Ford has announced the comeback of the Falcon XR8 and, in doing so, will make the awesome supercharged V8 ‘Miami’ engine available in the Falcon for the first (and last) time!
The XR8 was dropped in 2010 when FPV moved to the supercharged engine (the old V8 no longer met emission standards), meaning that no Falcon-badged vehicles were powered by a V8 engine. Performance duties in the Falcon range were taken over by the spectacular turbocharged inline six, while FPV introduced the lower-powered, cheaper GS model to effectively replace the XR8.
But to coincide with the final 2014 update of the Falcon before it is consigned to history, the XR8 is back. Sporting the supercharged Miami engine (no output numbers have been released yet) the XR8 will reverse the roles and effectively replace the FPV range as it is wound down from 2014 on.
“Ford has received a lot of interest and continued requests from Falcon fans on both sides of the Tasman to bring back the XR8,” said Ford New Zealand Managing Director, Corey Holter.
“Re-introducing the XR8 sedan, packaged in our updated Falcon, will make our renowned Australian-engineered and manufactured V8 engine available to a broader group of people.”
Ford has planned a “series of actions during 2014 to ensure the final FPV models celebrate the brand’s iconic status”. Whatever that might mean. Probably some REALLY bright colours and new stickers.
Anyway Ford V8 fans, it looks like this really is your last chance to get a V8 Falcon. And being quite familiar (and more than a little bit in love) with the Miami V8 we can safely say it will be very awesome indeed…
