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Voodoo V8-Swapped 1963.5 Ford Falcon Sprint Humbles Mustangs and Walks M3s

The first-gen Mustang gets all the glory, and rightly so. But what so often gets lost in translation is that the original pony car owes its existence to a long forgotten entry-level Ford called the Falcon. With that in mind, what better way to hammer the point home than with a wicked restomod.
Voodoo V8 Ford Falcon 14 photos
Photo: Jorgen Moller
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But first, a brief cliff-notes about the Ford Falcon in North America. If you're an Aussie, the Falcon needs no introduction. But for the Yanks in the house, the Australian Falcon is to them what the original Mustang was to the U.S., a generation-defining fast Ford for the common person. But here in "These States United," the Falcon was an ordinary entry-level family car devised by the future American Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. During his days as a member of Ford's Product Planning Committee.

Before his days picking fights with far east countries that most Americans in the mid-1960s couldn't point out on a map, McNamara probably didn't even realize he'd inadvertently made the perfect platform for a future restomod. A small, agile wheelbase and relatively lightweight foundation into which a future monstrous engine could one day sit. This is particularly true with the 1963.5 Falcon Sprint Coupe, the two-door, four-seater hardtop variant of the Falcon line.

It's a platform that Jorgen Moller from RaceDeck Garage Floors in Salt Lake City, Utah, would take advantage of almost 60 years after it left the factory. In its day, the 1963.5  Falcon could be purchased with anything from a 2.4-liter inline-six cylinder to a 289-cubic inch (4.7 L) Windsor V8. Perfectly fine engines for the time, but we can do better than that these days. How about the modern marvel that is the Shelby Mustang GT350R's Voodoo V8.

That's right, the 5.2-liter, flat-plane crank, naturally aspirated monster that Ford kept telling us wasn't going to be offered as a crate motor. Well, Ford, it turns out anything's possible with enough patience, planning, and dedication. We're sure a couple of wads of cold hard cash and a wrecked GT350R did wonders for breaking conventions.

Voodoo V8 Ford Falcon Sprint
Photo: Jorgen Moller
Moller enlisted the help of Thomas Kirkham at Cubic Performance and Mike Maier at Mike Maier Inc in making this world-class restomod come to life. It starts as usual with a strong foundation. A custom-built performance chassis of Mike Maier's own design, as is the suspension. Said suspension consists of in-house built control arms and JRi double adjustable coilovers in the front with a MOD2 rocker rear suspension. It's all paired with Wilwood six-piston calipers with 13-inch rotors in the rear and 14-inch in the front.

It's all a wonderful supporting cast for the star of the show, that undeniably potent Ford Voodoo V8. In its standard form, the Ford Voodoo jets out 526 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 429-lb ft (581.64 N.m) of torque at 4,750 rpm. How it sits under the hood of this 60s Falcon Sprint, it makes well beyond 600. That's thanks to a performance ECU tune courtesy of Haltech ECU management. It's all tied together beautifully with a tried and true Tremec six-Speed manual transmission.

Why? Because semi-automatic paddle shifters are for Audis, Porsches, and their BMWs. Of course, as much effort was spent on the exterior and interior as was spent on the drivetrain. With a set of Forgeline JO3C painted alloy wheels and chunky Falken Azenis RT660 tires, this Falcon Sprint appears to be bursting at the seams with American muscle.

The interior is much the same, courtesy of JS Custom Interiors, also in Salt Lake City. We're particularly fond of the bare basic bucket seats with racing harness and roll cage aesthetic of this build. It lets you know this restomod was built for one reason. To go head to head with 90% of the world's performance cars and take a solid majority of them to Gapplebees. We appreciate such honesty in an automobile. It's so gosh darn refreshing.

Voodoo V8 Ford Falcon Sprint
Photo: Jorgen Moller
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