434-cube 1971 XY Falcon – Dubai Car News

Yeseoff Seiter’s love affair with the mighty XY began in the 1980s, when his wife Jo brought home a Monza Green, 302 Windsor-powered Fairmont. “We built it up a bit,” explains Geoff. “Electric Blue, Roll Cage, Tunnel Rammed 351 Cleveland – Lot.”

First published in the October 2022 issue. Street Machine

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The guys at DDR reshaped almost every panel to fit every chrome molding perfectly. This plays no small part in XY’s trophy haul.

As far as couples go. Street Machine Smyrnatus with the car, but things changed when a business opportunity arose in the late 80s. “We needed to sell it to go to a lumber yard,” says Geoff. “I knew it was a smart business move, but I missed that car every day. I always dreamed of having another XY, but I never thought I’d get one. Because our There was business, so that was basically all our time.”

It was this lingering passion that inspired Joe to surprise Geoff with the Falcon you see here. In 2018, he and eldest son Brandon found the car in South Australia as a rusted rolling shell, driving it from SA to their native Shepparton in Victoria, without spilling the beans to Geoff. “I came home from work one day and the first thing I saw was an XY out front,” he explains. “It had a bow on it and everything. His exact words were, ‘Spend what you want on it!’

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Although there were a few hiccups in the initial build stages, things started to fall into place when Geoff headed Kyabram’s upcoming DDR Customs. This involved a lot of rust work initially, before the team got stuck into body mods. Small tubs were welded to handle a pair of 20×10 Simmons FR1 hoops, and the boot lid’s inner frame was modified to move the boot hinge inward.

The engine bay endured a similar treatment, and now features custom sheetmetal. DDR’s Devin Young and Dan Sim set up the panelwork and raised the entire car 5mm better than the factory, along with the bars inward by 10mm for a very clean look. took away “The DDR boys are very rowdy, so it’s a lot better than I thought it would be,” says Geoff.

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Ross McKenna finished it in a custom mix PPG metallic color called ‘Gracie Grey’, with hints of gold. “Sometimes it looks almost black, in sunlight it looks almost silver and you can see gold in it, and other times you see blue in it,” says Geoff. “My wife wanted to call it ’50 Shades of Grey’ because it’s hot and sexy with 50 shades!”

Under the bonnet is a 700hp Pavtek built Cleveland. “I always knew I wanted a good, tough motor,” Geoff reasons. “We had V8s when we were younger, so it will always be a V8.”

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The mill is built on a Dart block and measures in at 434 cubes, with SRP pistons hanging from a Scat crank, and ported CHI 3V heads topped with a matching manifold. The 98 PULP comes through a Holley 950 carb, which itself is fed by an Aeromotive pump.

All of this is topped off with a custom DDR fabbed shaker assembly. “It didn’t want to strain the engine with the small opening of the original GT shaker,” Geoff explained. “When it came back from Pavtek and they were able to get 700hp out of it, there was no way we could use the original GT shaker without damaging the motor. We had to go bigger, and I had no shaker. XY wasn’t, so after some planning and design, it was left to Dean.

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The Territory brake boosters and battery are all hidden in the boot, which features more custom metalwork and trim by DDR.

A manual C9 handles the punishment through a dominator 4500rpm converter, and replaces a chrome moly tailshaft. From there, a nine-inch Truetrac diff with 3.7 gears turns massive Siemens rims to a custom four-link rear end.

On the handling side, the XY runs Territory stoppers front and rear, all fed by a Wilwood master cylinder and hidden booster. RRS power rack and pinion steering replaces the factory steering box with coilovers all around. It’s a very different beast to their Fairmont, as Geoff is keen to point out. “There’s no comparison; you have better brakes, suspension, everything. We thought we had good power back then, but shit, it’s nothing like today!

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The tops of the front guards were made to integrate seamlessly with the new engine bay sheet metal.

DDR also handled the interior fit-out, keeping things simple with black GT trim sourced from Winner Products in SA.

Geoff launched the Falcon. Street Machine Summernats 34 with fairly modest goals. “We entered Street Elite and thought we’d put it in the trailer every night, but we got placed in the top 60,” he enthuses. Geoff competed in the Grand Champion race and also finished second in the Elite Standard Paint. “We were completely surprised,” he says. “I just wanted to drive a good, tough car, but I ended up with an incredible build.”

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A GT interior never goes out of fashion, although it’s not necessarily the cheapest option. “We paid $1800 for Jo’s Fairmont in the ’80s,” says Geoff. “We paid $1650 for a replica GT steering wheel on this car!”

Since the ‘Nats trip, XY has also claimed Best XW-XY at Allford Day 2022. That in itself is no small feat, given the sheer number of cars at the country’s biggest Ford show. “It’s a real feeling when you’re asked to be a guest at various car events,” says Geoff. “And the comments we get from people, even people in the trade themselves, that That’s really cool to hear.” If it’s not clear yet, he couldn’t be happier with DDR Customs’ work. “This was their first big build, and they went above and beyond. They have a lot of work to do now!

For Geoff’s next trick, he plans to return the favor to Joe. “In the future, she’ll want to do something,” he says. “But it’s bloody expensive at the moment!”

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The Seiter family was surprised at how well XY was received at Summernats 34, and they also gave the Grand Champion a nice boost.

Jeff Setter
1971 XY FALCON

Thanks
My wife and boys; DDR Customs; Winning products, Duane at Pavtek Performance; KJJ Transport.