(first posted 7/7/2017) I started writing this article as news came through that the very last Ford car to be produced in Australia had started its journey down the production line, on October 6 2016. It has been quite the varied run after what was such a promising beginning, but after 3 years of waiting since the announcement, the end finally came and the production lines fell silent.
This article will present a brief overview of the Falcon’s evolution, focusing more on the high points than the low and mostly using Ford advertising and brochure images. I will write some more about the Falcon in future with some more details, but for now enjoy a quick tour through 56 years of history!
The initial story of the Falcon is quite well-known, with Robert McNamara’s exercise in pragmatism having quite the troubled debut down under. While the design was more modern, the durability could not match the market-leading Holden. Ford had invested heavily on the Falcon, with a late change from the original English Zephyr as well as building a large new factory in Broadmeadows on the northern outskirts of Melbourne to cater for the planned increase in production.
Having gained a poor reputation, it took years of hard work and a huge gamble to get the Falcon to really find its place in the market here. I recently had the chance to drive around the ride and handling course used for the infamous 70,000 mile Durability Run of 1965 that marked a real turning point, and as a result I have a new appreciation for what was simply an incredible achievement. In a slightly newer V8 Falcon on some touring laps we didn’t see a peak speed of much more than the 70 mph that the XP Falcons averaged in 1965! The photo above is the 1-in-4 approach to a blind sweeping corner at the top of the hill.
The run was initiated by Bill Bourke, but he had not seen the brand new You Yangs proving ground (located just north of Geelong) and his assumption that it was just like the US ones was not yet correct; the high-speed track had not yet been constructed!
The cars were being pushed so hard that it got to the point where tyres were being flown in from around the country and the entire output of the local Dunlop tyre factory was being sent to feed the cars, 4 of which ran off the road and rolled over. One hit a 2-1/2 ton boulder hard enough to move it, but all were patched up and running at the finish. It could have easily ended in disaster, but as the nine days rolled on the Run gained national news coverage each night as the drama unfolded.
While it flopped in North America, the second generation car hit its straps in Australia with the expansion of the longer wheelbase Fairlane that started the beginning of the end for the Imported full-size cars and the golden GT that started the local muscle car scene.
The Falcon was on a rocket in those years, culminating with the 1971 GT-HO Phase III that would wear the crown of the fastest four-door car in the world at the time with a top speed of 141 mph. The photo above comes from the Wheels magazine road test, and was re-touched before publication to show a speed of 100 mph (top speed in 3rd gear) to try and avoid controversy.
The GT-HO was built to race at Bathurst of course, and just how good the car was is obvious by lead factory driver Allan Moffat getting pole for the 1971 race with a lap 3 seconds faster than previous year, as well as 5 of the top 6 cars being HOs. The picture above includes the second place car 62, the first of 9 cars one lap down. After a furore in 1972 about how fast the ‘homologation specials’ were getting, the racing rules removed the requirement for cars like the HO and it would be approximately 25 years before there would be a faster car built in this country.
When the Torino replaced the Falcon in the USA the decision was made for the Falcon to go it alone in Australia with an evolution of the existing format for the 1972 XA model, and as the decade went on the Falcon would steadily overhaul Holden in sales. The new emissions regulations of 1976 were addressed with the new XC model via a redesigned cross-flow cylinder head rather than simply retarding cam and ignition timing, so that power levels didn’t drop.
The Falcon also featured in the most famous motorsport event in the country thanks to an iconic helicopter tracking shot of Allan Moffat and Colin Bond cruising to a 1-2 finish in the 1977 Bathurst 1000. The cars were still very close to their road-going origins, and Moffat’s car ran out of brakes completely several laps from the end, to the extent the piston seals came out of the calipers. He had a large margin over his second-placed teammate who in turn was well over a lap in front of the third-placed Holden Torana. As Moffat slowed, Bond came up to his tail and held station for a formation finish.
There were around 100 of the dressed-up Sundowner panel vans built
While planning the next generation Falcon, Ford learned that Holden were going to transfer to a new, smaller Opel-based car in response to the fuel crisis; this set off a mild corporate panic with extraordinary lengths being taken to shed weight and increase efficiency. The 1979 XD Falcon was 130 mm (5”) shorter and 100 kg (220 lb) lighter than the XC, with another 31 kg (66 lb) to come with the alloy cylinder head that was introduced on 6-cylinder engines in 1980.
The net result of the hard work was the Falcon used the same amount of fuel as the smaller Commodore, an important factor that led to Ford taking sales leadership in 1982. The locally-produced Cleveland V8 was dropped at this time however, to be replaced by an EFI version of the 4.1L (250ci) six. Surely though this had future repercussions when Holden and Peter Brock’s HDT continued to produce cars that would inspire life-long enthusiasts.
The next-generation EA Falcon that debuted in 1987 was a dramatic but uneven update, with high points being a handsome new body and strong performance from the new SOHC engine with multi-point fuel injection. On the other hand the new 4-speed automatic wasn’t ready in time and there were a few significant problems that let the Commodore back in for market leadership.
They were soon addressed, and as was the case 30 years earlier there were plenty more significant upgrades introduced from the return of the V8, bodyshell strength and safety equipment upgrades, a new sporting focus with XR models saw Falcon hit top spot again. There was a special edition 25th anniversary GT, the first for 16 years.
The XR6 debuted in 1992 with 161 kW (216 hp) and remarkably performed just as well as its V8 brother which had just 5 more horsepower and a bit more weight. Handling benefited from the lighter engine weight, and in the days of huge fleet sales you might even sneak one past the fleet manager because it wasn’t a V8.
