Generations Of... The Ford Falcon (Part 1) A #blogpost by Gurminder Bains

Hello and welcome once again to Generations Of… If you remember last time we were exploring my favourite series of cars, the beast from the east, which is of course the Nissan Skyline. In this second series we are moving not far from Japan, in fact we are going down under to the land of the Kangaroo and of course the Dingo, but were not here to list the animals and creepy crawlies of Australia that’s David Attenborough’s job. We’re here to talk about the other thing they are known for… No not drinking, I mean cars! One car in specific, the Ford Falcon, a car which sadly ceased production late last year to be replaced by the Mondeo and Mustang.
As per usual there will be multiple parts to this series, four or five to be exact. Two/ three posts going down the Falcon’s timeline, one post about my favourites and finally what I’d do to a Falcon also known as the build post.

50's Aussie Fords

Let’s go back to the 50’s, when Ford’s Aussie line up was being thwarted by rivals Holden, the issue was while the British made Zephyr was successful and had a good reputation in Australia it was costly due to the importation prices so the home made Holden’s were better priced. When Ford of Australia were en route Ford of Britain to ask for the rights to the produce and use Zephyr name, they stopped off in Detroit for the US unveiling of the all new Ford Falcon. Immediately the Ford Australia executives were all over the Falcon because it was the same size as a Holden, but it was slow, sleek and modern yet practical too, it could accommodate six people in total. Despite, the Falcon having a two speed automatic as the only available transmission, Ford of Australia thought it had more experience making US cars, therefore in 1959 Ford built a factory in Campbellfield which is a suburb of Melbourne.

Hello Falcon

A year later in 1960 the Falcon was alive and kicking, the first Falcon to go on sale was the XK series it was initially offered as only sedan. With two flavours of engines on offer, both being straight sixes, one was a 2.4L with 90HP and the other was a larger 2.8L with 101HP. From launch two trim specs were available the base Falcon and the higher specced Falcon Deluxe. Once the Falcon was released it was an instant hit with the Australian public, sales were also boosted thanks to Holden models at the time being dated and underpowered in comparison to the XK. November 1960 saw the release of the Falcon Wagon which was shortened due to the sharp edges of US cars scrapping on the harsh Aussie terrain. As time passed the Falcon gained a reputation for a weak gearbox and suspension components, its sales were further affected by the release of the new Holden EJ. In 1961, the Falcon range was expanded further with the additions of the ute and panel van, production for the XK Falcon ended in 1962.

The XL Falcon was essentially a facelifted XK and used its criticisms to improve, it used the heavier suspension components from a Ford Fairlane and had a new carburettor to help with reliability. Despite these ‘improvements’ the XL Falcon was still too fragile for Australian conditions, sales stayed the same but eventually rose slightly. The additions to the range included a new top of the range Falcon Futura and Falcon Squire which was an attempt at making the Falcon into a Woodie wagon.

Further nipping and tucking of the Falcon saw the XM released, it was the first ever Falcon to have a coupe body style on offer and was the first Falcon to be actually designed by Aussies. This meant that the Falcon was given another new suspension system this time it seemed to be more durable. As for the engines the same two were on offer however there was a boost in power for both straight sixes which now produced 96HP and 111HP, a new engine was on offer which was a 3.3L straight six which was capable of 121HP it was only for top spec Falcons.

In 1965, the final version of the first generation Falcon was released, it was given the XP code name. Other than the exterior differences the XP was given a ‘torque box’ steel subframe which helped strengthen the car. The subframe was key to changing the public’s perception about the Falcon, as up till the XP Falcons were considered flimsy hence they were unpopular with fleet buyers. As for the engines they stayed the same and were available in 2.4L, 2.8L and of course the range topping 3.3L Super Pursuit. The XP was offered in various body styles for the Australian market, as per usual sedan, wagon, ute, coupe and panel van options were available. The XP Falcon was known as the ‘make or break’ Falcon as until the XP came along Ford was considering dropping the Falcon model from Australia completely, however the XP restored faith as it was one of the most popular cars in Australia with over 70,000 cars being produced.

