THIS Ford LTD, with its oversized engine, is the army’s newest recruiting tool after being showered with a $250,000 makeover on the Border.
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The 1978 model has been transformed by apprentices from the Army’s School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Bonegilla since mid-2008 when it was bought from East Sale in Gippsland.
About $250,000 was spent on the task, which included installing a V8 Ford 460 big block engine.
The hotted-up LTD made its debate at last weekend’s Summernats in Canberra, with project manager Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Regener saying crowds described the car as “awesome”.
“The vehicle achieves two outcomes — it brands the army in the motorsport environment and it gets Generation Y to think about a technical trade in the army,” Colonel Regener said.
He estimated Street Machine magazine had provided about $300,000 in exposure by documenting the LTD’s reconstruction.
Incoming Commandant of the Army Logistics Training Centre, Colonel Andrew Adams, said the project, which involved 60 apprentices, was not just about building a show car to take to revhead events.
“We are very keen to attract keen, young folk who have got an interest in the mechanical components, any trade components of future work, to join (the) army and get exposure to what it is to undertake technical trade training,” Colonel Adams said.
Each day that trainees work on the car, they gain experience in fault-finding and mechanics, he said.
“So that when they go on operations in support of any army unit, they are able to do that instinctively.”
The LTD will now be taken around the country with events including the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race in Adelaide and the Top Gear television stage show.
