1988 Ford EA Falcon S (Brock Enhanced) Sedan

Description

The legendary Peter Brock's split with Holden has been well documented. Even if his move to BMW in touring car racing was hard to swallow, his move to Ford for the 1989 season caused quite a furore. As well as racing Sierras, Brock became involved with a road-car project along the lines of what he had done with the Holden Dealer Team, though the resultant car, the Brock Falcon B8, wasn't a homolgation special built with racing in mind; rather, the idea was to deliver a blend of performance and luxury to rival European standards of the time. The limited edition B8 was enhanced by Brock's Austech Automotive Developments and was based on the EA Falcon S-Pack (or in some cases, Fairmont), with the 3.9-litre multi-point injected version of Ford's inline straight-six. With a sports camshaft, extractors, full exhaust system and bluebrinted ignition system the big six went from 139kW to a dyno-tuned 164kW- one kilowatt less than the 5.0-litre V8-powered Commodore SS of the time. In addition, there was a subtle body-kit augmented with 16 x 7 alloys and chunky 225/50 Bridgestones. Suspension was heavily revised with re-valved dampers, different springs, improved bushes and recalibrated sway-bars that gave exemplary handling characteristics for a large-scale Australian sedan. Inside occupants were treated to sports seats with leather steering wheel, gear knob and boot with Brock build number identification. Five-speed manual or automatic transmissions were offered. Produced from 1988-1990, it is believed 126 examples were produced. Contemporary road tests compared the car's performance and handling favourably with the local opposition, and today the B8 provides an interesting appendix to the whole Brock story.