Although it will not appear on a modern day GT-HO first-up, Ford and Ford Performance Vehicles are planning to resurrect the Super Roo caricature.
Indeed, it now looks almost certain the Super Roo emblem, which was expected to adorn the GT 40th Anniversary, will make a star re-appearance on a very special Orion-based model from FPV in 2008.
The special Super Roo cartoon, which was a uniquely Australian variation of the cartoon figures that appeared on US muscle cars, made its first production appearance as part of the bold new sidewinder stripes on the XW Falcon GT 351 in 1969.
The stripes and cartoon were first previewed on a two-door motor show concept model with an XT Falcon front earlier in that year.
The Super Roo icon was one of the exclusively Australian performance cues added to the locally assembled GT versions of the Escort, Cortina and Capri. The XY Falcon GT was the last GT to feature the Super Roo after the XA GT was launched in 1972 without stripes.
Although the icon cartoon featured on four different performance models from Ford, only one of which was based on a local Falcon, it is now inextricably linked to the XY GT and more specifically, the GT-HO Phase III (XW GT pictured).
It was believed that an updated Super Roo was ready to make a re-appearance on the GT 40th Anniversary but was removed from this limited edition model at the last minute, among claims from Prodrive that it was being reserved for something a little more special later in 2007.
Fears arose that the Super Roo would be applied to the coming Cobra limited edition (for a comical mix of icons where a snake might end up biting the kangaroo!). It has now been established that the Super Roo has been reserved for a special new model in the Orion range.
As long as the Blue Oval cannot match HSV's rumoured GTS-R 427 in the near future, FPV will sensibly opt not to revive the GT-HO nameplate. However, in anticipation that HSV will make the GTS more of a stand-alone model in its future range, expect a special performance version of FPV's Orion-based GT to revive the Super Roo icon.
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