Ask Dave Waddington if he has any vices, and he’ll admit straight away that he has a serious addiction: “I’ve got four ESPs, and I’ve owned more than 10 of them,” he says. However, unlike many owners of Ford Australia’s iconic ESP Falcon, Dave doesn’t tend to leave his as the factory intended. Exhibit A: the large assisted-breathing apparatus poking through the bonnet of this ’84 XE Fairmont ESP!

First published in the April 2026 issue of Street Machine

Dave’s been immersed in the ways of the Blue Oval for most of his life. “Mum and Dad brought me home from hospital in a Mk2 Cortina,” he recalls. “When I was 14, I bought a Mk1 Cortina to rebuild, but I never got to finish it. Then when we were at the Kiama Blowhole on holiday when I was 16, I saw a purple XE with an ESP interior, a sunroof and Simmons rims in the car park. I decided I had to build one like it someday.”

Fast-forward to 2004 and Dave finally got his hands on his first XE ESP, the car that would soon become QUIK-E. “I was actually going to buy a mint Charcoal ESP with a 302 and auto from a bloke in Ipswich, but off to the side he had this one in Vermilion Fire over Charcoal with a sunroof,” he says. “I told him I was going to paint it purple, but the two-tone really grew on me.”

With the help of a few mates, Dave resprayed the XE in its factory colours in his shed and built a tasty Clevo to replace the crossflow six. Amazingly for an XE, the body was in mint condition, save for a touch of rust under the overflow bottle. By 2007, Dave had started a business and finished the ESP in time for his wedding to his partner Tara.

However, after a few years of entering any sort of racing or tyre-frying event he could get to, Dave decided the XE needed a blower bolted to the Clevo for a bit more oomph. Unfortunately, it would be a good while before that plan would see fruition: “I pulled it apart on Easter Sunday 2011, and I barely touched it again for 10 years!” he laments.

While the QUIK-E was in hibernation, Dave built and raced other cars, including a Group N Mk1 Cortina, a 630hp aspo ESP, and an XY GTHO circuit car. “I’ve raced Bathurst eight times, done the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport, and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve lapped Lakeside,” he says. “I hate static car shows; I prefer Summernats, Powercruise or Bathurst Autofest – somewhere where you get to actually drive your car.”

In 2021, Dave decided to put the track toys aside for a spell and focus on QUIK-E’s rebirth, so his mate Aaron Watson was called upon to lay down that blazing red and lustrous charcoal two-tone paint scheme. The previous powerplant wasn’t going to cut the mustard this time, so Dave picked up a tasty little Clevo from a mate and gave it a thorough inspection before throwing it in the XE. The four-bolt Clevo block is fitted with steel main caps and filled with concrete up to the water pump, while a Scat crank and rods combine with Ross slugs for a total capacity of 393ci. A meaty Comp Cams solid flat-tappet bumpstick sends orders through BAM lifters, Comp pushrods and Harland Sharp rockers. AFD 2V heads with massaged ports seal the cylinders, and the tower of power is rounded out by a Newby manifold wearing a Weiand 8/71 blower.

Custom-made four-into-one extractors and a twin three-inch system spit out the burnt hydrocarbons, all constructed by Northside Custom Exhausts. “Originally it had two pairs of mufflers, but the first time we took it to Summernats, I realised it just wasn’t loud enough, so we removed the rear ones,” Dave says.

The transmission is a transbraked Powerglide with all the good bits that James at Full Race Fabrication could stuff into it, and the converter is one of his tasty bolt-together units.

Speaking of Full Race, James had been tasked with the majority of the fabrication work QUIK-E required way back in 2012. This included moving the chassis rails inboard slightly to allow the tubs to be widened, and adding a custom four-link, tailshaft loop, and a neatly tucked six-point rollcage. He also screwed together a tough nine-inch to round out the drivetrain, with a full spool and 3.5:1 gears.

Strange coil-overs control the motion at the back, while the front end is perched on XYZ coil-overs. The XE’s original steering box and linkage were turfed to make way for an RRS manual rack conversion, and Strange four-piston discs fed by a Wilwood master provide the stopping power.

Cars are a family affair for the Waddingtons, with all four of them piling into one or two items from the shed when it’s time to go to an event or cruise. “Tara likes the V8s but not the turbos, so she’ll drive QUIK-E, and she gets up it,” Dave smiles. “We’ve done well getting the kids into cars; it’s such a cracking hobby.”

As with most projects, the XE is in a state of constant development. “It looks cool and I love it, but my other cars are faster, and that’s the bit that I struggle with,” Dave laughs. In the pursuit of even more speed, Dave’s already procured a Bain Racing intake with injector bungs in the ports, and hopes that more boost and better fuel control will add to the ESP’s already-pronounced tendency to torch the rears.
“Honestly, I love this car,” he says. “It’s priceless; I’d never sell it.”

DAVE WADDINGTON
1984 FORD XE FAIRMONT ESP

THANKS
My wife Tara and our kids Maddie and Koby for letting me spend $20 at a time; Dave Madden; Shane Horan; Joel Wicks at All Street Performance & Fabrication; Aaron Watson; Wayne Stark at Mr & Mrs Sew ’n’ Sew for the upholstery; Ben at Global Trim for all the hard-to-get ESP items; Paul & Kyle at JP Garage for all the tuning and mechanical work; Chris at 12 Volt Performance for the wiring; James Horan at Full Race Fabrication; Jacob & Sharpy at 1320 Motorsports; Ben & Bec Milburn at Northside Custom Exhausts; Matt Macallister for the ceramic coating.