After 8 years of Group A racing with imported Mustangs and Sierras representing the Blue Oval, 1993 saw the return to a new, “traditional” 5.0L V8 sedan formula and instant success for the Falcon in the hands of Glenn Seton (1993 ATCC champion), Dick Johnson & John Bowe (1994 Bathurst 1000 winners), and former F1 world champion Alan Jones.
The 1994 EF mid-cycle refresh, with different ‘faces’ for different models as seen above, marked the start of a good time for the Falcon, averaging 75,000 units per year and performing well enough for the US-expat CEO John Ogden to be won over and support the local executives’ plan for the next generation Falcon. If nothing else this was due to the absence of any alternatives that would perform as well in the market; both the Taurus and Mondeo were tried but sold poorly. Unfortunately, it is reported that Ogden’s career suffered on his return to Dearborn because he had failed to toe the corporate line.
The subsequent AU Falcon of 1998 was ambitious and innovative in many ways, but thanks to controversial ‘New Edge’ styling and misjudging of aspects of the model line-up it was less successful – as in 1996 Taurus successful. In particular the base model (pictured) was poorly-received and a change to the fleet sales approach didn’t help, and sales were declining in the face of Holden’s booming VT Commodore range.
The new President of Ford Australia, Geoff Polites acknowledged in the company’s internal newsletter in 1999 that they had got the strategy and styling wrong, and behind-the-scenes changes were being rushed into production.
On the other hand, from nearly being canceled several years earlier the ute really took off with its larger cabin space and a new rear chassis setup that allowed for a range of body styles to be fitted even if some no longer regard it as a true Coupe Utility.
The sporting XR variants were a bright point too, thanks to double-wishbone independent rear suspensions on the XR6 with variable cam timing and the XR8. Both could be had with a bi-plane rear wing if you wanted some downforce for your daily commute weekend track outings.
Left, a T3 series with the 347 stroker engine, right is the 1999 original version.
Not quite so successful, but something that did evolve into a worthwhile halo was the Ford Tickford Experience, or FTe. In competition with the established Holden Special Vehicles, FTe initially supplemented the family hotrod XR8 with some understated executive expresses. The debut of the LS1 engine in HSV’s in particular proved that a more extroverted offering was necessary, so the locally-built 295 hp 5.0 was upgraded to a 5.6L (347 ci) stroker with 335 hp and 390 lb-ft, enough to put HSV in its place.
If the AU was the least successful Falcon since the 1990s Recession, in 2003 the BA achieved the highest annual sales of any Falcon since its peak in 1985 before the import tariff reductions began. This was due to additions to the model range such as the XR6 Turbo, RTV ute and the return of the GT (under the guise of the Ford Performance Vehicles, a partnership with Prodrive who had taken over from Tickford), with its Australian-built 5.4L DOHC V8.
Success on the road was echoed by renewed success on the racetrack with Marcos Ambrose winning enough that he moved to the US and NASCAR in search of more challenges. Another notable upgrade was the introduction of the ZF 6-speed automatic gearbox on the BF model XR6 Turbo and XR8, as well as the FPV range.
Again the Falcon’s success was enough to see the next generation car approved – the FG. The excessive roundness of the cabin’s ‘greenhouse’ was addressed with the roof cant/side rails moved outwards, reducing the ‘tumblehome’ of the side windows (and making the roof wider), and the rear door in particular opened much further and had a wider opening to eliminate a shortcoming of the previous model.
While it was an excellent car, it unfortunately did not have much of an impact in the market. Perhaps partly because the look of the new car had been pre-empted by the final BF Series 2 facelift, as well as the impact of substantially rising fuel prices. Also former private buyers of the station wagon were mostly now buying the Territory SUV.
Since 2000 the Falcon could be had with a dedicated LPG (liquid petroleum gas, mostly propane) engine, but in 2011 the long-awaited EcoLPi system hit the market. This specially-developed system is unusual because the LPG is injected in liquid form instead of as a vapour in most LPG injection systems, so it provides an intercooling effect as the liquid vapourises within the intake tract – power and torque actually increased over the normal petrol engine.
In spite of falling volumes, the master plan was still in effect. There was some more range extension in the form of the 2.0L Ecoboost 4-cylinder engine – a first for the Falcon, and perhaps a preview of what was coming for the Mustang. This had 179 kW (240 hp), but was also 70 kg (155 lb) lighter – notice the fresh air between engine and radiator above. Overall performance was similar to the six but of course fuel economy improved; too bad hardly anyone bought them.
The last new engine was a supercharged version of the new 5.0L Coyote V8 from the Mustang, which echoed 1966 and 1991. This engine was conservatively rated at 335 kW (450 hp), not taking into account the overboost function. A final version of the revered GT badge was the GT-F that had 351 kW, echoing the cubic inch count of the GT’s heyday.
The final FG-X facelift was very much a minimalist update, with new front and rear bumpers but no changes to actual sheetmetal other than the hood, and very little change inside. The XR8 was to return, mostly because it removed the need to create a specific body kit for FPV models. This also cut the price, so it became a bit of a bargain in terms of the performance per dollar ratio.
The Falcon had a final send-off special edition in the Sprint version of the XR6 Turbo and XR8. It is testament to the local organisation that these limited-production cars have had yet further suspension and driveline tweaks that saw it hailed as the best yet.
While the move away from fleet sedans towards SUVs, dual-cab pickups and ever-growing ‘small’ cars may have undermined the Falcon‘s relevance in the marketplace, it has made a huge contribution to the Australian automotive landscape and has been one of the most beloved vehicles we’ve seen. Whether it be basic robust transportation, a flashy road-burner or a luxury cruiser, the Falcon range was able to fulfil a lot of needs for a lot of people for a lot of years. Australia will be poorer for its absence.
