Ford ’s aboveboard concordat was an instant hit when it debuted in the United States , but would the Ford Falcon take flight in Australia ? In this clause , you will learn how the Ford Falcon fair abroad .
September 14 , 1960 , is an important date in the chronological record of the Ford Motor Company of Australia . It was on that day that Ford once and for all laid down the gauntlet to archrival General Motors - Holden ’s ; it was on that twenty-four hours that the all new Ford Falcon sedan was released to the motoring public of Australia .
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The Falcon represented the first head - to - read/write head challenge to Holden ’s since the GM subsidiary began command the market with its range of intermediate - sized six - cylinder saloon starting in 1948 . Its freeing was the culmination of years of in - house negotiations that had seen Ford lose the enterprise in Australia to GM in 1945 and drive it to play catch - up for the next four decades .
Immediately prior to World War II , Australian machine companies principally were importee arms and local gathering operations for overseas firm doing business " Down Under . " There was no manufacturing . by and by , when the lunar time period of war turned toward the Allies , some view began to be devoted to the diligence that would replace armaments when peace returned .
One of the ideas that appealed to the Australian politics was the establishment of a domestic motor industry , so much so that the government activity let it be known it would form a corporation to build a homegrown car if the firms already doing business in Australia were n’t interested in doing so themselves .
Lawrence Hartnett , carry off managing director at GM - H , quickly submitted a proposal for an Australian car , then set about seek to convince his superiors in the United States that they should hold it . However , Ford Australia – under the leading of H. C. French – badly louse up its proposal for Australian fabrication when the federal government request compliance from the industry .
French leave for discussions with his masters in Canada on October 7 , 1944 , follow receipt of the politics ’s proposal . While GM - H ’s submission was for a compact six - cylinder family sedan , the Ford concept was far broader : It suggest a cooking stove represent a sedan , station beach wagon , utility , and light trucks , but was found on a 1942 Mercury V-8 design that was unaccepted to the government activity .
asunder from proposing a large , more expensive , and less fuel - efficient orbit of cars based on old engineering the fatal fault in French ’s proposal was to expect the government up front for £ 850,000 ( approximately $ 1.7 million ) to offset the massive Das Kapital costs for the project and for the government to promote import duties on import chassis and components .
Competition rise to bestow a new car to Australia and Ford was right in the midst of it . Read about the road Ford went down that eventually brought them to the Falcon on the next page .
For more info on elevator car , see :
The Ford Falcon in Australia
Ford Australia headman H. C. French and then - new Prime Minister Ben Chifley retain to debate over the future of the Ford Falcon . The dreadful satire of all the complex maneuvering was that Lawrence Hartnett was not capable to extract the financial commitment he needed from his superiors in New York , who insist that the money be raised topically . Chifley used his influence to arrange a $ 2.5 million loanword from the Commonwealth Bank to GM - H even though French had been refused politics assist on the very same issue .
face with its most serious competition gaining the upper hand to invent in the burgeoning Australian market , Ford was forced to drop around for railroad car to trade . From England came the small two - room access Anglia and four - door Prefect sedan chair , and the sidevalve V-8 Pilot that was just a tad large than the Holden . From Ford of Canada came the intuition - back North American V-8 sedans , followed in 1949 by the more modernistic spinner - nose Custom sedans that were the first Fords to have a coil - and - wishing bone front suspension , but retained the " flathead " V-8 engine .
In June 1950 , French retired and was replaced by Charles Smith , an Englishman who had spent much of his working living in Canada and who was posted to Australia from Ford in South Africa . He was a no - nonsense , straight - from - the - shoulder form of guy rope quick to valuate a want and go at it with all guns blazing . His bosses in Windsor were soon to feel the full brunt of his attack .
Ford Australia was in desperate need of revitalize , and Smith was compulsive to dispute GM - Holden ’s for market mastery . The Ford plant life at Geelong was modernized to assemble the V-8 railway locomotive , and in 1952 Smith introduced the most advanced postwar Fords yet : the 1.5 - liter four - piston chamber Consul and the related 2.3 - liter six - piston chamber Zephyr , both sourced from the UK . The Zephyr was a belated – and more expensive – challenger to the Holden , but was moderately successful nonetheless .
Still , Smith kept the press on for an " all - Australian " Ford challenger . Eventually , in 1955 , the determination was taken to build up the Zephyr as a direct rival to the Holden . Smith talk terms £ 18.5 million ( $ 37 million ) for investment in new forum and engine manufacturing facilities .
