In Ireland where I'm from, every car for private use has to have an annual tax disc on it's windscreen. For small engined cars the annual rate of tax is not particularly high at €292 for a 1.4 litre car, €484 for a 1.8 and so on. However, as the engine size increases the tax rate soars to a ridiculous maximum rate of €1343 for 12 months tax on cars with engines of 3001cc or larger, irrespective of fuel type or whether or not the car has super or turbocharging, and with no consideration for the size and weight of the car. A real "anti-petrol head tax" in my opinion.
Hence the largest Ford sold in Ireland is the Mondeo, and usually only with a 1.8 litre engine. Nothing too exciting then. The only large engined cars that sell in any worthwhile numbers on the Irish market are SUVs and cars from premium makers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. A large V8 Ford would sell as well in Ireland as would beef sandwiches at a vegan conference unfortunately!
So it is with envy that I look at what sort of cars are available from mass market manufacturers such as Ford in the Australian marketplace. A large comfortable V8 Falcon would be exactly my sort of car if it was available at a reasonable price to me in Dublin! But with the ever increasing influence of the green lobby, the chances of the cost of running a V8 for me going down are about as likely as me winning the next Miss World contest...
In 2002 Ford Australia introduced the BA Falcon range and to coincide with the launch of the latest Falcon, they created the new FPV or "Ford Performance Vehicles" brand, replacing the previous brands of Tickford or later Ford Tickford Experience (FTE). FPVs range was exclusively based on the new Falcon and on the pick-up truck (or "ute") derivative of the same car. Ford Australia intended the FPV brand to be a rival for Holdens HSV division (responsible for most high performance Holdens) and in 2006 FPV Fords were outselling their Holden HSV rivals.
This particular car, the FPV GT-P sedan, has a 5.4 litre DOHC 4 valve per cylinder V8 which produces 389bhp. The engine is longitudinally mounted in the chassis and drives the rear wheels through either a 4 speed tiptronic automatic or a 5 speed manual gearbox.
Classic Carlectables make this model of the FPV GT-P as part of their BA Falcon range and in "Acid Rush" (an unusual shade of green) it is a striking 1:18th model indeed! It has great interior detail, with realistic fabric seat belts, soft touch seats and armrests which move up and down. The V8 engine is accurately replicated and the engine bay in general is nicely done. For me the least satisfactory area of the model are the brakes. I feel they would have been far better if they had a realistic metal finish as seen on more recent 1:18ths from AUTOart, Kyosho, CMC and so on.
Otherwise this is a great model of a car I'd love to be able to own in 1:1! However, for now I have to be content with a 1:18th model of it. Definitely another great model from Classic Carlectables.
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