In the end there wasn’t be any hoopla or media throng when the final vehicles rolled off the line, but rather the occasion was marked by the workforce without any external attention. The same scenes will be repeated soon at Toyota (October 3) and Holden (October 20), as well as many supply chain companies which really made it impossible for any one of the three manufacturers to remain on their own. There has been a lot of support for the workers who will need to find new jobs in other areas, but I don’t think you could call the process easy. Some elements of the automotive industry will continue, such as suppliers who have gained international contracts and local truck manufacture, but on a much smaller scale.
Ford Australia will continue selling imported vehicles, with the Ranger taking over the position of highest seller, as well as research and development as part of the global Ford network on vehicles such as the next Ranger and others such as the Chinese-market Taurus.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Aussie Falcon over the years, it wasn’t always perfect but overall it was put to a lot of diverse uses, and was a real strong workhorse of a car that has served the country well.
Further Reading:
CC Cinema: The Australian 1960 Falcon Is Born
Curbside Classic: 1998-2002 Ford AU Falcon – Proven Mechanicals, Avant-Garde Styling
Farewell Falcon: Ford Australia To Cease All Car Production By 2016
CC Comparisons: Last Of The Australians – 2007 Holden Calais V vs 2009 Ford Falcon G6E
Large and in Charge: A Visual History of the Aussie Ford Fairlane and LTD
Gunna be a long time before Falcons disappear from NZs automotive landscape the XR variety was a big seller here and they tend to last quite well, My brother living in Melbourne could be described as a Ford man he has a 351 XE fairmont under construction a FG XR8 as a weekend car and has a Ranger diesel ute as his company work car.
The more I learn about the Australian Falcon, the more I like it. While I know the reasons for it not continuing in the US are many, I can’t help but ask “what if” as part of this question did indeed play out.
Thinking about it, has there ever been a car that stayed as close to its roots in size, for as long of a period, as the Australian Falcon? Thinking of cars here, and not just from the Detroit 3, all have experienced bloat a time or two. Compare a ’77 or ’87 Civic or Corolla to a ’17 model, for instance.
Maybe some missed the boat, such as the AU, but the underpinnings were still good. What an amazing car.
has there ever been a car that stayed as close to its roots in size, for as long of a period, as the Australian Falcon?
Well, given the fact that the whole long run of AU Falcons never once had a clean-sheet new platform, that would explain it. That’s not to say that the 1960 Falcon platform is still lurking underneath the latest one, but the Falcon was a perpetual evolution: each generation brought some changes, but never enough to substantially deviate from the preecessor, thus the remarkable continuity of its basic size and concept.
That confirms my suspicion, but I was hesitant to say this was the case.
That reshapes my quandary…how many cars have had such a consistent evolution throughout their tenure? The Beetle, maybe, but I’m thinking more along the lines of those that looked significantly different from one generation to the next. No doubt there are others, but I cannot imagine the number being tremendous given the tendency to completely redesign every so often.
None. Which makes the Falcon such an interesting story.
The Beetle evolved quite differently; it had much more subtle changes over the decade, but it stayed fundamentally much more the same. Some body parts from the last Beetle would fit on a 1938 model. In the case of the Falcon, absolutely nothing was still the same, because of so many evolutionary changes.
There some cars that were built for a very long time (many decades) like the Hindustani Ambassador and such, but they too didn’t go through the constant evolution as did the Falcon.
The Falcon’s six cylinder engine is a prefect representative of the rest of the car: it is a direct evolution of the original Falcon ohv six, yet it became a very sophisticated DOHC engine, and it would be very difficult to see the similarities or its origins.
But it all makes sense, as the relatively low volumes prevented Ford from ever being able to afford a clean-sheet car, and thus the constant evolutionary changes. But yes, I’m not aware of anything comparable.
I’ve read that by the time the local engineers finished, the only thing in common with the original Falcon six was the bore centres.
My first thought was the VW Golf as a car that has steady growth over the years – but there has been more of it!
I’d nominate the M-B S-class as having grown roughly 150mm since it debuted in 1972 (constrained by standard garage size), but the pre-72 cars were significantly smaller.
So no I can’t think of one!
John, neither the Golf or Mercedes S Class are comparable. Both of them have had several clean-sheet new generations. The AU Falcon never did. That’s what makes it so unique. Many generations, but each one was just an evolution of the prior one. Never a truly new generation. I don’t know of anything comparable.
This was only in response to “a car that stayed as close to its roots in size, for as long of a period”, which is separate from redesigns. Of course not having a clean-sheet renewal helps!
There should be a nod in there somewhere for the original Mad Max movie. I had no idea what the Falcon was, or even that there were GM and Ford vehicles exclusive to Australia until I had watched that film. I think it went a long way towards the mystique of these cars penetrating the minds of North Americans.
Also, the Aussie Falcon was also featured in Aussie tv series like Homicide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1r_P-5AawU
Interesting to note when we see some screenshots of the opening credits of that tv series. They changed cars, from Studebaker to the Ford Falcon to the Holden and the Aussie Chrysler Valiant.
http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/homicide.htm
http://www.imcdb.org/movie_129685-Homicide.html
Every Aussie tv show would have had a Falcon, just about. But I could do a post about movie cars, I can think of a couple of others in addition to Mad Max.
Great overview that just barely whetted my appetite. More, please!
I too have always liked the down under Falcon. Dick Johnson- Redundancy at its finest
Will, thanks for this! I am always intrigued by the Australian cars, and think of them as interesting and often better “alternate universe” offerings to what we had stateside.
