Jump to content

Ford Falcon- a reflection as it ends after 56 years with Australian manufacturing.


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone, please enjoy this article I've written about how a Ford product has defined the direction my life ended up taking. It includes reflections on Ford's global product decisions and references to F150, Mustang etc. I hope you like it.

 

http://performancedrive.com.au/editorial-ford-falcon-an-emotional-tribute-1715/

Edited by Lionel
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thread title is a little inaccurate.

 

Broadmeadows Assembly was built in 1959 and the first Falcons produced in 1960.

October 7 2016 closing is actually 56 years continued production of Falcon.

 

300px-1960-Ford-Falcon-4dr-Sed.jpg

 

300px-2014_Ford_Falcon_%28FG_X%29_XR6_Tu

Ah shit. Yeah I meant to write 56, don't know what happened there. Can't edit it. Anyway hope you liked it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorted brutha. ;)

Yeah, I was going to tell you thta since you started the thread you have access to editing the title too.

 

Lots of Ford fans in Australia will be remembering Ford on October 7, the contribution to the community

in sustained manufacturing, Falcon is ingrained in the history of our country. Whiel people will eventually

forget them, plenty of owners will keep their falcon and trot them out regularly to remind people of what

large cars were like.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was born in 1975 so I grew up in the 80s and mostly familiar with the XD-XF generation - they were the Falcon of my youth. My dad got one of the early EA Falcons and it had some serious quality issues and he swore off Ford for a while. We moved away from NZ in 1992 so I stopped following the ED-EL and the AU generations for a bit. My next experience with Falcon was in 2006 on my honeymoon. My wife and I picked up a rental BF XR6 from Brisbane airport and drove all the way up the Queensland coast and put over 1,000 km on it.

Edited by bzcat
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While the current Falcon was an economical rework of the pervious, I think Ford has done well with the limited funds available.

Shoot, still having Supercharged V8s and turbo I-6s for sale shows a commitment to the local hard core fan base,

these latest cars are example of Ford exiting local manufacturing the right way and letting Falcon be remembered

with premium examples that fans will buy and keep for many years.

 

Thank you Ford Australia.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it's such a bummer- Lincoln could've had continuity of the LS and even a Continental much earlier- instead of a decade of soul searching via slightly altered Ford products. Ford's product planners were genius combining Euro and US lineup, but very myopic when it came to Australia.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When Ford wanted to name everything with a name that began with F, and they lost Futura, I was surprised they didn't try to name the car Falcon before they went with Fusion.

 

I know that some would balk at there being 2 different Falcons, but there was two different Fusions at the time too and the other one was a lame, forgettable CUV.

 

I never liked the name Fusion. Even Fairmont would have been better. (Fairmont sold almost 500,000 units in its first year so it did something right in its day!)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it's such a bummer- Lincoln could've had continuity of the LS and even a Continental much earlier- instead of a decade of soul searching via slightly altered Ford products. Ford's product planners were genius combining Euro and US lineup, but very myopic when it came to Australia.

 

I'm not sure about that...given the misgivings about putting a Lincoln Coupe on the S197 platform, which is light years newer then the Falcon, I don't think the Falcon would have met requirements being basically the same platform updated for the past 30-40 years to become a Lincoln.

 

When Ford wanted to name everything with a name that began with F, and they lost Futura, I was surprised they didn't try to name the car Falcon before they went with Fusion.

 

I know that some would balk at there being 2 different Falcons, but there was two different Fusions at the time too and the other one was a lame, forgettable CUV.

 

I never liked the name Fusion. Even Fairmont would have been better. (Fairmont sold almost 500,000 units in its first year so it did something right in its day!)

 

Ugh Fairmont has horrible name connotations from the malaise era of the 1970-80s...I'm glad Ford with something "new"

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm not sure about that...given the misgivings about putting a Lincoln Coupe on the S197 platform, which is light years newer then the Falcon, I don't think the Falcon would have met requirements being basically the same platform updated for the past 30-40 years to become a Lincoln.

But that's the biggest myth surrounding Falcon, it's not the same platform.

Falcon's evoluton is not unlike Mustang's evolution with quantum jumps at the change of product cycles.

 

The car has been kept as fresh as economically possible but the one disappointment / detractor

for me is that the interior did not advance with current Ford offerings. The local fans still love it

but as an international car, it would take the complete redesign that only Nth America could afford.

