Happy New Year ! For most of us, the turn of the calendar represents a new (hopeful) beginning. A fresh start, if you will, to take stock, begin anew or re-commit to what’s important. New Years Day is life’s reset button. So it was on this day 42 years ago when Ford re-launched a trusted marque that had, in its former life, defined what it meant to be sensible and thrifty. The new “Falcon” that buyers saw in showrooms that day was not in itself a bad car. But with an unclear purpose and a half hearted commitment by a management very much in turmoil, the last Falcon was an endangered species from the moment it appeared on the scene.
The original Falcon’s ashes weren’t even cold when FoMoCo pirated the name for a new sub model to be carved out of the Fairlane/Torino series in time for the new decade. The original Falcon had been made superfluous by the new for ’69 Maverick and imminent federal crash protection standards that the car couldn’t meet, and Ford pensioned it off in December 1969 after a short run of 1970 models.
Even before Ford released the Falcon as a “half year” model, there were many sub-plots taking place out of sight of the public at the company’s Dearborn, Michigan headquarters. The executive suite at FoMoCo had become, by 1969, a seething palace of intrigue and political infighting that threatened to split the company into warring camps. The corporation went through an entire year with no president after “Bunkie” Knudsen (above) was dismissed on September 2nd and remained rudderless during almost all of 1970. Characteristically, company chairman Henry Ford II had grown bored, resentful or just jealous of Knudsen and thus the way was paved for his favorite marketing Svengali, Lee Iacocca, to ascend the greasy pole to the company presidency in December 1970.
Thus the real history of who exactly greenlighted the Falcon of 1970 ½ is hard to pinpoint with any accuracy. More than likely, it was a collective effort of anonymous committee men with no real power to lose or perks to share. On the other hand, what would become the ’70 Torino was one of Iacocca’s favorite designs of this era. He approved it as a project after just a single viewing. This would explain the bizarre coming and going of one of the most obscure models ever intended for a mass market. The car would be gone in a season (literally) and leave no lasting legacy except confusion. To this day, even knowledgeable Ford watchers call it a Torino. This is the car that in a sense, never was.
One thing that is known is that the last Falcon would share the body developed in 1967 by Bill Shenk for the 1970 Torino/Montego twins. There would be some differences for the Falcon line (see below) , but the same basic car was offered as everything from straight six stripper Falcon at $2599 to a Mercury Cyclone for $3938.The Torino line won the Motor Trend “Car Of The Year” award for ’70, (which more or less affirmed Iacocca’s gut instinct) and sales marched smartly upward.
The new Torino was a fetching design that got Ford’s mid size line away from the boxy, dated Fairlane genre of 1967-69 that was rapidly losing ground to the curvaceous new GM midsize models. Straight lines were out, the “coke bottle” look was in, and Ford interpreted the trend with a full line of mid size/mid price cars that were arguably among the best looking cars on the road in their day.
The Falcon was the dowdy “grandma car” in the Torino/ Fairlane lineup. (The Fairlane had been downgraded to a sub series of the Torino line in preparation for its phase out for 1971). Even though the Torino offered a strikingly handsome hardtop and a sporty convertible, the Falcon lineup included only a two and four door sedan and station wagon. Ford also kept the Ranchero in the Torino family, even though the model had been a “Falcon” staple in years past.
Interiors were taxicab plain, with all of the usual stripper characteristics that kept the price low (rubber floormats, radio delete, tinted glass optional) and delivered the kind of value that the marque was known for.
Under the hood, the base engine was Ford’s 250 Straight Six that was itself a stroked 200 that had been around since 1963 and had found its way into lots of bottom feeder Blue Oval cars since that time. With 155 HP, the six made the Falcon respectable, but not particularly exciting. The effect was that of a librarian’s dream wheels.
That is, unless you checked off just the right boxes on the order sheet at your friendly Ford dealer. One anomaly of the Falcon adventure was the availability of every engine combination offered in the performance Torino. That meant that if so inclined, a potential buyer could choose from no less than seven powertrains on offer in the Torino catalog. This meant that you could get some picante relish with your dog dish hubcaps. Engines ranged from the low-po straight six to the mighty 429 Cobra Jet Ram Air mill that belted out 370 (gross) horsepower. A Hurst shifter was another option for the go fast buyer on a budget. This could make the car a real sleeper in the stoplight derby of 1970 if the protagonist didn’t understand what he was up against. But only 90 429-4V –CJ engines left the factory in the car’s brief run. And since front disc brakes were offered, but not standard, stopping a 429 at full tilt must have been terrifying. Falcon’s rode 14 inch bias ply Firestones.
One option not in the mix was the hidden headlights that gave the Torino its unique “face” . The Falcon made due with a cast plastic mini eggcrate grille that was shared with the base Fairlane 500. Windshield wipers were the hidden variety that was becoming popular in these years. Lack of adornment made the car look exactly like what it was meant to be- a bargain priced stripper that belonged in an air force base motor pool. While by no means unattractive, its plain jane looks helped hold sales below expectations.