The ’72 XA Falcon channels the “Clydesdale” ’71 – ’73 Mustang and the ’70 – ’71 Torino. Seems like a sportier/more rational small mid-size offering than the bloated ’72 Torino or the curvy-but-cheap Maverick. I was first exposed to these in Mad Max, and was mesmerized–all the attributes of American muscle cars in a more sensibly sized package.
The ’79 XD Falcon certainly seems more desirable than the concurrent Fairmont/Granada in the U.S.
The ’87 EA Falcon looks like it could have been an interesting RWD option for U.S. buyers as sport sedans gained popularity, badged either as a Ford or a Mercury.
But the ’98 AU Falcon–OUCH!!! What a horrible looking car. That ’90s time period was probably the worst ever for Ford sedan design: you had the bizarre ovoid American Taurus, the malformed European Ford Scorpio and then this thing. Bad all around the world….
Lastly, I am shocked by how much the rear 3/4 shot of the white FG Falcon Sprint version looks like a Jaguar XF…. Seems like so many sedans in different markets adopted a really homogenized “global” look, which I am sure did not help sales.
I also have a question: what is the derivation of the letter designations tied to generations, like XA, EA, FG etc? I know Holden and Chrysler Australia also followed a similar protocol, but I’m not clear on what it stands for.
On ’90s Ford sedans, don’t forget the last Escort with its’ toylike roundness. It was too bad they went that far since the facelift they gave to the wagon was quite handsome and I thought back then that they should’ve done the same to the hatchbacks.
Aussie didnt have Escorts past the79/80 MK2 model, NZ had the 90s UK Escort they dont have much of a reputation here.
Ford tried, making the 2 litre engine a regular production option in the mid-seventies, but the Japanese had a stranglehold on the small-car market. it took more than a big engine to be competitive. Ford turned to Mazda for the Laser, and promptly owned the class.
The letter codes don’t necessarily mean anything, they’re just a convenient way of distinguishing models that didn’t change every year. Much like the British Mark 1, Mark 2, etc. Plus Holden had been using 2-letter codes for almost a decade…..
Also, being built on the previous model’s platform, the XA kept the previous model’s dimensions; the Maverick sedan would have been perceived as too small compared to the 111″ wheelbase Holden and Valiant – plus you’d have that fragility thing to combat all over again. Don’t discount that for a moment. At a time when country users would turn onto a dry ploughed field at 30mph and expect to make it across (I’ve been there!), the toughness of the XR-XY platform could be taken for granted.
Of course, nobody would do that nowadays, would they? 😉
The XA and XB had one change from the previous XY model which was beefed up some in the suspension from the previous US clones, the lengthened the gearbox rear housing on the XA/XB as I found retro fitting a XA motor and box into my XY, the prop shaft is different luckily I had access to two XBs for parts the carpet set was identical and I harvested that and a few other bits along with the tail shaft, cost? one slab of Tooheys. Good cars actually a bit flabby in the handling dept but on Aussie roads it hardly matters.
Originally (back in the 1950s) Holden’s model code related to the year in which the model was released. After it became relatively common knowledge they switched to random letters for a time (all starting with H).
Otherwise they are usually just a sequential designation, with letters occasionally skipped for reasons such as having been used by another manufacturer or more basic reasons; eg Ford went EA, EB, then ED because in Queensland EC is a common abbreviation for “Earth Closet” – not something they wanted their new car to be associated with!
XA was used as a fresh start after the previous model was XY. EA similar after the X sequence had nearly gotten back to the original XK. FG was supposedly a tribute to “Fairmont Ghia”, a model designation that was superseded, but I’m not sure why the B sequence was not continued. The AU only lasted one model (with refreshes) because they wanted to move as far away from that one as possible!
Holdens change of month /year letter code to the H system coincided with Opel inspired /based cars in 65.
It wasn’t me, it was John 🙂
Great article. That yellow Falcon is quite handsome. And the rear shot of the red one looks like a cross between a Mercedes and a Corolla,
I would love to see some durability trials done today. Especially from manufacturers whose reputations are suspect in the public eye.
Did you guys ever get the Maverick, John ?
Not the seventies car you guys know, though a few have come in as recent imports. Instead, we got the Maverick name on this, a Nissan Patrol re-badge.
Then there was the one they had in Europe, a rebadged Nissan Terrano II, which was based on the Pathfinder chassis.
I have seen a couple of US Mavericks here, only one that wasn’t a Grabber V8 hardtop.
I’ve seen two around Geelong, including one unloading rubbish at the recycling depot.
Ahh. Thanks Old Pete. I doubt the US Maverick could have handled what appear to be the rough roads you have there.
A fascinating walk through the history of this unique car. Really, the final model looks like a car I could very easily own.
I understand that Australia’s market is not large enough to support the kind of manufacturing presence it had, but at the same time I was convinced from the start that Mulally’s “One Ford” plan was going to result in vehicles that either starred in one market and were also-ran’s everywhere else or that were so averaged off that they didn’t really appeal all that much to anyone. I think we are a poorer world when there is less variety.
Amen.
Every time I see XD Falcon, I keep thinking it was an European Granada Mk2 (1977-1985) being stretched in every possible direction to fit XC chassis. From some angles, the proportion looked weird. I’m told the only common component between Granada and XC Falcon was headlamps.
Granada and XD Falcon share headlamps, and the wagon uses the tailgate from the US Ford Fairmont. The biggest difference, and quite a controversial point of the Falcon, was the low window line not lining up with the bonnet and boot line – something that Jack Telnack fought for. They “got away with it” by hiding the transition with the door mirror (except when not fitted on the passenger side of base models, such as in the photo above!), and it makes the car look lighter plus is more open from the inside.
