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Top Five Influential Fords

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Here in Australia there have been a number of cars locally developed and made that have influenced our market. To get an idea of how Ford has influenced Australia, we spoke to Rare Spares ambassador and a lover of all good things automotive, John Bowe who says: [More]

Ford Ranger 242kW

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Television sometimes has the knack of embodying a word or phrase that society picks up on. In Ford’s case, a word made household famous by a Top Gear host is powerrrrrrrrrrr.
242 kiloWatts of powerrrrrrrr is what is packed into a twin-turboed 2.7L petrol V6 that finds a home under the bonnet of the F-150 in the United States. [More]

Celebrating 20 Years of AU Falcon

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Once upon a time, there were car companies in Australia that made cars here. Chrysler/Mitsubishi, British Leyland, Lightburn, Toyota, Holden, and Ford, for example. The Sigma, the Zeta, the Torana, the Falcon. Amongst a distinguished list, Ford’s Falcon could very well be pointed at as being the longest lasting. [More]

R-Spec Mustang Review

Image The source of the increases for push and twist for the Mustang R-Spec is a supercharger developed by Ford Performance in the U.S. There’s an air capacity of 2.65 litres, and pushed into the engine at 12psi. With little other than that, the standard V8 jumps to 522kW and 827Nm for the American Mustangs. The engine in the R-Spec is said to produce something around the same, if perhaps a bit more. [More]

Electric Manual Mustang

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The Ford Mustang Lithium is an “ultra-high-performance battery electric Mustang fastback prototype” says Ford, and packs a high voltage punch. In equivalent terms, power and torque are rated at 670kW and a truly staggering 1355Nm of twist. Remembering that electric motors produce maximum torque at zero revs, this amount of torque is on tap as soon as the go-button is pressed. [More]

American Hero – Top American Import

When it comes to American muscle cars it’s hard to look past the iconic Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Although there are a number of other stateside classics that will go down in history as American greats, it’s the Mustang and Camaro which typify what the scene is all about. In this article we’ll take a look at the two US classics, what made them special and how they were received in Australia. In 1961, Lee Iococca, the Vice President and General Manager of Ford had a vision. This vision was to build a car that could seat 4 adults, have bucket seats, a floor mounted shifter, weigh no more than 2500 pounds, be no longer than 180 inches long and sell for less than $2500. After a few years and a couple of interesting looking prototypes, from this vision the Ford Mustang was born, with the first car rolling off the production line in March 1964. In Australia, the Mustang has gone through periods of great popularity mixed with periods of little interest, mostly as a result of the cost of importing and RHD conversion proving to be a bridge too far for local consumers. However, early Mustangs were a hit from the get go, with up to 200 first generation Mustang’s being imported by Ford Australia in 1965, converted to RHD at their Geelong plant and sold to the public for around $6000. The timeless design was received well by enthusiasts in Australia. Throughout the last 50 years, early year Mustangs have remained a desirable car for Aussie enthusiasts which are reflected in modern day re-sale values. Of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention the current 6th generation Mustang which has proved to be a hit on our shores. The rear-wheel drive 5.0 litre V8 producing 306kw/530Nm is somewhat filling the void that has been left by the departure of the Falcon, providing the public with a high powered substitute for the XR8, albeit in coupe form. On the General Motors front, the main competition to the Mustang over the years has been that provided by the Camaro. The Camaro was born in September 1966 as an answer to the booming popularity of the Mustang. Featuring a long hood, short deck, seating for four and a unitized body construction with a separate front sub frame, the Camaro came with engine options ranging from a 230ci straight six to a 427ci V8. The Camaro was received well in Australia in the beginning, and was successful in Australian motorsports, further thrusting the classic car into stardom. Bob Jane would win both the 1971 and 1972 ATCC at the wheel of a Camaro ZL-1. Much like the Mustang, the Camaro went through a period in which they were less desirable to the Australian public which, unlike the Mustang, has not really recovered in the form of Camaro Australian sales. Unfortunately for Australian motoring enthusiasts, in its current 6th generation guise, there are no formal plans for the Camaro to reach Australian dealership floors. Which generation Mustang’s and Camaro’s are your favourite. Would you like to see the latest Camaro on Australian showroom floors? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook page and let us know in the comments below.