As hairstylist worked on the Zephyr for Ford , Smith had other design . discover how Smith altered the ontogeny of the Ford Falcon on the next page .
The Development of the Ford Falcon
Rather than expand the survive Geelong flora to work on the Ford Falcon , Charles Smith pick out to look for land closer to Melbourne because of its turgid labor pool and proximity to life-sustaining component suppliers . In 1956 , Henry Bolte , then premier of Victoria state , offered Ford a 400 - Accho parcel of landed estate at Broadmeadows , about 15 miles north of Melbourne , at $ 500 an Akka .
The attractor for Ford was derived from the declaration by the government that a massive residential development was planned for the area and that project would therefore be easy to recruit . The website was purchased in April 1957 , and building began in February 1958 .
Meanwhile , back in the United States , a group of stylists in Ford ’s Dearborn studios was shape on a restyled Zephyr , bed internally as the Mark IIA , as Ford ’s competition to the Holden . On July 31 , 1958 , Smith received a cable from Theodore Emmett , executive vice chairperson of Ford of Canada , require him to come to the U.S. to view progress on the Mark IIA .
When Smith saw the mock - up , he was extremely disappointed and flatly rejected it , much to the surprisal of the take care U.S. executives . To him , the Mark IIA was a miserable rehash of an already old conception . " I need a product to equalize the meter , a car that projects a new figure of Ford , " he said .
Smith ’s chemical reaction was not appreciated by his colleagues . After all , he had been granted jillion to manufacture the Zephyr as an Australian car , and now he was refusing to accept the product . Emmett sensed the delicacy of the situation and quiet asked Smith if he would like to view the mock - up of the Modern thickset Ford was develop to undertake the all - conquering Volkswagen Beetle . From the moment he put eyes on the full - musical scale study Smith have intercourse it was what he had in judgment .
" That ’s the car I wanted for Australia , " Smith said . " It was a new car . It had the reward of Detroit engineering science and innovation , and I suspect that Ford UK already had programme to discontinue the Zephyr range of mountains . " ( This last conclusion would prove incorrect , as it turned out . )
He at once telegraph Geelong with a simple affirmation : " Cancel Zephyr . " The decision cost the company $ 137,000 to scrub already - rank Zephyr tooling .
Learn about how Smith convert workfellow to switch to the Ford Falcon on the next varlet .
The 1960 Ford Falcon
Among the executives in Charles Smith ’s political party when he settled on the Ford Falcon was make up engineer Brian Inglis , later to be dub for his workplace in the automotive diligence and the first Australian - born managing manager of Ford Australia .
Years later , he commented on the decision : " There was no doubt which was the better look car . But the Falcon was not as robust as our restyled Zephyr and we had certain misgivings … Among the things that I trust influenced Mr. Smith deciding on the Falcon was the fact that it was lighter and easier to make , it would cost less than the Zephyr to make up , and therefore be more competitive with the Holden , and also that Ford Australia had far more experience in building American car than British . "
Broadmeadows was discharge in August 1959 , a year before the Falcon , be intimate internally as the XK , was to appear in Australian showrooms . The first car off the new assembly phone line , ironically , was a Zephyr . Charles Smith retired at the end of 1959 , win by 38 - year - erstwhile John Mclntyre recruited from Canada , where he had been adjunct general manager for manufacturing . It was Mclntyre who would have the responsibility of insert the Falcon to Australia .
The Falcon was launched to the sensitive at a gala occasion in the Bamboo Room of the fashionable Chevron Hotel in Melbourne . Ford invited 37 journalists from around Australia for the effect . As the Falcon song was being sung , the curtains were slowly lifted to let on the new railcar amid loud sunshine from the newsmen . What they saw , and what car buyers find , was an exact written matter of the hugely successful U.S. Falcon compact introduced in the gloam of 1959 – it was a lineal transplant , warts and all as it later transpire .
Ford Chairman Henry Ford II had this to say at the car ’s introduction : " I doubt there ’s been a newfangled cable car more tattle about , rumor about , and guessed about than the novel Ford Falcon … the new - sized Ford . In describe the Falcon to you , it is perhaps easier to begin with what it is not .
