Ford Falcon XR8 prices and details

More details of the new Falcon XR8 have dribbled out of Fortress Ford this week, including pricing for the last of the V8s.

Having disappeared from price-lists just on three years ago, the XR8 badge is back, and promises a new wave of speculators keen to buy now and cash in soon on what will be a landmark car.

he tragedy there is that the XR8 deserves to be driven, not locked up in a collection somewhere; a fate that has befallen the bulk of the FPV GT-F launched earlier this year and a model that is already changing hands for multipletimes its sticker price.

But why is the XR8 so good? Because it gets the Australian-developed Miami version of the Coyote five-litre, complete with supercharger and 335kW (the same output as the most recent FPV GT and GT-P). And that, folks, will make it the fastest non-FPV Falcon ever made here. Oh, and the last.

The good news is that the new XR8 will get not only the full-monty 335kW/570Nm engine output, but also all the suspension goodness of the R-Spec FPV of a couple of years ago.

That means stiffer springs, re-valved dampers, a thicker rear sway-bar and stiffer bushes and mountings, and 275mm rear hoops on a 19 x 9.0-inch rim and geometry tweaks to suit.

Brakes are now four-pot Brembos at the front while the rear stays a single potter, albeit with a Brembo logo cast into it. Throw in a larger capacity cooling fan, and a heavy-duty battery to crank the blown mill and you’ve got yourself the last of the XR8s. And, like we said, very likely a very collectible car.

The interesting thing to watch now will be whether the speculators out there start ordering XR8s with a view to off-loading them for a profit even before the car has been delivered (or even built, in some cases).

We hope not, because at $52,490 with a clutch pedal and $54,690 with the six-speed auto, the last XR8 continues the value-for-money theme that the XR franchise has always promised.