Apparently one of these days just passed represents the anniversary of the registering of the Falcon name (in Australia I believe) during the year of 1959 ready for the release of the 1st Falcon I guess in 1960. It seems Ford only just got the name registered ahead of Chrysler by about 30 minutes who also had designs for the same name "Falcon". To me the "Ford Falcon" has a better ring to it!!!
They still BUILD a vehicle called a Falcon in Australia, don't they? Or did until relatively recently?
Yep, still do, but it is currently under review so I have heard. I suspect it will be dropped eventually, especially with all this enviro friendly range of vehicles emerging with theose new fangled names that I see on the new Fords.
To all those who love the 62-67 chevy 2's you can thank ford. Ford came out with the falcon and were putting up big sales #'s, result the chevy 2's were born to compete with ford.
The Falcons cousin, the Mercury Comet, was first designed as a compact model to be presented by Edsel. We know what happened to Edsel..
Chevy realized that Ford made a huge mistake in one area of the design, and built the II to take a smallblock from day one. while i LOVE Falcons, putting a V8 in a roundbody is a freaking chore. Ford also considered using the Falcon to relaunch a two seat Tbird... doesn't take much to drop littlebird sheetmetal on a falcon platform. the Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild" was actually inspired by a ride in a Falcon taken by John Kay, not some motorcycle nonsense. Falcon didn't "die" officially here until 1978... the basic platform ran from late '59 until the first series Granada was replaced by the Fox platform Granada. 29 years of the same basic design platform...... Henry would have a stiffie on that kind of efficiency.
I have no evidence to prove this statement, however I was told years ago that the Falcon was born to compete with the intoduction of the VW Beetle which was having an impact on US car sales number and was seen as a future threat to the smaller/budget car niche in America. Hence Ford's answer to this threat was the Falcon. On a different note, I never did think much of the Falcon Ranchero when compared to the previous years Ranchero's.
Rambler sales went up as a result of the recession of '58 which was also a reason the Falcon came and the Edsel died. I was told but I cannot confirm this; The Falcon six was designed in conjunction with an OHV 4 banger for use in Ford tractors and industrial use. It was later developed into the 2.3 liter OHV used in Tempo/Topaz.
VW's were the reason or cause of the corvair, and we all know what Ralph Nader thinks of them lol. The chevy 2 had a better design of the front frame and suspention than the falcon as it unbolted for ease of repair or replacement. The falcon was all a unibody/welded together...both had the rediculous and pain in the***** spring on top of the upper a arm/shock tower design making fitting any V8 a chore, especially a big block.
It wont be long before Falcon producton will be stopped in Aussie , I think the next model Falcon will be based on your Tauraus model , plus going away from the popular straight 6 to the V6 . Will be a sad day for us ANZAC's............................
There's been some damn good loking Falcons over the years - anybody in Oz or NZ got pics of some XP coupes, or XA/B hardtops?
Good thing Ford built it instead of Chrysler. Who remember what compact Pentstar built in 1960 (Valiant-Dart?) and how many survived. I love the Falcons. Cool little car.
Personally, I think Falcon's are a POS. I had an AU model (2001) as a company car and it was rubbish. Having said that, they have a big following in Australia (the Holden v's Ford thing). The XR-XB GT's are very sought after and bring huge dollars. Rumour has it that a GTHO Falcon sold for $1M. At one stage the GTHO was the worlds fastest 4 door production car. In the mid 90's I was involved in doing rubber parts tooling for the Fords. There was talk then that they were going to drop the Falcon and release a smaller version called the Hawk. Ford are dropping the V8 from their range now though, so the only V8 Falcon you will be able to buy will be an FPV version. Google Falcon GT and you'll find some good sites of Aussie Ford muscle cars. & while your at it, google Aussie muscle cars & you'll see all the great factory racers of the late 60's & the 70's. Cheers Louie
Just found this on the niemsn website in the motoring section Ford gets new V8 engine from USA. UNLESS you’ve been summering in Moscow, you’ll know that Ford Australia’s venerable Boss 5.4-litre V8 has fallen victim to stricter Euro IV emissions regulations that come into force on July 1, and will be replaced by an all-new 5.0-litre V8, dubbed ‘Coyote’ and developed by Ford USA. Wheels has driven the 2011 Ford Mustang, the world’s first Coyote V8-powered Ford, and it’s an absolute cracker. Said our Stateside correspondent: “With its flat torque delivery, steel-cut snarl, and incredibly smooth wind-up to its 7000rpm redline, the 5.0-litre feels more like a European gran turismo thruster than a Detroit donk. “Rated at 307kW and 529Nm in the 1635kg Mustang, the 5.0-litre has no trouble lighting up the rear tyres and making the 100km/h mark in a hair under five seconds.” As reported by Wheels in February, the smaller, lighter, more powerful and economical bent-eight should, in supercharged form at least, catapult FPV ahead of HSV in the performance game. We also cast doubts over the future of XR8, but at the time Ford Oz hosed down speculation. Despite this, rumours of XR8’s imminent demise – to make way for an