FPV Boss: “GTHO Is A Dream Of Mine… But Off The Table”

IN A FRANK EXCHANGE yesterday, FPV Boss Rod Barrett said that the possibility of FPV producing a GTHO was “so far from reality, it’s off the table” .

However, he also conceded that the “GTHO is a dream of mine” .

“You’ve got to be a brave man to go back to GTHO,” Mr Barrett said. “We’re not prepared to think about it until we’ve got all the hardware required, the financial backing and we’re ready to go..

“It would have to be something entirely unique. The original (Phase 3) was the fastest four-door sedan in the world at that time.”

Mr Barrett said that FPV had learned a lot by watching the fortunes of Holden’s exclusive W427 supercar which has fallen short of sales expectations.

This year being the 40th anniversary of the original XW GTHO (which rolled out of Broadmeadows in June 1969 with a 225kW 351 Cleveland engine under the bonnet), Ford performance fans who may have been hoping for an anniversary special 'HO’ will be disappointed.

Where there’s light however, there’s hope. With a boss in the chair who has the GTHO as a personal “dream” , and with FPV’s performance car sales holding up well in the current climate, being “off the table” may only be a temporary condition.

FPV sales this year are expected to come in at slightly under 2000 units. This compares favourably with the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, which saw sales of 2144, 2127 and 2035 FPVs respectively.

“To date, we’re only three percent down on last year, compared to large sedan sales across the market being down 18 percent,” Dave Harding, Communications Manager for Ford Performance Vehicles told TMR.

“We (expected) a tough year, but it has been better than we envisaged,” Mr Barrett said.

“People are still out there to buy fast Fords. There is always going to be a market for Ford Performance Vehicles.”

Click here to see TMR's review of the FPV 5th Anniversary GT.

Click here to see TMR's review of the FPV F6 310.