By Memorial Day, it was obvious that the reconstituted Falcon was a turkey, and plans to phase it out were set in train. The jazzy Torino was selling like hotcakes and it didn’t make sense to tie up production lines with a car that made little money and had no future. The last Falcons were assembled the week after July 4, and dealers slowly sold their remaining stock.Just over 67,000 Falcons were hatched in the short model year, so the car is obscure, but not really rare. When the ’71 Fords debuted that fall, the Fairlane and Falcon were nowhere to be seen. Mid sized Ford would mean Torino forthwith.
Finding a Torino Falcon these days is tough, but not impossible. Lots of them have the straight six with three on the tree and as such, don’t bring any big money. Lots of those models were driven into the ground and ended up as beer cans not too long afterward. The big engine, go fast examples command big bucks in top nick, but condition is paramount. Rust, a thirst for premium gasoline and indifferent build quality meant that survivors of the second gas crisis in 1979 were few. Some owners may not even know that they are even driving a Falcon. It was not unheard of for teenage gearheads to swap the Falcon emblems on their straight six hand -me- down for Torino livery (Like my friend Donny Crabtree did in our high school days). And rumours persist that Ford offered dealers a rebadge kit for leftover Falcons late in 1970.
Have you seen or remember these rare birds? I welcome your comments below.
More mystery to add on the table, I spotted on this forum devoted to the Maverick http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=62699 then the Maverick development originally started as a 3rd-gen Falcon. Too bad then the pictures are deleted, It showed some proposal sketches of these earlier “Falcon Maverick”.
Too bad then Ford didn’t shipped the tooling of the 1966-70 Falcon in Brazil, it could had been a more bigger cotenter against the Chevrolet Opala and the local version of the Dodge Dart.
Back to the main topic of the mid-size Falcon, let’s imagine some “what if?” scenarios. Just imagine what if Ford had let the Falcon name continued in North America on the Torino platform? Does Starsky & Hutch still look cool if they had rided in a 1970½ Falcon 2-door sedan (as long as they had the 429 under the hood)?
And if Clint Eastwood’s movie was “Gran Falcon” instead of “Gran Torino” would still be a big smash hit at the box-office?
“Does Starsky & Hutch still look cool if they had rided in a 1970½ Falcon 2-door sedan (as long as they had the 429 under the hood)?”
Zing! Good one.
Or, what if Ford stuck with Fairlane for all their middies for ’68, would we have had “Gran Fairlanes” in 1972? S&H ‘Striped Fairlane’?
Nah, new name Torino was needed. But then was trashed for 1977, :=(
“Gran Fairlane” would had sounded nice.
Interesting trivia, Ford continued to use the Fairlane name in Venezuela for the 1972-76 Torino, here some interesting pictures from brochures at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/4751342492/in/photostream/
http://www.autospecs.info/Photos/6369428469/1974-ford-fairlane
it almost like if we landed in some “alternate universe” or “parralel universe”.
In Argentina, Ford made the 1968-69 4-door sedan body until 1981 with the old 292 V8 Y-block. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/4750702999/in/photostream/
Australia got a different Fairlane…. (there some pics of those 1970s Aussie Fairlanes at http://www.autospecs.info/CarSpecs/1974-ford-fairlane )
Another curiosity (to me at least): the Australian Ford closest to the Torino in style and intended market, most famously seen as the ‘V8 Interceptor’ in the Mad Max movies, kept the Falcon name thoughout the ’70s. ‘Torino’ didn’t mean anything to Australians? Too small a market to bother promoting a new name? Who knows?
The Falcon was the mainstay of Ford Australia throughout the seventies and eighties. It had quite a different market position in Australia than it did in the States — it was not a compact, but a largish family car. (There was also a stretched Fairlane/LTD, based on the Falcon, but it was a smaller-volume product.)
Ironically, the Falcon had gotten off to a rocky start in Australia, and some histories claim that Ford seriously considered dropping the Falcon nameplate — the likely replacement would have been Fairmont, which was introduced as the better-trimmed upper-series Falcon– but by the early seventies, it was doing very well, and was one of the best-selling cars in OZ.
Ford OZ never wanted the Falcon it tried for its own redesign of the MK2 Zephyr and was knocked back probably because the MK3 Zephyr was already done The Zephyr was tough durable race and rally proven it lapped up the tough aussie conditions and had already been converted into a ute Ford OZ got the Falcon off the drawing board as a booby prize it turned out the customers expecting a replacement for the Zephyr or their aging Customline were horrified, Falcon fell apart not in the bush but on city roads it certainly wasnt competition for Holden or the new Valiant and had to be reengineered properly.
Charlie Smith, Ford Australia MD, lobbied hard for the Falcon instead of the Zephyr Mk. IIA — he saw models for the latter in Dearborn in ’57 and thought it would be DOA in OZ. He retired about a year before the XK actually went into production, though.
