In an era before The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and any host of the myriad of other dystopian flicks of today, there was the cult classic late-70s action flick Mad Max. And unlike those movies of today that are filled with a grim depiction of society melded with a healthy dose of technology, the Australian-made Mad Max had little to offer in the way of hi-tech. However, for whatever it lacked in bio-engineering and cloned and modified killer insects, the dark film had one thing going for it that resonates to this day with most car guys and gals: a wild Ford Falcon with a blower poking through the hood.
At first glance, Perth, Australia native Grant Hodgson’s gorgeous red 1973 XA Falcon coupe doesn’t share much in common with the sinister black ride in the iconic film. However, on closer inspection, it is a fitting tribute to the Falcon in the film and likely reflective of the car Mel Gibson might have built and driven had the world not grown to be such a nasty place.
A mechanic by trade, Hodgson grew up wrenching on dirt bikes before turning to four-wheeled pursuits in early adulthood including a number of Mad Max replicas and a Batman Tumbler replica. Other ventures have included a Convoy Mack truck replica and a 173-foot long triple trailer Road Train Hodgson drove himself. However, the car seen here is perhaps the creation of which he is proudest and has enjoyed the most thoroughly.
The project began in 1999 when the car—not running but already treated to a pristine paint job— was purchased in the hopes of equipping it as a high-tech tribute car with a functional alternative to the bogus switch on/ switch off blower seen in the Mad Max films. Paint and body chores were handled by King Road Smash in Bunbury, Western Australia… Read more of this article. Just click on the digital feature below this introduction.
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