Vale - The Ford Falcon

Not a Ford Man but the wifes cousin was, he drove a Phase 2 to 2nd at Bathurst in 1969!
Favourite Ford even was the Red Phase 3 HOeee!

Gazza

Two holdens myself and lots of other family members had one or the other. We did have an XD for 18 years from new. And unfortunately went to an overseas mob for the current car. All were new and lasted more than a decade each.

Favourite falcon was of course the GT XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3 especially in blue.Well I did have a red HK that I did up and painted Midnight Blue (metallic flecks at that) didn't I (from new for 15 years)!!!

Note that an XY GT was passed in at auction for $500,000. (http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/xy-ford-falcon-gtho-phase-3-fails-to-reach-half-million-mark-at-auction-41234)

Phil

Did you mean to say least ugliest Falcon? :-) Back then, for me, it was a choice between a brick being driven by a nerdy looking American in glasses or a cool looking Torana driven by Brocky. I've never owned a Ford in 30 cars.....blame the closure on me. :-)

My favourite is the 1970 XW with that hint of Mustang. When I got my first proper paying job at age 20 I walked into the most reputable Ford dealer in Adelaide , set upon buying a brand new XW. The salesman swaggered over to me and said "you couldn't afford one of these lad". So i walked out and went to another dealer and bought one, that day.
Its a crying shame that we have lost our manufacturing industry in the name of "free trade".
My brother worked on the production line of a automotive component parts manufacturer. He had a disability and this job was everything to him. Nowadays he would be having an unfulfilled life on a disability pension paid for by the taxpayer. All in the name of "free trade".
What if there was a war and we needed to make things here? We couldn't and we would suffer. All in the name of "free trade"
The economic modelling used to justify these "free trade agreements" do not take into account the human realities and welfare.

yes what a sad day for Aussies
I started my apprenticeship at the Ford dealers in Shepparton xmas 68 the start of the XW XY gt era I did however pre deliver the last 2 XT falcons that come to Shepp ,
many memories for ever
mechpete

Ive never owned either a Ford or a Holden and feel I havent missed out on much. Over priced and under specced Govt subsidized....

xa/xb/xc coupe. My car in the garage if I ever had one would be an XC Cobra, white with blue stripes please.

Yeh while the loss of manufacturing in Australia in general is sad, the Australian car industry mostly run by the Americans never was competitive in real terms ......
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The only reason they ever sold Australian built cars in volume was because of the huge freight penalties and import tariffs that applied to the imports.
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The imported vehicles always where better designed, built and equipped than the locally made stuff ...... even the American imports from the same manufacturers.
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Apart from the early six cylinder Holdens, pretty much every other car built in Australia by GM or Ford was a low rent version of something they where making overseas. .... Ok some of em we put huge engines in ... that was fun.
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Both continued right up to current doing what they did in the US ...... While the Japanese and the Europeans where bringing out new, from the ground up models one after the other ..... the American run Australian factories just pushed out the same old rope in different packaging year after year ...... with many of the same known problems ...... Ford simply could not put a door handle on the falcon that did not break and the oil pump in the inline six had the same oil pressure relief spring problem that the aftermarket suppliers fixed decades earlier.
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Safety inovation such as seat belts, side intrusion, and collapseable steering columns where only introduced when legally mandated. When Holden was fitting side intrusion protection in the doors of the Kingswood, the 1 tonner ( which never carried 1 tonne) did not get side intrusion because it was not compulsory on commercials.
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When the first pollution requirements where mandated, polution gear was just slapped onto existing engines, with a resultant loss of power and fuel economy, while the Japanese and European imports had new, efficient, cleaner engine designs already in production.
When Ford knew their in line six was past its "use by date", they wrung another 10 years out of it by getting the Japs to design a better head for it.
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The Americans simply did not want to spend any more than they absolutely had to on the Australian industry.
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That extends to the manufacturing plants ...... while the Japanese and the Europeans where building their businesses by building better and more efficient manufacturing plants and updating them whenever new tech was available ...... The Americans kept flogging the same old equipment and methods as long as they possibly could.
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As for the Japanese ...... hell they could probably fulfill the entire Australian annual demand out their Asian factories in a matter of weeks.
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Yes the demise of the Australian automotive industry and the loss of jobs is a sad thing ..... but it was born with a fatal genetic disease, the Australian government has been throwing money down the bottomless hole that is the car industry for decades, but that is nothing more than flogging a dying horse.
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As for Bathurst ...... this Holden/Falcon thing is a fabrication ....... if it was still Production Touring Car, Ford and Holden probably would not get a look in ... it would be be a real race with many manufacturersand many cars of diferent sizes and shapes in with a chance for outright.
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Remember Mini Copper took the first 9 places in 66 ..... that put a hole in the British designed mk1 Cortina 3 year winning streak.
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Yeh all very sad ...... but times change.

cheers

Yes it is somewhat sad that we are loosing part of Australian industry. An interesting article in today's paper, every falcon cost the tax payer, that is us, $7000. This could not be sustained.

And talking about Falcons and Holdens.

For those old enough to remember... “Ted Bulpitt”, actor Ross Higgins, of Kingswood Country, passed away today!

Whilst he was a Holden man through and through, perhaps today was all too much for him to bear given the same fate is about to be suffered by Holden!

RIP Ted…!

And on that note, I’m heading home for a beer and to see if I can find an episode of Kingswood Country to watch…such is Friday night in our household!

Cheers, Baz – The Landy (Not the BLOODY Kingswood)

Don't you park that bloody valiant in my driveway! haha. Funny show. Being a Holden man myself I did have a soft spot for the XE ESP Ghia, when I was 18 or 19 I wanted a dark grey one, 351 4 speed. Couldn't afford one though so my 1958 FC sedan had to do.

If the impact of the end of manufacturing by Ford in Australia has been to shift the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadow to Geelong then it really has been an Earth shattering event.

Cheers, Kevin

Ford blue blood runs deep, our family having owned 12 Falcon wagons since 1985 to now, XE, XF(3), EA, ED, EF(3, 2 being XR6), EL, BF(3) with 2 BA & BF sedans, plus an AX ute & an XP sedan.

This is from a bloke who grew up with Holdens & raced HQ holdens for 10 yrs.

Falcons were the only vehicles with the durability, body strength & sufficient rated towing capacity !!

As for Ford's closure..

.....some things in life just pith you off, you know why, but there's no-one you can boot in the backside & have them see reason....

I lament the collapse of Australian manufacturing, at any level, questioning where it will be in 10 years time ?

It only induces ugly thoughts, let alone any hope of our youth gaining meaningful empolyment.

But, we're all to blame..

Reflect.

What did you buy this week that wasn't made in any "aaahh soo land" north of us? Automotive, domestic appliances & hardware, commercial building materials food produce...just try and buy purely Aussie made/grown products, it will do your head in.

Baz, you're spot on with..

""The closure of the Ford factory and later next year, Holden’s establishment, is a sad indictment on Australia’s Leaders, both political and business, and the view they hold on manufacturing in Australia.""

Thank #@%%#$^(*%$#$% there's plenty of Aussie reds in private & Aussie Corporate control !!!

I'll drink to that !

cheers possums