The low window line was “quite controversial” – hell, I always thought that was just me that didn’t like it! Learn something new about something old every day. Because of that very window treatment, particularly at the back where the window (to overstate it) appears to practically touch the wheelarch, I preferred the Granada original. Actually, I still do, which has its ironies in that I seem to recall the Granada was a heavy re-skin of the original, rather than new (from floorpan up) like the Falcon. That is, it’s odd that the clean-slate design is, to me, beaten by the makeover.
The front indicators are shared between Mk2 Granada and XD Falcon, not sure about the headlamps.
Oops I think you are right. As Maxwell Smart would say, “missed it by that much”!
Great stuff. I briefly owned a 1997 EL Falcon when I was in Australia. Nothing like it existed in Europe – base model, cheapo interior trim, wind up windows, a 4 litre straight six and RWD. The only luxury was alloy wheels because it was the runout “Classic” edition. Nothing about it was brilliant, but I loved it. It had character.
I love the old Aussie touring car stuff, the fact Ford Australia abandoned Britain’s biggest Ford for America’s smallest only for it to fall apart under local conditions (conditions which to some extent don’t exist now) and the decades of “evolution not revolution” leading to the final models. I think there’s a certain romance to it all, a sense nothing like it will happen again.
The UK Zephyr was into its second model before the Falcon first hit the streets most of the bugs had been ironed out by then, the Falcon was still on the drawing boards when Ford AU adopted it having first had their redesign proposal for the MK2 Zephyr rejected,
Timeline? the updated MK2 arrived in 59 and by 60 the MK3 was already being signed off which Ford AU did build but in smaller numbers and no utes, in NZ MK3 Zephyrs were built as utes by a South Island dealer one for each dealership in the country the Aussie MK2 zephyr ute was a huge success here very popular very tough, the Falcon ute effort not so much early on.
Early Falcon utes were quite uncommon. Holden’s toughness was legendary; soon Falcon’s fragility would become legendary too.
As you say the Zephyr Mk2 was halfway through its run in 1959, and was a little behind Holden in many ways; not a great starting point for a car that would have to run 5 years at least.
Ford Australia didn’t have the design capacity to do a whole car in the 1950s – the Zephyr Mk2A was designed in Dearborn in the next studio to the Falcon, and it was the Ford Aus President Charlie Smith who made the call to change to drop Zephyr and go to Falcon. It was a big call as tooling was already being made at the time, and in an ideal world the changes made over the first two years (if not four) would have been in there at the start, but overall I can’t fault the decision.
That’s a good summation, tonito. As a local, I couldn’t agree that the Falc had character (they were absolutely everywhere!), but the EL in particular is a good example of making some unlikely and relatively rudimentary design elements work really well; good seats, good power, reasonable economy, good ride and quite entertaining handling. As you say, nothing outstanding, but unique in combination.
The industry here sure won’t happen again.
The North American Ford Granada shared nothing but name with the German/British Granada, but the XD Falcon was the “bridge,” sharing the American Granada’s Falcon-derived internals, with styling similar to the German Granada.
Its completely baffling why Ford didn’t duplicate these cars right here for the NA market. Same with the Aussie Holdens, which we did get a taste of. Its not like the classic FE RWD with available V8 isn’t a slam dunk here. These would have made 2 lines irrelevant: The stodgy and oldster-oriented Panther and the modern yet low performance and rinky dink Taurus/Sable. These had the best of all worlds AND upped the ante with a ute. A coupe is all that was missing, and it would’ve made a much more coherent T-bird than what we got. Just sad to see these Aussie cars wither and die.
Baffling? The poor sales of the Monaro/GTO and the GT8/SS in the US should make it anything but baffling.
The reality is that the Falcon was never developed to be an international/US standards car. The Holden was, and was a more advanced car in its recent iterations. Anyway, what works in Australia does not necessarily work in the US mass market. Keep in mind that the enthusiast segment is a very small slice of the market.
Not that I expect that these would have been a slam dunk as Moparrocker implies, but I do feel that these, both Falcon and Commodore, could have been a better basis than the D3 and W and Epsilon platforms currently and recently underpinning the full size lines. Do I think so today? No. But I do feel there were opportunities to do so in pre-great recession time where they literally missed the boat. The GTO was too little and the G8 was too late.
GM’s mistake besides the nonexistent marketing strategies, dated styling by US standards, and lack of local production, is the fact that they were all positioned as high performance halo models for the brands. The GTO didn’t replace the Firebird line, it replaced just the top of the line WS6 Trans Am. The G8 kinda sorta replaced the Bonneville, but ask anyone and chances are they’ll only remember them coming with V8s(as the alphabet soup name kind of implies), not remembering the base V6. The SS? Nobody but enthusiasts know they even exist, the only media exposure they have gotten since release is in NASCAR, which stopped selling cars on Monday a few decades before I was born, not to mention it looks and feels dated and is priced ridiculously for what it is(in part due to the aeformentioned lack of local production).
GM gets a lot of well deserved flack when it comes to their hubris, NIH, and so forth, but, conveniently, when this topic comes up their strategies were apparently flawless in bringing these cars to market, and their market failure is then proof positive that Australian cars don’t work in the US. “If GM couldn’t do it, nobody should!”
They had considered larger-scale North American production in the late 1990s, and again when the VE Commodore was being developed in the early-mid 2000s. The latter was apparently cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Good summary man. The US manufacturers all had a number of products that delivered everything the Australian cars could.
