussie oihoihoih!
Cheers,
F-0
Four months after Webber drove an Aussie muscle car,he wins an F1 race,definite link there.GO WEBBER,GO FORD,GO ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS,GO WEBBER.