{"id":598414,"date":"2026-04-10T18:38:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/598414\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T18:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:38:40","slug":"two-near-identical-ford-xr-fairmonts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/598414\/","title":{"rendered":"Two near-identical Ford XR Fairmonts"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in\u00a0Street Machine\u2019s Australia\u2019s Toughest Fords #2,\u00a02004<\/p>\n

A couple of near-identical XRs. That\u2019s spooky. Is this some kinda club? Maybe fans who\u2019ve built replicas of their hero\u2019s Ford? Rivalry between brothers, perhaps? Ford specialists who want to establish an identity for their business? What\u2019s it all about, and why would two fellas go building near- identical street machines?<\/p>\n

The quick answer to the last question is: they didn\u2019t. Santo Gatto and Marcus Hume didn\u2019t even know one another when they each built what was, as far as they were concerned, a unique street machine. Start with an XR Fairmont, drop in a 351, add some custom touches and a smooth, clean look, hit the road for some neat cruising, then to the track for a bit of quarter-mile work. Just a couple of Melbourne blokes doing what they want to do.<\/p>\n

\"\"Santo Gatto\u2019s black with blue pearl Fairmont at the rear (MYXR 68) is the tougher of the two cars. While Marcus Hume owns the equally sweet green Fairmont at the front (XR 0067)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just amazing how similar they are,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cBoth of them are de-badged. Both of us have got Falcon tail-lights instead of Fairmont ones because we like them better. Both our engine bays are sheet-metalled. The batteries are in the boot. We even set the gauges up the same. There\u2019s loads of little things we\u2019ve done the same. It\u2019s kinda freaky, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inevitably, their paths crossed. Santo built his house just up the road from where Marcus lives. He dropped into the servo where Marcus used to work. Then when Marcus began working at Super Plus Race Components, Santo shopped there. One of Santo\u2019s mates knew Marcus. And of course there\u2019s the street machine scene. Santo saw Marcus\u2019s XR in that servo one day and said he had one just like it. Marcus thought he was crapping on, but sure enough Santo was right, and this encounter led to a long-standing mateship.<\/p>\n

\"\"Santo tends to run 10-inch fats on the rear at the drags, whereas Marcus sticks with 8.5s<\/p>\n

In daylight you can easily see the difference in their colours. Marcus has dark metallic green and Santo went for blue-pearled black. But at night it\u2019s virtually impossible to tell them apart, and the pair laugh about the confusion it\u2019s caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople get our cars mixed up,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cSanto gets people ringing up and abusing him, saying, \u2018Why did you go out and not invite us?\u2019 when it was actually me out driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santo adds, \u201cPeople used to ring me up when my car was off the road and go, \u2018Mate, mate, I just saw your car\u2019. I\u2019d have my heart in my mouth wondering how it could be my car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santo\u2019s Fairmont<\/p>\n

Look closer and you\u2019ll spot the differences. Santo\u2019s Ford is the hotter one, its hi-po donk pouring 520hp from the crank. While Marcus\u2019s is a bit milder with 442hp on tap, there\u2019s still plenty of grunt to play fast games with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Santo has a C1O auto built by BBE while Marcus runs a manual. If you\u2019re really keen, you might pick the XY-spec DBA front discs and XY calipers on the green car.<\/p>\n

Santo loves the power his Ford makes. \u201cIt likes to light \u2019em up a bit, and it hooks up hard and really snaps your neck sometimes. It likes to look at the sky when it\u2019s taking off on the track. It feels unreal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s times I thought I\u2019m gunna sell the car, but every time I get in and turn the key I\u2019ve got a smile from ear to ear, and I quickly change my mind about selling. It\u2019s that V8 rumble \u2013 you\u2019re sitting there and it\u2019s shaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

As tough as the engine is, it\u2019s still a great street powerplant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are amazed at how well it cruises,\u201d says Santo. \u201cEven though it\u2019s got the big converter and big gears, it still likes to cruise. I\u2019ve never had any dramas with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I love the car so much. It\u2019s reliable, it doesn\u2019t give me any dramas and it doesn\u2019t mind going for a cruise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus\u2019s Fairmont<\/p>\n