The whole what if thing is kinda nice to talk about over a few beers but the reality comes down to numbers and trying to sell cars like the Falcon and Commodore in an already crowded market just don’t add up
GMH tried the Commodore in the US it failed to sell well for a variety of reasons,
Two door cars dont sell well in Australia as Ford GMH and Chrysler AU found out with previous models in the 60s/ 70s and GMH realised again in the 90s with the new Monaro model the enthusiasts such as my brother buy used not new so in fact did not support the local car manufacturers.
In preparation for the Crown Vic of 1991 they had a serious look at the in-development 1989 Fairlane, but the Panther team was determined their car would win at any cost. It is a shame then that they couldn’t join forces for the benefit of both, but I suppose the Panther team was too wedded to the separate chassis and of course NIH (not invented here) no doubt had a part to play.
So that’s why the NA Fairlane looks so much like a Crown Vic!
I was in NZ in January and there the Holden Commodore and Ford Falco are still seen regularly. The latest versions of both struck me as being very well resolved style wise, and perhaps more in Australia than NZ, pretty suitable for long distance, high mileage work (the traffic police had Commodores for example). If I lived in Aus and did a high mileage, I’d have or the other, no doubt.
The end of local production was perhaps inevitable given globalisation and the limited remaining market for larger cars.
Good account of some interesting and maybe underrated cars. Thanks John
You shoulda rented a XR6 from Avis Roger, Ford stopped supplying the base model to rental fleets here to promote the sportier better handlinfg version it seems to have worked that trim level is certainly plentiful here.
The early 70’s Australian Falcons are so much better looking than the Maverick. The car Ford USA should have been making rather than the humpback looking Maverick.
Amen to THAT!
The XB next along from the XA had some Mustang styling clues, XBs have to be my favourte Falcon I bought and drove several good long distance cars, they tow well untill the transmission fails, every one I bought was driven until it died from over use, then I went to Valiants and later back to Holdens one from 83 and another from 63 that stayed around untill we left the country.
Very nice and extremely timely, just this Saturday (2 days ago) I saw a 1980 or 1981 Falcon XD with V8 at my semi local cars and coffee in Lafayette (near Boulder,CO).
Finished in a light metallic green with what looked a lot like dirt/dust from the outback all over it (but was likely just from a local dirt road), someone spent some time and effort importing it. Hardly in great condition, it was however in splendid “driver” shape. A beautiful shape (to me), harkening back to my favorite euro-Ford period in overall style.
The XD is, to me too, a lovely shape. Alas, the driving experience was unsophisticated. The base model still had the 5+ turns lock to lock of the original 1960 model (only now all of ’em heavy), the same front end, floorpan (widened), the same leaf sprung rear end and something like a .43 CD aerodynamics. The 250 c.i. 6 cyl engines maxxed at about 3500 rpm (like some 1930’s motor) and averaged about 16 mpg in town. My wagon had power steering (better but ultra light) and being an XE, had a Weber carb and performed quite well, but still didn’t like any corner with bumps. Despite my complaints here, it was nice as a steady long distance cruiser. Sadly, they all rusted, badly, inside the plenum chambers under the screen, irrepairable and making them structurally unsound. In truth, many of these Falcons were good cars for their time and place, but not world competitive. It’s astonishing someone endeavoured to get one to America – good on ’em, as Aussies were once prone to say.
Well maybe 4500 rpm! I remember talking to some German backpackers who had an XD/XE wagon, they said the engine was like driving a diesel.
Good for their time and the task at hand. Relatives in the country had XF wagons with the 4.1 EFI and 5 speeds. Cruise everywhere at 120km/h (when the police didn’t worry about that) and when you hit the dirt back off to 110.
All of the Falcon wagons retained that same toughness, and long suspension travel so you would rarely bottom out on badly rutted roads.
So if all the big companies stop producing at home, what will you guys end up with? It seems like a lot of cars to replace with imported models.
The “problem” is taking care of itself, last year only 7.8% of car sales were built in Australia. The top sellers are now medium size pickups from Thailand and small cars and CUVs from Japan and South Korea.
Toyota is the most popular brand by far, followed by Mazda and Hyundai, then Holden and Ford. Top 10 vehicles for the first half of 2017:
Toyota Hilux
Ford Ranger
Toyota Corolla
Mazda 3
Hyundai i30
Mazda CX5
Hyundai Tucson
Mitsubishi Triton
Toyota Camry
The standout model Falcon is unquestionably the XY GTHO Phase 3. A further development of the XW Phase 1 &2, these cars were designed to suit the racing rules of the day, the only changes allowed were engine blueprinting and race tyres of the same size.
Released at a time when most Australians still drove old Holdens and turgid English cars that could barely crack 80+ mph the GTHO series became immediate legends, and rightfully so. Wheels magazine of the day recorded the top speed at 141.5 mph and the quarter at 14.4 with the standard diff ratio of 3:25. But that was with a simple rev limiter which restricted revs to 6150, sans limiter the top speed was 149 @7000. Wheel spin at the change into fourth was also noted by the Wheels road testers. But straight line performance was only one party trick because the Phase 3 was a road car designed to win races which also required cornering, braking, stability, durability and range.
To create this remarkable vehicle the skunkworks at Ford cherrypicked the entire Ford Performance catalogue. It was equipped with a 4V 351 C with nodular iron block, closed chamber heads, hot cam, 750 Holley, twin point distributor and headers. Standard equipment included…. twin plate clutch, heavy duty Toploader, 3″ tailshaft, Detroit locker 9″ inch with 31 spline axles. The brakes were 11″ Kelsey Hayes discs up front and finned drums at the rear with a vacuum tank. Lowered heavy duty springs, shocks, front and rear anti roll bars and a 16:1 steering box ratio completed the handling package. A front air dam and rear spoiler for improved high speed stability was standard as was a 36 gallon fuel tank for increased range.
