How The Shelby-Themed Ford Falcon Cobra Was The Real ‘Last Of The V8 Interceptors’

In the Mad Max movie series, the famous hero car is an Australian 1973 Ford XB Falcon coupe introduced to Max as the “last of the V8 Interceptors.” What’s rather ironic is that at almost exactly the time that these famous films were being made in the late seventies, Ford really was discontinuing this last of the pure muscle-coupe Falcons for real.

Thankfully, Ford didn’t let this iconic product fade away unnoticed; it went out with a special version overseen by a member of the Ford family himself and the name of their most famous tuner all over it. Make no mistake: the Mustang II might have diluted Carroll Shelby’s name in America, but Down Under, the 1978 Falcon Cobra was ready to bite.

Life Imitates Art, Or The Opposite

Down in the southern United States, some ex-moonshiners liked to take stripped-out American cars and compete on smooth, slightly banked racetracks for a couple hundred miles or so on a Sunday afternoon. Australians looked at that and quipped “you called THAT racing, mate?”

No, down there a “real” race is run on the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst; 23 turns on a track with an elevation change of an absurd 571 feet in a 3.8 mile circuit on public roads that seem rather ill-suited to the family sedans and coupes that participate. What’s more insane is that the annual signature Bathurst 1000 race lasts for a punishing 1000 kilometers (621.6 miles) as the ultimate test of driver and machine, an event that calls to mind the racing on the ‘Ring in the decades before they rationalized it.

For much of modern history, the Bathurst race was synonymous with nine-time winner Peter Brock in GM Holdens, but in 1977 he was denied a victory by Alan Moffat and Jacky Ickx in a fearsome Ford XC Falcon, and an identical sister car came in second place. What a pair of great-looking race cars:

The “XC” Falcon was a facelifted version of the “XB” car most commonly associated with the Mad Max franchise of films.

Other than minor visual details, it’s virtually the same as the XB basis for the Road Warrior rides.

This Coke-bottle shaped body style was introduced in 1972, but 1978 would be the last full year you could buy a street version of this much-loved coupe, or any Falcon coupe for that matter. You see, the much more angular-looking “XD” Falcon that would take over in 1979 was going to be offered as a sedan and wagon, but a two-door version wasn’t coming back.

That’s right: muscle cars might have lived on in Australia, but even legends eventually fade. Thankfully, Ford wasn’t going to let the iconic sporting coupes go out without a bang.

This Wasn’t Farrah Fawcett’s Car, Mate

As I’ve mentioned time and again, when car makers screw up, it can often be good news for enthusiasts. That was seemingly the case in Australia back in March of 1978. That month, Ford would end production of the Falcon coupe for good, but they had a dilemma: there were 400 unsold, unused body shells still left. This sounds like an odd production mistake, but whatever the case, there needed to be some resolution as to what to do with these slick hunks of metal instead of scrapping them. The answer apparently came from a person with the same last name as that on the cars themselves.

During this time, Edsel Ford II was the managing director at Ford of Australia, and he saw that the dominating victory of this exact car in Bathurst a few months earlier should be celebrated and capitalized on. The decision was made to make something special out of these leftover parts, not just brand exposure, but also to make a homologated version for racing in the upcoming season.

As a Ford family member, Edsel was able to invoke the name of Carroll Shelby’s cars to these “leftover” cars and make the ultimate sendoff for this Ford coupe: the Falcon Cobra. There’s Mr. Ford himself Down Under with the creation he was understandably quite proud of:

One thing to note: despite the “Cobra” name, there was no connection with Shelby in the Falcon Cobra, despite the intentional “Shelby look.” First appearing in April of 1978, the Bold Blue-painted bodyshells were masked and sprayed with a Sno White overlay, separated by Olympic Blue stripes; the reverse of how I assumed they’d do that paint job. “Cobra” decals adorned the front fenders just like on a Mustang II Cobra II, but make no mistake: this thing had decent enough performance to back it up.

Not that it was a rocketship, though. The first 200 of the 400 total Cobras featured a 351 (5.8 liter) V8 with 217 horsepower, while the second 200 came with a 302 (4.9 liter) V8 (usually called a “5.0”) that only pumped out 202 horses. In stock form, a Falcon Cobra got to sixty in just under eight seconds; again, not neck-snapping, but great for a big “family sized” coupe and far better than the emissions-strangled 140 horsepower weakling motor in the top Mustang of the time

Plus, the Falcon had it all over the American pony car with equipment like four-wheel disc brakes and 15-inch Bathurst Globe wheels. Limited-slip differential, front and rear spoilers, and dual exhaust were also standard. An automatic was available in addition to the standard four-speed manual.

The black interior had Cobra-specific seat trim inserts in black with blue stripes that match the exterior.

Of course, the street version was just the beginning; it was the means to an end in some ways to keep the racing version alive. All Cobras received a numbered dash plaque, but numbers 002 through 0031 were what became known as the “Bathurst Cobras” with “Option 97.” These Cobras were homologation specials with features like switchable twin radiator fans, a transmission cooler, suspension bracing, and rear wheel body housings reworked for massive rubber. These “Moffat Ford Dealers” race cars looked fabulous in their Shelby-style livery, but sadly couldn’t hold off the mighty “Brocky’s” Holdens in their final competitive years.

Despite that bit of a downer, the Falcon Cobra went down fighting. Plus, we ended up with 400 well-sorted final examples of a car that, right after its passing, would go on to immortality as the vehicular star of one of gearhead’s favorite film dynasties. More than that, it helped redeem the Cobra name that had been relegated to an “appearance” package back in America, even though, ironically, Carroll Shelby had nothing to do with it.

Because Mad Max Tribute Cars Are Played Out

As you’d expect, these Falcon Cobras demand a premium today, selling for anywhere from $150,000 to $230,000 Australian for restored examples – costly, but the history makes such figures seem reasonable. Not bad for cars made from a bunch of bodyshells that were just going to get crushed and sent to the shredder.

As an American, you might think that one of these XC Falcons isn’t something you could ever consider, but that’s not entirely true. It’s reported that around a dozen of these made it to US shores, and one recently popped up on Bring A Trailer. Again, the $89,000 it sold for might seem a bit steep for a car that isn’t the last word in straight-line performance, but I can promise you that if there are Mad Max tributes at your local car show, you’ll be the only one with the real “last of the V8 interceptors”.

Top graphic image: Ford