Charlie Smith won through but the Falcon lacked development it wasnowhere near as good as the Zephyr it replaced The MK2a was only a minor facelift the MK3 was a full redesign that debut in 62 Ive seen drawings of what Ford OZ wanted their Zephyr to look like its awful no wonder dearborne said no
They never used the Torino name on Aussie Fords, so I doubt it was ever a serious possibility
I remember seeing a few of these on the road in the early ’70s. They really were fairly decent looking in its low-budget class.
Yeah, I know…. BUT…….. going on appearances only I detect a few semblances (resemblances a better term?) of the Chevy Nova in a few of the body lines of the pictured cars with some viewing angles more Nova-like than others.
Copying going on? By Ford, by Chevy or neither?
Old Coot not drunk or impaired by any intoxicating or impairment-inducing substances.
Other than normal aging processes.
Remember…. as my Mennonite pal avers; do not drink nor drive.
“only I detect a few semblances (resemblances a better term?) of the Chevy Nova in a few of the body lines of the pictured cars with some viewing angles more Nova-like than others.”
Your gut instinct is right. Knudsen had come from GM and even though his tenure at Ford was short, he did influence the design of several FoMoCo models.
Despite being a 2 door sedan, these cars were quite sharp looking I’ll say, even sans extraneous chrome bits to brighten it up, outside the little “Falcon” script in the rear quarter flanks.
It’s rare to have a car looks this good in such a “plain Jane” package but then you step up into a Torino and it only got better since you then had the hardtop version of the same car.
That dog-dish yellow example you show would look a tad better with a set of chrome trim rings on those black steelies with the dog-dish caps for a little extra touch and yes, it DOES look great in yellow.
However, for the post ’71 Torino’s, I’ve always like the ’72′s best of that body style.
Nice write up of a car that I never knew came as a Falcon, let alone that the Falcon name existed beyond 1969 as a dowdy sedan/coupe, who’d da thunk?
Along with the 1969 Chevelle 300 Deluxe coupe with the SS396 package, the 70 ½ Falcon with the 429CJ engine ranks as one of the most rare, ‘strippo-special’ musclecars.
The rarity is also rather hard to understand. Did the market that was so hot only a scant two years before with the wild success of the ultra-cheap Plymouth Roadrunner suddenly die out that quickly, or was it due to neither GM nor Ford doing very much to advertise either of their cheapest (and, thus, low-profit), fastest musclecars? I suspect the latter because, although Roadrunner sales were also sliding, lightning had struck twice over at Plymouth with the new, hot-selling, de facto replacement for the Roadrunner, the Duster 340.
Or maybe it was as simple as the pillared 2-door versions of the Chevelle and Falcon just weren’t as good-looking as the pillared coupe Roadrunner.
Here a pic of a ’69 Chevelle 300 Deluxe pillared coupe with the SS-396 package then I saw at http://www.showyourauto.com/vehicledetail.php?Chevelle-SS-270
I regret then Chevrolet didn’t do a 1970 300 Deluxe pillared coupe with the SS-454 package. Pontiac did the same with the GTO reverted as an option for 1972, here a picture of a pillared ’72 GTO at http://www.junkyardlife.com/2011/07/cars-in-yards-1972-pontiac-gto-post.html
I guess Don Yenko was on something with the Yenko Novas with the 427 big-block for 1968 and 1969 and the 1970 Yenko Deuce with a beefed 350 small-block. Imagine what if Pontiac had stepped earlier in the game with the small Ventura GTO coming in 1971 instead of 1974?
rudiger: Because even though the Roadrunner was pretty much a stripper, by virtue of its exclusive name and marketing, it didn’t really come off like one. It’s an image thing, as usual.
Those guys that bought the true strippers with the big engines were more “in the know”, and/or more serious about their racing, etc., and less image-conscious.
The market did pretty much die out that quickly. By the time this car came out, insurance on anything with a large engine — or, in some cases, anything with a four-speed — had become prohibitively expensive for the people who were most interested in such models.
Some months back I bought a glossy enthusiast mag called Ford Milestones. One of the featured cars was one these. It was a nasty shade of mint green and had the 429CJ, four-speed, and GT wheels.
One thing to keep in mind about the 1966-70 Falcon is that it was no longer a “real” Falcon. For 1966 Ford switched it from the compact platform shared with the Mustang to that of the mid-sized Fairlane/Comet platform, which at the time was roughly four inches wider.
The 1966 Falcon was literally a shortened Fairlane. The door sheetmetal for the sedan and coupe were identical to that on the Fairlane, and the wagon’s main differentiation was its front sheetmetal.
As such, I’d be skeptical of claims that the Ford would have had trouble upgrading the 1970 Falcon to meet federal crash standards.
When the Maverick four-door sedan appeared in 1971, I remember reading in a buff mag that some Ford execs had regrets about discontinuing the pre-Torino Falcon because of growing sales of aging compacts such as the Valiant and Nova.