Falcon Take Two

The year is 1966, and it is time for the ageing first generation XP Falcon to be retired for a newer car, debuting in September 1966 the XR Falcon was marketed and known as the ‘Mustang bred Falcon’. It was the first Australian Falcon ever to be fitted with a V8, it was a 4.7L 200HP engine that could be specced to any trim level of Falcon whether it was the base spec Falcon or the more luxurious Fairmont. Other engines include the 2.8L straight six with 111HP and the 3.3L Super Pursuit straight six with 121HP. The old 2.4L straight six was retired, with the 2.8L being the base engine. The XR could be had in four different body styles a sedan, wagon, ute and panel van with the coupe being set aside.

As I mentioned before, the marketing appeal for the Falcon was that it shared the V8 engine amongst other things with its American cousin, hence it being known as the ‘Falcon bred Mustang’. In 1967 a range topping Ford Falcon GT was released which used the 4.7L V8 but the power was upped from 200HP to 225HP, all Falcon GT’s were painted in GT Gold with five exceptions which were painted in Silver, Maroon, Green and two cars in different types of White. The non-Gold cars are the rarest of all XR Falcons and rarest of all early Aussie Muscle cars.

The release of the Falcon GT saw a Ford Works Team send two Falcon GT’s to the 1967 Gallaher 500 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst. The number 52 Falcon driven by Harry Firth and Fred Gibson won the race by 11 seconds to beat the number 53 Ford Falcon GT which placed second. Originally, it was said that the 53 car had won the race as it was flagged first, but a recount of the number of laps completed revealed that the number 52 car had actually won. The Falcons victory had led it to become the first ever V8 car to have won a Bathurst event, something which was thought to be impossible as Bathurst usually favours smaller cars like the Mini Cooper and Ford Cortina GT500.

The facelift of the XR, saw it become known as the XT. Along with the name change came increased engine sizes the base 2.8L became a 3.1L with 114HP, the 3.3L became a 3.6L with 136HP and the V8 was increased to 5.0L with 210HP and 230HP for the Falcon GT. Safety systems were improved for the XT Falcon with split-system brakes and larger tyres. As for motorsport, the XT Falcon GT won the 1969 Rothmans 12 Hour Classic for production cars, at Surfers Paradise Raceway and a team of three Falcon GT’s competed in the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon they finished 3rd, 6th and 8th and won the team trophy.

1969 was the last year for the XT Falcon, and in the summer of 1969 the new XW Falcon was released, this was perhaps the most extensive facelift of the Falcon in its two generation history. Almost every body panel was new and the interior was completely redesigned. The same engines were used with the same power figures. However, a new range topping engine was used, it was an adaptation of the 5.0L V8 used in the Falcon GT, however this new engine had 5.8L and produced a quoted 300HP figure although that number was used to keep the insurers happy, the actual figure was around 350HP-380HP. The 5.8L engine was used in the GT-HO Falcon a with Phase II car being produced also.

In late 1970 the XW turned into the XY, it was a slight change up with a new grille and redesigned taillights. As usual, sedan, wagon, ute and panel van body styles were available. The XY used all of the same engines as the previous Falcons but capacity was upped again with the base 3.1L becoming a 3.3L, the 3.6L becoming a 4.1L and surprisingly the 5.0L V8 was downsized to 4.9L and the bigger 5.8L engine remained. With the bigger displacements came more power, the base straight six had 130HP, and the 4.1L had 155HP, as for the V8 power decreased from 230HP to 220HP, whereas the 5.8L had 250HP. Ford made a 4WD ute in 1972 only 432 cars were produced.

The GT-HO Phase I and Phase II cars were carried on also with the GT-HO Phase III the project was initially meant to be released for the XW Falcon but only prototype cars used XW body work.

