Australian Motor Show: Black to the future

Ford's black FPV GT concept at Melbourne screamed power and fuel consumption - and visitors to the show were fascinated by it. Photo / Supplied

It's not quite the GT-HO rumoured to be somewhere in the Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) pipeline, but the company's first go at making a concept car had eyes popping when the wrapping came off at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne.

At a show where "green" and "sustainable" have been catchwords on many stands, the black-on-black FPV GT concept oozed brawn and excessive fuel consumption, but visitors were fascinated by it.

The show, which alternates between Sydney and Melbourne and has earned a spot on the A-list of world motor shows, has drawn big crowds. It finishes tomorrow.

FPV staff have been keeping a close eye on how visitors react to the car. Although the FPV GT is a one-off, public opinion provides useful information about what aspects might find their way into production, maybe as upgrade packages, as individual performance components, or in a new-generation GT-HO.

"We have put together a package of performance and design enhancements to demonstrate what could be done by FPV in the future," said Rod Barrett, FPV's general manager.

Some experienced Australian commentators are suggesting the aggressive front bumper with large air intakes that cool the front brakes and feed the supercharged Boss 5.0-litre V8's water-to-air intercooler will make it to production on the FGII.

The concept is finished in shiny Silhouette black paint with a matte stripe package on the bonnet, rear wing and body sides. It sits on black 19-inch lightweight one-piece forged alloy rims, eight inches wide at the front and 9.5 inches wide at the back. A performance brake package includes larger six-piston brake calipers up front and four-piston brake calipers at the rear, both finished in black.

The black theme continues inside with black leather trim and an all-black dash.

Despite a full stainless twin exhaust, the concept is said to deliver the same 335kW as the supercharged Boss V8 in FPV's GT range.

Rival HSV, meanwhile, was showing its own take on 'black', with a Black Edition ClubSport limited edition. Confusingly, though, the HSV was finished in white. Huh? It turns out you can get HSV's package in other body colours, including Phantom black. The "blackness" of the limited edition is in such details as matte black trim and gloss black 20-inch forged SV Performance alloys. There's other black detailing inside, but the motor is still the red hot 317kW 6.2-litre LS3 V8.

Concept cars paint industry picture

You can tell the health of the auto industry by the number of concept models at the big car shows.

After being tossed around in the global financial crisis storm, Melbourne provided a clear indication that the automotive industry was rebounding.

Show cars included the BMW Concept Vision EfficientDynamics, due here shortly; the sleek Mazda Shinari four-door sports coupe; Hyundai's Blue2 fuel cell concept; Lexus' imposing LF-Gh hybrid; the Toyota Prius C and Subaru's XV, designed to test public opinion for a compact SUV.

The battle begins

Ute wars were declared at last year's show in Sydney with Ford and Mazda revealing their next Ranger and BT-50 - they'll be here late this year - and promising more to come.

At Melbourne, "more" was Mazda showing the extended-cab version of its BT-50 while Ford premiered its upmarket macho-looking Wildtrak version of the Ranger. However, this year, there were distractions. Toyota showed its next Hilux, featured in last week's Driven, and Holden previewed the 2012 Colorado ute.

The Holden was still in "show car" form, but the production version will be similar. Slightly larger than the typical Japanese ute, it will have a 2.8 turbodiesel under its American-style sheetmetal.