" It is not just a modest railway car . It is not just a small Ford . It is not just an thriftiness car . It is not the kind of motorcar that ’s life-threatening to take out on a great modern highway in the thick of heavy truck - and - trailer traffic .
" It is a beautifully sophisticated new variety of Ford that unite low price and great saving with beautiful styling , superb comfort , and complete resources of power and safe .
" In the Falcon we have summarise up all this experience in producing an Australian - build up economic system car , specifically designed for Australian drive conditions . "
Learn how the Ford Falcon cope with up with the FB Holden on the next varlet .
The Ford Falcon and the FB Holden
construct using a monocoque blade eubstance plate , the Ford Falcon come down under having survived more than 3 million miles of testing in the United States in three geezerhood . Its wheelbase was 109.5 column inch , compare to 107 for the Zephyr and 105 for the FB Holden . At 181.2 inches , total length was slimly behind the Holden , but the Falcon was notably lower and wider than either of the other two automobile . It was marginally the lightest , too , at 2,463 Sudanese pound .
what is more , styling was years ahead of the FB Holden , which , although new for 1960 , was stuck with cliched mid - fifty dollar bill U.S. cues like the wraparound front windscreen with its kneecap - crunching dogleg , " clap - hands " vacuum lock contact arm , headlight mounted high in the take edge of the buffer above the wicket , and rearward tailfins .
Holden was locked into this consistence mode for the next three years , during which time not only was the fresh - faced Falcon enclose as contest but also the daringly different and immensely more powerful Valiant from Chrysler . ( Even the Mark II Zephyr , introduced in 1956 , was weigh to be more modern in appearing than the Holden . )
Falcon entered the fray with a lithe , eye - catch style that created the illusion that it was foresightful than it really was , with bird’s-eye front and rearward windscreen , sculpted side panels , minimalist bumpers , and a concave grille flanked on either side by undivided headlights .
Engineeringwise , Falcon was way forward of Holden . Its promiscuous unitary physical structure construction conferred many cost benefit by way of better fuel economy ; its formal - joint front suspension delivered a far bland drive with excellent treatment ( according to Ford ) ; and its oversquare 144 - cid six - piston chamber locomotive engine ( with a rating of 90 bhp at 4,200 rpm ) was then state of the art for a mass - produced locomotive . The 138 - cid Holden engine was , in reality , a prewar aim that had been continually updated by GM ’s Australian engineers .
Despite these plain hindrance , the FB Holden sell at the pace of 140,000 units per year and held an ab initio unchallenged 51 percent of the Australian young - car market . Ford was facing a strong challenge .
The Ford Falcon did not add up without its solidifying of problems . study about some of the struggle the machine had on the next page .
Problems With The Ford Falcon
With its tender response in the imperativeness , plus all the pre - release hype , huge interest was generated in the Ford Falcon . Ford dealer were swamp with eager lookers and buyers . The marketing people had forecast betray 30,000 unit in the first yr and , if early sign were accurate , that would not be enough . Launched to the accompaniment of an expensive advertizement campaign that stressed the car was " Australian – With a World of Difference . "
Ford Australia execs and the bargainer body were full of assurance in their raw baby especially since they had been capable to price it at just £ 30 ( $ 67 ) more than Holden and it boasted more than 90 percentage local content . As was customary at the time , the Falcon was usable in stock and Deluxe trims , the major differences amount to lilliputian more than chrome trim .
And then the wheels fell off , literally . Front suspension ball junction were prostrate to collapsing , and gearboxes and clutches were prove unequal to of withstanding the demand of Australian motorist and condition . Hundreds of cars had to have these constituent replaced , some under warranty , some not . Dust sealing was also a concern , and it was not too many winters before it became obvious that Ford ’s body rust security processes were sadly ineffective , too . narration of unreliability began to disperse through the motor industry and were quickly seized upon by the sensitive .
Calls to Dearborn were meet with astonishment . Nothing like what was being described had take place during epitome development . Part of the problem was the speed with which the Falcon had been developed after the sudden shift off from the Zephyr ; no time was spent testing the automobile under local conditions . Unfortunately Ford Australia executives had relied upon the U.S. prototype program being sufficiently demanding to have bring out any major purpose weaknesses in the Falcon .
" Falcon reliability was a serious problem , " said Max Gransden , who was regional sales managing director for New South Wales when the car came out . " We experienced front suspension and hold close problem from day one . The XK sedan was introduced with avenue ride and [ six - inch - wide ] tires as standard equipment . The combination was totally undesirable for Australian conditions .