I wonder whether the Torino-based Falcon was discontinued primarily due to low sales; 67,000 is pretty good for a mid-year introduction. The base 1971 Torino didn’t sell all that much better with a full year of production.
For 1971 Ford also discontinued the Fairlane 500 nameplate in favor of Torino. Using only one nameplate for all of its mid-sized Fords was certainly less confusing, but Ford also threw away a whole lot of brand equity when it simultaneously retired the Falcon and Fairlane.
Dejavu when Alan Mulally demanded they bring back the Taurus…
I always understood that the old Falcon that survived into early 1970 models (built up to 12/31/69) were discontinued on the eve of new design regs that took effect 1/1/70 (the locking steering column comes to mind). It would not have taken much to make the car compliant, but the Maverick sedan was on the way, so there was no need to spend the money.
Frankly, I always saw this car as something, anything, to hold the fort until the 71 Maverick sedan arrived. Doing a strippo Torino had to have been way cheaper than making the 69 Falcon legal for only a year.
I happen to own one of these rare cars, I ask how many have u seen, I’m 62 years old and have worked at ford dealerships since 1971. i’ve only seen 5 in my life and other than mine the other four have been in ths last 15 years since i’ve started attending car shows and cruise in. 67,000 is a very wrong production number. I have printed documentation from Ford stating that only 26,000 total uints were built with 2600 being 2 door post and the rest being four doors and
wagons. Have never seen a wagon nor have i ever talked to anyone who has.
I have a 1970 1/2 ford falcon 429 cobra 4speed .just wonder what its worth car has only 5600 miles .
The Internet is your friend…try KBB or NADA
More than a few of these made their way into Canuckistan and I remember I had a friend in elementary school whose dad had a yellow stripper Falcon, just like the one in the picture, complete with three on the tree and boat anchor six. The car was a total rust-bucket three years after it was bought. The owner spent a fortune fixing the holes, only to have more rust pop up almost immediately.
In the early 1970s, strippers were popular in Canuckistan for a couple of reasons. First, we have always paid more for cars for some strange reason. After the Auto Pact of 1967 there has never been any reason for this, but we still pay more. (Even with the appreciation of the Canuckistani Peso from one million to the the Real Dollar to six hundred thousand, we still pay more). Second was cars of those days were throw-away items in places like Quebec and Ontario, where millions of tons of road salt are applied to roads every year. It didn’t make a lot sense to spend the extra pesos when your fancy ride was going to have holes in the rocker panels after a few years.
My dad did exactly this for these reasons. I remember he had a 1970 Pontiac Srato-Chief two door hard top with 350 2bbl and Powerglide. It was a leftover, bought in December of 1970, after the 1971 models were available (and the UAW strike didn’t hit Canuckistan, so we had cars). It was the cheapest car on the lot at $3300, or $20,000 in today’s money; it didn’t even have power steering to go with the small diameter steering wheel. Parallel parking was a real chore in that car. Neither did it have power brakes, nor even a radio. It was in the family until May of 1976, by which point the paint had become chalky, the front springs had broken and been replaced and the entire exhaust had been done. The rockers were holy and there was surface rust all over it. Five years and five months and it was sold for $100. A complete throw-away. That same $20,000 can put a Civic LX on the road in Canada now, taxes in, loaded. That car could last 20 years with any care. Who said cars were better in the old days?
Cars were so bad the government in Canada forced through seven years rust through warranties. Amazing how quickly the cars improved, isn’t it?
I never understood Ford’s thinking on this. The Falcon name was known as a good value compact car and why they felt the need to rename it Maverick when they re-bodied it made no sense. Then they obviously realized the name still had some equity so they stick it on a stripper Intermediate?
As I read it, the Falcon was McNamara’s car. It was his baby, from conception to delivery at dealerships. It was his vision of the Perfect Car – stark, utilitarian, thrifty.
Lido hated the car – displaced hostility at a rival, I’d wager. He, by all accounts, recognized McNamara’s value to the company, but he was about selling; and about tapping into customers’ lusts and emotions.
McNamara was about remaking society in his own spartan image. McNamara wanted less to sell it, than to sell the values of the original Falcon – a car bought logically, for logical reasons.
Lido thought the original Falcon, according to one writer, an “anticar.” The Maverick was his answer of how to REALLY sell a compact car. And with that change in mission, came a change in name.
Someone in the Marketing department must have realized, that while the Maverick might get the kids, librarians buy cars, too. Making one Torino a stripper and pasting a “Falcon” badge on it, must have been an attempt to see how deep was that loyalty.
Probably Iacocca didn’t much like preserving a McNamara icon, as it was axed even with reasonable sales and no real cost.
Didn’t “Bunkie” Knudsen played a part in it as well? Most of the development and the launching of the Maverick came under his short tenure as Ford president?
I think not. Bunkie’s tenure at Ford was very, very short; and the product-cycle coming up were the full-size and personal-luxury models.