In 1971 the XY/XW Phase III was the world’s fastest production saloon car. As for racing the GT-HO XW/XY Falcon was rather successful having an outright win at Bathurst in 1971 and scoring a ATCC title in 1972 and 1973. Back in 1970 a Ford Works Team aimed to create a ‘Super Falcon’ which they thought would bring the Falcon similar success to that of the Boss 302 Mustang. Two XW Falcon GT-HO Phase II cars were used and the 5.8L V8 was cranked up to double the horsepower, yes around 600HP was coming from a mid-sized four door sedan, however as the Falcon was a relatively light beast back in 1970 the meaning that all 600HP was too much for the Falcon to handle, therefore it just oversteered with even the lightest of feet. One ‘Super Falcon’ was abandoned whereas the other was cured of its tail happiness and went on to win the 1972 ATCC championship. The XW Falcon was the most successful Falcon ever with 105,000 units being produced. Although that record was beaten by the XY with 118,000 units.

Stupid Media!

1972 saw the end of the Falcon in the US, meaning that the Falcon was solely an Aussie product therefore for the third generation XA Falcon it had greater Australian input. The body grew larger giving more room inside and the body styles remained the same, but with the re-introduction of the coupe body style. The XA Falcon, saw a rise in the number of options and also a greater range of engines. All the engines were carried over from the XY Falcon and had broadly the same power figures, with exceptions being another 4.1L engine with 170HP which sat next to the 4.1L 155HP engine, the 4.9L V8 saw a power boost to 240HP and two variations of the 5.8L V8 one with 260HP and an ‘on request only’ 300HP 5.8L only available for the GT spec.

All Falcon, Falcon 500 and Fairmont spec cars had the option to be given a Grand Sport Rally Pack, which gave the cars a side stripe, and borrowed many features as standard from the Falcon GT such as the wheels, steering wheel and interior gauges just to name a few. Furthermore, the sedan GS XA sedans could be optioned with the 260HP 5.8L V8 from a Falcon GT. Another optional extra on GS XA cars were the front 56’ fog lights, which were standard on GT models. The Grand Sport Rally Pack could be had on all body styles. The only way to distinguish a fully specced GS XA Falcon and a XA GT Falcon was the bonnet which used NACA air ducts.

As with the previous XW and XY Falcon the XA Falcon range would not be complete without a GT-HO, this was the fourth rendition of the GT-HO car meaning it was officially titled as the GT-HO Phase IV. Ford wanted the Phase IV to pick up where the Phase III left off, therefore they wanted it to compete in the ATCC so they took the 5.8L V8 and gave it a power hike to 410HP! 200 Phase IV road cars were needed to qualify for homologation in Group E. However, production of those 200 examples was forcefully scrapped in 1972 due to the capabilities of the Phase IV being leaked to the media, they said that the 160MPH road race car was too dangerous for the public to drive, this caused a mass hysteria that led to the government stepping in a ceasing production of the GT-HO Phase IV. Only four GT-HO cars were made with three being race cars and one being a road car finished in Calypso Green and a white vinyl interior. The three race versions were sold off, and one of these cars was destroyed in a road accident, the another was given to Ford’s top racing driver Alan Moffat, in order to have the car road registered he fitted it with a Falcon GT exhaust and raised the suspension to compete with the Aussie roads.

With the production of the top spec GT-HO Phase IV being scrapped, Ford still wanted to have a performance Falcon therefore, in 1973 they designed a package for the Falcon GT called the RPO 83. Only 250 cars were produced with this package, 130 sedans and 129 coupes, yes I know that figure doesn’t match up because for an unknown reason an extra nine coupes slid off the production line. What made the RPO 83 different was the Holley carburettor, bigger exhaust headers and a clutch slave cylinder all of which was intended for the GT-HO Phase IV, this meant that the 5.8L V8 was capable of 329HP, 29 more that the ‘on request only’ 5.8L Falcon GT. Another special edition package was made for the Falcon, the Falcon 500 Superbird RPO 77, originally unveiled as a show car it had positive public reaction which led to around 750 cars being produced. The pack included the 240HP 4.9L V8, sports suspension, Grand Sport Rally Pack dials and a rear window louvre. The RPO 77 pack was only available for coupe Falcons.