" While the 144 - cid engine was a reliable unit of measurement , it lacked performance , which caused considerable customer complaint . "
The well - publicized reliability problems regard sales of the Ford Falcon . Read about how these problems hurt the bottom stock at Ford on the next page .
Sales for the Ford Falcon
The legion problem with the Ford Falcon eventually took their toll on the cars sales . Though , last minutes attempts were made to palliate these issues , it was too little too late .
Heavier and far more full-bodied Fairlane pause components were replace and the gearbox was strengthened on the Flacon , but too much time had passed , which took the glossary off the marketing run and create vendee hunch that was to remain with the Ford Falcon for many age . Sales fall as a resultant of the well - publicized reliability problem .
To compound Ford ’s woes , the interior government pitch its coup d’etat de grace in the form of a recognition clinch by raise the sales tax from 30 percent to 40 percentage . In 1961 , diligence sales plummeted by more than 40 percent from 1960 levels . ( The desolation in the marketplace induce the administration to subdue its tax grab to 22.5 percent in 1962 . )
The Falcon pushed Ford ’s portion of the Australian new - car market from 10 percent to 19.4 percent – before the car ’s failure and the sale tax hike run into . ( With Ford nudging a 20 - percent parcel , Holden had lose six percentage , but still owned more than 40 percent of the market . ) Still , in the first two years , roughly 54,000 whole were sold , way below Ford ’s prediction of 70,000 .
Australia , like America in the Sixties , was a big market place for place Dipper . Several U.S. Falcon wagons were brought to Australia of late in the program for examination . To provide more luggage space , the U.S. designers lengthen the wagon version by closely eight inches over the sedan , all of the extra length being aft of the rear cycle .
In Australia , though , the extra overhang caused the back to scratch up on the ground when traverse gutters and driveways . So the Australian Falcon station police van was made the same length as the saloon , the local technologist reasoning correctly that the minuscule sacrifice in baggage way far outweighed any potential literary criticism for " dragging its bum , " as Aussie motorists would say .
The post wagon was in Ford salesroom in November 1960 , just two months after the sedan chair , and was immediately successful . In May 1961 , Ford released the Falcon panel new wave and utility both mechanically identical to their sedan and patrol wagon sib with the exception of larger - department 6.70x13 tires instead of the narrow 6.00 X 13s .
Read about the face - lift Ford gave to the Falcon in 1962 on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
The 1962 Ford Falcon
Before the Ford Falcon ’s quality gremlins made themselves known , there were remarkably few intestinal colic from motor critics . They disliked the extremist - light , twirly maneuver with its five bit lock - to - lock , the brakes had only fringy capabilities , handling was medium at honorable , and the excess roulette wheel sited on the trunk floor robbed the already shallow compartment of valuable quad .
Some assembly glitch were notice , but they were not consider detrimental , an attitude fairly typical of the " forgiveness " practiced by the media in those day . " The Falcon is fundamentally a well-grounded , beautiful - calculate car , priced right for the big section of our marketplace , " Bryan Hanrahan wrote in the November 1960 egress ofModern Motorafter testing a Deluxe sedan accommodate with the two - upper automatic transmission .
Hanrahan managed to cajole the cable car up to 90.2 miles per hour and study 12 seconds for the 0 - to-50 - mph sprint . By comparison , the FB Holden Special sedan chair the magazine test earlier the same twelvemonth achieved a top speed of 82.3 miles per hour and need 13 second for the O - to-50 runnel .
In August 1962 , Ford issue an upgraded XL serial under the marketing streamer " The New Falcons : Trim , Taut , Terrific ! " arrive barely one calendar month after the liberation of the EJ Holden range , the Falcon face - heave was a nonaged makeover with a newfangled bulging grille , new taillight ( they were still round , just sharper seem ) , and the much - exalt Thunderbird roofline . cap constrict apart , all exterior venire were carryovers from the XK .
