Early Falcons didn't experience the resto boom enjoyed by the EH Holdens, but because of that, they are now hard to find, and pricey too. Naturally, the rarer Futuras and coupes are in more demand and command higher prices than the basic models. John Jagger is a long time fan of the '60s Falcons. He has had more of them than his wife cares to remember. Back in '88 John bought a stocker XL Futura in the original white. It was a good sound sedan to use as the bas for the build of a respectable V8-powered street machine. If you have an original red Futura interior you want to hang on to, it certainly narrows down your choice of colour for the paint job. John chose Futura Candy Apple Red, an XT GT Falcon colour that goes well with the trim.

For driveline he decided to use a 302ci Windsor backed by a C4 auto and an 8 3/4" diff from a Ford Maverick (a bolt in fit). Brakes all round have been updated to Ph III GT Falcon standard. The original engine was initially sufficient for day to day driving, but John wanted more than a daily driver. The first engine disintergrated under duress so John set about building a stronger replacement. Another block was built for the purpose; in fact , the block is referred to as a Mexican block ('made in Mexico' is cast in the vally area). Apparently these are stronger castings. For this engine, John went wild, even to the extent of fabricating his own fuel injection system. The machined block was filled with TRW 10:1 forged slugs, and Milodon rod bolts to massaged rods. A Crow cam activates the Yella Terra roller rockers in the 289 heads with help from a Cloyes  roller timing chain. Those 289 heads have been ported and polished to John's specs and use TRW guideplated.

It's the induction system that's the attention grabber, You wont see another like it as it is all John's work. John Jagger is one of those tradesmen who are a mark or two above traditional mechanics. He operates Fox Automotive in the Mornington Penninsula where he performs interesting engine swaps and unusual fabrications of the automobile kind. Take a look at the fuel injection system on his XL Futura. Basing it on a Weiand tunnel ram lower half, John has fabricated  tuned length runners fed by twin throttle bodies from a Volvo 164. There's a manifold pressure sensor using Volvo electronics and a TLE, computer modified to suit this application. John Jagger was after good torque characteristics and throttle reponse and has certainly achieved it.

Feaure used with thanks to Best Falcons magazine. Copyright - Australian Publishing and Printing Company