Blueprint M.F.P Pursuit Special

The M.F.P workshop manager's description of construction and development events

Brief.

My brief for the construction for this Pursuit Special was strangely simple, in fact it was quite open-ended and ambiguous. The abstract format caught my attention immediately as most (C.A.R's) Capital Authorization Requests were fiercely budgeted. At this point although unknown to us at the time the Main Force Patrol Police was in danger of being disbanded and the operation transferred to the military. As a result of this knowledge known only to command I was instructed in the build-up to use all the remaining "good" gear that I had stashed away over the years. The bean counters knew that this was most likely the last Pursuit Special Interceptor that we would ever build. One thing that was strange was that no invoice or requisition was ever signed In fact the entire project was rubber stamped all the way, it seemed that no-one wanted to put a signature on it.

I was also instructed that the top Pursuit driver was considering leaving the force. So the vehicle had to be attractive enough to entice a fast driver into driving fast, and delivering awesome speed at the touch of a button. The vehicle was to be constructed more like a weapon in an arsenal than a means of transport. It had to be the best weapon we could build for the road, nothing less.



Build-up: Drivetrain

Some pieces I already had laying around, the body shell for instance was an ex-race car that had been stripped down after it had seen only a few races. It was retired following the death of the owner/driver in a road crash. Since that time the shell had been sitting at the back of the M.F.P workshop forlorn and engineless. It was a very rare coupe shell so in general it was no use to us. In Police work the 4 doors were what we used. A coupe is as a rule no good as a patrol car because the access to the back seat is very limited. However as this car would never take any prisoners the 2-door format was just fine. Also being a coupe it was more streamlined than the 4-door shell as the XB coupe has almost a 2-inch top chop straight out the factory. Not many people notice but the coupe roofline is almost 2 inches lower than the Sedan. I wanted to use a muscle car because the vehicles construction was stronger so this coupe shell with the seam welded race preparation was excellent.

The 460 engine block was also lying around it was just a block sitting as an abandoned stroker engine, it had no heads, it was really just a block with that magnificent billet ground stroker crank.

It was a wild and high capacity engine block. Without an unlimited budget we could never have used the monstrous thing in even a Pursuit Special. But with an open chequebook it was the basis for the engine.

I sent the block to be hot tanked the very day I received the orders to commence vehicle construction.

The alloy cylinder heads Jim Goose got, I have no idea where from, but he got them. They were out and out fully prepared race heads, perfect for the job, beautifully cast and precision-machined works of art. They were fully assembled ready to bolt on, combustion cambers relieved and monster stainless steel valves in place. The heads were K-lined and flowed 1200 hp, just perfect!

I should also make more of a mention of the Goose at this point. The Goose knew about the project all along. It was all top secret. But they let the Goose in on it, and that was a significant thing. James Goose was a master of the motorcycle and the very same skills served him well in a car. Although untrained as a driver he could easily have fitted into the top 10 list of Pursuit drivers. Jim Goose was to "atheistically advise" the project and because they wanted to keep all of the regular Police drivers "in the dark" about the project it was the Goose who would test-drive the Interceptor for me. It was this unconditional involvement of the Goose that led me to the conclusion that the vehicle was destined for Max Rockatansky. Max and the Goose were best mates. They laid their lives down for each other daily. The involvement of the Goose was I think to ensure the final product would meet with Max's satisfaction. The M.F.P was hanging a lot on this build-up assignment. To me it was clear that the Pursuit Special that I would build was a purpose built weapon to be used as an aid to keeping Max in the force.

Because of the fuel availability issues we elected to run the GM 6/71 interupted operation blower. This style is more expensive to set-up but much better for highway patrol work as in reality only a small percentage of the cars life is spent at max speed pursuit. To be able to activate the blower only when needed was a to-fold advantage, first it was a considerable saving in fuel. And this fuel saving is immense in value because it extends the vehicles operational range. Secondly the connected value of reduced compression for "normal" running resulting in reduced parts wear and tear, the engine needs to maintained less and has longer oil life with considerably improved reliability overall.

