July 16, 2024
When Jamie Chant floors it off the start line in his Electric Blue 1971 Ford Falcon XY GT, a roar rises from the crowd as well as from the mighty V8.
Clouds of smoke curling off the back tyres, the blue XY is one of the Historic Leyburn Sprints most popular entry every year.
And this year will see Jamie grab the title as the driver who has appeared for the most consecutive times in the same car – 23 years.
“Whenever it appears, people just swarm everywhere. All they want to see is smoke off the line,” Jamie says.
He makes sure they get a show every time he fronts up to the start, often taking a lucky prize winner for a ride and always the hero of the True Blue crowd at the fence.
The car starting at Leyburn this year is the result of many years’ continuous development - Jamie’s owned it since he was 16. It was a tow vehicle for his speedway cars until being put on the track itself.
It rolls out of his JMC Performance workshop in Toowoomba with 840 horsepower and the ability to spin to 8600 rpm – big figures for a naturally aspirated, pushrod, cast-iron, carburetted V8. But this is a “mild” version; the previous motor produced 940 hp and would spin to an incredible 9300 rpm.
Apart from the engine, Jamie has been determined to keep the Falcon as standard as possible. The beefy aftermarket Tremec TKO gearbox is out of sight, but elsewhere there’s little to reveal its real character.
“There’s no roll cage, it’s got standard seats and steering wheel, original brakes and a nine-inch diff,” Jamie says. And no big fat wheels under bulging guards.
He likes it that way, but when he drops the clutch on the Leyburn start line the engine roar and tyre smoke leave no doubt this is a “street car on steroids”.
