WE LOVE a long-running muscle car rivalry. Ford diehards, for example, still argue over which model marked the peak of the third-generation Falcon - XA, XB or XC? W For Ashley Bell, it's XA all the way, which is why in 2021 she sold her XC to build this gorgeous, Summernats Top 60-certified XA Fairmont as a counterpart to the XB GS built and owned by her partner, Michael Stivala of Hoon Customs (SM, Apr '15). "Some people think it's Michael's car with a new paint scheme, which is funny," Ash says. "We wanted them to match, but I like XAs more, so we built my car as a GS to complement the XB!"
Ash and Michael spent about a month scouting for the perfect starting point for the project. "We were literally about to buy one in Sydney that was pretty good, but it was just a Falcon 500 six-cylinder," Ash says. "If it was going to be a sixcylinder we started with, I wanted it to be a factory Fairmont." A two-owner gem in Tasmania ticked all the boxes - a sixpot survivor still wearing its original Pottery Beige paint. "The car came with the original sales receipt, logbooks and handwritten notes of everything ever done to it," Ash grins.
Body-wise, Ash reckons this XA was one of the straightest unrestored cars around. "It was pretty much rust-free; there were a couple of tiny specks, but you're never going to find one with nothing in it," she says. "So many people begged us to leave it alone or buy a rusty shell or project car. We didn't want something we were going to strip back and find a wreck underneath. We may have upset a few purists and past owners, but I think we've given the car the justice it deserves!"
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Esta historia es de la edición March 2024 de Street Machine Australia.
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ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
JAPANESE STEEZE MEETS AUSSIE ICONOGRAPHY IN JAY DUCA'S GENRE-HOPPING VL
BIG-BUCK BURNOUTS
SUMMERNATS ANNOUNCES MASSIVE NEW PRIZEMONEY AND A BRAND-NEW BURNOUT SERIES
RETURN OF THE KINGS
WITH SOME OF AUSTRALIA'S MOST ESTEEMED CAR BUILDERS SET TO DEBUT CARS, THIS YEAR'S MEGUIAR'S MOTOREX IS SET TO BE A CRACKER
YACHT ROCK
PRO STREET luxury cars may as well be a religion unto themselves in Victoria.
THE LONG ROAD
A 20-YEAR ODYSSEY SAW JASON MACKENZIE’S CAMARO TRANSFIGURED FROM BURNOUTBRUISER TO SHOWSTOPPING BOULEVARD CRUISER
KICKSTART MY HEART
TWO HEART ATTACKS JOLTED JASON HANNAM TO HOME-BUILD HIS SL/R 5000-STYLE HOTTIE
DOUBLE ACTION
THINK BUILDING AN ELITE CAR IS TOUGH? TRY DOING A 1700RWHP HQ MONARO STREETER AT THE SAME TIME!
Mission BROWN
TWIN BROTHERS YOUNAN AND EDDIE KHAZI SET OUT TO SHOWCASE THEIR TALENTS WITH THIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BARRA TURBO XE GHIA BUILD
HELL YEAH
HOW DO YOU IMPROVE ONE OF THE BEST-LOOKING MUSCLE CARS EVER? GIVE IT TO RINGBROTHERS, OF COURSE!
DIY DREAM
MONIQUE O'GARR'S EH WAGON WAS THREE DECADES COMING, BUT AN ELITE HALL DEBUT MADE IT ALL WORTHWHILE