Product lead time in those years was about five years, so the Maverick project would have been hatched about 1965…just when the Mustang success was verified; and about the time McNamara’s funk had dissipated from the front office.
Meantime, while Lido was passed over, for a time, as company president, he was still head of the Ford Division and wielding considerable influence. In Bunkie’s tenure, too, as it turned out.
As a license plate collector, I’ve observed many anomalies in license plate design and manufacture that are best explained by the observation that license plates are designed by bureaucrats and generally manufactured by convicts.
Perhaps a committee made the decision to build the car, and some marketing vice-president made the naming decision the day before the brochures and trim pieces needed to be ordered.
1970 was a recession year, and I think this car was a reaction to that. Chevy offered a similarly stripped Chevelle series at mid-year as well (the 1970 model year had started with the Malibu as the base series). What they didn’t do was bother re-tooling for a 2-door post coupe, as Ford did with the 70 1/2 Falcon. This is what always struck me as the strangest thing about these cars.
I think the 1969 Chevelle 300 Deluxe was really the only reason for the 1970½ Falcon. When the 1970 Chevelle came out without a pillared 2-door series, Ford’s primary rationale for their similiar, intermediate 2-door sedan disappeared.
When sales of a Ford version of the intermediate 2-door sedan turned out to be negligable (the reason Chevy dropped it from the Chevelle), the Falcon was quietly dropped.
The tooling for a 2 door sedan was there for the 70-72 Chevelle. They didn’t build it so they could offer the lowest priced 2 door hardtop in it’s class. Buick, Olds(non Holiday) and Pontiac A bodies all offered 2 door sedans.
Whadaya mean what if,? The Falcon continued on uninterupted just because the US couldnt get one doesnt mean it was gone the US body was used for 71 with a new Torino style body being released in 72 as the XA restyled into the XB with better rust resistance later restyled again in 76 as XC then rebodied with a UK Granada body in 79 underneath it was still the late 60s US Falcon The suspension was upgraded in 83 with the new V8less XE model and a minor restyle done for the XF in 86. The engine was fitted with a Honda designed alloy head to pass emissions and cope with unleaded fuel and the 200 dropped at last the 250 soldiered on untill redesigned for the new EA released in 88. The Falcon continues in production today V8 I6 RWD sedan wagon ute.
The market in Australia and New Zealand is peanuts compared to that of the USA, Bryce. Just how long Ford will keep specific models for that market is a very good question.
True Falcons are not selling well at present and there is pressure from the mother to stop building it but its as much an icon down here as the Holden however GMH is a more secure operation since it exports its cars as Chevrolets all over the world and builds all GM 6 cylinder engines. Ford will not export the Falcon to other markets even though there may be a case for RWD cars elsewhere.
Bryce Holden hardly exports any Commodores any more, the middle east market has died, and there are very few of the new cop cars on the go. I have seen numbers but can’t remember them, it is only a few thousand a year. Falcon has never been allowed to export by head office, for example the middle east market was held by the Crown Vic – what they are going to do now is a good question (nothing?)
The next gen is a good question, if they tie it to the Mustang it should be ok, likewise if there is to be a rwd car for North America (doubtful). On the other hand if they kill the Falcon they could only expect to retain a very small % of those sales, most will go straight to Commodore – if that returns for the next generation also, I think if Falcon goes (and presumably local production) the Commodore will be under a lot of pressure as there are many common parts suppliers.
Holden does not make all of GM’s 6 cylinder engines.
In 1970 I was serving in the Air Force, and a lady who was a civilian employee purchased one. It was the only 701/2 Falcon I ever saw.
Yes, as Bryce says for us the Falcon never went away (although it’s at death’s door though with only appx. 20,000 sales last year). Here’s an ’73-ish XB in hiway patrol livery. Although it looks like a Torino, and the XD was UK Granada-ish (way more adventurous styling though) all the sheetmetal is unique to Aussie.
Yup, and the XA was the first Falcon designed specifically by the Australian styling group (headed by Jack Telnack in those days). The work was done in Dearborn — Telnack’s team flew to the U.S. to take advantage of their greater development resources — but their design won out over a proposal from the U.S. studios, which would have been a sort of cut-down version of the restyled Torino. (Even so, I think the XA/XB/XC hardtops look awfully Torino-like.)
without the pointy front guards they are lookalikes definitely done in the same studio
They were styled by different teams, but they were all working in the same studios in Dearborn, so there’s a definite resemblance. It’s the hardtop’s roofline that really does it — an unsuspecting America looking at pictures might think it was a SportRoof Torino.
I tried to get photos of the styling proposals for my Falcon article early last year, but wasn’t able to. I’m curious what the rejected U.S. proposal looked like.
It would be interesting to see those if you were able to get them Aaron (who knows they might send them one day…). There is a lot of similarity to the Maverick sedan too. I have a small drawing of a Torino-based Falcon in a book, the central body styling lines are clear, it says they worked on versions using the Torino cabin with shortened overhangs, but neglect to mention the 6″ longer wheelbase that would be a significant change.
