FORD XT FALCON 'SUPER ROO' COUPE: AUSTRALIAN MOTORSHOW - JUST CARS

Ford XT Falcon 'Super Roo' coupe: Australian Motorshow concept no. 6

Ford Australia has a lot to thank Bill Bourke for. He had his critics, but the charismatic American did a lot to lift Ford Australia out of a sales slump. A consummate marketer, Bourke was behind the '70,000 Mile Durability Run' of 1965, where a bunch of XP Falcons drove at breakneck speed around Ford's barely-finished You Yangs proving ground. While that event has been well documented, one of his lesser known achievements was the authorisation of a special Falcon show car in late 1968.

What made the car, later known as the 'Super Roo' or 'Bill Bourke' GT, special was its use of a US Falcon Futura two-door body, trimmed to GT spec and boasting a number of unique features. A creation of Ford Australia's Jack Telnack and Al Turner, the showcar looked like a stock XT Falcon GT sedan from the front and rear, but was distinguished by a vinyl roof, spoilers, bold side stripes and 'shaker' air intake cut out of the bonnet. The shaker indicated what was under the bonnet - Ford's mighty 427 cubic inch V8 engine. The bootlid-mounted spoiler (a front spoiler was added after its appearance at the Melbourne Motor Show) was something largely unseen on Australian production cars back then, and was considered a real novelty in press coverage of the car. Combined with chunky tyres and full chrome hubcaps, the GT two-door was a standout from the outside. Inside, the 'Super Roo' was trimmed to GT specification, but with a Hurst shifter and Mach1 Mustang bucket seats with brown and gold inserts to complement the Yellow Bronze exterior.

While the two-door Falcon wouldn't see production until the later and much different XA, some features of the 1969 show car did grace production Fords sooner. Most notable was the GT striping and 'Super Roo' logo, which appeared not only on XW GT Falcons, but also Capris and just about any other Ford Performance product! The shaker scoop would debut on the XY GTs, but much to the disappointment of Ford performance fans, the 427ci V8 - the most "Super" part of the Super Roo concept - would never be offered on any Aussie Ford of the era.

On its debut, the 'Super Roo' GT coupe showcar was viewed as Ford's challenger to the recently released Holden Monaro and soon to be released Chrysler two-door. Despite Ford stating it was purely for show, enthusiasts and the motoring press were convinced a production Falcon two door, in the shape of the showcar, was coming. After its run on the show circuit, the 'Super Roo' coupe was alleged to have been driven regularly by Bill Bourke himself before he returned to the USA in 1970. True or not, the fate of this striking coupe, like that of so many other Australian Ford concept cars, remains unknown.

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