Mad Max Pursuit Special – The Car’s the Star

What with George Miller’s latest instalment in the Mad Max universe currently doing the rounds on big screens up and down the country we thought we’d take a look at one of the most iconic movie cars to ever grace celluloid. Both the car in question and the titular Max both appear all too briefly in said new film – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – but the V8 Pursuit Special had already made a name for itself in the first two Mad Max films, cementing its place alongside the best of the best in terms of cool points.

For me it’s a car that sparked a love affair with the whole black on black aesthetic and it’s an obsession I still carry to this day, but paint jobs aside what exactly is Max’s murdered out, post apocalyptic chariot of choice? Known as the last of the V8s, the duck’s guts, the Interceptor, this supercharged denizen of the desert is actually a heavily modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT that has become a defining part of the entire Mad Max franchise, not to mention wider car culture.

The car first appears in the original Mad Max movie in ’79 as our hero’s weapon of choice to avenge the death of his family (spoiler alert, soz). Featuring a 5.8-litre, 300+bhp Cleveland V8 complete with Weiand supercharger and side pipes mated to a four-speed manual transmission the Pursuit Special is a muscular, menacing beast. Painted jet black from bumper to bumper and fitted with iconic BF Goodrich Radial T/A white-lettered tyres it’s a car that stunt driver Phil Brock exclaimed “looked pretty fast just standing still”. He’s got a point.

Before any silver screen shenanigans, however, the Falcon was already a popular car in Australia, having been around since 1960 when it was initially sold as a six-cylinder mid-sized family saloon. Numerous updates and body styles were introduced over the years before it was superseded by the second gen model in ’66. Based on the third generation US Falcon, Ford would now give Aussie customers a V8 option, setting the trend for future incarnations, with a GT version also breaking ground. Featuring an uprated, 225bhp version of the 4.7-litre Windsor V8 as used in the Mustang, the GT was a popular choice for the discerning Aussie petrolhead and would mark the beginning of the Australian muscle car era.

’67 Falcon GT

Not only that but the Australian Ford factory racing team, formed in ’62, would go on to win the Bathurst 500 in 1967 with a 1-2 finish in production Falcon GTs, further capturing the car buying public’s imagination and bolstering the cars racy reputation. Suffice to say sales figures subsequently soared. The Falcon GT had arrived.

1972 saw a complete redesign of the Falcon for its third generation. Heavily influenced not only by the popularity of Australian muscle car racing at the time but also by cars like Ford’s Mustang Fastback and second gen Torino models, the antipodean Falcon was a continuation of the two-door hardtops last seen in ’66, albeit with more sleek, Coke bottle styling. These original third-gen cars were known as XA models but a facelift soon followed a year later that introduced a more aggressive aesthetic, as well as new nomenclature and the XB was born, bringing us neatly to the genesis of the Mad Max story.

Director George Miller and producer Byron Kennedy originally wanted Mustang Fastbacks for the movie but as was the nature of the film everyone knew the cars involved were going to need constant work and so the Falcon was chosen due to availability of parts. With the hero car secured (yep, singular because they only had budget for one) the team set about modifying it into the now iconic Interceptor we all know and love.

There have been various fan-made replicas over the years, such was the car’s impact.

Ray Beckerley at Graf-X was tasked with turning the factory white Falcon XB GT into Kennedy’s vision for the Pursuit Special. From the Monza front end reminiscent of the Vauxhall Firenza, to both rear spoilers designed and fabricated by Errol Platt, he quickly set to work on the exterior of the car, unwittingly creating a legend in the process.

Surprisingly, unlike a lot of movie cars, the original Pursuit Special survived production intact and was subsequently given to Mad Max mechanic Murray Smith as payment in lieu of an actual salary due to those aforementioned budgetary constraints. Murray then tried to sell the car but astonishingly nobody wanted it. The fools! Thankfully, however, due to the commercial success of the film a sequel was green lit and the car was called back into action for Mad Max 2 in ’81.

Complete with new GM supercharger and custom dual rear fuel tanks befitting the new film’s post-apocalyptic setting and story, the now ratty looking Pursuit Special gets some serious screen time in Mad Max 2 but unfortunately the car ultimately ends up totalled and engulfed in flame. Worry ye not though as the car used for the climactic crash was actually a 1974 Ford Fairmont GS XB, leaving the original Pursuit Special unharmed, ready to fight another day. Phew.

And fight another day it did, but Falcon fans had to wait over 30 years to see the Pursuit Special once more, appearing as it does in the opening scenes of Mad Max: Fury Road looking even more beaten up, only to be trashed once more in a rather spectacular crash. Popping up again later in the film as a jacked up, bare metal bastardisation of its former self, the Pursuit Special would once again meet its demise – something of a running theme at this point.

In reality, as in the films, the Pursuit Special really was the last of the V8s due to increasing emissions regulations in Australia in the early ’70s but hopefully we’ll get to see the car again in the future in more than just a cameo appearance. A whole film centred around the car would be right up our flagpole. Until then though you can always watch the first two Mad Max movies for your Falcon fix and you can browse our selection right here on Car & Classic. So why not pick one up for yourself for when the gangs take over the highway? Kick it in the guts Barry!