Alistair, they certainly did not help themselves in 2011 dropping the wagon & having no LPG version until recently (which had been making up 25% of sales previously. Hopefully 2012 will be better with the new LPG injection and Ecoboost 4cyl
Speaking of the devil:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/70-1-2-Falcon-Rare-Drag-Pack-429-SCJ-1-80-/190622099121?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c61f666b1
“Ford also kept the Ranchero in the Torino family, even though the model had been a “Falcon” staple in years past.”
Nit to pick here. The last Falcon Ranchero was 1966 (although it didn’t say “Falcon”). In 1967 in was a Fairlane-Ranchero only, 68 through 1969 it was Fairlane (Ranchero 500) or Torino (Ranchero GT) depending on trim level.
As for the Italian naming…….
Back in the late 60s early 70s Ford and HFII had a love/hate affair with all thing Italian. De Tomaso Managusta and Pantera, all things Ghia…..and of course the GT40 vs Ferrari feud that Ford won. It was somewhat ironic that the 70-71 “Sportsroof” Torino wasn’t as slippery as the old 69 Torino/Cyclone OR the 70-71 “Formal roof” Falcon/Fairlane/Torino. The NASCAR Cyclones had some success using the Formal Roof, as there was no Sportsroof for Mercury. A moot point by then, as Ford pulled out of racing.
Wasn’t HF2′s second wife (Cristina) also from Turin?
@Aaron: That was the story I’d always heard about the Torino.
Yep, I’ve seen a few. New, in a dealer’s lot, as I walked by on the way to school.
As a twelve-year-old motorhead wannabee, I studied the products parked there. At the time, Ford was busting out of the “granny” mode they’d been in ten years earlier; their pickings were, to my young eyes, more daring than that of good grey GM.
It did give pause for thought. Fairlane? Torino? Falcon? All the same car!
When the model year changed over, those disappeared. I seem to remember seeing one around town for a few years, and not any since.
I really dig these early model Torinos. Like the majority of us, they seem to gain gloat as they aged until they because the Starsky and Hutch flailing manatee.
Thanks for locating this one, Jeff — it’s one off my bucket list for 2012 .
I always liked the ’70 and ’71 Torinos when I was a kid, and even the corresponding Montegos with the anteater nose. I thought Ford had taken a step backward with the ’72 models, which were subsequently marred by 5 mph bumpers. Oh well, they wouldn’t have looked so hot on these cars either.
It does make me wonder how much lead time manufacturers had on that 5 mph regulation. Everybody put them on as an afterthought, whether foreign or domestic, and it took years before anybody integrated them that well.
Camaros and Firebirds were good, as were Corvettes. Maybe Chevelle Lagunas, and only in front. Just about everything else looked like crap.
The quarter vent windows & lack of dash vents indicate these things don’t have flow-through ventilation which was in the 1963 Ford Cortina. The gain in size over the previous model is a sign of the pre-gas crisis times I suppose and a clear sign why Australia didn’t want the Torino – the 1972 XA Falcon was 20″ shorter on a 6″ shorter wheelbase but was actually an inch wider.
It’s been many years since I’ve seen a 1970.5 Falcon. For some reason, I liked them better than the hardtop version of the same car (no offense Zackman). Actually, I have a similar fondness for pillar versions of the GM midsizers from this period, too.
I saw very few of these growing up, I guess because they weren’t popular to begin with, and then the congnoscenti would be the only ones who really cared. The few I did see were usually poverty specials, nothing like the “Roadrunner-killers” featured in the OP.
Many electrons are spent complaining about GM’s (and others) muddled marketing, it looks to me Ford had no better luck in that arena. Falcon still has a lot of brand equity, even with folks who were never around for the first version.
My 21 year old daughter is a fan of the older ones; she saw one at a car show somewhere when she was rather young and it really appealed to her. When she was old enough to drive, she asked me if we could find one for her to drive, but there weren’t any decent ones locally at that time. I think one of those is still on her ‘hit’ list.
Ford inexplicably made a lot of “stealth” moves with its muscle cars back in those days, the Falcon being one of the most obscure; the Torino Cobra got all the press, and even it wasn’t nearly as visible from a marketing standpoint as the Road Runner or Chevelle or GTO.
Even more obscure, unless you were really a Blue Oval geek “in the know,” were Ford’s high performance engine options, especially the 3 different 429 engines available in the Falcon/Torino line. The top dog motor in these cars was the 429 SCJ (Super Cobra Jet), which is what you got when you specified the 3.91:1 or 4.30:1 rear axle ratio, aka the “Drag Pack” option. Either the close-ratio (2.32 first gear) “big” input top loader 4-speed or C6 automatic tranny could be ordered. Oddly, 429 SCJ cars had the same “C” or “J” engine VIN code as the 429 CJ (at the “low” end was the “N” code 429 Thunderjet, essentially the same 429 4-barrel motor available in the T-Bird, Galaxie, LTD, etc), the difference being non-ram air vs. ram air (i.e., “shaker” hood scoop). Only the rear axle ratio number in the VIN is what tips you off that it’s a SCJ car; the VIN plate will have a “V” denoting a 3.91 axle ratio, or a “W” for the 4.30 ratio.
