Mopars are #1 for me. I've owned a few Falcons over the years and enjoy driving them, especially from the Tickford era. I used to own an 03 AUIII XR8 which had just over 20,000kms on the clock when I traded it in for a BA XR8 Falcon. It was the new model & looked good. It "had" to be better, right? Well, not so. I absolutely hated the BA XR8 Falcon (and still do). Sorry BA owners, no disrespect. To each their own but the BA had a terrible lack of response below 3,300rpm. It looked great standing still but in my opinion, the BA lacked the grunt to match the looks.

I sold the BA XR8 and made a profit which left me in a good financial position when the right AU came along. While saving for the AU, I had put a lot of thought into what I really wanted. I was originally going to "settle" for an AUIII XR8 like my old one but decided if I was going to buy one, it had to be the one. I decided to bite the bullet and hold out until the right TS50 came along. With a total of 152 Automatics & 72 manual T3 TS50's ever produced, it wasn't the kind of car you could just pick up at the local used car lot. At first, I didn't mind what transmission it had. With only 224 ever produced, it was slim pickings. I decided to go with the heart and find a manual T3 TS50. From 224 down to 72, it got harder. Long story short, PMs were made on the NZ Tickford forum, a few phone calls back and forth, a bit of bargaining and a deal was made.

The car was perhaps the best example in New Zealand. It had the factory 5.6L V8 Windsor engine, 250kws in stock form. It was modified by the previous owner to a warm 310kws, @ the flywheel and 230rwkws. It was my favourite Ford colour; liquid silver with charcoal leather interior, Brembo brakes, 36,000kms on the clock and the best part of all 5-Speed manual! The cherry on top was the engine cover had been signed by: Jamie Whincup, John Bowe and Craig Lowndes. For those who don't know who they are, they're Ford drivers in the Australia V8 Supercar series. My old TS50's factory build number was: 051 of 224 total produced (72 manuals/152 autos).

I found and purchased the TS50 3 days after starting the search and within 5 days it was up the drive. Not a bad effort considering there were only 11 Manuals allocated to New Zealand. That covers all colours and options, so a very rare car. After driving the car all I can say is, whoa! It's, without a doubt, the closest looking and sounding thing to the Australian V8 Supercars you'll find on the road in my opinion. Many magazine articles and Ford enthusiasts will tell you the same. Going through the gears in that car was a male testosterone paradise!

The reason I sold the TS50 was to help fund my Mopar projects. This was to be my last Ford. I just couldn't get "into" liking that car like I do my Mopars. If I couldn't get into a manual T3 TS50 then there was no hope of me & Fords getting along, as in my opinion, the TS50 is the best modern Aussie Ford made. The car was awesome, good grunt, looked nice and was rare. Selling the TS50 had nothing to do with the car itself. I don't "dislike" any brand, but they just don't give me the vibe or passion that Mopars do.