As a race car the GTHO’s were highly successful both on the racetrack and from a marketing perspective but as a road car these vehicles created (mostly highly illegal) stories which are still being told today.
Would the XA Phase IV have bested it?
Yes. The Phase 1V was essentially the same mechanical package with further improvements but wrapped around the XA body which had much better aerodynamics and a 2″ wider track for better stability. Wheels magazine tested one and recorded the top speed at 159 mph. Unfortunately the Phase 4 was basically so good it created the famous “Supercar Scare” and was cancelled after only four were built. It remains to this day one of the great tragedies of the Australian motor industry.
I’ve got the Unique Cars article and I remember one in Street Machine as well. Apparently there’s a road sedan in lime green with white vinyl roof somewhere out there.
BTW, was Allan Moffat’s HQ in Malvern part of the skunkworks?
I am not exactly sure how closely connected Moffat was to the overall scheme of things but I do remember driving past his workshop in 1977 and seeing a RS3100 Capri parked out front. At the time there was a lot of speculation about the Falcons racing future so I assume he was in the mix.
I grew up just down the road and remember seeing the red semi-trailer parked out front after race day. I was hoping to chat with him for CC, but too late – the warehouse is now an apartment block.
The “skunkworks” or factory race team was at Mahoneys Road in Broadmeadows, just up the road from the assembly plant. Once Ford shut down the race team Moffat would have done his own thing at Malvern Rd.
Don – not too late, only the workshop is gone, not Allan!
Richarbl – I thought I gave the Phase 3 a decent go in an article covering the whole history of the Falcon, but yes it is a pretty special car and the prices paid today reflect that.
Stories, yes plenty of those! Including former owners including David Bowden claiming to have seen 170 mph at 7000 in top from the Phase 4’s. A couple of years ago the sole green production Phase 4 was restored in Sydney, and 2 of the 3 race cars still exist. The only one with any competition history (rallied in the ARC by Ron Hodgson) was written off years later in a road accident.
Thanks for the clarification on the skunkworks John.
Yep, Allan is still around and kicking. Would love to contact him. He’s probably over the Peter Perfect stories, but apparently he owns a Volvo TP21 which would be great fodder for CConversation… when I could actually get to it.
Wow I was not expecting that! I saw one of those as a Red Bull promo car a while back.
The GTHO was hugely successfull on race tracks in Australia but championship winning Alan Moffatt and his car raced in NZ too and was soundly beaten every time on our fast flowing tracks by a locally tuned Valiant Charger the Falcon simply didnt handle all that well, When Ford put a heavy duty rear sway bar on its race car and put up incredible lap times at Bathurst the Holden Dealer team protested which was upheld and they were made to remove the bar and return the car to as homologated, a mystery not at all HDT had in their possession a GTHO and had tried it around the Langlang GMH proving grounds and set their cars up to out handle it.
The GTHO raced with the rear sway bar at Bathurst in 1969, it was one of the reason they had so many tyre blow-outs due to the change in handling and traction out of corners, some of the drivers were getting excessive wheelspin. Perhaps forgetting they were in a 500 mile race not a 10-lap sprint? The road cars were fitted with them too, so it was homologated.
The NZ tracks were mostly shorter so the GTHO couldn’t make the most of its power advantage. There is no doubt that Leo Leonard really had the Charger sorted out.
Leos suspension tuning might have helped the Charger at Bathurst,
If I ever win the lottery or score big at a casino I will import me a few different Aussie Falcons. Had a thing for them ever since “Mad Max” and “The Road Warrior”.
Great feature on the Australian Falcon, a car I’ve admired for a long time.
“When the Torino replaced the Falcon in the USA” ?
It started out as a top trim for the Fairlane in 1968, and then became whole mid size line in 1971. Falcon got replaced by Maverick and then, Granada, on same platform.
Thanks Tomcatt, that is a good point although the last 1970.5 Falcon was effectively a base-trim Fairlane.
It is rather interesting that Ford’s intermediate car grew while the compact shrank. From a 110.9″ WB Falcon and 116″ Fairlane (117″ the last 2 years) with a 58″ wide track, to a slightly shorter but significantly narrower Maverick (109.9″, 55″) below the new separate-chassis Torino at 118″ WB, 62.8″ track.
The Australian Ford was widened to a 61″ track, on the same 110.9″ WB. Without larger cars above it, the narrower Maverick body would have put Ford at a disadvantage against the Holden and Australian Valiant, however there do appear to be similarities in design overall and I wonder if there aren’t similarities in bodyshell details. All three cars (Maverick, Torino and Falcon) would have been in the Dearborn design studios around the same time.
The volume wouldn’t have been sufficient to split between Maverick and Torino in Australia, around 80,000 units per year at the time.
So many Ford memories here, have owned and driven and ridden in so many of them over the years, but I will share just one here>
Back in the early 90s my girlfriend puchased an XD Fairmont Ghia, which ended up being mine as well.
It was a beautiful car to drive, comfortable,confident & relaxing.
I have never been one to explore the limits of a cars handling, so never had a problem with the way it drove, you could feel the effects the weight reduction over the previous models yet it still felt solid and strong. So that is the one that stands out for me, I have never been a fan of euro styling, but that lowered belt line was great for visibility.
The plastic fuel tank of the XD sedan may deserve a mention as well, Ford Oz put a lot of work into introducing that without a problem despite the unproven design in Australia.