No minor upgrade, the 429 SCJ gave you essentially a Boss 429 “820 T” block, with 4-both mains, forged rods w/ 7/16″ cap screw rod bolts, forged crank (the mere CJ made do with 2-bolt mains and a cast iron crank), the excellent breathing big-valve SCJ heads and a solid lifter cam (the CJ used a hydraulic cam), and an aluminum high-rise intake manifold with a Holley 780 CFM 4-bbl carb (the CJ used a cast iron intake with an Autolite 4-bbl carb), and an external oil cooler.
Thusly configured ’70 429 SCJ Falcons are among the rarest of the rare in muscle-dom, with something like 16 cars built (not sure of the breakdown between 4-speed and auto tranny cars).
Correction: The 429 CJ used a Rochester Q-jet 4-barrel, not an Autolite.
Cool factoid. I was not aware that any Ford every used a Quadrajet.
My 429 Cobra Jet came with the Quadrajet, IIRC, it was the only Ford to ever use one. Back in the day everyone with a 429 Torino would say they had a SCJ. A quick look at the carb would confirm they were wrong. These cars came with a funky ribbon tach on the left side of the dash and also a rev limiter.
The easy way to confirm CJ heads was take out the top center valve cover bolt. On a CJ head you would have a huge vacuum leak as the bolts were threaded into the intake port.
I remember seeing one or two of these around years ago. I will echo Canucklehead – in salty environs, these things were horrible, horrible rustbuckets. When I was in Jr. High, around 1974 or so, I had a teacher with the Fairlane version of this car. He was so proud of how he had fixed all of the holes with old-school body lead and painted them. A really nice job, but the car was only 3 or 4 years old.
I must add that this was one of the best looking cars of the early 1970s. There is a grace and a fleetness to these that was missing in most of the competition. It is too bad that they were not more robust.
Most of my experience was with the early 1970 (true) Falcon (also a strippo) owned by a friend’s family. The upholstery fabric in the interior shot here looks like the same stuff.
Fabric? These were the el-cheapo era Ford vinyl found in Custom/Custom 500′s and Econolne vans. Like Harry Callaghan’s blue ’72 Custom 500 wrecked in “Magnum Force”.
A man’s just got to know his limitations!
I have seen two in my lifetime. One was a two door sedan with whitewalls, automatic, and I’m sure power steering and brakes. It was metallic green and was a selection at Hertz as my Dad was grabbing a rental for abusiness trip. He passed on the Falcon and got a red Barricuda (!) for that trip instead. I was about ten at that time.
1970 Falcon #2 was a buddy’s car I was stationed with in Virgina, 1983-84. Full wheel covers, blue, matching vinyl interior with black rubber floor mats, but his was a 2-bbl 302 and had p/s, C-5 auto, but manual disc brakes.
Mondo bondo.
Not a bad car. Drove nice, but he was from Elmyra (Elmira?) NY; car had an equal amount of body weight on it as the car itself weighed.
In ’84, he got married, sold the Falcon and got a Renault shit-box Encire. He was kicking himself over that one. His wife wanted a cheap (!) new car with air.
Bondo – equal amount of filler as to the actual body weight of the Falcon. iPhones make it hard to go back and edit. Curses and expletives!
I have only seen one of these, it was a green 2 door that must have lived somewhere near my grandmothers house, it was driven by an old man of course, I never found out where it actually lived though.
This was one of those cars that puzzled me in the pre-internet era, I knew what a 1970 Torino looked like, and I saw one of these on the street as a kid, it was already a 17 year old car, but I was confused by a body that clearly said “Torino” but an emblem that read “Falcon”. I had to look it up in a Ford book to satisfy my curiosity.
I was in high school & my Dad worked for Heintzelman Ford in Orlando back in the day when all the car dealers were downtown. A bright red 70.5 Falcon with the 429 ram air and 4 speed was on their lot at the corner of Livingston & Orange for several months.
I fantasized about owning that car a lot ! Later in life, I owned a 1970 Torino Cobra with that 429 and 4 speed, but I always liked the look of that post Falcon better than the fastback roofline of the Torinos.
Thanks for the memories.
I have only seen one of these and it was on the island of Maui. Owned by a Maine lobsterman who shipped it out in a container along with his furniture when he retired. He lives in the same condo complex as my MiL. It has a 351 in it and he claims he surprises a lot of kids in Hondas at stoplights.
I remember these brand new, since they were introduced at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. [Was 9 y/o] ‘The new 70 1/2 Falcon!’ on turntable with model and separate Falcon brochures handed out. Lots of fanfare for a base model.