Under the skin , some strengthening had taken place as a termination of local endurance examination , though . On the options inclination was a larger capacity 170 - cid Pursuit railway locomotive with 101 bhp at 4400 rpm . The 3.5 - inch bore remained the same as in the 144 - square block engine , but the shot was lengthened by .44 of an inch to 2.94 . ( In a four - way trial of automatic transmission - equipped elevator car release in its November 1963 issue , Wheelswas able to hit 50 mph with the enlarged Falcon engine in just 10.4 seconds . )
To widen the range , increase its appeal , and compete with Holden ’s sumptuousness Premier , Ford introduced " the hustle new Futura , " a " limited edition … designed to bring you a whole new world of luxury , sizzle and play – and to plant your pulses pounding . " The Futura was easily discover from its sib by the deluxe chrome full wheel trims , chrome sharpness top the simulated hood atmosphere scoop , fender - top ornaments , a bold chromed side spear , Futura emblem on the C - pillars , and Futura spelled out in block letters across the rear .
Inside , there were individual front fanny – not quite pail seats as we expect them today – separated by a raised cabinet with a brilliantly chromed palpebra , full rug , and a cushioned top for the fascia . The Department of the Interior was done in tawdry red .
Sales of the Ford Falcon advertise the company to the limit . translate about how the success of the 1962 Ford Falcon affected the time to come of the company on the next page .
The 1962 Ford Falcon Makes a Comeback
The 1962 Ford Falcon continued to face an uphill climb . Even with the 170 Pursuit engine and Fordomatic gear case , the Futura was cheaper than the Holden Premier and the Ford Falcon . However , reading the hunky-dory print in the brochure made you aware that it lacked several equipment items by comparing , such as a heater , windscreen washers , backup lights , two - speed galvanizing wipers , anti - glare mirror , and metal paint .
For station waggon lovers , Ford introduce the Squire , a wagon equivalent of the Futura . Like its American congeneric , it was distinguished by fiberglass side cladding that was fashioned to look like Grant Wood , an attempt to revive memory of wagons ' " woody " past tense .
To further promote the Falcon , Ford entered two in the 1962 Armstrong 500 runnel at Philip Island , the forerunner of today ’s Bathurst 1000 . The factory car complete first and second in Class B , with two privately entered falcon eat up third and fourth . straight-out placings had the Falcons at 1 - 3 - 4 - 5 after an epic race - long battle with a far more hefty and quick Studebaker Lark .
Meanwhile Ford restfully grow a successful export business with the Falcon . It opened markets in 16 countries , including New Zealand , Malaya , Hong Kong , New Guinea , Fiji , and Japan , all correct - hand - driving markets .
With the burgeon sales of the Falcon and British - design four - cylinder Cortina , which was introduced to Australia in 1962 , the company was stretched to the bound . Mclntyre announced a multi - million pound expansion program that would reserve Ford to push more product into the market and react faster to buyer demand .
Geelong , where railway locomotive , gearboxes , and board were cook up , and the relatively Modern Broadmeadows and smaller Brisbane assembly facilities had new production equipment and transmission line installed that allowed the daily pace to be increased from 300 building block to 500 .
Of that bit , 440 were to be Falcons and Cortinas , the residue being Fairlanes , Anglias , and Zephyrs . The last two , source from the UK , were quietly phased out in 1964 and a locally - designed and built Fairlane after replaced the Canadian - sourced model that also debuted in 1962 .
There were no major young model activities during 1963 and , despite a recovering marketplace . Ford ’s share douse to 16.9 percent , a driblet of more than two points . This diminution coincided with the release of Holden ’s all - clip full - trafficker , the EH series , with its completely novel and vastly more powerful " cerise " locomotive in 149 - and 179 - cid versions and more modern styling that boast the ubiquitous " Thunderbird " roofline that would also be adopted by Chrysler for the Valiant .
In mid-1963 a new direction squad was put in place to aid correct the job Ford was facing . Read about how they developed an updated version of the Falcon on the next page .
The 1964 Ford Falcon
Ford managment bestow in some new lineage in an effort to get the Ford Falcon back on lead . For starters , Wallace Booth replaced John Mclntyre as managing director in mid-1963 . A finance man , Booth was reportedly sent to Australia to " straighten things out , " the chief in Dearborn clearly not well-chosen with the earnings performance of their Australian subsidiary . Along with Booth add up a new marketing director , Bill Bourke . Between them they established a Modern era for nakedness with the medium and created some selling idea and promotions that were count radical at the time .
presently to follow was a fresh Falcon , the XM , released in February 1964 . Its marketing slogan , " With Certified Gold Quality , " paint a picture Ford was still sensible about the car ’s report . The XM record the first fruit of the travail by Ford Australia orchestrate to build a cable car capable of conquering the abrasive local condition .
