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Mad Max Interceptor Pursuit Special – The Perfect Daily Driver For 2020

The Mad Max Interceptor is one of the most famous cars in cinema history, and deservedly so. The car was officially named the “Pursuit Special”, it’s also known as the “Last of the V8 Interceptors”, however most people just call it the Interceptor.

The car used in the first film was an Australian-built 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Hardtop that had been extensively modified by the team at Melbourne-based car customizers Graf-X International with Peter Arcadipane, Ray Beckerley, John Evans, and painter Rod Smythe woking on the car to a series of designs penned by Mad Max art director Jon Dowding.

The Ford Falcon XB GT is a two-door coupe that was designed and built in Australia, it was a follow on from the Ford Falcon XA and the predecessor to the Ford Falcon XC, all of which were offered in two-door, four-door, and panel van variants and represented the third generation of the Australian Ford Falcons.

The XB GT Falcon was never offered for sale in the United States however it’s proven to be a very popular coupe with Americans in the years since – and companies have been founded to buy them in Australia and ship them to new owners in the USA who can’t find them locally.

There were a number of engine options for the XB GT including the 302 cu. in. (4.9 litre) V8 was a popular choice, the largest was the Cleveland 351 cu. in. (5.8 litre) Ford V8.

It was this latter engine that was used in the racing versions of the model, the most famous of which are the cars driven by Allan Moffat to win both the 1976 and 1977 Australian Touring Car Championship as well as the 1974 Sandown 250.

The Mad Max Pursuit Special was used extensively in the films, becoming a character in its own right. The car was used in Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, and in Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as in both of the video games.

The car you see here is an original Australian Falcon XB GT coupe that was shipped to the United States and painstakingly rebuilt with Australian components to Pursuit Special specification including both the interior, exterior, and engine bay.

The attention to detail with this build is remarkable, right down to the weatherworn exterior and the heavily patinated interior with a well-worn seat, a jump seat, and the correct blue police flashing light.

The real excitement lies in the engine bay where you’ll find a heavily modified Cleveland 351 cu. in. V8 fitted with a fully functional Weiand supercharger topped with dual Holley four-barrel carburetors, and a chrome scoop – the entire assembly rises through a cutout in the hood as you would expect.

The car is fitted with a four-speed manual transmission with a floor mounted Hurst shifter, there’s a column-mounted tachometer, and a racing steering wheel. The car has the correct twin spoiler set up with a large front air dam and the characteristic exhausts that exit four-a-side just in front of the rear wheels.

If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can find it here on Mecum, it’s due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in January and at the time of writing there’s no price estimate and no reserve.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post Mad Max Interceptor Pursuit Special – The Perfect Daily Driver For 2020 appeared first on Silodrome.

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Project Car: An Original Detroit Electric – A 100% Electric Car From 1922

The Detroit Electric was a 100% electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit from 1907 to 1939. At the turn of the 20th century there was stiff competition between the different methods of powering an automobile – gasoline, steam, or electricity.

Early gasoline-powered automobiles could be difficult to use regularly as they typically needed to be hand-cranked to start. They also leaked oil, consumed plenty of gasoline, required regular maintenance, and regularly broke down.

Compared to their gasoline counterparts, electric automobiles were far easier to live with as they didn’t require hand-cranking, they didn’t need oil or gasoline, you could charge them at home, they required little maintenance, and they were remarkably reliable. The downside was twofold, they typically had lower range and they took many hours to recharge.

Due to the positive attributes of electric cars many Detroit Electrics were bought by women for urban transportation, they also proved popular wth doctors and others who needed reliable urban transportation with minimal fuss.

During the years of WWI the Anderson Electric Car Company saw a surge in interest and sales of the Detroit Electric as gasoline rationing was limiting the availability of fuel, though there were no rations on the use of electricity.

A number of celebrities bought Detroit Electrics for their own use including Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (who had two), Clara Ford (the wife of Henry Ford), Lizzie Borden, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Mamie Eisenhower, and a few more. Interestingly, the adoption of electric cars by celebrities in the early 20th century was reflected 100 years later by many celebrities buying Teslas.

Detroit Electrics were powered by a single electric motor fed by a bank of lead acid batteries, there was the option to upgrade to a Edison nickel-iron battery which offered more range. Top speeds weren’t particularly high, 20 mph (32 km/h) was standard and range on a full charge using lead acid batteries was approximately 80 miles.

By way of a period-correct comparison, the Model T Ford had a top speed of 40 to 45 mph (64 to 72 km/h) and a range of approximately 150 miles with a 10 gallon tank.

It became clear by the 1920s that gasoline-powered cars were going to win the battle and become the de facto choice for those buying cars, by this time many of the early teething issues had been largely corrected and the higher speeds and better range were more appealing to buyers.

It’s important to note that this victory wasn’t permanent. Electric cars were always limited by their batteries and as battery technology has improved over the decades the electric car is making a comeback in a big way – in fact it’s likely to be the dominant powertrain choice for new car buyers within the next 10 years or so.

Although Detroit Electric disappeared in 1939 all was not lost – the company was revived in 2016 with the new Detroit Electric SP.01 model.

The 1922 Detroit Electric Shown Here

The 1922 Detroit Electric you see here is a project car of sorts, it’s mostly complete with the exception of its batteries – however the batteries would need to be replaced every few years to keep the car functional.

The powertrain of the car makes use of a centrally-mounted electric motor which sends power back to a live axle rear end. Leaf springs are used front and back, and it’s equipped with rear drum brakes.

The new owner of the car will need to decide if they want to do a restoration back to original specification, of if they want to update the car to run on modern lithium ion batteries which would markedly improve the range. If you’d like to see more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s.