A Letter from Mark Dorner from Down Under

Finally made it to a Holden dealer and Ford dealer today. I learned this week that the El Camino vehicles are called Utes. The Holden Ute in V8 form is a SS Ute. It's powered by the 5.7L engine, and is pretty cool.

When I got to the Ford dealer, I got my socks knocked off. The Aussie equivalent to our SVT is FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles). They offer a wide range of models, including a Falcon Ute and a four door sedan called a GT. These cars get the Boss 290 5.4L V8, which puts out 290kW. At 746 W/Hp, that's 390hp. I think this engine may find it's way into the 2007 Cobra with some more power upgrades. I've attached a zip file of all the cars I saw. I also grabbed some brochures. They don't sell new Mustangs here, but the Ford guys were interested in my vert. I showed them pics on the Internet. They saw the picture at Corn Feed where I was parked next to Robbie's GT500, and they said, "Oh, just like that one in the movie!"

Last night we went to a nice restuarant and I ordered Kangaroo Filet, or as they call it "jumpsteak". We had a nice meal and conversation with a local. We talked about auto racing, and he called them Petrolheads. I like that term. I'm a Petrolhead.

Gas is sold by the liter here, and it's hovering around $1.05. There's 3.3 liters in a gallon, so you do the math. Lots of small gas-efficient cars here obviously.

FPV website is www.fpv.com.au

Check Out the Aussie Cars!