CC reader John K. sent me these shots of a sweet old Falcon (Econoline) van, sitting at the edge of Plymouth harbor, and suitably being photobombed by a VW T2 microbus. The Econoline/Falcon van owes its existence to the popularity of the T1 VW bus/van in the 1950s, which created a whole new category of vehicle in the US.
I don’t have an exact MY for this one, but it has to be 1962 or later, as the Falcon name was not used on the Econoline passenger van in 1961. It’s a Club Wagon and not the very spartan Station Bus, as I can see the horn ring. Other amenities were such luxuries as full-length floor mats, headliner, and dual sun visors. There was also a DeLuxe Club Wagon, which had external trim to identify it.
What we can be almost certain about is that it’s got either the 144 or 170 CID Falcon six, or at least did originally. And if it’s a 1963 or earlier (quite likely) than it has a three-speed column shift manual, But there was an optional 4-speed manual, with a column shifter, at least in 1964. That would be the one to have.
Rather oddly there was no automatic available until 1964.
Since it’s lacking the “Heavy Duty” badge under the Falcon script, this didn’t come with the 240 six. That option, which also included higher capacity springs, bigger brakes and wheels, first was available in 1965, the same year the extended body (at the rear only) also first appeared.
Windowed Econoline vans also show up in some years of the Econoline brochures, but whether they carried the Falcon script or not is a bit of an open question. Maybe it depended whether you bought it from the passenger car sales department or the truck department, which not all Ford dealers had. And those that did, typically had different facilities for the trucks. How quaint.
That’s the Mayflower in the background.
Related reading:
1961 – 1967 Ford Econoline: Leader Of The Pack
Oh, yeah!
My father’s work truck for most of my young life was a ’66 Econoline with the 170 cu. in. 6-cyl, and little else 😉 , in Acadian Blue. It was a wicked cool vehicle.
As old age claimed it in the late ’80s/early ’90s, it sort of slowly morphed into a garden shed, and ultimately was towed away by someone for him in the early 21st century.
Ahh, memories…
These shot to the top of the van sales charts almost as soon as they came out, and this same design stayed in showrooms longer than the 2nd gen vans did. I can recall seeing these in daily use into the late 80s, even in the rusty midwest.
I think the front end design of this van with the little headlight grilles pointing towards each other was a look every bit as iconic as the VW bus with its big two-tone Vee.
These Econoline vans may look quaint and cute today; but I can vividly recall what they really are. I drove several variations on this van in the early 1970’s.
The earlier stripper models were truly automotive penalty boxes on wheels.
The Falcon 144 six cylinder engine and 3 speed manual (no syncro on first gear) made for a leisurely powertrain. No need to try to make it move in a hurry; just wasn’t going to happen.
The engine noise and engine heat made a radio and the heater unnecessary.
The stiff rear suspension and nose heavy front suspension made for vague and (in my opinion) unsafe handling and stopping. I quickly learned to not make any sudden lane changes and to leave LOTS of extra stopping room from the car in front of me. Almost front bumper scraping and rear wheel lock-up freeway events happened all too often.
Options we take for granted (automatic transmission, power steering, power disc brakes, air conditioning) were not available on this automotive dog.
The non-window fleet models, with no side windows and one small driver’s door outside door mounted mirror were blind spot producing trials to drive in traffic.
Compared to these early Falcon based vans; the 1970’s/1980’s full sized Ford vans were luxury vehicles.
I appreciate the evaluation by Mark. I have never driven one of these. Having commenced selling International Trucks in the late 1960’s, I soon learned that multi-stop delivery vans a/k/a parcel delivery or step vans (as Chevy called them) were also treacherous if misused. In their case, and still today, it is the high center of gravity created by the high interior space coupled with the adequate suspension for CONSERVATIVE driving only. When in 1972, Dodge introduced their new line of vans, the extended body 15-passengermodel waddled all over the road. Once again, inadequate suspension. The problem with the 15-passenger Dodge is that the driver expected better performance. It was not a commercial vehicle. Nice photo of the old van come hippie vehicle. Bring it to me! I have some flower appliques to add on the sides.
As an occasional events driver today these vans wouldn’t be as dreadful as my Daily Driver comments above.
Thomas: I do recall seeing the 1972-up Dodge extended body (in the rear) “Maxi Vans” swaying and swerving on the Interstate highways of that time period; loaded to the gills with people and luggage.
But still a better “driver” than the same generation of full sized Ford Econoline vans (in my opinion)
More of Ford’s odd branding. The Econoline name was already generic in ’62. The Econoline brand lasted much longer than the Falcon brand.
Econoline is odd in that it became the only lasting recognizable branding for similar model lines. Do the other manufacturers have such branding for their vans?
