Although the “Superbird” isn’t a GT, I felt that an article on the XA’s would be incomplete without it.  Whilst essentially aimed at a different market to the XA GT, the XA Falcon “Superbird” was still a close cousin in many respects.  A car that always looked the goods, the “Superbird” was aimed at a younger and less well healed market than the GT.

The original concept car was designed by Ford Product Planning Manager – Nick Bartolini – as a styling exercise to stop crowds at the Melbourne and Sydney Motor Show.  This car was actually an XA GT hardtop featuring H.O. running gear , power steering , a 36 gallon tank and a really large “Superbird” decal.  A feature that was exclusive to Show “Superbird” was a rough wool upholstery and pale grey rooflining.  From a marketing point of view, the car was a success from day one and it wasn’t long before Ford executives decided that it should be put into production.  However, in stark contrast to the show car, the one actually sold to the public was a lot tamer in regards to its mechanical specification.

“The 302 V8 Superbird from Ford - an exiting package of Power , Comfort and Individuality”.

These words – from the advertising of the day – give an indication that this car was designed as a mid-point between the standard Falcon and the GT.  Sporting in nature and distinctive in style, but without the sheer grunt and overt masculinity that was the GT.

The “Superbird”came standard with a 240 BHP 302 CID V8 engine under the bonnet - and a 4-speed floor shift to make the most of it. (T-Bar automatic transmission with sports console was optional).  Other standard equipment included front power disc brakes, 185 SR x 14 radials, sport handling suspension, GT instrumentation – including tachometer, volt meter, oil pressure, temperature and fuel gauges, speedometer, odometer and a prismatic day / night rear view mirror.

Internally, the “Superbird” was luxuriously carpeted wall-to-wall and had high-backed, deeply-contoured front bucket seats with a choice of white or black vinyl trim.  To enhance the feeling of individuality, the car featured styled rear window louvres, a matt black front grille, 6" x 14" styled steel wheels with GT chrome wheel trim rings, chrome centre cap and wheel nuts, “Superbird” identification decals on glove box and on rear body panels, and a unique, colour-keyed exterior paint treatment on bonnet, side and rear panels. 

In keeping with an exclusive type of vehicle in the great GT tradition, you could only choose from three exclusive paint combinations - Polar White with Cosmic Blue accent, Yellow Fire with Walnut Glow accent and Lime Glaze with Jewel Green accent.

Special retail price for the  “Superbird” was $3590 for the manual version, with the optional T-Bar automatic and sports console totalling $3735.  This was a saving of $410 on normal retail price for the manual model, and $423 on the automatic model.  Sounds like good value to me.