November 23rd, 2001
Happy Birthday to
the Flying T
Ten Years of Aussie Tickfords
HARD
to believe, but it’s actually ten years since we realised Ford Australia was
finally getting serious about performance again.
2001
marks the 10th birthday of Tickford Vehicle Engineering (TVE) -- and the tenth anniversary
of one of the most successful performance car partnerships in Australian motoring history.
In 1990, Ford Australia started a worldwide search to find the best
performance engineering firm to create a new performance arm.
The ideal partner was found in Tickford, a long-established UK
company synonymous with high quality engineering for almost a century and with performance
engineering for several decades.
Headed by Englishman David Flint, the Australian operation quickly
established a group of highly skilled engineers from Australia and Europe to form the
nucleus of what soon became one of the country's most respected performance engineering
companies, which opened its doors in August 1991.
Within a few months of moving into its Campbellfield premises,
Tickford engineers transformed the EB range of Falcons and Fairlanes with upgraded
handling packages. Next, they worked their magic on the Capri roadster and created the
stunning Capri Clubsprint. The new assembly lines also added factory-fitted sunroof
options and, later, LPG conversions for Ford product.
Birthday specials became the go
For the 25th anniversary of the famed Falcon GT in 1992, Tickford built 265 EB GT
Falcons that quickly became collectors' items. The XR6 and XR8 Falcons soon followed,
launched to universal acclaim from the motoring press as the best handling Falcons yet
produced.
The XR series extended to include station wagons and utilities in
1993, a year that also saw the launch of a special XR8 Sprint model.
Ford racing star John Bowe joined TVE as a consultant in 1996. His
considerable input was realised in the 1997 release of the famous 'Darth Vader' EL GT,
with its in-your-face styling and superb handling and performance from a Tickford-tweaked
V8 producing 200 kW.
The burgeoning ranks of Tickford car clubs were recognised the same
year, when David Flint instituted the first Tickford Open Day, enabling club members and
enthusiasts to witness first hand the precision of the TVE manufacturing operation. Now
annual, the open days have grown in popularity, with several thousand people going through
the gates at the 2001 event.
Taking it to the track
Ford Tickford Racing was formed in 1999, taking over the race team of former touring
car champion Glenn Seton to contest the Shell V8 Supercar Championship Series. This move
complemented the launch of the Ford Tickford Engineering range of high-performance 220 kW
T-Series Falcons and Fairlanes and the establishment of FTE dealer outlets.
In 2000, TVE added production lines for the re-engineering and
right-hand drive conversion of the new Mustang Cobra range.
Continued customer demand for more power saw TVE up the power of
the AU XR8 range to 220 kW. More than 20 of these engines roll off the line each day, each
one individually built by one of 18 technicians. Each engine bears a nameplate signed with
pride by the technician who built it.
In 2001, Tickford's UK parent was taken over by the Prodrive
organisation – the motorsport and automotive technology company responsible for
Ford's championship-winning Mondeo touring cars – to become an integral part of a
$250 million worldwide performance engineering operation.
2001 is ending on a high for TVE with the launch of the T3 range of
T-Series Falcons and Fairlanes, boasting 250 kW and 500 Nm from a 5.6-litre stroked
version of the venerable 5.0-litre Windsor V8. The powerful new engine found a home in a
bold new Series III Falcon XR8 with an aggressive bodykit unashamedly taking styling cues
from the Falcon V8 Supercar.
From a modest beginning with a staff of just four, Tickford Vehicle
Engineering has grown to become a highly respected company with 160 employees and carving
a reputation for total commitment to the highest standards of performance engineering.
"The first 10 years have been great," says managing
director David Flint who has remained in charge of the company since its inception.
"I'm really looking forward to the next 10 years though, with
Prodrive as the majority shareholder and Ford's new direction under president Geoff
Polites. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy seeing the partnership go from strength to
strength,” said Mr Flint.
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