While there are many events and people that shape our life’s journey, it’s the influences of our teen years that define our tastes for the rest of our lives. For a young Andreas Sdrolias, it was watching the same Falcon hardtop cruise past his bus stop each day on the way to school.

First published in the August 2026 issue of Street Machine

“Every morning, a steel-blue XC GS coupe rumbled down Anzac Parade,” Andreas recalls. “I was mesmerised by the low roofline and burbling Clevo. I always watched Bathurst and loved the Group C Falcons, especially the coupes. I’d sit at the bus stop waiting for it; I’d let buses go by until I saw that coupe every morning.”

With core memories like that seared into his cerebrum, there was never any doubt that Andreas was going to be a Ford guy. After working his way through a few XA sedans and some XE ESP Ghias – including an AIT turbo car that he still owns – Andreas got a line on an XA Superbird for sale, but as luck would have it, he just missed out. Fortunately, luck can be a fickle thing, as the guy selling the Superbird contacted him a few days later about another car near Bundaberg in Queensland.

“He rang me back, saying, ‘Would you be interested in an XB coupe?’” Andreas says with a laugh, as if anyone would say no to that question. “He said, ‘My son works for Toyota. He’s a service manager, and this old bloke has just driven in to trade a coupe.’ So, I literally bought it sight-unseen.” 

Now, Andreas isn’t a crazy person; he asked all the right questions about condition and all that, but when he heard it was a rust-free, Yellow Blaze XB Falcon GS coupe with white trim, he couldn’t transfer the money fast enough. With a 302 Cleveland and an auto transmission, the big Falc wasn’t exactly scorching the roads in terms of performance, but just about everywhere else, it was a perfect cruiser.

For the next year or so, Andreas kept the coupe stock. But as we know, the thirst for horsepower is strong, so when he met Bill Kaglatzis from BK Race Engines through a mutual friend, Andreas formulated a plan to quench that thirst via a new powerplant.

Initially, the new engine build was a 3V-headed, 383ci Clevo that started off with a hydraulic-roller camshaft, but that was quickly upgraded to a solid-roller after some valve spring issues. That change also saw the horsepower shoot up from 550 to around 640hp, and when combined with a Top Loader four-speed and a nine-inch, the bright yellow XB scooted down the quarter-mile to the tune of 10.88@126mph – stout numbers for a full-weight Falcon back in 2005.

Unfortunately, the clutch cried ‘enough’, and as the car had no rollcage, Andreas decided to stick with other high-speed activities like the Snowy Mountains 1000, and Cooma 400 and 500 events.

As the years took its toll on the XB’s body and paint, Andreas decided it was time to give ‘Big Bird’ – as the family affectionately call the car – a birthday. So, the 383 engine was sold to a mate, and the shell was sent down to S&K Auto Restorations in Gundagai, where Shane Feltham and his crew could work their magic.

The body was straight and almost entirely rust-free, but that didn’t stop Shane from stripping it entirely to bare metal to bring it back to better-than-new condition. After all, 70s Ford Falcons were never file-finished with all the gaps perfectly aligned from the factory, were they?

Once the shell was up to scratch, the whole lot was coated in PPG Yellow Blaze and baked until ready. Glowing bright and smooth, the coupe looks like it’s been dipped in sunlight – this is not a vehicle you’ll lose in a carpark.

With the plan to add a whole bunch more power, Andreas had a new rear end built using a Strange heavy-duty housing with a bolt-through alloy carrier, which was decked out with a Wavetrac centre, some 4.33:1 gears and a pair of chunky 35-spline axles. If that sounds like overkill, we’ll follow the alloy driveshaft forward to the Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed, with its cryogenically treated gearset and custom twin-plate clutch. But the real meat in this fully loaded souvlaki is the 443ci Clevor between the shock towers.

Once again, Andreas had Bill at BK Race Engines crank out a powerhouse, and this time they weren’t mucking about. Using a 9.5in-deck Windsor block, Bill added all the good gear like a Callies crank, Oliver rods, Diamond high-comp pistons and a custom cam with 0.800in lift and all the duration, plus a set of BAM bushed lifters with DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating. This is nothing like your granddad’s 351. Locking in the 13.5:1 comp are a pair of Higgins 2.8 Clevo heads, matched with a Higgins intake and a 1250cfm APD twin-blade carby. 

Amazingly, it all runs on Premium 98 pump fuel and cranks out 830hp at 8000rpm with 630lb-ft at 5300rpm. This thing has a torque spread like a mountain range, and Andreas has no problem with spinning it all the way out to 8600rpm, which must sound like a heavenly choir with all the angels in attendance. It even featured as Mill Of The Month back in September 2024.

“The idea was, let’s build a big V8 Supercar engine,” Andreas reckons. “Something that’s going to be able to pull – you know, dig down and be able to pull a gear, because you haven’t got a converter to make up for it. So, it holds its power, but it’s a baby. It idles at 1000rpm, and I can purr along in traffic in fourth gear.”

We spotted the Falcon at this year’s Meguiar’s MotorEx, and Andreas was proud as punch to have the coupe in the big hall wearing its new custom billet rims. But as good as this car looks, it’s no show pony, and Andreas is dead-set on making that stroker small-block sing.

“With MotorEx under my belt, it’s time to put some street miles on it, followed by some motorsport,” he says. “I want to do the Flying Fifth at Bathurst, plus the Coota 400 and Muscle Car Challenge, and then finally chase that nine-second timeslip.” 

ANDREAS SDROLIAS
1975 FORD XB FALCON GS COUPE

THANKS
Manuel Kapitanos for assembly; Bill at BK Race Engines; Steve for the trim; Pylec; Ignite Auto Electrical; Bill at European Autosports; Yann at JZ Custom Alloy; RaceMax; Deni at Para’s Prestige Detailing; my beautiful wife Afroditi and my family for always supporting me in my car adventures