Ford Performance Vehicles news - Ford takes on the VXR8 - 2009

On Sunday's Top Gear, Richard Hammond concluded - upon driving the Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst - that if you want a proper, non-boring exec saloon, there's only one place to head: Australia.

Further proof arrives today in the shape of the FPV F6 E. FPV stands for Ford Performance Vehicles - the Blue Oval's equivalent of HSV - and the F6 E is a lairy, posh, rear-wheel-drive muscle car aiming to woo sharp-suited businessmen from their BMW M5s and Audi S4s.

Like the Audi, the F6 E is powered by a forced induction six-cylinder engine - in this case, a 4.0-litre turbocharged straight-six putting out 415bhp and 417lb ft of torque.

Impressive figures - and right up there with the VXR8, if not its supercharged Bathurst cousin - but we can't help thinking any proper Aussie muscle car needs a proper V8 under the bonnet.

Ford hasn't released performance figures for the F6 E yet, but expect it to reach 60mph in under five seconds while billowing out great plumes of tyre smoke.

Even so, it's a much more subtle affair than the VXR8 Bathurst in the visual department. Ford describes the F6 E's styling as ‘subdued', but that's nothing a few bolt-on body panels and pearly white paint won't fix, right?

Now all we need is a ute version...