Tickford Returns with High Performance Fords!

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Great News for Ford Performance Fans! In fact, great news for all performance fans; as it was confirmed today that the much loved TICKFORD brand is set to return to the performance market specializing in Ford road cars!

Pro Drive Racing Australia (PRA), who were the evolution of the original Tickford Engineering prior to being shut down in 2002, will launch the brand during Bathurst 1000 week this year, 2016.

The new Facebook page, lunched just this week, bears the slogan, “Performance driven by Passion!”, as well as the new Tickford logo.

The return to tuning of performance Fords, will actually be a new division of the racing team PRA Garage, with the plan being to start with a Ford Ranger.

The Tickford tuning shop will provide enhancements to both engine and chassis, as well as the car’s interior and exterior.

The Tickford logo will adorn the first project which will be a hot Ford Ranger available before the end of this year. The exciting news is that a Mustang will follow with the 2017 range.

PRA CEO Tim Edwards spoke to motoring.com.au, saying that Tickford would be different to current performance car tuners, because of the engineering development it intends to put into its vehicles that would be Tickford unique.

“We don’t want to be just bolting on other people’s parts,” Edwards said. “It’s about developing new and unique products for the Tickford business.

“There are a lot of people out there playing in that space, just bolting on Ford Performance parts, and that’s not our objective or our business model.

“Yes we can do that, but that’s not our focus at the moment, it’s about developing new and unique parts that are uniquely Tickford parts.”

Although the Tickford CEO played down the suggestion of competing with the tuning providers like Roush, Herrod and Mustang Motorsports, the fan base would relish the suggestion of a 650Hp Mustang that would be sold through the current Ford dealership network. Besides the convenience of `factory performance options’ as it was in the glory days of the T-Series range of Falcons, it’s also the peace of mind that comes from warranty protection and compatibility of the performance parts in the Ford.

“I don’t want to get into specifics about what we are doing with the cars at the moment, because we are not at the point of announcing that,” Edwards said.

“But the brands you are talking about are all fitting a common part and there is nothing unique and new about what they are doing, so if we just do that then we are just competing with them.

“That is why we are looking to do things a little differently. We don’t want to go into competition with them. We will leave them playing in that space and we will develop Tickford products.”

To be honest, the Tickford plan to target the Ford Ranger sounds quite intelligent, very researched and also like Tickford have learned a lot about the errors of the past, and the market that would provide the best chance of survival.

“We are not taking on any of those companies with Ranger because we are more appealing to the masses than that niche portion of the market,” he said.

“There is an opportunity with Ranger. There are a lot of things that can be done to that vehicle. It sells in fantastic volumes and not everyone wants to take it to the real off-road specialists to have it personalised.

‘We don’t want to make it a mud-spitting, jacked-up design specifically for going to the tip of Australia. We want to personalise it, give it a different look and feel.”

That’s perhaps reminiscent of the market Dodge currently play in with the SRT8.

It makes good commercial sense and from a business and marketing perspective, there is common sense in targeting a niche market where the brand would have a competitive edge whilst at the same time, using the Ford dealership network as showcase.

“The fact is we still have a lot of close links with the Ford dealer network and the Ford fans and the Ford customers. The number of people who ask us when we are going to do something means there is definitely an opportunity there.

“As with any business you are always looking at ways to expand and diversify. We are not blinkered that we are only going to go motor racing.”

For the un-educated, the PRA Garage race team was born from what was Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) and of course that evolved from what was Tickford prior to 2002. The resurrection of the Tickford brand was therefore a logical step according to Edwards. In fact a number of staff currently engaged at Tickford are from the old business, including PRA Garage boss Tony Harris.

It’s important to note that the revival is not part of any Ford strategy, however the Ford dealer network is an important part of the new Tickford distribution strategy – and that also makes a lot of sense and comes from experiential learning.

For road car tuning fans, regardless of alliance to Ford or Holden, this is great news as it potentially breeds new life into a local Australian market that had become stale since the dismantling of FPV and HSV.

Welcome back Tickford!

 

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