Ford meant a lot to me over my working life, I have spent most of it at a supplier whose major client was the Ford Motor Company of Australia, and I was always proud to have played a small part in helping these cars to be built.
Thank you johnh875 and CC for this great feature.
Good point jonco43, if memory serves the XD fuel tank was one of the first plastic ones anywhere, certainly within Ford. One of the extraordinary lengths I referred to. Hardly see XD Falcons on the road now, to photograph for a CC feature, but definitley one I want to do.
I’ve always admired these Aussie Falcons – very nice retrospective.
I have to share one more Ford Oz “moment” here. My daily commute to my former workplace used to take me past a scrap metal yard.
It was obviously a good way for older semi retired gents to make some money, by collecting scrap metal and cashing it in.
The vehicle of choice for collecting this almost without exception was some type of old Falcon , sedan or wagons towing trailers overflowing with scrap, Falcon utes, their noses pointing to the sky day in day out.
It seemed to be that these faithful old workhorses were laughing in the face of what would almost certainly be their fate, as the yard had a car crusher, but at least they were safe for a while.
Australia is going to miss these old Falcons… a lot.
Yes the Falcon wagon is the workhorse of choice if you don’t want a ute.
Yes John that archaic leaf spring rear end on the wagons has a lot going for it, we fitted a set from a ute to a XB GS wagon for towing it worked a treat.
Always felt the AU code was a bit tongue-in-cheek. The styling of that car positively grabbed your senses and screamed “HEY YOU!!!” – and was just as obnoxious, IMHO. But as a used car, they were a bargain practically right from the start.
I just walked the dog around the block and found a nice blue AU XR8 ute. The neighbour over the road has a maroon AU Futura sedan. That’s two I saw in ten minutes, in a little country town with people away on holidays. Old Falcons are everywhere.
The depreciation was part of what killed the car and the category IMO. The proportion of sales to fleets (nb in Australia this includes private companies, government departments etc not just rental fleets) was very high. For a private buyer the depreciation was too great compared to other cars (including small cars, dual cab utes etc) so they would buy used.
Ironically the AU tried to change this, with fleet discounts cut drastically. All it did was drive more sales to the Commodore.
Fleet discount meant free cars as they were on sold for roughly what they cost new, I was interested in 03 when we came back to NZ my BIL worked for the largest dealership in the southern hemisphere which happens to be at the time John Andrew Ford/Mazda he tried to talk my sister into a new XR6 he could get one for the same price as the dealer 21k retail was over 40k my sister bought a Vauxhall oops Holden Vectra instead but the price interested me, nope cant do that immediate family only, ok I just kept driving the 93 Corona
Yes, the AU gave me a chance to have my first “nearly new” car. It was great to finally have a car that we could drive just for the hell of it because we didn’t have to worry if the old car would make it or not.
Got it when it was 2 years old with 31000 kms, an ex rental base model, still smelt new inside and I couldn’t have cared less about the awkward looks, while driving around in air conditioned comfort.
That car changed our lives in the best way
But of course, what was good for me was bad for Ford
jonco43, my brother did exactly the same bought a lightly use ex fleet AU that had the ute grille fitted it looked ok he treble flushed the transmission as he knew about their weakness ad kept that car 10 years only selling it cheap in Brisbane without a RWC as it could not get one there never mind in VIc it still ran well but had holes in the body work He replaced it with a 2011 FG FPV sedan which was a rocketship.
Crying shame that this rwd beast isn’t available in the US. This and the Chevy SS were one of the last 2 great cars. We could sell every one of these things, as we did with the SS..
Mark Rutan
Stumbled across this, a nice read and good comments. I have owned 4 falcons (XP, 2xAU, BF2), my wife a territory and my son an XR8 (AU). None new, but I kept the 2nd hand market bouyant.
When the last Ford rolled out, I “put my Fords out” … 2 falcons and the territory at the time. It has been 4 years since, and I still look at them with awe tinged with sadness. Nothing like a 4dr V8, a heap of fun. And don’t get me started for how soooo many confuse a light truck for a ute. And I have loved my AUs … more character than a pub full of shearers.
Vale.
Vale for the Holdens too.
2016? It doesn’t seem as though the uniquely Aussie motoring scene ended so long ago. Stiill, I guess the streetscape doesn’t lie.
Such a shame that the AU styling was so radical and confrontational. Ford never really seemed to recover from that. The BA was what the AU should have been.
I still see plenty of Falcons in action, the utes in particular. Probably because the Intech and later Barra engines just seem to run forever. 600,000km plus is quite common; a friend has 450,000 on his AU and reckons it’s just run in.
I suspect it was body rot rather than engine failure that did these in.
Same in NZ, lots of Falcon utes of all ages still roaming around here, as well as XR6/8 sedans from the BA onwards. Hardly see any AU models any more though – certainly haven’t seen a base sedan with the toothy grille in many years. A shame really as I think they aged better than the BA in some respects, and their styling almost works now.
Yes, the AU almost looks like it should have come after the BA/BF rather than before. The rounded front and rear, the extreme wraparound of the lights – so common now, but way out of line with the local streetscape then. Compared to the Holden Commodore, the AU looked like a cartoon car, but those who bought one got a car that was just about unkillable. Last time I looked there were three in that yard but I think that house has been demolished now. Might go check today.
The red XA GT in the publicity shot was part of the press fleet when the model was introduced in March 1972. It really did have front quarter vent windows (an option when the XA was released) on both sides but for this photo the one closest to the camera was air-brushed out. With cars (and other objects), air-brushing (the photoshopping of the era) wasn’t uncommon but to edit only one vent must have been an error which slipped through.