Someone earlier said 1970 was recession year, and there were a few ‘bargain cars’ brought out, such as Pontiac T-37. But, in early 70′s makers started rationalizing car names, and base stippers with old 60′s names like F-85, Biscayne, BelAir, and Belvedere were dropped.
Regarding last Falcon, who knows? I’m thinking it was a way to ease Falcon customers into new cars, and may have been planned for 1971, but killed at last minute?
Shortly after i graduated in 2011 I spotted one of these beauties with a 302 that was “suped up” with hi performance parts and it had a loving roar when started the man told me i could buy it and so i saved up. Only $500 left then i’ll have mine. I love these cars i am not a big ford guy but this one car is my kryptonite. It’s painted primer grey, the hood has 2 black stripes. it even has the original grille.
I recently picked up a 70 1/2 Falcon Torino that had been fitted with a periscope by Ford for NASA. Anybody know anything about this car, I live 60 miles from Kennedy Space center and apparently they were sold off at auction in the late 70′s.
Paul made a mini CC of my 1970 Mercury Montego a few years ago… there she sits, still, though I’ve finally found a barn a few miles out of Eugene to begin the stripping and repairing of the 302 (with an all Edelbrock top-end from heads up) and intend on having it road ready by next summer. I’ve spotted a four door Montego here, as well as a woodie ute! That is it for the Mercurys here in The Euge. Plenty of Torinos of this vintage 2 year run lived here until a few years ago. If they aren’t restored, they rust away.
I have a 1970 1/2 Falcon wagon. It was on Craigslist for sale and I thought the guy just didn’t know what car he actually had. I was suprised when I saw it in real life. It has the 250 6 cyl, FMX trans, 8″ rear, power assisted disc brakes, power steering, air conditioning, trailer tow package including Ford hitch, roof rack, AM radio, bench seats and rubber floor mats. The color is a shade of purple/maroon with a Ginger interior. This is the only wagon I have ever seen. I have seen three 2 dr, two 4 dr, but only this wagon.
I bought one in May of last year. It is defiantly a project that is worth my while, even though I am having trouble finding a C4 transmission for it. Thank you for the input it helped me figure out what kind of motor I had.
I had one of these, which I bought from my brother when he went off to college. It was a true 1970 1/2, four door sedan, Falcon badges, icebox white, straight six, auto on the column, black vinyl seats like NYC cabs, black rubber flooring. No A/C. A real rolling sensory deprivation chamber. I remember it having an AM radio, and I hooked up an FM convertor to drive the single center dashboard speaker. Bought a hunk of shag carpeting to cover the rubber flooring. Huge engine compartment with that tiny 6-you could almost stand inside it to work on it. Buy why bother? I used to gap the points with a matchbook cover. I finally drove it to the junkyard the day one of the rear leaf springs cracked and the mechanic quoted $80 to replace it (and not to mention burning a quart of oil every 500 miles if that). After reading all these posts I have to ask: why would anyone bother reminiscing about this rolling tin can?
No matter, thanks for the memories!
The parents of a grade school classmate owned a plain, white 4-door 70-1/2 Falcon. (0nly one I ever saw in real life). They had it until they traded it for a Chevy Citation.I remember thinking it being odd that they would call a Torino a Falcon. ( i was also 7 at the time…). The 70-1/2 Falcon must’ve been Ford’s version of the 1958 Studebaker Scotsman….
I have a 70 1/2 falcon that i drive around every day. It needs some work though, i would love to have it in mint condition but I am finding it really difficult to find some parts for it especially a grill and a rear driver side window. does any one know where i can find these parts at? if you please email me at [email protected]. i want this car restored and i am never going to sell it. its all original but does need parts. its got the v8 302 just in case your wondering.
I owned a 71 Torino GT back in 1985-1986. I was about 17 when I bought it from a shady-ish used car lot. It was originally a 351c car, but at some point that engine had been removed and replaced with a 302. It was bright red with auto trans. I paid $450 for it in 1985 and verified that it was a real GT car, and although the body was 95% straight, the left front fender had obviously been hit and there was slight evidence of straightening. The interior was solid with no rips or fading. The real problem was a missing few teeth on the ring gear on the flywheel, and a few more damaged teeth, which caused the starter’s gear to wear out and some times at first the starter would contact the area of the ring gear where there were no teeth, leaving me stranded because it wouldn’t start if that happened. Fortunately I was only left stranded once. The big problem was that I was still in school while working 25 hours a week at a high performance auto parts machine shop for $5 an hour, and I had to pay for all gas, insurance, repairs myself, and I just didn’t have the cash to pay to have the transmission dropped so the flywheel could be replaced, along with the starter on a car that seemed like there may have been more problems in the future, so I sold it to a guy at the shop where I had the estimate done, and he gave me $450 dollars for it!! So I lost nothing when I sold it, so it seemed, however, I’d love to still own it, with a nice 351(w or c).