This allowed the luxury of us over-driving the blower 15%. An interrupted operation blower requires specialist machining because we run the 8 X fuel injectors into the manifold located under the blower. When fitted the optional delivery device runs a remote air delivery supply and twin situation specific (compressed or injected) solenoid controlled fuel systems. The primary non-compressed fuel delivery is through the manifold mounted fuel injectors. This system requires the running of an auxiliary O2 delivery device. Alternately the compressed fuel/air delivery is through the 6-71 and a Scott fuel injection system. They are tricky suckers to set up.



The engine was assembled over a three-week period, I worked full time on the project 8-10 hours a day.

The Cam is 650 lift, which is a high lift for a blower. We got it custom ground as we had the budget for it this time. The Cobra Jet rods came from a damaged race motor, the race motor had lost oil pressure at idle, so the big ends were suss but the rods were perfect. We fitted up the low compression forged TRW's and we had a short motor.

The cylinder heads that the Goose "found" were on the very next day. We checked the valve clearance all was ok.

It took a week to get the Weiand manifold. The Goose knew a vehicle that some scavenging piece of trash was driving around in; the guy had a big block motor in a smashed up car, a car in which he had been doing smash and grabs for months. The M.F.P was to pre-occupied with the killing kind of trash to bother with him. Jim Goose had seen under the hood of this smash and grab guys car a year earlier. He noted the manifold. When he heard that we needed a big block manifold the Goose took him out the next day and raided the Weiand manifold from the twisted remains of the Junker.

The guy did not die in the crash he has a limp now and is pushing a supermarket shopping trolley around these days. Still trying ram raids even with that, and he still hates the Goose!

We again had the budget to get the Manifold into a machine shop, and we had it modified to take the fuel injectors, that work also took a week.

By the end of week two we had a long motor with the manifold in place. The blower was harder to find, a good blower was like trying to find the needle in the haystack. Almost all the blower's (if we even found one) were scored inside and unserviceable.

Max's old partner and one time mentor "The Dark One" knew where a good blower was, yep... A genuine 6/71.

Apparently about 4 years ago he had located a derelict motor museum. The museum it's self had been raided. But the thieves were disturbed and butchered on-site by a rival gang. The mayhem attracted the M.F.P and The Dark One attended, he found that the war between the gangs had been very violent and both gangs had all members killed or critically injured. With no medical help on call it meant that critical injuries became mortal injuries and so by nightfall no members of either gang had survived. The 6/71 was in the workshop out back. It was not exactly left in the open but "Dark One" found it. It was an operational unit fully restored with a Scott injection hat. The Dark One knew that on the black market this was worth a fortune. Its weight in gold if you like. A good condition operational supercharger in the right hands was a ticket to high-speed mobility, and mobility as often as not meant life. The fact that I knew about this blower was 50% the reason that I was happy to build the vehicle the other 50% was because it was sure it was for Rockatansky.

I took a drive out to The Dark One's house and we transferred the blower back to the workshop as quietly as possible under a moonless night sky. It was all a very low-key operation.



We knew that the blower would go on OK, the big block could have used an 8/71 but we were lucky to have the blower at all. We did have a pulley set to allow a 15% over drive and that was going to be OK for this motor.

I had the solenoid and fit kit that would enable us to run a squirt of Nitro-Methane along with the blower so what the hell. Ha, ha, I installed that as well.

At the end of week three the blower was on and we had test run the motor on the dyno, it made just on 592 KW or about 800 HP. Put all that power through the drive train and it would perhaps be punching 600 Hp at the wheels. Just what we wanted. None of those skags on the roads would be making anywhere near that kind of power. Hell Max was running down almost everything with that yellow car, and this thing was going to have twice the yellow cars power.



Once we had the motor sorted, the drive train was going to be the next issue. The super rare bull nose top loader was a logical choice (this was again another rare part as the bull nose gearbox has a thickened in-put shaft suitable for the bigger grunt engine) I wanted a C6 Auto with B/M shift kit I even had one ready to go. But the Goose pulled his "atheistically advise" routine and insisted on a manual box. I even remember what he said, "This is a drivers car, for driving in, not for just riding in, drivers drive... Not ride!"

