This Ugly Paddock Basher Might Be The Best Car In Australia

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This Ugly Paddock Basher Might Be The Best Car In Australia

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder… And when it comes to this rough-and-tumble paddock basher, the ugliness is part of the charm.


First posted as an expression of interest on Facebook’s AU Falcon Fan Club and then shared by rough motor aficionado Car Rave on Instagram, this heavily modified Ford AU Falcon might just be the ugliest car in Australia.

There’s a lot to unpack with this one. First of all, it’s got a 10-inch lift kit, huge bullbar, Hella rally lights and apparently a new high/low range gearbox. It’s still just rear-wheel drive, but we reckon it’d be quite the safari monster.

Virtually all the panels have been stripped of paint and there’s visible rust everywhere. The bonnet, which is the only panel with paint on it, seems to have been sprayed with black bed liner, and you can spot some ‘Bunnings special’ bonnet pins. It’s also got Subaru Forester rims for some reason?

The Astroturf footwells and VB logo in the dash cluster are just *chef’s kiss*. Image: Facebook

Bizarrely, its 4.0L ‘Intech’ inline-six engine has had a carby swap… As well as a baby blue paint job. Not sure what the thought process behind this was, but it really adds to the Mad Max feel of the car.

Our favourite bit is the interior. Not only does the e-brake look like it’s made out of an oxy torch, but the footwells are lined with Astroturf. This is some next-level stuff.

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That it’s an AU Falcon – which is widely regarded by many Aussies as the ugliest car Ford Australia ever made – is even more appropriate (although, at the same time, many revheads are extremely passionate about its looks, so beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder).

Produced from 1998 to 2002, the AU Falcon was one of the first cars globally to utilise ‘New Edge’, Ford’s radical new global design language made famous by the ungainly Ford Ka. Characterised by its use of intersecting arcs, soft curves and sharp lines, it continues to polarise the Aussie public. As a result, AU Falcons are usually pretty thrashed. This one’s just more thrashed than most…

Barra lovers, look away now. Image: Facebook

Yes, it’s a total pig, but you can’t deny that you’d have an enormous amount of fun in this thing. It’s the ultimate paddock basher; a middle finger to polite society. It might be the coolest, most Aussie car ever made – and we kind of want it.

We just wish it had a carby-ed Barra…

UPDATE: seems as if the owner’s post on AU Falcon Fan Club has been taken down. Does this mean a successful sale, or is this bad boy still up for grabs, floating in the aether? Watch this space.

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