Plain Vanilla: This 1980 Ford Falcon Is A Rabid Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing!


Plain Vanilla: This 1980 Ford Falcon Is A Rabid Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing!

1980 wasn’t a great year for cars, period. It was plainly evident that manufacturers were trying to figure out what to do with new emissions regulations while also dealing with calls for improved fuel economy, better quality control, and overall usability. In the U.S. and Australia, you can also factor in the hangover from the horsepower party that had gone on for years prior. In Australia especially, power and performance were under the gun as politicians were still whipped up in a fervor over “supercars” and the imminent danger they apparently posed to the public. Thus, you had cars like this 1980 Ford Falcon: 4.1L inline-six, automatic, little in the way of offense. To be fair, the XD Falcon did come with an optional 302 or 351 V8, but let’s focus on this car for a moment.

Wait…why? From the Banana Cream color to the tan vinyl interior and even the rear window louvers, this thing clings to it’s 1980 heritage hard. And we are going to act like we don’t see the huge dent on the other side of the car. It’s still powered by a six-cylinder, but it’s a 4.0L Barra, which stock is pushing out probably twice what the stock unit did. This Barra ain’t stock…far from it, in fact. Built up by Tunnel Vision Turbocharging, this is now a 1,200 horsepower monster on 275 radials. And those are widened stock wheels out back, to try to hide the beast mode this car has. The ruse works as long as the car is parked…click play on the video to see where the sleeper vibe fails. It’s right about the time the turbo spools up…


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