From just above idle in the Ford there was a strong surge of torque that made the car very quick.
The car could trot around the suburbs using just third and fourth gears most of the time. But stir the engine up and it really started to hammer along, with performance similar to the best a current XR8 can deliver.
It was a good cruiser, too, and would be a welcome companion on any interstate jaunt, were it not for one thing: its incredible thirst.
Even driving sedately on the freeway, don't expect to use any less than about 17 to 18 US miles per gallon. Around town, especially if heavy with the accelerator, you could easily see 11 US mpg as average consumption.
The engine's other big downfall was its vibration. Possibly because they were hand-assembled, some seem smoother than others, but even the best is noisy under load and fairly coarse during hard acceleration. Of course, for many owners of high-performance cars, a bit of noise and harshness only contributes to the involvement.
Transmission choices were a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic, and, given the massive torque available, the automatic is entirely viable.
The 5.6-liter engine was made optional in Tickford's TE50, a more upmarket, Fairmont-based TS50 and in the Fairlane-derived, long-wheelbase TL50.
Unlike the XR6 and XR8 versions of the AU Falcon, you don't get the quad headlight treatment, but you do get a more restrained presentation that is still different enough to separate the cars from their non-Tickford-badged relations.
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