Sam Italia has long been a fan of Ford Australia’s fourth-gen Falcons of the early 80s – particularly the XE. “I’ve always loved the shape and the front end – especially XE ESPs,” he says. “It goes all the way back to when I was a kid, when my grandfather owned an XD Fairmont Ghia. At car shows, I’d go straight to the XEs and just stare at them.”

First published in the June 2025 issue of Street Machine

Now 30 years old, Sam’s no longer just gazing longingly at his favourite Falc model; he’s been the proud owner of this muscle-bound XE Fairmont Ghia since 2018, having won his dream car in an eBay auction.

Back then, it was a neat, factory Monza Red car powered by an EFI six-cylinder. “It was a bit of a survivor, but it didn’t last that way for long,” says Sam. “I pulled out the old running gear and chucked in a 550hp 393ci Clevo, C10 trans and nine-inch.”

That combo delivered a bit over three years of driving pleasure for Sam, before fate intervened when the factory Clevo block developed an issue that would necessitate a full rebuild. Fortunately, around this time a mutual friend introduced Sam to engine maestro Frank Marchese from Dandy Engines.

“I was rapt when Frank agreed to build my motor,” says Sam. “That’s when I decided to sell the old running gear and step it up a notch. I told Frank I wanted the best of the best.”

The shopping list for the new powerhouse included a World 9.5in-deck block, a Molnar stroker crank, CP forged pistons, Higgins CNC-ported heads and matching Higgins intake, along with a very lumpy roller cam, custom ground to Frank’s specs. An ASR sump was also cut and modified to ensure steadfast oil pressure during high-revving spurts and brutal launches.

Given the mill’s expected power level, EFI was a no-brainer. Frank consulted Nathaniel Ardern at FuelTech, and it was agreed that FuelTech’s FT600 ECU and 800cc injectors, along with a huge Wilson four-barrel throttlebody, would deliver the desired results. Frank loaded in a quick tune for dyno runs, which Nathaniel will then-fine tune on the hub dyno via the laptop.

The team at Psidup Fabrications were responsible for the impressive custom extractors, which boast massive 2.25-inch stepped primaries. They feed super-neat 3.5-inch stainless pipes. The Psidup crew also mounted the fuel cell, modified the radiator for twin top hoses, and fabricated a host of one-off pieces such as the catch cans and tailshaft loop. Rather than mucking about with long runs of flexible fluid hoses, Sam had the whole car hard-lined from front to back.

Anth and Ricky from AFA Auto Electrics then got stuck in with a full rewire, which included a custom engine harness for the FuelTech EFI.

Strapped to Dandy’s dyno, the formidable 434ci, E85-slurping small-block pushed the needle all the way ’round to 870hp, with a screaming, 8000rpm redline. Staunch! “Thanks to Frank Marchese, the engine rips,” says Sam. “His input, guidance and advice throughout the build was invaluable. He hooked me up with all the right people and worded them up for me.”

Two of those people included Fred from Protrans, who provided the Reid-cased, transbraked Powerglide, and Peter from SDE, who supplied the converter. A GJ Drivelines custom one-piece tailshaft sends the prodigious power rearwards, where a shortened 35-spline nine-inch by Jamie at Full Flight Engineering puts it to the ground.

Suspension wise, the Ghia has been upgraded to Viking coil-overs from The Rod Shop up front and fully adjustable XYZ coil-overs under the rear.

While Frank was busy with the engine, the XE’s shell was turned over to Josh Koussia at J&C Panels to make the clean and relatively cancer-free body better than original. “Josh is a really good mate who’s helped massively from day one,” says Sam. “He put a tonne of hours into fixing loads of little parking-lot dings and getting it dead-straight during the bare-metal respray.”

Sam had plenty of people trying to convince him to give the Fairmont the ever-popular red-over-charcoal ESP colour scheme, but he preferred to keep things true to factory, so WLDXE was painted straight Monza Red. “It looks exactly the way I always pictured it,” he says.

Having previously run Weld AlumaStar wheels on the XE, this time Sam wanted to go in a different direction, opting for factory ESP ‘Snowflakes’. The fronts are original 15x7s, but the rears have been widened to 15×8 and wrapped in 275/60R15 Nankang rubber. When doing the bodywork, Josh deftly modified the rear arches and wheelwells to accommodate the chunky rubber, and, thanks to Jamie’s killer diff, they fit to perfection.

“I was worried the 15-inch wheels wouldn’t clear the upgraded Wilwood discs and four-spot calipers,” says Sam. “They do – but only just! Being manual brakes with no booster, they feel quite different. The car pulls up fine; it just took a bit of getting used to pushing the pedal a good bit harder than normal.”

Other than new carpet and hoodlining, the Fairmont’s interior remains essentially original. The seats and door cards came up like new after a steam clean and thorough detail, and all the plastics were resprayed. The FT600’s digital dash and the B&M Pro Ratchet shifter are the only real deviations from standard factory fare in the cockpit.

Sam had always wanted a tough, clean XE Ghia – tick! He’d also dreamed of having his car featured in Street Machine – another tick! All that’s left to do now is head to the track, where a timeslip in the nines would complete a real bucket-list trifecta for Sam. And with 870hp between the front rails, a well-matched converter, kick-arse gearbox, on-point diff ratio, sticky rubber, and Mr Marchese at the ready to help dial in the tune-up, things are definitely on target!

SAM ITALIA
1983 FORD XE FAIRMONT GHIA

THANKS
Josh Koussia at J&C Panels; Frank Marchese and the boys at Dandy Engines; Nads at FuelTech; Jamie at Full Flight Engineering; Fred at Protrans; all the boys at Psidup Fabrications; Anth and Ricky at AFA Auto Electrics & Air Con; all my friends and family who helped along the way with plenty of late nights out in the garage.