The photo shoot with Brendan Hoskins took a couple of attempts.  The first attempt failed due to a small case of me locking my keys in my car and having to get the good old RACQ out to open it for me.  We eventually got it done though, and all went well with the help of the lovely Chanelle.  Now Chanelle isn't really a model and doesn't usually do this sort of thing, but she is a revhead and was keen to give it a go with Brendans 1997 EL Falcon Futura.  The colour is Navy Blue.  Brendan is kind of disappointed because all the other Ford colours have fancier names....

 

 

 

 

The engine in the EL is an XR6 4.0 litre engine with a standard bottom end.  There is a little bit of work up top with the head shaved and a thinner metal head gasket installed off a later model engine.  At this stage it is naturally aspirated but Brendan has plans for a turbo in the not too distant future.  The exhaust is standard headers with high flow metal cat and straight through 2 1/2 inch muffler and the rest is a 2 1/2 inch pressed metal pipe.  The gearbox is a standard BTR Ford standard 4 speed auto.  The diff is standard Borg Warner.  Suspension on the car is Boge shocks and Ultralow King Springs.  The wheels are a 19x8 inch BSA BS2 which is a copy of the EL Falcon wheel with a different offset.  The rubber is a Nankang Silica tyre.  The brakes are standard calipers with DBA Gold Series drilled and slotted rotors.

 

 

Brendan literally got this car by accident.  A young girl in a Daewoo Lanos caved the back of his EB Falcon in so badly that the car folded in the middle, leaving the passengers to exit through the windows.  There were no skid marks from the Daewoo so the impact must have been fairly hefty.  Being a true Ford man and lover of the XR's, Brendan had an XR6 badge on the back of the EB.  His insurance people saw this and most generously paid the car out as an XR6 instead of the standard 'S' pack, and he went out and bought the EL.

 

 

 

The interior of the car is based on standard, but only the carpet is original.  The seats are out of a Fairmont Ghia.  The door trims are standard but retrimmed in Black velvet with blue vinyl inserts.  The dash is standard but retrimmed in black velvet with blue highlights.  Everything from the windows up has been made black, including the drop down monitor in the roof.  The steering wheel is a leather bound Momo off a Series 3 AU XR series.  The head unit is a Pioneer DVD/MP3/CD tuner.  Brendan has several monitors around the car as well.  There is a 7" headrest LCD screen that has been mounted in the dash under the head unit.  There is an 8 1/2" drop down roof screen.  There are 2 Mitsubishi Electric 7" LCD screens in the headrests and a 10 1/2 inch LCD in the boot lid, which has an analog TV tuner built in.  There is a digital TV in the car as well.  The front doors have 6" Pioneer Bullet series speakers.  In the parcel shelf is a set of Pioneer 6" 4 way speakers and another matching set in the boot itself.  There are 2 Pioneer 2 channel amps; one for the splits and one for the parcel shelf speakers and a 1000 watt monoblock for the 12" Pioneer sub woofer. 

 

 

 

 

The front and rear bars on the car are Venom fibreglass, the bonnet scoop comes from a company called Blitz Kits from the Gold Coast.  The bootlid spoiler is a copy of the EL GT boot spoiler.  The tail lights have been tinted with a silver pinstripe, and the side indicators have been taken from a Mitsubishi 380 and moulded into the original mouldings.  The side skirts are original EL GT sideskirts that have been modified. 

 

 

 

Brendan has a few people who he would like to thank for work on the car.  PBase for the boot install, Rob Bliss for the exhaust work, Brisbane Mobile Wheels and Tyres, Ryan for the mechanicals, Jason for the paint and panel workand Tony from Tony's Cars and Commercials at Kallangur.  All in all, Brendan's Falcon is quite a head turner, and coupled with the lovely Chanelle is going to get the attention of a lot of people.  For a car that was obtained by accident, he has got himself an all round nice car.