Having spent a fair chunk of his formative years immersed in the drag racing scene at Calder Park and Heathcote, Luke David had plenty of inspiration to draw from when it came time to start on a project of his own. But his heart was always set on a Silver Fox XW GT, having long watched an example of this iconic combo laying down solid numbers at the track.

First published in the November 2025 issue of Street Machine

But while the choice of what to build was easy, finding the right starting point wasn’t quite as straightforward. Luke started his hunt in the mid-2000s, and he reckons he looked at more than 30 cars before finding the right candidate. Eventually, he found a white six-cylinder XW Fairmont to serve as a solid base for his planned makeover into a Silver Fox GT tribute. Luke wanted a cruiser with a healthy 550-600hp Windsor combo, which would occasionally see the odd run at the strip.

Wanting to tackle as much of the build himself as he could, Luke began stripping the car under the guidance of Trevor Davis. Trevor would later have the task of laying down the X-dub’s silver and orange paint, although it would be almost 12 years before that time arrived. Business commitments, buying a house, and renovations all saw Luke’s progress on the XW put on the backburner at various points. While time may be the natural enemy of the average street machiner, Luke also had a couple of aces up his sleeve.

One was panel beater David Bahlmann. With the car stripped down to its bare bones and on a rotisserie, Dave left no part untouched in his quest to make sure the XW looked its razor-sharp best. All the body deadener was removed, and every nut and bolt was replaced or re-plated.

You would have to look hard to find an underbody component that didn’t get powdercoated by Troy Martin, another of Luke’s talented mates. The few items that weren’t given that treatment were painted gloss black, making the XW’s undercarriage worthy of display, even if only during wheels-up launches on the drag strip.

That wasn’t the only expertise Luke was able to draw on, though, as he had formed some other key contacts through time spent trackside, as well as during the builds of his brother’s cars – a pair of XY Falcons, of course.

A key figure here was Frank Marchese of Dandy Engines fame. With Frank having built the engines in his brother’s XYs, Luke had spent a whole bunch of time with him at the track and on private test days, so he got the nod to put together Luke’s donk, too.

It was a wise decision indeed, as Frank turned out a staunch Clevor mill that far surpassed Luke’s ‘modest’ 600hp goal. How far? Try 850hp on the Dandy Engines dyno, running 98-octane pump fuel!

Weighing in at 461 cubes, the combo is based around an alloy RDI Windsor block teamed with Jon Kaase’s custom version of CHI’s 3V Clevo heads, with additional port work by Higgins Race Heads and the valves activated by a custom solid-roller camshaft.

With the XW’s chassis having been mini-tubbed, new sheet metal filling in the boot floors, and a shortened nine-inch diff fitted, it was time for Frank to inspect the new home for his latest masterpiece. His concerned face said it all – Luke recalls him saying, “We might need to get this looked at…”

The XW was soon on its way to Joe Gauci at Profab Motorsport Fabrications to sort it all out. Joe basically removed everything and started again, redoing the boot floor, fixing the mini-tubs and fabbing up a new diff housing. While the car was there, the Profab crew also sorted out the chrome-moly rollcage, fabricated the custom bits and pieces needed to fit the engine and driveline, installed a parachute mount, and took care of the exhaust from the headers back.

The car was then returned to the care of Trevor Davis to lay down the Silver Fox paint that had so captured Luke’s imagination all those years ago, and the final reassembly began. Luke’s hands-on duties resumed and he reassembled the diff, the front and rear suspension, and the doors and glass, before calling on his brothers Brett and Troy to fit the engine and trans. With the end drawing near, it was back to Profab to do the brake lines and a few other bits before it headed home again.

Initially, the Clevor used a BRE carb, which made the XW a bit of a handful to drive on the street at low revs, so Luke decided to switch to a Wilson Manifolds throttlebody and FuelTech EFI set-up, tuned by FuelTech’s Nathaniel Ardern and Frank from Dandy Engines. That’s made a huge difference to the car’s street manners.

Luke acknowledges all the help he had along the way during the build. “I am very lucky to have had all the great guys involved in this car, especially Frank Marchese, Trevor Davis and Dave Bahlmann, without whom the car wouldn’t be what it is today,” he said.

Unfortunately, between business commitments and limited track availability in Melbourne, Luke hasn’t had the chance to run the finished car down the strip yet, but he and his fiancée Rachel have been enjoying getting it out and cruising whenever they can.

When the XW does eventually see some strip time, Luke will be gunning for low nines. That’s a high bar to clear, but knowing the calibre of the people involved in the build, it’s surely only a matter of time. Luke also has a Lime Frost XW ute next up on the to-do list, which just may be the recipient of a Dandy-fettled, turbocharged small-block. If quick is good, then quicker must be better, eh?

LUKE DAVID
1969 FORD XW FAIRMONT

THANKS
Joe Gauci at Profab Motorsport Fabrications; Marcus Cripps at Speed Pro; Fred Soleiman at Protrans; Chris at Racewires; Enzo for the wiring; Adam at MPW Performance; Frank Murgana; Steve Bezzina; my brothers Brett and Troy; Troy Martin for the powdercoating; Frank Marchese at Dandy Engines; Nads at FuelTech Australia; Dave Bahlmann; Trevor Davis; my fiancée Rachel.