A Falcon Cobra with real sting

A Shelby XY Falcon? Yes, that’s right – the XC Falcon Cobra Hardtop in 1978 was not the first Ford Falcon model in Australia to be adorned with the iconic Shelby Cobra snake. But where the XC Cobra was an unashamed attempt at cashing in on one of Ford’s iconic high-performance names from the halcyon days of the 1960s, the famous Cobra snake on this XY was the real Shelby deal – this was an Australian Falcon with genuine Shelby Cobra sting.

Story: Steve Normoyle

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The late 1960s/early '70s was an exciting time to be a new car dealer. The passenger car market had been supercharged by the battle for Bathurst supremacy that had ignited between Ford and Holden in 1968. All of a sudden Holden and Ford (and soon Chrysler), were offering exciting high-performance sedans at a price pretty much anyone with a half-decent job could afford.

And just as buyers were flocking to new car showrooms to get their hands on the latest Monaro, Torana or Falcon GT, dealers were going to great lengths to demonstrate that their showroom (and not the dealer down the road) was the one with the best high-performance credentials.

On the blue oval side of things, Jack Brabham Ford in Sydney’s west was seeking to tempt buyers by producing ‘Jack Brabham Special’ XY Falcons; fellow Sydney dealer McLeod Ford also got in on the act by offering Falcons (and even Cortinas) with the personal touch of the driver of the McLeod Ford Falcon GT-HO in Series Production racing, none other than John Goss.