Orion GTHO

[fordman6]

Looks better than anything we get here in NA... even with the stripes.

Gee! Us Aussies must be picky when we design cars then!

[adrenaline]

Gee! Us Aussies must be picky when we design cars then!

Are you trying to say that it takes effort to design a vehicle that is better looking than an American Ford? You really need to research Ford NA.

It's not about us being picky, it's about them sucking.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Sounds like a fun pairing of options

Nearly 400hp would probably by accurate, and most likely at least a 250kmh top speed. Not bad for 1970ish. Though they used to get beaten by 3.3litre 6cyl Toranas

[Monty_Burns]

I hope they make it, but please Ford go easy on the nostalgia. Just let the M5-beating performance do the talking, and it'll be a worthy wearer of the GTHO badge . There's no need to resort to amateurish looking stripes that dont suit the car, or non-functional shakers...

[Daz27]

I dont know what spec they kept them for the track, but when they came out of the showroom they were the same spec, or higher, than the Fairmont.

Fairmont trim being rear seatbelts standard, am radio and a heater....
The Toranas werent as fast though... and were 400 odd kilos lighter iirc

[charged]

I hope they make it, but please Ford go easy on the nostalgia. Just let the M5-beating performance do the talking, and it'll be a worthy wearer of the GTHO badge . There's no need to resort to amateurish looking stripes that dont suit the car, or non-functional shakers...

yep a couple of discreet badges and a FI V8, and please no shaker scoop

[fpv_gtho]

If it was up to me, it'd just be a $10-$15K option pack buried in the options list, with the 50kw more, stiffer suspension etc.

[Vindesh17]

It's not about us being picky, it's about them sucking.

Exactly.

[Blitz_]

If anything, a new age GTHO would mean stripped weight, increased power, refined suspension that would be more suited to say, casual track appearances. It's the cheap tacky bits that make me cringe nowadays. Enough with the stripes and nostalgia. Give us something 427-esque.

[Daz27]

Shame they don't do a 351..., whats the displacement in CI of the 5.4? Wasnt that close to 327 inchs? Be nice if hey bored and stroked it out to 351... ahhh nostalgia. Just a thought, the GT has near enough to 300kw, by going up 50kw, does anyone else think we might be getting close to another ala 1972 supercar scare?? Perish the thought. Perhaps they could consider calling the GT-P a GTHO, but delete the luxuries ie air cruise, high end stereo etc and drop maybe 150 kilo's of lard and only add perhaps 25 kw... ohh and keep the brembo's.

[fpv_gtho]

If anything, a new age GTHO would mean stripped weight, increased power, refined suspension that would be more suited to say, casual track appearances. It's the cheap tacky bits that make me cringe nowadays. Enough with the stripes and nostalgia. Give us something 427-esque.

Go ask 5 Ford fans their idea of a modern day GTHO and they'll give you 5 completely different ideas though. Some would agree with the stripper idea thinking that was how the original was, but all cars in 1968-71 were reasonably bare bones. As Daz joked before about being Fairmont spec, it probably meant rear seat belts standard. Others will thing no $100K+ Falcon, whether they make 5 or 500, will sell if its anything less than fully optioned so why bother with something less? Then of course there'd be people who would want a stereo and leather, but could probably live without the sat nav, climate control and sunroof.

Shame they don't do a 351..., whats the displacement in CI of the 5.4? Wasnt that close to 327 inchs? Be nice if hey bored and stroked it out to 351... ahhh nostalgia. Just a thought, the GT has near enough to 300kw, by going up 50kw, does anyone else think we might be getting close to another ala 1972 supercar scare?? Perish the thought. Perhaps they could consider calling the GT-P a GTHO, but delete the luxuries ie air cruise, high end stereo etc and drop maybe 150 kilo's of lard and only add perhaps 25 kw... ohh and keep the brembo's.

The 5.4's around the 330cu.in mark IIRC, and cant be bored unless you engineer a completely new block like some of the aftermarket suppliers in the US have done. Theyve got them around 6L with a few mm more bore. The new BOSS/Hurricane engine coming out of America around 2009 will probably have a 5.8l version which would go nicely for nostalgia.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Perhaps they could consider calling the GT-P a GTHO, but delete the luxuries ie air cruise, high end stereo etc and drop maybe 150 kilo's of lard and only add perhaps 25 kw... ohh and keep the brembo's.

Not likely. The track-spec Clubbies only managed to drop about 150kw and they were fully stripped out.

[Daz27]

Probably not likely, but all the fancy stuff like electric seats and dual zone aircon and electric windows and and and can all go in the trash. The GT was the tourer, with the fruit if you could call it that, and the GTHO was the racer. I was talking to a few guys I know who are into the GT's and basically the Fairmont and the GT shared the interior trim, but the GT did not have the wheel trims, the side moulds and a few other things. So, as far as luxury goes, it was in between the 500 and the fairmont. So, I suppose if you stay true to the formula, you base the HO on the XT V8, or maybe even the XR8 (Being that the Fairmont is now top of the luxury tree here now), put in a basic sound system, maybe plain old AC and give her some berries.
It seems to be agreed here that the GTHO was the track/performance special built by ford australia for homologation purposes for bathurst. We dont have those rules anymore, but the spirit behind the original car should stay the same.
I'd be curious to know which phase GTHO is everyones favourite, mine personally is the phase 2, it had the big cam and looked meaner with the chrome grille, the painted silver grille surround on the XY was too soft for my taste. Actually I take that back, I saw the phase 4 at the clipsal 500 a few years ago as an ontrack exhibition and it hosed the other HO variants.

[nota]

That CGI attempt at an Orion GT-HO is incredibly bad, just hideous. A cheap caricature which misses the style mark completely not to mention the essence of toughness. Forget the 'badge homage' because any revival of Ford's finest needs to stand on its own feet, not trade off 'heritage' retro-rubbish. Maybe its best to leave sleeping dogs lie

GT & HO interiors were straight Fairmont GS spec right down to the chintzy woodgrain 'appliques' on dash and doors. If memory serves they might only have lacked the C-pillar reading lights - and possibly Fairmont's rear centre armrest and perforated hoodlining?? Outside the chrome trim on door window-frames and wheelarch lips were absent, otherwise it again mirrored Fairmont. At the time I used to admire Ford for going racing in what was in those days seen as a big luxury spec car, instead of the small bare-bones Torana strippers which replaced upmarket Monaro GTS. Those various race Chryslers were similarly barren - even carpets were optional on the Pacers

Yep this is a genuine factory-build Fairmont GT

[fordman6]

I agree with nota there!