FORD'S go-faster Falcon is the stuff of Aussie motoring mythology, what with the 1967 GT sedan starting the muscle race in earnest. So it was with great dismay to enthusiasts that the company gave up on such a model with the demise of the XE Fairmont Ghia ESP in 1983. Of course GMH (as Holden was then known) took the initiative by really backing its HSV Holden Special Vehicles operations. Subsequent HSV Commodores became heartland heroes just as Ford couldn't even make its 1988 EA Falcon reliable. When that finally happened, it turned its attention to the big Ford's wilting image. Not to be upstaged by HSV, Ford forged an alliance during 1992 with the British Tickford engineering company. Together they developed the XR range, built in a special plant not far from Ford's Broadmeadows head office. Derived from the 1994 EF Falcon sedan, it is powered by a modified version of the regular 4.0-litre in-line six- cylinder OHC unit. Its performance is improved to the point where the XR6 is as fast as many of its contemporary V8s. So it's no surprise then that the XR6 model outsold the 5.0-litre V8 XR8 version four to one.