Aussie Fast Car Heroes: Ford T3 T-Series

One of the most desirable fast Falcons ever produced by Ford Australia is an AU – the product of a bad drubbing from arch-nemeses Holden and HSV.

By the early 2000s, Ford Australia had adopted a corporate foetal position as hot Commodores from the SS to the Clubsport mercilessly kicked and beat it – along with a sound thrashing on the racetrack too, the Holden Racing Team winning V8 Supercar championships and Bathurst 1000s in an almost cruelly consistent fashion.

Behind closed doors, Ford was brewing up the brilliant BA Falcon, Ford Performance Vehicles and an answer to Holden’s V8 Supercar domination, but as The General launched wave after wave of attack, an early salvo was required.

That would come in the form of the hottest AU Falcon ever, one with a hand-built engine, a V8 Supercar-inspired bodykit with a rear wing looking ready for flat-out overtakes into Conrod Chase, and a power output that would finally add an element of nervousness to any boardroom discussions at HSV’s Clayton HQ.

Until then, Ford’s answer to HSV – the flaccidly named Ford Tickford Experience – could extract a mere, maximum 220kW from the 5.0-litre Windsor V8, and with difficulty. To match the VX Clubsport’s 255kW from its 5.7-litre Chevrolet-sourced LS1 V8, the old Windsor – which dated back to 1961 – needed either supercharging, turbocharging or replacing. Or something else altogether.

A stroker kit was devised, a longer-throw crankshaft increasing cubic centimetres to 5615cc, allowing the mutant new Windsor to breathe deeper, make a bigger bang and more power – 250kW to be exact, along with an HSV-thumping 500Nm. The Clubsport at the time could manage 475Nm at best.

As well as a swathe of breathing mods – inlet and exhaust – the engine itself was also blueprinted and meticulously balanced to maximise its hunger for lion flesh. Ignoring the fact the finished result had all the refinement of a typical B&S ball spinster – and the same kind of thirst – this was an engine that could finally wake Ford fans from their nightmare and give HSV a bloodied nose.

And it did. Ford implanted the new engine into a base model TE50, slightly luxe Fairmont-based TS50 and a Fairlane-spec, long wheelbase TL50 (today rarer than a Russian democrat). There was even a Maloo-mauling 250kW Pursuit ute. Transmissions were a five-speed manual – with an impractically tall fifth gear to help reduce the vociferous fuel consumption – and a four-speed auto.

Behind closed doors the project was codenamed Tornado, and later T3. Arriving in late 2001, magazine comparisons praised not just the brute of an engine – and its circa-14.6 second quarter mile times, about a tenth quicker than Clubsport – but also the big Falcon’s steering and much-improved mid-corner poise. Finally, Ford fans had a car to get excited about.

Not too long after, however, there was a veritable deluge of red-hot metal from Ford Australia, from the newly turbocharged BA Falcon XR6 to the FPV GT and even the Territory – all spearheaded by legendary Ford Australia boss, the late Geoff Polites. In the excitement, the AU swansong, 5.6-litre T3 T-Series was soon forgotten.

Exactly 677 T3 T-Series were built and now command handsome prices on the second-hand market, making it an AU you’d be proud to own, one that gave the Falcon its wings back – a big one on the boot, at the very least.

Have you owned, or do you own, a Tickford T3 T-Series? What are the best and worst things about owning one? Tell us in the comments below.