Ever had a car you regretted selling?

[Aussie Mike]

Hi All,

A few years back I had a 2002 Ford Ute. I bought it when it was only 18 months old and still under warranty. I didn't know much about this one at the time, I just liked the look of it.



After driving it and enjoying it I learned a bit more about what I had. It was a Pursuit 250. These were fitted with the running gear from Tickfords TE50. This was fords last gasp for the old windsor motor as next year they were going with the Modular motor and the windsor would be gone.

Well Ford Australia gave the windsor 5.0 V8 to their performance division (Tickford) for a work over. When they were finished there weren't a lot of the original bits in there. The motors were stroked out to 342 cubes. They got billet rods and lightweight pistons. The motor also got a girdle for the bottom end to strengthen the block. The heads were CNC ported by Yella Terra and roller rockers added. A bigger cam went in too. Up top the whole intake was replaced with a Tickford designed unit that also ran an 82mm T/B and larger MAF. Ceramic coated headers went on the exhaust side. The end result was 250KW and a stomping 500NM of torque. This made it Fords most powerful factory Windsor motor.

Here's a little video of what went into these motors



There were only 248 of the Pursuit 250s built which makes them quite a rare bird.

I got it into my head that I wanted a 4x4 so I sold it. In recent years I've regretted that decision.

A few weeks back I found another one. It was original and reasonably tidy. It was located in Coffs Harbour about 1600KM from me. I bought it sight unseen and flew up and drove it back. A 1600KM drive is a good way to get reaquainted with a car. I ended up doing it pretty much all in one hit only stopping for a few hours sleep in Gundagai.

It brought back memories. The motor is muscular and unrefined. it sits at the lights burbling with a lumpy idle and rocking the car. It's a muscle car in every sense. Stand on the gas and it leaps forward with that flat wall of torque pushing into your back. I love it.



The car was not without it's problems. Ten year old front suspension was a bit lacklustre and made some nasty noises. The Big Tickford brake package displayed it usual trait of warping front discs. I went through 2 sets of front rotors in my old one in 60,000Ks. The 6 stacker CD was gone and replaced with an after market unit. The head unit itself was OK but the install sucked. The cradle was bonded in with body filler??

Not a big deal. An afternoon in the shed and the head unit was reinstalled with the correct facia and rewired. Radio sorted.

The front end... Initially I was thinking I'd just replace the worn components but when I started checking parts prices I figured I may as well replace everything. Urethane bushes, new ball joints, tie rod ends, rack boots, new wheel hubs, sway bar links etc. A completely reco front end for $570. I'm loving the price of domestic car parts .

The front brakes were fairly easily fixed. The rotors still had plenty of material on them so I did a quick skim on the lathe and then slotted them. They will warp again as they always do but they will be OK for a while. Later I might find some Brembo brakes that were a factory option on these.





So tell us your one that got away story (and hopefully got it back).

Cheers