Gone are the days when those two hallowed letters defined one of the world's ultimate racebred sports sedans in a single complete specification. Each time Ford played with this formula and made it an old man's car -- the XT and XB series are notable examples -- the GT struggled and eventually died.
The final XB GT which bowed out with a soft local version of the original 4v (venturi not valves) Cleveland capped with 2v heads re-appeared as the XC Fairmont GXL 5.8 which was a far more honest description of what it had become. Regardless of the insurance issues which supposedly generated this shift, Ford's dropping of the GT in 1976 was a mercy killing.
Fast forward to 2008 and FPV is about to offer a GT, GT-P and a GT-E. Could the real FPV GT step forward?
Is it the GT? No, because it doesn't get the full house treatment. Is it the GT-P? Probably, because it's closest to the complete track-oriented specification and warpaint of the original, yet it doesn't have the stand-alone GT badge. Is it the GT-E? No, because it swaps the GT-P's attitude for chrome and bling, and the fat man's seats.
According to FPV: "The GT-E is a sophisticated luxury performance car that will cater for those buyers that don't want the stripes, wings, and seats offered in the GT-P." If that sounds suspiciously like someone who doesn't want a GT at all, why dilute the GT badge by linking it to the GT?
HSV confounded local muscle car traditionalists when it released a much softer Euro-look Senator Signature then broke all previous sales records. Why? Because it was not associated with any of the company's performance models which too many well-heeled Australians now associate with hoon activity, with some justification.
At a time when HSV has further distanced the Senator Signature from its street fighter and repmobile origins, FPV has backed up and labelled its new V8 range with an alphabet soup reminiscent of the discredited TE50, TS50 and TL50 badges, only this time with a G in front.
In the absence of any explanation of what this all means, the GT, in the context of the other FPV models, now means GT-Nothing, the GT-P is the GT-Probably and the GT-E could stand for GT-Elderly.
Or if you are really prepared to stretch credibility, maybe GT-Euro, which is a contradiction in terms for an Australian muscle car with a GT badge anyway.
And yes, HSV has been known to launch a GTS-R, but the car itself was a more extreme, short-term GTS edition that reinforced core GTS values. Because FPV did something similar with last year's R-Spec GT and F6 models, FPV does know better.
No wonder the nation's Falcon GT clubs have been forced to scrutinise their constitutions then assess whether a GT without a Ford badge qualifies as a Falcon GT and whether the new cars are GTs at all!
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