When “Mad Max” was released in 1981, it was supposed to be set in the near-future where oil was rare and society was falling apart. The film would launch Mel Gibson’s career as well as start a worldwide obsession of Mad Max’s police car, the Flacon XB-based V8 Interceptor.

A new Mad Max film is set to be in the works, prompting Ford Australia and Top Gear Australia to team up and ask fans to decide which V8 Interceptor would be right for Mad Max in the 21^st century, reports Carscoop. The designs are no doubt badass, but are they worthy of a post-apocalyptic 21^st century, and are they a hint at future Falcon (or Mustang) designs?

It depends on who you ask. Ford and Top Gear solicited designs for the new Interceptor from in house, settling on two study concepts from a global team of designers led by Tom Willing, chief designer of Asian, Pacific, and African passenger cars. They even held a special screening of the movie for the younger designers to get a sense of what they were doing. While many designs were drawn up, Ford and Top Gear settled on two, penned by Nima Nourian and Simon Brook.

It is Nima’s design that will raise the most eyebrows, with what looks to be a lightning bolt arcing across the front of the car where the grille should be. Rather than outfit Mad Max’s ride with real weapons though, he used an industrial-strength tazer to “zap cars dead.” Wild, no doubt, but would it keep Mad Max alive in the wicked world he occupies?

Probably not as well as Brook’s design. It looks decidedly more car-like, based on the current generation Falcon FG-series, but equipped with wheels that will shred the tires of would-be highway robbers. Badass.

Now we wouldn’t be asking this question if Ford hadn’t recently mentioned that the next Ford Mustang will be designed with global input and picked from among studios in Europe and yes, Australia. Might some of these design cues find their way into the next-generation Mustang? It depends on who the readers of Top Gear Australia choose to be their winner.