It also had more local styling input because the 1964 Australian Falcon did not follow the flavour of the restyled 1964 U.S. Falcon . The Australian stochastic variable retained most of the exist taboo skin panel of the 1960 - 1963 American variant . The most obvious styling change from the XL was at the tail end where the taillights were increased in diameter and mounted higher . This ask a fresh concave rear panel and new rear quarter board .
There was a bold new grille with a broad chromed surround , deeper bumpers front and rear , and a repositioned torso - side spear . at bottom , the instrument binnacle was restyled and there was a new range of upholstery trims and colour .
automatically the large news was the availability of a 200 - Criminal Investigation Command " Super Pursuit " six - piston chamber engine that produced 121 bhp at 4,400 rpm and was able to crowd the Falcon to just over 90 mph . Now with three engines on offer , Ford used semblance to externally identify each : 144 - cube locomotive engine had their rocker cover and air cleaner painted light greens , 170 Pursuit engines were paint crimson , and 200 Super Pursuits were lily-livered .
Both the 170 ’s and 200 ’s air cleaner also wear out identifying decal . Exterior badge – a stylized falcon in trajectory with checkered flags for flank – showed the engine capacity on a grim background for the Pursuit 170 engine and a red background for machine outfit with the Super Pursuit 200 locomotive .
Read about how the addition to the 1964 Ford Falcon yield the car some much - needed new flavor on the next page .
Development of the 1964 Ford Falcon
obtrusive changes were wrought on the suspension organisation of the 1964 Ford Falcon . Rear springiness hangers were strengthen and reposition ; the front upper wishbones , which support the recalibrated spiral leap and muffler units , were strengthened , as were their bestride points ; and across-the-board 4.5x13 rims were fit with 6.50x13 four - ply tire . Another much - needed alteration was the switch from the dreadful vacuum wipers that stopped when you accelerated ( exactly when you needed them most ) to the vastly ranking two - pep pill electric eccentric .
The really large Falcon intelligence for 1964 , however , was the release of a two - door hardtop coupe . Similar to the style released during the 1963 good example year on the U.S. Falcon Futura and Sprint , it featured a very humbled roofline with a markedly rake rearward windowpane and vast doors . The roof pressing was imported from Canada , while the unparalleled doors , extended quarter panels , and privileged reinforcements ( to compensate for the loss of the B - pillar ) were stamped in Geelong .
The hardtop was a first for an Australian manufacturing business and show Ford ’s desire to offer buyer the widest range of example option . Sales of the hardtop , available in Deluxe and Futura trims , were ab initio brisk due to its stylishness and it shortly had a 10 - pct part of total Falcon sale . toll ran from £ 1,237 ( about $ 2,750 ) for a Deluxe with a 170 - cid engine and three - speed chromatography column - shift manual to £ 1,477 ( $ 3,300 ) for a Futura with a Super Pursuit locomotive , Fordomatic gearbox , and radio .
Nonetheless , Ford ’s market portion continued to pass up . At the end of 1964 , it was down to 15 percentage despite have better cars and more options . Australian emptor , it seemed , had farseeing computer memory . If it was any solace , Holden ’s share drop by three percent as both company felt the issue of two starter . Chrysler ’s Valiant , power by the big 225 - cid " Slant Six " that effectively erupt a power war between the three manufacturers , accounted for four percent of the market by 1964 , up from just one percent in 1961 .
And the Asian giant , Toyota , had lead off to make its presence felt in 1963 and 1964 as its inexorable rise up the run began . It was not yet a direct rival with either Holden or Ford , its main Cartesian product melodic phrase then being the vile and wishy-washy Tiara sedan that was followed by the shovel - nosed Corona .
Learn about the last – and best – entry in the Ford Falcon serial on the next page .
The 1965 Ford Falcon XP
The best Falcon to date and the last of this series , the XP , appeared in Australian Ford showrooms in March 1965 . XP prototypes logged more than 473,900 miles of psychometric test and development work , the most concentrated program by any Ford Australia ware to that metre .
The suspension , which had been dramatically improved for the XM , was further enhanced on the XP by a new method acting of construction for the unitary dead body that integrate " torsion corner . " These were pressed sword box section weld into the underbody that ran the full distance under the passenger compartment , substantially increase the strength of the whole structure .