Even though I did not know for sure, I could see that all the signs were still pointed directly at Rockatansky. We had a bull nose "top loader" gearbox; we had pulled it out of an impounded vehicle about 6 months earlier. It was a tough box as it had been behind a turbo V8 so we knew it would handle grunt. As we all know Max Rockatansky was a hell of a warrior in a car chase. That is how we got this box, for even though the donor car was a turbo V8 Max had hounded the driver into a built-up area, then Max just out-drove the occupier till the whacked out skag crashed the over powered thing with a simple driver error. So I guess that make's the gearbox a trophy for Max.

We did the gearbox twice. The first version punched a cog out the bottom of the box, so we had the machine guys make a housing out solid steel plate, and we loaded all the bull nose gear into that, that box could have survived a bomb blast I would think. But it was a pain (and expensive) to get that housing made. I would still have preferred to use the C6 myself. For a diff we ran a Ford 9 inch centre and a Detroit locker. The Goose wanted a full spool but settled on the locker because of the street duties of the vehicle. A full spool is OK but the locker is a bit kinder to the axles and drive train. Given the distance and open road applications of this vehicle (as in high speed open road running) I convinced the Goose that a product life span was important. And a full spool would be an over-kill (as if this vehicle wasn't). The factory traction bars went into place along side the rear disk brakes. To handle the entire axle snapping torque we installed bulletproof 35 spine billet axles these axles would be good for all of the 800 hp. And with that we were done. It was not quite that simple but after just 4 weeks we had a genuine ultra high performance drive train. We had worked sensibly on this vehicle's drive train, we kept the practical application in mind, we had no all night hauls, no alcohol in the workshop, we did everything with clear heads. We had 800 under-stressed Horse Power on tap. We had assembled what Goose called "the Ducks Guts" of an engine / drive train package. The M.F.P workshop had never seen a finer assembly. I was then and always will be proud of that drive train. It was top shelf.



Now we needed the rest of the car.



Build-up: Body Shell

The shell as I mentioned, was a former racecar.

Initially we just installed all the gear into the stock body of the car, the thing was still patchwork to look at and it was still running reasonably standard wheels. We lifted in a 4 core radiator and ran twin thermo fans to keep the big mother cool. The first time the Goose stood on it he broke a rear universal joint. We had fitted a very heavy-duty tail shaft and tail shaft loop. And so we would now have to further modify the shaft to take bigger uni-joints. Our first test run had lasted only a frustrating 5 minutes.

We then had bad weather for about a week and the next run was about 10 days later. During that week in the workshop we went right over the car. We double-checked every component and fitted the huge wheels and tyres the vehicle was going to require if the power was to ever get down. That week of rain was the best thing that could have happened. The next time out we had thought of everything and we had checked everything.

This time out we had a better test run, well mechanically speaking we did.



The Goose ran the car up to about 5500 RPM then brought it in; he looked disappointed, he complained that the thing was unstable after about 150 MPH. We checked and adjusted the shocker settings and put in heaver front springs.

We did this all OK on location, but again the Goose came back disappointed with the high-speed handling. It was better but at about 180 MPH it was all over the place. We had never had a Pursuit car this fast, this was more power and torque then we had ever seen and we were clearly in uncharted territory. So we headed back to the workshop with me in the truck and the Goose rumbling along behind in a vehicle that sounded like war its self. We decided to take another week, as we needed the break to think of the solutions we might consider.

It did not take a week.

The solution was really quite clear. We needed to get more down force. We knew that we could not lower the car down much because it would restrict its movement over uneven road surfaces. Not much of a Pursuit car it can't hack bumpy roads. So the ride height was going to have to remain as it was. In fact we had added a custom lift kit to the rear to allow a greater clearance with the wider tyres.

What we needed was an air dam front end as this would serve to adjust down the stagnation point of the airflow and run more air over the top of the vehicle. In a word this equals more down force. If we got an air-dam it would settle the front end of the car and reduce the lift caused by the air running under the chassis.



