The Assassin Falcon

While the XT Falcon of Rowley Park legend Dennis Shipp (featured in issue #66) was the first of its kind to race on a speedway track, several others were converted to dirt track racing soon after.

Story: James Cockington

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Another classic from the early 1970s was ‘The Assassin’ Falcon driven by Billy Martin from Goulburn. He raced this beast at his local track and also at Canberra, Kembla Grange and, as shown here, on the fabulous Sydney Showground circuit.
His Falcon was also an XT, but fitted with the 289ci V8. He first raced it in July 1970 and reckons it must have been one of the first V8 Falcons to run on speedway in Australia.
Billy won the Craven Filter Saloon Car Trophy Series that year and the Tralee 600 in Canberra. He especially loved racing at the Showground oval where V8 grunt was a real advantage.
The Assassin Falcon was owned by the late Frank Nicastri, boss of Frank’s Auto Wreckers in Marulan where Billy was working at the time. Frank ran a tow truck and picked up the Falcon from the side of the Hume Highway where it had been set on fire after being stolen.
It was so badly damaged the wreck was initially dumped at the local tip but when Billy heard about it he suggested they should turn it into a speedway sedan. They stripped it down and installed a hot cam, high-rise manifold and a 650 Holley double-pump carbie.
They replaced the body panels and painted it Zircon Green. Note the word ‘Fright’ on the front of the bonnet, something drivers of slower cars would have received if they’d had a rear-vision mirror to look into.
These cars weren’t pretty, but they had a certain Mad Max-style quality that attracted the fans. And man, were they loud.
A feature of the Assassin was the eight exhaust pipes – no mufflers required in those days – which ended underneath where Billy was sitting. He drilled holes in the floor so he could see the colour of the flames when he backed off. In this way he could tell how it was running. Blue flames – too lean; orange/red – perfect.
Getting a V8 Falcon to handle on dirt was a black art.
Billy and his team experimented with a unique stagger system, made by welding a jack from an EH Holden into the right rear of the car. They drilled a hole in the bumper so the jack handle could be inserted to raise or lower the angle of the car depending on track conditions. This modification was surprisingly effective.
They also found that skinny ‘trailer’ wheels – fitted with $7 recaps in this case – worked better on muddy tracks than the expensive rubber.