The Peregrine Falcon is considered to be the World's fastest animal, with a diving speed of over 200 mph. Today's Ford Falcon won't do that, but then again, have you ever seen a Peregrine topless?

At the dawn of the sixties, the major American manufacturers all began introducing smaller, more fuel efficient cars. GM took a radical approach, flexing their engineering muscle with the rear-engined Corvair, aluminum V8 Skylark, and rope drive Tempest. None of those proved to be as popular as Ford's small car, the Falcon, which was nothing more than a three-quarter scale edition of the Blue Oval's mid-sized Fairlane.

There was nothing radical in the Falcon's styling either, which also echoed the Fairlane's curves and jet-inspired round tail lamps which were topped by eyebrows and gave the back end a face almost as expressive as the front. Underneath, a coil front/leaf rear suspension and worm and roller steering kept the body from scraping the pavement,and changing the direction of travel, but that was about it. Fortunately the 170 cid pushrod six's 90-hp output ensured that you'd rarely get going fast enough for any of that to matter.

This has had some things done to it so that it now does matter, but it's had other things done as well that will make it anti-matter, um. . . or something. Under hood is a 250-cid edition of Ford's tried and true overhead valve straight six, an engine with a reputation for durability. What might detract from that in this case is the add-on of a throttle body FI set up and a turbocharger in replacement, respectively, of a single barrel Autolite and natural aspiration. The seller doesn't provide any clue as to what all that does to the big six, put you can bet that its pushrods are none to happy about it.

That engine is only one of a spate of other upgraded parts from the Ford catalog. One of the great things about Fords in the ‘60s and ‘70s is that they share tons of interchangeables. You may scoff at Mustang IIs and Lincoln Versailles' for their inherent craptitude, much like you may at a steaming pile left in your front yard by an inconsiderate neighbor's great dane. But, add a paper bag and a bic lighter and that Reese's Feces becomes a hilarious porch present for the doorknob your ex moved in with, or that same inconsiderate neighbor. Much the same way, the Versailles‘ rear end will provide you with the disc brakes for your early Mustang, and a Mustang II or Pinto can offer up a slick rack and pinion steering unit for your Cobra kit car or, in this case, Falcon convertible.

Along with the rack and pinion, this Falcon benefits from a five speed manual gearbox - likely a T5 out of a late Mustang - as well as a nine inch rear end and four-wheel disc brakes. That means that several seventies and eighties Fords have awakened in the bathtubs of cheap I-95 motels with important parts of their anatomy missing.

But eff them, all those parts make this Falcon go and stop like a much more modern car, while still providing that sweet sixties style that made both it and Twiggy so fappable. Only the modern alloys - five lug though they may be - spoil the appearance, but as we've noted in the past, wheels are about the easiest things to change.

You'll need more than change to buy this Falcon as the stealership is asking a heady $15,995 to part with it. Sixties ragtops in nice shape can easily go for that without all the upgrades this car has, and now it's up to you to decide if those upgrades make it or break it on that price. Do they make this Ford a car that should sell as fast as its namesake flies? Or, is that just too much chicken feed for this Falcon?

You decide!


or go if the ad disappears. H/T to Rollo Grande for the hookup!

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