We gave the panel guys 2 weeks to air-dam the front end, the first effort was fitted in just a few days and it pulled up short. It snapped off at 150 MPH and the Goose drove right over it. So like us they went back and did a heap of work. At this stage a fibreglass whiz we called "Caddy" took an interest, we always called him a slang name, sometimes "The Cadillac Man", but mostly just "Caddy". I have no real idea why we used the slang name perhaps because no one could spell or take the time to pronounce his real name of Arcadiplane, plus he drove an old American Cadillac convertible. So Caddy matched both his car and given name, I never knew his first name. The next effort from the Cadillac Man was a work of art. It was awesome brilliant work, and it dropped our jaws, the entire front end of the vehicle was gone, and in its place was a sleek streamlined nose section. It was art to look at. I knew right then that this was going to be the front end lift problems solved. Hell it looked like a weapon. Next time out we took Caddy along as well. He came along with a heap of spoilers and about a mile and a half of duct tape. We got out to the test road and unloaded the improved version of our vehicle still painted in various colours so it looked a bit rough. At this point it was stock bodied with no extra wings. So it was with just that new nose section that the Goose ran almost 200 MPH. The thing was flat and stable. Jim Goose arrived back pumped full of adrenaline his normally hyper personality was now supercharged and he could not wait to be going again. As it happened he had to wait about 5 hours because Caddy had indicated that the vehicle had too much inclination over the front axles. Somehow as it flashed past he had observed that it was raked too low at the nose when travelling at that 200 MPH mark. Caddy maintained that the thing when at this high speed would be to light on the rear axle to handle and corner correctly. To combat this he taped into position more wings. We did not see this work going on as we had headed back into headquarters to pick up a 44-gallon drum of high-octane aviation fuel. When we arrived back we were stunned at the transformation the wings had made, they were just spoilers and duct tape but the entire car looked more "even" in presentation, more balanced, it just looked right. Upon the back of the roof Caddy had fitted a slightly smaller and more laid back version of the familiar roof wing, "don't need so big, when travelling so fast" he pointed out. Then behind that and situated on the trunk was another small wing of sorts. The wide rear wheels had been exposed to the air, now they were covered with a flare section also pop riveted and taped into position.

The Goose went out again with a strict instruction to run the same speed and revs as before. This was done so Caddy could observe the vehicles inclination at the duplicated speed.

The Goose actually followed the order perhaps more because the roof wing blew off at almost exactly 200 MPH, (leaving the Goose wide eyed to handle the resulting loss of down force) but Caddy had seen what he wanted, the car was flatter and more balanced it had become more stable yet again. All the pieces were now in position. Caddy took the car away for 3 weeks during this time he added as custom fixings all the trial wings he had fitted before. He painted it in the custom black on black paintwork of a Pursuit Special. And we no longer had an object under construction. We had instead the fastest and most powerful vehicle ever built by any Police force anywhere in the world. And it follows that we had built the greatest Pursuit vehicle M.F.P would ever create. It had cost three times as much as a normal Pursuit vehicle and twice as much as any other project. As far as I know the Goose never drove it again. The very day after it was finished Max (now totally ready to quit the force) was introduced to the new machine. The evening before the introduction I had drunk too much in celebrating the project completion and so I missed the introduction of Max to the new Interceptor. The Goose and workshop assistant Barry alone were to show Max our creation. According to the Goose, Barry got some of the specifications mixed up when explaining it all to Max, but it made no difference. Max was mighty impressed.



Test drive: Agent Max Rockatansky, M.F.P- 4073



The following morning I was there for Max’s test drive. No doubt pushed on by the Goose riding shotgun beside him Max let it run for all it was worth, Max drove flat out. I was well positioned to see the Interceptor run, we had a nice section of road with a slight rise and fall to it, the road was flat surfaced and straight. I was situated at the roadside just past a section where the road rose and fell. I was planning to watch the suspension travel as it crested the rise at full speed. The Interceptor came into view first as just a black dot on the horizon; it approached like a high speed gathering storm, all speed, sound, rage and violence. In what seemed an instant in time the dot became a shape and the shape became a blur, as the black on black form thundered past at well over 200 MPH. I clearly remember “The Cadillac Man” smiling across at me as the new Pursuit Special Interceptor compressed the very air we breathed the moment it raged by us. I smiled back because we both knew that as a team we had made this happen. Max and the Goose came back later after making radar recorded reading of 237 MPH, and upon returning they looked and acted about half there ages.