As for motorsport the XA Falcon continued where its predecessor took off even though it was not as successful, the XA Falcon GT secured a Bathurst 1000 victories in 1973 and 1974. The 1973 victory was taken by a Ford Works Team, driven by Alan Moffat and Ian Geoghegan. As for the 1974 victory it was taken by a privately owned Falcon GT.

Ford Falcon GT (XB)

1973 was the last year of the XA Falcon, it was superseded by Ford’s fantastic use of the alphabet, of course it’s the XB Falcon. The XB was a minor touch up of the XA, Ford hoped to give the car a more muscular stance, other than slight bodywork changes the XB Falcon was the first Falcon to have front disk brakes as standard across the whole model range. The body styles remained the same. The engines on offer had changed once again with the reintroduction of the 3.3L straight six producing 130HP, as for the rest of the engines they were the same.

1974 marked Ford of Australia’s 50th anniversary, therefore Ford released a Sovereign Edition of the Falcon, it was based on the Falcon 500. The Sovereign Edition differed from normal Falcon 500’s because it came with a vinyl roof, Fairmont wheel covers, carpet as standard, a 11 transistor radio and three thin stripes. Strangely no records of how many of these cars were built, and there were no records on the specifications

Other limited edition Falcon’s included the ‘John Goss Special’ which was built to commemorate the 1974 Bathurst 1000 win, the JGS used a Falcon 500 coupe with decals and other bolt on options which include the bonnet from a Falcon GT. Another was the McLeod Ford ‘horn’ cars, which took yet again a coupe Falcon 500 but this time used ‘strobe’ stripes which replicate those of the 1974 Bathurst 1000 winning Falcon.

The XB was not only successful on the roads with over 200,000 examples being produced, but it was also successful at the track, securing the 1974 Sandown 250, the 1976 ATCC and part winning the 1977 ATCC championship before it was replaced mid-way by the newer XC Falcon.

Another place where people may recognise the XB Falcon from was the Mad Max series which used several Ford Falcon GT coupes and sedans throughout the film’s sequels. The XB Falcon was also seen in Australian actor Eric Bana’s documentary called ‘Love The Beast’ which told the history of his 25-year-old Ford Falcon GT coupe.

The Final version of the third generation Falcon was of course the XC Falcon. It came along in 1976 and was the first car to suffer from the new Australian pollution regulations. The regulations meant that the six cylinder engines had to be redesigned with a crossflow head for better fuel economy. The power figures slipped across the whole range as a result, with the 3.3L having 107HP, the 4.1L having 114HP and 123HP, the 4.9L V8 having 202HP and the 5.8L having 217HP. The XC Falcon was toned down styling wise as Ford wanted to adopt a safer way of designing the Falcon, therefore the car had a redesign of its C pillar, higher front seats and a new dashboard. The body styles remained the same.

A new trim level/package was developed for the XC; it was known as the GXL it used a posher Fairmont Falcon with the 4.1L straight six or 4.9L V8. Although an engine upgrade to the 5.8L was available. As standard with XA to XC models the XC kept the Grand Sport Rally Pack.

Limited edition Falcon’s ranged from my personal favourite the Falcon Cobra which took a coupe Falcon and was offered with the 4.9L V8 or 5.8L V8. Only 400 cars were built but 30 Bathurst Specials were made. 1977 saw the release of the Alan Moffat Special, which used a Falcon 500 with GT spec interior, sports suspension, Alan’s signature and the Aussie flag. Finally, one of the coolest Falcon’s made the Sundowner Panel Van was a Falcon 500 Van underneath but used GT exterior parts.

The release of the Cobra Falcon saw it put into motorsport saw it win the Bathurst 1000 in 1977 and the ATCC in 1977.

Thanks For Reading

That’s all for part one, stay tuned for more when on the generations of the Ford Falcon. I’d like to thank two CTzen’s for influencing me to do the Falcon. One of them is fellow blog post writer Chadkake, the other is possibly the biggest Falcon nut I’ve ever seen/spoken to of course it’s Kastriot Kabala.

Till Then…

Gurminder Bains.