OUR mate Phil Edmondson is a displaced, head-banging Kiwi who lives in Adelaide and has been entertaining us with his staunch XB Falcon for a long time now.

Phil is constantly developing the small-block Ford-powered coupe. We featured it in single-turbo form in the June 2018 issue of SM. In that guise, the white whale completed two Drag Challenge events and ran into the mid-eight second zone.

He then switched to a pair of Precision 7875 turbos in time for Drag Challenge 2019. Despite needing to do an emergency head gasket change on Day Four, Phil finished the event, took home the Quickest Ford trophy and set a new PB of 8.18 seconds.

A seven-second pass looks to be only a matter of time, but Phil loves building cars as much as he loves racing them and is not only planning to give the XB yet another massive makeover, but has started a 1967 F100 project as well. He’ll be documenting both in his new YouTube channel. You can check out the first episode above.

While he’s yet to reveal the plans for the XB, here’s what he had to say about the Effy:

“I found the F100 in Echuca. It is the first of the ‘bumpside’ models, but has a ‘dentside’ tray.

“It was a 240ci six-pot/four-speed deal from the factory, but had a tired 302 Clevo, C4 and nine-inch when I purchased it. I’ve got a complete driveline out of a WM Statesman and am going to fit that: 6.0-litre L98, 6L80E auto, ECU and go-pedal.

“I found a bumpside tub to match the body in Bendigo – they are pretty hard to find, so I’m stoked. The cab is surprisingly good for rust – just one bad spot on the roof and a little in the floor. The usual places they blow out, like the firewall and cab corners, are all sweet.

“I’ve got to check with my engineer before I go ahead, but the current plan is to keep the stock chassis, notch the rear and fit a Car Guys Garage BA Falcon front end. The idea is just to build a comfortable, reliable daily. I’ll put a cam in it and it should go okay; they only weigh 1649kg in stock form. I reckon I’ll go for two-tone factory-style paint, nice and low over big rims. All subject to change of mind, of course!”