Ford Australia teased a glimpse of the next and final Falcon last week via social media, but it’s the reveal of the resurrected Falcon XR8 on July 25 2014 that we’re waiting for.
IN AN INTERVIEW with Practical Motoring’s New Zealand correspondent and motoring editor at Yahoo NZ Autos, Richard Bosselman, Ford New Zealand corporate affairs manager, Tom Clancy, said Ford Australia would reveal the born-again Falcon XR8 on July 25. That will make the Falcon XR8 the blue oval’s only V8 until the Mustang arrives Down Under, and the final V8 Falcon before local production ceases in October 2016.
The XR8 is important for a whole range of reasons, not the least being that it allows access to the supercharged ‘Miami’ 5.0-litre quad-cam V8 that’s previously only been available in FPV product.
It also debuts styling that will sustain the Falcon right the way through to the end of its production life. There’s still no word from Ford, however, clarifying whether the partial headlight and grille shot is XR-specific or for the garden-variety Falcon derivatives of the incoming ‘FH’ family. But what we can say is that the image will see the last Falcon carry a similar front-end look to that of the new Focus.
While we’ll get to see the whole XR8 on July 25, or at least a fair amount of it, there’s suggestion the Falcon proper might remain hidden until November.
Speculation is that the engine will be as per the GT, with 335kW/575Nm. That means, and rightly so, the last-ever Falcon XR8 will come in second to the FPV GT-F with 351kW/575Nm, but that it’ll pack an impressive 45kW more than the previous-generation XR8 which was dropped back in 2010.
Both Ford Australia and Ford New Zealand have stated how the appearance of the teaser image on social media has stirred interest in the last-ever Falcon, Ford New Zealand’s Tom Clancy said: “It’s a good build-up to the reveal of the XR8 later this month … on the 25th.”