A few names were randomly slapped on: Handy Van, Beauville, Savannah, Voyager, B100, Adventurer…
(sic? to all)
But nothing as consistent and lasting as the Econoline handle.
KInda an Americanised Ford Thames van which wasnt really any better and likely went even worse with the 4 cylinder Consul powertrain, they too were nose heavy with questionable handling brave souls inserted Zephyr 6 engines and really scared themselves but boy could they do a burnout, any van of that era wasnt much to write home about I had a CA Bedford with sliding doors that had a strap to hold them open while driving.
My childhood photos of a vacation stop at Plymouth Harbor would be when this van was in its youth! I can’t think of any neighbors owning one as a passenger van or sometimes-camper, but remember the utility companies and small businesses taking them up. Ford’s promise of decent gas mileage and low maintenance costs (1962):
One of my favorite trick automotive trivia questions is:
Which Ford Falcon models were equipped with a solid forged front axle?
That’s a good one.
I might have went with the unofficial model, the Two Story Falcon.
I too have a few sure bets to try trip up the Quiz Kids. lol
The actual answer was the Ford Falcon van.
And here’s a photo of a Falcon nesting in a tree!
Before 1960, if you had van-like needs and didn’t want a VW, you would have bought a Sedan Delivery or a Panel Delivery. It’s easy to see how the one-box van designs were a vast improvement in the ratio of footprint to cargo capacity.
If anyone has a “Standard Catalog of American Trucks” handy, I’d be interested to learn the pricing of a Falcon Sedan Delivery vs. Falcon/Econoline van vs. F-100 panel truck.
And just a wild guess… I suspect that a lot of these vans were bought by business owners for their employees to drive, so pricing was more important than comfort or driving dynamics or amenities.
And not unlike pickups of this era, I want to suspect that these vans were vehicles built for a purpose – hauling. Pickups of the era didn’t give much thought to comfort or driving dynamics or amenities, either.
The 1961 Falcon sedan delivery was $2109
The 1961 Econoline van (no windows): 1981
The 1961 Station Bus (windows): $2092
There was no 1961 F100 panel truck, for rather obvious reasons.
Thanks, Paul! I assume that by “for rather obvious reasons” for Ford dropping the Panel Delivery, I assume you meant “Because the Econoline existed”.
Contrary to that, even though the Corvan, and later “Chevy Van” existed, GM kept building Panel Deliveries through 1970. But for GM, building a Panel Delivery was much easier, because the Suburban existed and it was probably pretty cheap to build a windowless version.
This one has Amber parking lights, so it must be 1963, or after, IIRC
Put some steel wheels with dog dish hubcaps on this and it would look like the sixties again.
I wish we could have seen the interior of this one. Great to see this still motoring its way around.
Heres the interior. This is my van. Since those pics I painted it, new wheels and lowered it 2″
How it sits now
Wow, and that is all I need to say.
Most people today don’t know that it was in this very van that the Pilgrims rode in after they stepped off of the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock. From the rock it was just a short ride to the Wampanoag Hotel where Chief Massasoit had a Thanksgiving dinner waiting. On a return trip to pick up more Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock an accident occurred when this Ford van hit Plymouth Rock, causing it to crack. This led to the King Phillip War. After the war The Mayflower Compact was written. It declared that Chrysler must build compact vans by 1984. The picture above of our featured van with the Mayflower in the background Should be all the evidence anyone needs to verify these absolutely true historical facts. P. S. Those aren’t the original wheels.
HBE&N,
You sir are a very sick man, and I pray that you never recover!
That was hilarious, and made my day!
Nice find! Love the color combo and the wheels.
Wow, this one looks great .
In 1964 I took a daily Club Wagon Econoline to school daily, it was already a rattly beat to crap mess but it soldiered on bravely through some pretty bad New England Winters .
We all froze out butts off in that think, I remember the drive shaft dropping off one fine morning, I guess greasing the U-Joints was too much trouble .
I didn’t hate these like so many did , they were ubiquitous then, IIRC MaBell used Olive colored panel versions .
-Nate
This is my 63. I just recently purchased it from Wisconsin. For years prior to that it came from Colorado. It has a 200 from a 65 falcon in it. Three on the tree. Notice my cousin 74 Volkswagen bus behind it? He just recently picked that up from Arkansas.
Thanx Champ ~ I logged a lot of miles in these during the 1960’s most were the base models .
In 1972 or so we bought an Econoline pickup with a bad…..clutch / engine, I don’t recall .
It was just one more $75 dead beater we fixed and re sold .
Not knowing any better we used a cherry picker to get the engine out the top, boy howdy was that a mess .
-Nate
Can we have an image of the headlining? I’m trying to find out if they have a suspended headliner or if its a board headliner. Thanks!
Hi Champ
You don’t know who the owner was in Colorado, do your?