FPV celebrates five years

Ford Performance Vehicles has announced it will be introducing a special model for the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney next month, to celebrate its fifth anniversary as a local entity.

We'll have to wait for the show but all that's being said right now, by FPV general manager Rod Barrett, is that the celebratory FPV will be "a great collector's vehicle following on from last year's 40th Anniversary GT and Cobra. The vehicle will be representative of the five years since the first FPV came down the line. It's a limited edition model and sure to be a winner with our enthusiasts," he said.

Although five years is not a long time in Australian automotive history, the Ford offshoot has established a few benchmarks in that time.

"When we first launched FPV the brand revolved around the iconic status of the GT, now FPV has grown in only five short years to include two families -- the GT and the F6, available in sedan, Ute and SUV models," he said.

The F6 and the reborn GT are among the standout FPV cars. The turbo six-cylinder F6 has set new benchmarks for local performance cars and the reborn GT reprises the racing Ford V8s that made history at the Bathurst circuit in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

FPV sits alongside Holden's HSV as a producer of unique Australian muscle cars and was formed followed the acquisition of the Tickford group by UK-based motorsport and engineering company Prodrive.

Despite the emergence of the hyper-fast turbo six-cylinder cars, V8 muscle will continue to play a big part in FPV's activities, said Barrett.

"There has been much speculation about where FPV will head next, the GT HO is always on the radar, however, it would depend on whether a business case could be achieved and whether there would be market demand when we are ready to release it."

For the currently dominant six-cylinder engines a hiatus looms as local sourcing will cease when the current inline six is retired in 2010 to make way for new, imported V6s.

Whether or not FPV, like HSV with its Astra-based VXR turbo hatchback, will broaden its range to include the Focus model that is to be built in Australia has yet to be revealed.

"The small car market is something we will look at once the Focus is produced here in Australia, of course it is always an option for the future," Rod Barrett said.

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