Fans vote to save Falcon

Over the past week voters have rallied to the Big Australian's cause, lifting it from 5.5 percent up to 8.7 per cent in the overall favourite stakes.

That's leapfrogged it into second place over six other cars Ford's Focus and Territory, the Jaguar XF, Mercedes-Benz C-coupe and the BMW 1-Series M (which now sits in third at 7.9). The Nissan GT-R is still maintaining a lead at 13.9 percent, but has barely moved in terms of voting share, so another push for the Falcon could still give it the win as Australia's favourite car before voting closes at midnight tonight.

It certainly looks set to take out the Family Car prize, with 28.6 per cent of the votes having overtaken the nearest rival Holden Cruze which sits on 26.3 per cent.

And Ford is still also leading in two other categories: the Fiesta is barnstorming rivals for the First Car gong with 42.7 per cent, and the Territory is leading in the SUV category with 36.3 per cent.

However Ford's Ranger is faring worse in the Trade/Commercial battle with 22.9 per cent, where the Toyota Hilix has wrestled to 43.6 per cent and the VW Amarok has squeezed into second with 23.2 per cent.

Jaguar's XF at 34.2 per cent in the Prestige field is still fending off the Mercedes C-Coupe with 25.6 per cent, and the Nissan GT-R is still the best bet to take out the Performance category, with its 45 per cent leaving a large gap for the BMW 1M to try and cover from 20.3 per cent.

But it could all change in the final hours as more readers add their votes in the People's Choice Award in each of six categories: Best Family Car; Best First Car; Best Prestige Car; Best SUV; Best Sporty Car; and Best Trade/Commercial.

Our judges the motoring editors and senior writers from Sydney's The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne's Herald Sun, Brisbane's The Courier-Mail, Adelaide's The Advertiser, Perth's Sunday Times and Carsguide.com.au website - has already rolled up their sleeves and shortlisted five vehicles in each category.

Now it's up to you. Choose your favourite in each field and then pick an over all winner... and tell us in about 25 words why you think it rules. The voting closes at 11:59pm tonight AEDT.

One lucky voter will win a replica Senna helmet, while 20 others will win DVD/BluRays of Senna: the remarkable movie that tells the story of the Brazilian "driving god", his quest for perfection and his journey into legend after his untimely death on the blackest weekend in F1 history.

In the meantime, our judges are finalising their shortlist of cars to battle for the crown of 2011 Carsguide Car of the Year. We'll be revealing more details next week.