Custom AU Falcon Coupe - Project
Read? Watch TV? Maybe even try counting sheep? If you're Peter Burke, you get into the shed and build cars! For many years, Peter has dealt with his insomnia by taking to the spanners and building a number of stunning pickups. More recently, Peter turned his attention to a modern take on the classic Falcon two door.
Peter told us he gets his best ideas at night, and the idea for a modern Falcon coupe came during one of these late night sessions in the shed. He's always liked to custom build things that you don't see every day - with the emphasis very much being on 'custom'. Peter also said that he never uses plans, he just sees how he wants the finished product to be in his head and keeps working on it until it matches that vision!
The AU Falcon tends to polarise opinion even today. The styling was never a big hit when new, and led to the BA restyle being implemented sooner than planned. Peter isn't the first to have a crack at an AU two door, either, as evidenced by the 'Arrow' coupe based on an AU III and built by Hillier Conversions and Autotek in 2002. Advanced Engine Concepts (now known as Sprintex) and Venture-Millard Design in WA had a crack a year earlier, with the result being the TE50-based '300+' performance coupe. Production of the 300+ as a 'Monaro-fighter' was tentatively planned, but the idea didn't progress beyond a pair of concepts. One of the 300+ cars built was being offered for sale for $250,000 in 2006, while another is reportedly residing in a Ford dealership in Mandurah, WA. Both of these big dollar 2 doors did the Motor Show circuit in the early part of this decade, but we're tipping neither were built to the sort of limited budget that Peter's was!
Peter's coupe started as a stock 2000 model AU II Falcon four door that he bought at auction. He kept the running gear as it came from the factory - a 4.0lt inline six cylinder engine and four speed automatic.
The body modification started with removing a section of the roof, then moving the whole c-pillar and rear window section forward. With the sedan wheelbase retained, that roof section was required to fill in the lengthened boot area. Peter says it took a bit of 'cutting and shutting' but he got there, as the pics show.
With the rear doors welded up and the basic body shape in place, Peter then turned his attention to some decoration. The stock front and rear bumpers were replaced with a V8 Supercar-style pair. Peter wasn't entirely happy with these. Remember, he likes CUSTOM. So, in order to get the 'classy rod' look he had in his head, he looked at a number of different grilles before settling on one from a Chrysler 300C. A section of the front bumper was cut out and the chrome Chrysler grille was glassed into place, capped by a Ford logo and a matching chrome strip along the leading edge of the bonnet. The bonnet itself was sourced from a wrecked Ford BA Boss. Peter took a mould of the Boss bonnet's distinctive hump, made a fibreglass copy and added that to the stock AU II bonnet.
The side skirts, with their vent hole forward of the rear wheels, were sourced from a Toyota Supra and lengthened to fit. The rear wing is a Veilside double tier unit, again sourced from a Toyota Supra, with mountings customised to suit. The big Veilside wing is a clever choice, as it helps to 'fill' the longer boot area created by the conversion. The Cobra stripes that run into the rear wheel arches from the boot have the same effect. A set of 18" chrome mags picked up on the chrome accents elsewhere on the car, like the wheel arches, mirrors and aforementioned grille. Peter kept the interior fairly stock, with only a minimum amount of extra upholstery work done.
All the work - panel work, fibreglass, paint and upholstery - was done by Peter, with help from his mates, Tony Chambers and John Gam. Peter also insisted his wife, Noelene, gets some credit, too, for all her help with the project.
The end result, while it may not be to everyone's taste, is a pretty decent effort for a one man, virtually self-taught show. Peter says that people often ask him if he's a panel beater when they see what he's created. Surprisingly for some, the answer is 'no'. Peter did do a year's apprenticeship at a panel beater's after he left school, but that's it. The rest, he describes, is a combination of common sense and the will to do it. At 67 years young, Peter says he's still creating toys like this -and loving it!
Source: JUST CARS, September 2010, Collectors Issue #175