entry-level, naturally-aspirated FPV – continue to gather momentum. If the rumours prove true, Ford Performance Vehicles will use the Coyote V8 exclusively, and we expect to see it in September, along with minor cosmetic updates to the range. The all-alloy 5.0-litre Coyote V8 tips the scales at 195kg in atmo Mustang spec, 135kg lighter than the Boss 5.4. Even allowing a generous 30kg for a supercharger and intercooler set-up, all Coyote-powered Falcons stand to lose around 100kg. Coupled with the driveability improvements, the performance potential is huge. In Mustang’s naturally-aspirated form, the quad-cam, 32-valve V8 outputs of 307kW and 529Nm would give a 100kg-lighter XR8 a power- to-weight figure of 183kW/tonne (up from 163kW), streets ahead of the Commodore SS’s 152kW/tonne. Add FPV’s Roots-style supercharger installation and outputs climb to an HSV-humbling 335kW/600Nm. In FPV GT guise, we’re talking 191kW/tonne – kicking sand in the face of the HSV Clubsport’s 175kW/tonne. Wheels believes that a big-boost, big-hitting supercharged version of the Coyote will also power the return of the GT-HO in 2011. With higher boost pressure, intake and exhaust mods (see sidebar, opposite page), and a water-to-air intercooler, 375kW/650Nm is well within reach of this reborn legend. If Ford does drop the XR8 and hand the Coyote V8 wholly to FPV it would be a perplexing, but not entirely surprising, move. In January, Ford Australia president and CEO Marin Burela told Wheels, “We’re studying multiple options. One is keeping the XR8 with a different engine calibration for FPV. The second is [dropping XR8] and there’s probably a third option. We don’t have to make a decision until March or April. But we’re prepared either way.”<!--Art_2$p2-->That ‘decision’ appears to be whether there’s room for both a Ford and FPV V8 in the $50-$55K bracket, or, if not, which badge the atmo V8 will wear. Remember, FPV recently tested the waters with the $54K GS limited-edition model. Anecdotal evidence suggests the GS wasn’t a runaway success, partly because it had little extra power and torque compared with the $6K-cheaper (and lighter) XR8. But a Coyote-powered model should be more successful. But this still doesn’t tell us why Ford would surrender XR8 sales potential, especially to a company in which it owns only a minority 49 percent (Prodrive owns 51 percent). And the XR8 has been a quiet achiever in showrooms – in 2009, 1577 XR8 sedan and utes were sold, which suggests a Coyote-powered XR8 could top 2000 units a year and swing the sales split between XR6T and XR8 (currently 60/40 to the Turbo), in the XR8’s favour. Furthermore, Ford’s decision to drop the XR8 for an FPV cheapie would be unlikely to change anything from a manufacturing perspective, as Ford currently builds the FPV cars before sending them across the road for bumpers, badges, wheels and spoilers. The question then becomes: how many of the XR8’s projected 2000 sales could FPV handle and how many of those sales might be lost? FPV sold 1976 vehicles in the 12 months from February 2009 to Feb 2010. If the switch to the Coyote engine could generate even an additional 1000 sales, the bottom line would be bolstered considerably. And FPV would be breathing down HSV’s neck; Holden’s hot-shop moved 3163 vehicles in the same period. Another consideration is that Ford may be trying to reduce local engine complexity in preparation for Falcon’s new EcoBoost engine and Territory’s new diesel, both due in 2011. With these two engines, plus the existing petrol and LPG in-line sixes, and the turbo I6, the Coyote V8 would bring Ford’s range of local engines to six. Whatever the final outcome, in the Coyote the Blue Oval finally looks to have the V8 firepower to outgun Holden and HSV. Eight great V8's Welcome to our ode to the modern era of vee-eight glory. Here, in no particular order, are eight rip-roaring v8s that rocked our world and fried our tyres. http://motoring.ninemsn.com.au/showroom/glance/1042400/eight-great-v8s
I had a '62 Comet Custom, that was supposed to be my daily driver. I loved it. What an awesome design, personally I liked em better than their Falcon siblings. But, paperwork issues killed that plan, so I sold her and now drive a '63 Dart 270. The Falcons and Comets were an instant hit. Unfortunately, even though Plymouths are my favorite of those years, their answer to Ford's Falcon failed in my opinion. Although, it was a VALIANT efford. In '63, the new Valiants and Darts were much better looking though.
.CraigR , here's my XP Coupe (Not exactly as Ford made it originally?) Here in Oz(once apon a time) , it was a decision between the US Falcon or the Pommy Zephyr to be the Flagship car for Ford Aust.Thankfully they chose the Falcon.Now looks like the Aussie falcon maybe nearing the end of its life , talk of the Taurus Platform being the new World car , also talk of us getting the Mustang Platform in Aust as rear wheel drive is whats needed & wanted for our roads. The Coupe is basically Mercury Comet (Canadian?) body with the Aussie front sheet metal,The rarest XM-XP is the Sedan Delivery , 2nd the Coupe , then the Ute (Aussie Ranchero), then the Mordor's.
I preferred the looks of the Valiant/Lancer to the Falcon or the Chevy II. You have to wonder if GM thought the Corvair a mistake from day 1 since the BOP compacts were front engine (if a little odd in the case of the Pontiac) and the Chevy II came out not long after again with a conventional drive layout. The only good thing about any of them is they're still pretty cheap to buy a halfway decent one.
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