Tickford - The Joy Of Driving

Author: Gavin Farmer, Softbound, 138 Pages, 53039, ISBN: 9781876953034, 1st Edition, November 2001

Tickford Vehicle Engineering and the XR series of sporting family sedans that they produce have come like the proverbial breath of fresh air for Ford. During the late Eighties and early Nineties the company was labouring under a dull and boring image—Falcons are taxis, mate—that was going nowhere in the market place.

Gone were the halcyon days of winning on Sundays and selling on Mondays, the roar and thunder of the big 351 cubic inch V8's on Mount Panorama and other circuits around the country. Gone were the personalities associated with winning. Sure the company was pegging back Holden in its quest to be Numero Uno in Australia. but there was no soul. The passion had gone.

And then along came a man born, raised and educated in Melbourne but who had seen the world with Ford—Jacques Nasser. He had a dream, a vision. Through the agency of John Thurston at Tickford UK in Milton Keynes, the dream was realised.

This book could not have been accomplished without the assistance of many willing people. None have been more willing nor enthusiastic in this task than David Flint, managing director of Tickford Vehicle Engineering Pty Ltd. David was instrumental in getting the ball rolling within the Ford organisation. It was David who involved Jac Nasser, John Thurston and David Morgan in the project and introduced me to many other key players in the Tickford saga in Australia. Included in this august group were David Orchard, Howard Marsden, Ian Vaughan, John Mole, Peter Gillitzer, David Galvin, Mike Jarvis, Don Pearce, Lindsay Dawson, Gordon Barfield, Alan Thompson, Peter Ford and Steve Hoinville.