 

None the less, we are grateful that Ford has kept the Falcon this long for those that still want one,

they are now holding the gate open until October 7 and telling people this is your last chance to

buy a piece of history with the Falcon Sprint special available as XR6 Turbo or Supercharged XR8.

Edited by jpd80
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When Ford wanted to name everything with a name that began with F, and they lost Futura, I was surprised they didn't try to name the car Falcon before they went with Fusion.

 

I know that some would balk at there being 2 different Falcons, but there was two different Fusions at the time too and the other one was a lame, forgettable CUV.

 

I never liked the name Fusion. Even Fairmont would have been better. (Fairmont sold almost 500,000 units in its first year so it did something right in its day!)

 

I like that Chevrolet still uses the Malibu (1964) and Impala (1958) names. If I had my way, Ford would still use the Falcon, Fairlane/Torino, and Galaxie names. I know most like the modern names.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm not sure about that...given the misgivings about putting a Lincoln Coupe on the S197 platform, which is light years newer then the Falcon, I don't think the Falcon would have met requirements being basically the same platform updated for the past 30-40 years to become a Lincoln.

 

 

Ugh Fairmont has horrible name connotations from the malaise era of the 1970-80s...I'm glad Ford with something "new"

 

I've never understood why people like Fairlane and hate Fairmont... It's not ...Fair!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But that's the biggest myth surrounding Falcon, it's not the same platform.

Falcon's evoluton is not unlike Mustang's evolution with quantum jumps at the change of product cycles.

 

How is that possible when the Greenhouse more or less remained the same since the 1980s?

 

The Mustang used the same platform from 1979 till 1993, it was updated in 1994 and carried on to 2004. The S197 was completely new platform that had a serious upgrade in 2015 with the addition of IRS. The Fox/SN94 platform carried on for 26 years in almost the same basic form.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

How is that possible when the Greenhouse more or less remained the same since the 1980s?

 

The Mustang used the same platform from 1979 till 1993, it was updated in 1994 and carried on to 2004. The S197 was completely new platform that had a serious upgrade in 2015 with the addition of IRS. The Fox/SN94 platform carried on for 26 years in almost the same basic form.

The greenhouse is not the same, there are distinct changes and product cycle breaks but at 10 year mark

1979-1988 Falcon (XD to XF)

420px-1988_Ford_Fairmont_%28XF%29_sedan_

 

1988-1998 Falcon (EA-EL)

330px-1989_Ford_Falcon_%28EA_II%29_GL_se

 

From 1995-1998 the second half of the product cycle

was given new nose and tail treatment.

330px-1994-1995_Ford_EF_Falcon_GLi_sedan

 

From 1988-2008 AU -BF Falcon copied Footabll Taurus to please Dearborn

It was a new platform that introduced IRS and new rounded body shell

 

330px-2002_Ford_AU_III_Falcon_SR_Forte_s

 

From 2002 to 2008, the BA-BF was given more squared off

nose and tail to recover sales lost by the stylining in the AU

The DOHC 24 valve I-6 arrived and later the ZF 6-speed auto

 

330px-2006-2008_Ford_BF_II_Falcon_XT_sed

 

From 2008, the biggest change was lengthening the rear greenhouse,

the use of EUCD slim door technology and reorganization of the build

process to align with other Ford vehicles. The wheelbase was also

lengthened, removing the last original body hard point that had been

carried since the mid 1960s.

 

330px-2010-2011_Ford_Falcon_%28FG%29_XR6

Edited by jpd80
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, that's the great fallacy.

For example the 2008 to current Falcon cost $700 million to develop when approved in 2006.

They all look similar but much changes in them every 7 to 10 years.

 

The only original hard point surviving for 56 years is the engine's bore center line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, that's the great fallacy.

For example the 2008 to current Falcon cost $700 million to develop when approved in 2006.

They all look similar but much changes in them every 7 to 10 years.

 

The only original hard point surviving for 56 years is the engine's bore center line.

Sorry, the sarcasm didn't come through in the type :-) I was trying to demonstrate that the perception of the current Falcon (the current axe, new handle, new blade) being anything like the 60's or even 80s Falcon (grandpa's axe) is incorrect. :-)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...