Jeff Sutton of Jalopy Jeff shares some surprising details about this limited-production American mid-engine car that few people have actually seen.
Car enthusiasts enjoy talking about the rare Falcon F7 but probably haven’t seen one up close and personal. But recently Jeff Sutton of the Phoenix-based YouTube channel Jalopy Jeff has. In the video, he shows some of the unexpected engineering details and design cues of this American-made supercar.
The Falcon F7 Invites Comparisons To Other Supercars
From 2012 to 2017, Falcon Motorsports produced only seven F7 cars and had originally planned to build 10 of them. Currently, just six remain. But what’s more intriguing is that the car’s designer, Jeff Lemke (a different Jeff), has borrowed features and design cues from earlier supercars and recombined them into a retro-inspired but entirely new vehicle.
As the host points out, the Falcon supercar uses a Chevy C6 Corvette Z06’s LS7 V8 engine that’s Lingenfelter-tuned, producing 620 hp and 585 lb-ft of torque. A twin-turbo LS7 making 1,100 hp was also available. The Ricardo 6-speed trans-axle mated to the LS7 is similar to the one on the Ford GT40. Lemke also designed a push-rod rear suspension like those on the Lamborghini Aventador and the Ferrari 599.
Another example is the Falcon’s rear-end design, which pays tribute to the Ferrari 308 GTB. And when the F7’s owner opens its engine deck lid in the video, it folds back and up like the one on a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. For the car’s overall look, Lemke blended the best features of the Ferrari 288 GTO, Dodge Viper, Ford GT, and Corvette.
More About The Falcon Motorsports F7
Some of its detractors have called the Falcon F7 a “kit car”. But unlike a kit car, it is hand-constructed despite the carbon fiber and aluminum that dominate, especially in both the engine bay and the car’s Pagani-inspired interior. What’s important, though, is that the car’s curb weight is a mere 2,785 pounds: lighter than both the Z06 and the Viper at 3,117 and 3,431 pounds, respectively.
When this American supercar with its in-dash iPad Mini touchscreen hit the market in 2012, its MSRP was $225,000 and the twin-turbo option started at $300,000. According to Jeff, the F7’s owner in the video recently paid $148,500 with 12,000 miles on it. In 2021, a 2014 model for sale on carsandbids.com didn’t meet its reserve, ending its auction at $122,000. While we can’t speculate how the market will ultimately treat this car, we hope that the Falcon F7 will someday gain the collectible car status that it deserves.
