The very last Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo police car to do Highway Patrol duty in Australia is now up for auction.
Deployed to the Surry Hills metro command of NSW Police for four years, the Falcon XR6T in question was decommissioned in May 2021 in a landmark moment for Ford Australia and highway patrol commands across the country.
The 2016 FG-X Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo, which wore the callsign CLM232, has only 86,353km on its odometer and is wearing the same numberplates used in duty.
Apart from a handful of dog squad and regular operation vehicles still in use, the XR6 Turbo is believed to be the final Falcon patrol car used by police nationally.
“It’s the end of an era, the blue oval of Ford has been a major provider of pursuit vehicles for highway patrol for over 30 years,” said Sergeant Ashley Pearsall from NSW Police fleet services at the time of the Falcon’s decommissioning.
“These cars go back well and truly into the late ’60s and ’70s.
“For a lot of people this is a particularly special moment.”
Stripped of its police colours and requisite technology, the Falcon boasts a full service history and is finished in Winter White. It is understood the car’s production dates back to September 2016 – weeks before Ford shuttered its Broadmeadows manufacturing plant.
Under the bonnet resides a 270kW 4.0-litre ‘Barra’ turbo six-cylinder, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. As with all NSW Falcon HWP cars, the brakes were upgraded to FPV-spec four-piston Brembos.
“I’ve probably driven it 50,000km. It’s been to Port Macquarie and further up north. The vehicle has also been used on border deployments on the Victorian-NSW border,” said Senior Constable Claire Hume from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
Pickles is auctioning the vehicle on behalf of NSW Police fleet services. At the time of writing, the current bid was $34,750 – about $10,000 shy of its showroom sticker price of $45,690 back in 2016 (ex-police mods).
The auction ends at 8:00pm AEST on Tuesday, August 24.
It comes as the final VF Holden Commodore highway patrol cars also near retirement, with just dozens of examples scattered around the country doing active duty.
The Falcon auction comes as prices continue to soar for homegrown performance cars, although it’s anyone’s guess how high the bidding will go for this milestone, but stripped-naked, cop car.