FULLY FRANKED

A SNEAKY 670 HORSES OF FRANK MARCHESE POWER MAKES ROB GORGIEVSKI'S CONCOURS XW A PROPER TREAT

- JACK HOULIHAN

WE'VE all got stories about meeting our heroes, and they often end badly. But Rob Gorgievski picked the right kind of hero in Frank Marchese, coming away with an enduring friendship and a bigpower, show-quality XW Falcon to boot.

In fact, this juicy GT replica began as Frank's personal project. "I bought the shell during COVID as a project from the back of a shed," he explains. "The car had been used as a donor over the past 20 years." Despite its pillaged status, what remained was straight and dry, offering a perfect blank canvas.

Meanwhile, Rob was on the hunt for a Candy Apple Red XW. "I actually found a completed car in Melbourne a few years back, but the owner wasn't interested in selling it," he says.

"I thought, 'We'll do it ourselves with our own driveline and tweaks."" In a little slice of destiny, Joe Gauci of Profab Motorsport Fabrications had caught wind of Frank's project and tipped off Rob.

"I called Frank just shy of two years ago and flew down to Melbourne," Rob says. "He picked us up from the airport and I was a bit starstruck being next to him; I've idolised the guy since I was little! The car was in primer at that stage, and he was going to restore it to factory specs with a 351, Top Loader and black interior."