In style the XP , designers adopted the hood from the U.S. 1962 - 1963 Mercury Comet , which necessitated a raw horizontal grille with bold chromed headlight surrounds and a straight - through bumper with the indicator light source on the corner at each end . The Ford name was spelled out across the result bound of the hood in single letters . Rear styling was carried over from the XM .
Three gearboxes were available on XP Falcons : the three - speed manual of arms for the 144- and 170 - cid engines ; two - focal ratio Fordomatic for the 170- and 200 - Criminal Investigation Command engines ; and the Fordomatic 3S that was phased in to replace the old two - speed imported unit . The 35 was manufactured by Borg - Warner and known in the manufacture as the Type 35 . Ford adopted it as part of its local substance architectural plan . Being slightly wider , it required a modified floor design pressing . Cars with automatic transmissions were identified by a small badge under the proper rear light .
Equipment and trim levels remained much the same as before , beginning with the Standard and Deluxe . At first , the top - line modeling were badged as Futuras , but three month into production , the name was changed to Fairmont , a name that enquiry shew had greater solicitation to sumptuosity car buyers . ( Why the modification of name took spot after production began has never been answered . ) Its introduction coincided with Ford ’s realigning of Falcon equipment to well pit its two rivals , the Holden Premier and Chrysler Valiant Regal .
Also , the Squire wagon and its fake Grant Wood sides were consign to history . Although it might have looked good on the showroom floor , the fibreglass cladding apace deteriorated in the scorching Australia summer Sunday . Apart from chromed side sills and wheel arches , the Fairmont Charles’s Wain ’s side were unadorned .
received feature on all Fairmonts included a 200 - cid Super Pursuit engine matched to the Fordomatic 3S gearbox , mogul - assisted front disc brake , and 6.45X14 tires on safety rims . Standard and Deluxe Falcon sedans and wagons retained their all - drum brakes and 6.50X13 tire . In response to client and media critique , the XP ’s spare roulette wheel was relocated from its distance - rot positioning on the trunk base to the left rear box , where it lay at 45 degrees , thereby creating a much more operable baggage expanse .
In an exertion to forestall the Falcon ’s perceive deficiency of dependability and ruggedness , Bourke concocted what became know as the 70,000 - Mile Durability Run held at the company ’s new proving ground .
" In retrospect , the Durability Run was a crazy gamble that pay off , " enounce Max Gransden . " It was a bold effort to establish the reliability of the XP Falcon and proved to be a peachy esprit de corps recall dose both within the company and the dealer body . "
The Durability Run was a turning point in time for Ford and the Falcon series . On the next and final page read about how the event impress sales of the automobile .
The Success of the Ford Falcon XP
There is niggling doubtfulness that the extremely publicized nine - day torture test in April and May 1965 was the turning percentage point in the Ford Falcon ’s history in Australia . From a low of 47,039 sales for the 1964 XM and a deprivation of £ 4.89 million ( $ 10.9 million ) that yr , sales rebounded to almost 71,000 and the company was back in profit . For the first fourth dimension in several years , all - important incorporated and government fleet sales begin to move again . This sale winner also reflected efforts by Bourke to restructure the marketing section within Ford and to reconstruct the monger net . It did n’t smart , either , that Holden ’s bulky looking new HD range of mountains was experiencing a lack of acceptance by buyers who guess into Ford saleroom alternatively .
Two engineers in particular were preponderating in the succeeder of the XP . The first was Al Sundberg , who get in Australia in 1962 from Dearborn having been need on the U.S. Falcon project since its origin . The 2d fundamental member of the XP squad was Jim Martin , foreman of product technology , a man regarded by many of his fellow as a workaholic . As an illustration of his dedication to improving the Falcon , Martin drove an XP paradigm around Australia in 10 days , write his report , then pose off again .
Said Sundberg at the time of the award , " The XP subsist in rule in 1959 when we substantiate that the Falcon would have to be revised for Australian condition . "
While it is true that the Falcon was the first all - novel Australian car since the 48/215 Holden in 1948 , it can also be articulate that the XP was the first veridical Australian Falcon . Today it is really Australian , the only car plan , engineered , and manufacture on the continent . But in the dour days of 1960 , only the brave would have predicted the eventual winner of the Falcon , a car that achieve Charles Smith ’s aim of challenging and defeating Holden for market leadership .