That same afternoon on a tighter course Max had the thing wailing and purring as it howled, barked and roared as he stroked and sometimes manhandled the awesome power with a skill that spell bound all those who watched.



After Max had finished the shake down run, he simply said to me, “Excellent vehicle. Mate it’s the best I have ever driven”. As I respected his car craft so much that one single sentence was the best moment of my Police life.



What a driver he was.



What a COP car it was.



The evening after the Rockatansky test drive, our final Interceptor (still so new as to not yet carry the Police decal on its flank) sits behind the Police workshop.

In just a few days after this picture Max Rockatansky would assume illegal control over this machine and the legend would begin...



Specifications



M.F.P Pursuit Special Interceptor Project XB



Engine
Ford 460 4 bolt main bearing Big Block, stroked to 514 CID capacity

Crank
Custom Billet

Rods
Cobra Jet

Cylinder heads
Alloy super flow custom billet cylinder heads, (Flowed to 1200 HP)

Valves
Manley stainless steel, single collett K lined

Inlet manifold
Single plane WEIAND as GM 6/71 adaptor

Cooling system
Alloy 4 core running twin thematic Ford electric fans.

Compression/Valves
8.4 to 1.00 under pre-boost

Valve Springs
Crane triple valve springs, Crane Roller Rockers

Cam
Crane custom spec

Pistons
Forged flat top TRW

Sump
Finned profile with windage tray with oil scraper 7 lt capacity

Clutch
Ford Triple plate

Differential
Ford 9 inch centred Detroit locker 2.75 to 1:00.

Axles
Billet 35 spline

Traction bars
Ford XB GT

Oil Cooler
Ford

Supercharger Kit
G/M 6-71 with Weiand front plate

Supercharger options
Application optional: engaged via manual override switching.

Supercharger Hat
Scott

Fuel System
Fuel Injection: Controlled by Scott injection

Fuel capacity
36 Gallon: Ford long range tank

Fuel delivery "A"
8 X injectors manifold mounted & solenoid activated remote O2 delivery

Fuel delivery "B"
Enhanced compression via: 6-71 Supercharger and fuel via Scott injection

Exhaust System
"Pacemaker" Ceramic coated tuned headers (4 into1)

Exhaust System Routing
2 X 4 into 1 split at collector and 2nd split at muffler exiting as 8 pipes

Fuel
Minimum 98 RON, Nitro methane sub-injection.

Max Power
592 KW / 800 Hp at the clutch. 444 KW / 600 Hp at the rear wheels.

Max Power compliance:
Delivered in standard intercept configuration over driven 15%.

Max Speed quoted
385 KPH - 237 MPH @7,900 rpm

Max speed recorded
385 KPH - 237 MPH @7,900 rpm

Transmission
4 speed "bull nose" Ford top loader. Custom steel box replacing casting.

Transmission linkage
Speco-Thomas after market

Front Suspension
Heavy duty "Pedders" STD GT ride height, Koni adjustable shocks.

Rear Suspension
Ford GT, running custom lifter bar suspension, and 2X extra leaves..

Wheels front
Custom cast, custom offset. 15X8

Wheels Rear
Custom cast, custom offset. 15X10

Brakes Front
Twin piston 11 inch Disk

Brakes Rear
Disk

Tyres Rear
BF Goodrich competition radial TA 295 X 50 X15

Tyers Front
BF Goodrich competition radial TA 235 X 60 X15

Body Shell
Seam welded Ford XB coupe

Body modifications front
Custom Arcadiplane fibreglass nose section affixed in permanent situ

Body modifications roof
Single wing rear mounted in situ as a permanent fixing

Body modifications trunk/rear
Rear spoiler mounted in situ as a permanent fixing

Body modifications F/arch's
Permanent fix fender extensions 1.25 inch (incorporated as body part)

Body modifications R/arch's
Permanent fix fender extensions 2.00 inch (incorporated as body part)

Hood
Ford XB GT airflow flutes & mods to suit GM 6/71 supercharger fitting