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Ford Australia's performance arm built a pickup with a turbocharged inline-six, a six-speed manual and 362 horsepower, and almost nobody in the U.S. remembers it. A 2005 FPV F6 Tornado showing about 3,000 miles is now live on Collecting Cars, with no bids yet and roughly a week left on the clock.
What an F6 Tornado Actually Is
The F6 Tornado was the ute (Australian for coupe-utility) version of Ford Performance Vehicles' flagship F6 line, sharing its engine with the F6 Typhoon sedan. Under the hood is the 4.0-liter Barra 270T turbo inline-six, rated at 270 kW (362 hp) and 550 N·m (406 lb-ft) of torque, according to the FPV F6 reference on Wikipedia. It is a tuned version of the turbo six in the Falcon XR6 Turbo, and the manual-only early cars used a six-speed Tremec gearbox.
A period test republished by Auto Trader New Zealand quoted a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.5 seconds and a 1,827-kg (about 4,030-lb) curb weight, both claimed figures. The reviewer noted that the rival HSV Z Series made more power but less torque, and argued the Tornado's real-world pull from low revs more than made up for it. That is a lot of truck for the money, which is why it sits so oddly in the Australian performance story: it was quick, loud about its torque curve, and cheaper than the Typhoon sedan, yet it never got the reverence reserved for the V8 Holdens and Fords.
The Forgotten Part
Part of the reason is simply where it lived. Right-hand drive, sold only in Australia and New Zealand, and shaped like a pickup, the Tornado never entered the U.S. conversation the way an Evo or a Skyline did. The closest American cousin in spirit is the car-based pickup, a niche we have covered with this 1971 Chevrolet El Camino, but nobody in Detroit ever bolted a boosted six and a stick to one. The Tornado also shares an underdog streak with the 1,100-mile Shelby Lancer and the Brabus-tuned Mercedes minivan: a factory-backed performance idea that made sense on paper, sold in small numbers and then slipped out of memory.
This Example
This one is finished in Rapid Yellow over a Warm Charcoal cloth interior. The odometer shows 4,965 km (about 3,085 miles), which the seller believes to be genuine. The seller also says it is reportedly one of only 137 BA-series F6 Tornado utes built and one of just 27 in this color; those production claims come from the listing and should be treated as the seller's statement. It has been in Australia since new and comes with its logbook, owner's manuals, brochures, the FPV folio bag, and two remote keys plus one set of original keys. The listing says it has a premium sound system, climate control and FPV badging, and Collecting Cars notes the VIN has been checked against the Australian Personal Property Securities Register and the national NEVDIS database, with no security interest and no written-off or stolen markers.
One detail worth checking before anyone bids: the listing title calls it a BF, while the description refers to a BA. The F6 Tornado spanned both Falcon generations, so prospective buyers should confirm the exact series with the seller through the comments section.
Auction Details
The truck is located in Kogarah, New South Wales, and is offered by a private seller with a company-registered title. As of November 3 the bid sat at A$0 with about seven and a half days remaining. Americans eyeing it should know that a 2005 build is still short of the 25-year mark generally required to import a non-compliant vehicle into the U.S., so for now this is best admired from here.
For anyone who likes their performance weird, rare and low-mile, the full listing and photo gallery are on Collecting Cars.