Marcus\u2019s Fairmont lifts a wheel when he\u2019s on a mission at the strip. He\u2019s had a few dramas, though, initially because some dick ripped him off with a diff. In shortening an XA rear to fit the XR, the bloke cut three inches from the axle \u2013 on one side only! The thing was so far out of whack that the driveshaft hit the body and ended up destroying the gearbox, engine, exhaust and brake lines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A mere week before our photo shoot, Marcus was at the track, shifting from third to fourth, when the top loader\u2019s input shaft snapped. Julian Pavlovic worked like a demon to get the gearbox and clutch rebuilt in time for the shoot.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Marcus is still getting good service from a 24-year-old paint job that was done right in the first place, and his XR has so impressed his girlfriend, Sammy, that she\u2019s gone out and bought an XT GT of her own. Makes you wanna know if she\u2019s got a sister.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Marcus and Santo regularly cruise together, making a real impact wherever they go. They once found themselves, quite accidentally, in the middle of a street-race gathering with a few hundred people and a bunch of turbo fours \u2013 no street machines \u2013 and got a huge reception as they cruised through. Word of their run even got back to them via their mates.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople freak out,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cWe always get people coming into the shop saying they saw me and Santo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bonus when you\u2019re cruising along and someone gives you the thumbs up,\u201d reckons Santo. \u201cYou\u2019re happy that you\u2019ve spent some money. It looks good and people like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2.1sec difference\"\"<\/p>\n

With 10.2sec@132mph versus 12.3@112mph, Santo\u2019s Fairmont is 2.1sec quicker. What\u2019s the difference? Santo\u2019s best time is with track-only parameters: avgas, nitrous, 10-inch wheels instead of the 8.5s he uses on the street, while Marcus has only ever run in street trim. N20 is worth nine-tenths, while the avgas is much better than the PULP Marcus uses, and the wider rubber launches harder than Marcus\u2019s 8.5-inchers.<\/p>\n

Santo\u2019s avgas is swallowed by a big 950cfm Holley and two Barry Grant pumps \u2013 one for regular fuel and one for avgas. With its Parker Racing Funnel Web manifold, Keith Black pistons, 254-264 cam, Pacemaker extractors and twin exhaust, it\u2019s good for 520hp and 440ft\/lb.<\/p>\n

Marcus\u2019s Hallum Performance-built 351 runs 4V heads, Crow cam, Speed Pro pistons, shot-peened rods, stainless valves and much more. Up top is an Edelbrock Torker manifold and 750dp Holley. All for a healthy 442hp at the crank.<\/p>\n

\"\"SANTO GATTO
1968 XR FAIRMONTCOLOUR:Black with blue pearlTHE DONKEngine:351 ClevelandCarb:950 HP HolleyIntake:Parker Funnel WebHeads:4VCrank:4MATHE BOXGearbox:C10Stall:Dominator 5200rpmShaft:StockDiff:Nine-inch, 4.56:1, Moser axlesTHE ROOMSteering Wheel:Image WorksGauges:Auto MeterShifter:B&MTrim:StockTHE RIDESprings:6cyl (f), re-set leafs (r)Shocks:Pedders 90\/10 (f), 50\/50 (r)Brakes:StockWheels:Center Line Auto Drags, 15\u00d75.5 (f), 15\u00d78.5 or 15\u00d710 (r)Treads:Nankang (f), N50 M&H RaceMasters (r)\"\"MARCUS HUME
1967 XR FAIRMONTCOLOUR:Metallic greenTHE DONKEngine:351 ClevelandCarb:750 DP HolleyIntake:Edelbrock Torker 4VHeads: 4VCrank:4MABTHE BOXGearbox:Top loaderClutch:Hayes Street & StripTailshaft:CustomDiff:Nine-inch, 4.3:1, 31-splineTHE ROOMSteering Wheel:StockSeats:XR GTGauges:Auto MeterShifter:Hurst IndyTHE RIDESprings:XF 6cyl (f), stock (r)Shocks:90\/10 (f), 50\/50 (r)Brakes:XY all round, DBA discs (f)Wheels:Convo Pros, 15\u00d76 (f), 15\u00d78.5 (r)Treads:Nankang (f), G60 M&H RaceMasters (r)\"\"<\/p>\n

THANKS
FROM MARCUS (ON LEFT): All the boys at Hallam Performance; Peter, Simon and Kevin at Super Plus Race Components; Matt Pacey at Hallam Service Centre; Tony at Flash Detailing; Julian Pavlovic for the gearbox; Chris D\u2019Oliveria; Sammy.<\/p>\n

FROM SANTO: Tony at Flash Detailing; Johnnie and Michael at BBE Automatics; Jimmy\u2019s Race Cars for the chassis; Nick Xerakias at Northern Dynamics for the dyno; Super Plus Race Components for the good deals.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First published in\u00a0Street Machine\u2019s Australia\u2019s Toughest Fords #2,\u00a02004 A couple of near-identical XRs. That\u2019s spooky. Is this some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-598414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}