Ford Falcon 1965 News

Ford Australia has confirmed the decision in a media statement this afternoon. The announcement will likely come as a shock to Ford fans, many of whom were planning to buy one of the last Falcon GTs and keep them as collector pieces. Ford will instead revive the Falcon XR8 when the new model goes on sale, using a less powerful version of the GT Falcon's supercharged 5.0-litre V8. A media statement issued by Ford this afternoon said the return of the XR8 is timed to coincide with the introduction of the 2014 Falcon sedan and Territory SUV update, ahead of the closure of Ford's Broadmeadows and Geelong factories no later than October 2016. As the Falcon XR8 returns to the Ford range, the Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) range -- which includes the iconic GT Falcon -- will retire, the Ford media statement confirmed. Ford plans a series of limited edition GT models during 2014, the company said. Ford took control of FPV late last year and brought production of the GT back in house in February 2013 for the first time since 1976. But Ford has now decided to wind up production of the GT as well. It's the second dose of bad news for Australian V8 fans in two weeks. Last week, News Corp Australia exclusively reported that a leaked SA Government document revealed that Holden will not have a V8 in its lineup by 2016 or 2018. Buoyed by a string of Bathurst victories Ford sold more than 12,000 Falcon GTs in the eight years from 1968 to 1976. As a sign of the changing market, however, it took 21 years to sell the same number of Falcon GTs from 1992 to 2012. "FPV has been very successful for the last 12 years and our relationship with Tickford for many years before that," said Ford Australia Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service Graeme Whickman. "We appreciate all of the great team members, dealers, customers and fans who have supported FPV through its history. We look forward to sharing further details of the final FPV models and the new XR8 over the coming months." "We have received a lot of interest and continued requests from Falcon fans to bring back the XR8. Re-introducing the XR8 sedan, packaged in our updated Falcon, will make our renowned locally-engineered and manufactured V8 engine available to a broader group of people." This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

     

When Brenton Hill took his 1964 XM Falcon coupe to a car show in 2004, little did he know he would meet his future wife, Katrina, owner of a 1965 XP Falcon coupe."They were very similar vehicles, just different colours," the 31-year-old electrician says. "I just got to talking to her and asked her about her car. It was lower than mine and I wanted to know how she managed to do that. A week later we were seeing each other and we were married in 2006."They now have a happy family of seven cars including 2006 Ford F250 and 1984 Ford F100 pick-ups which are their daily drivers and three-year-old daughter Prudence's vintage toy car. There are also a couple of future projects in the garage."We've got a 1950 Pontiac Silver Streak sedan which is a long way off getting on the road and a 1970 Mk I Escort drag car which my father-in-law last raced at Surfers Paradise in 1976," he says. "I bought it off my brother-in-law as he couldn't afford to keep it and I couldn't stand to see it leave the family."He plans to restore it to its original racing livery and enter it in nostalgia drag competitions "if Katrina will allow me". "It's a pretty dangerous motorsport," he says. "But first I'd have to spend quite a bit of money upgrading it to modern competition safety standards."Katrina is not surprised Brenton wants to go drag racing. "That's the household I was brought up in, so I spent my whole life in that so it doesn't surprise me at all," she says. "He's a sparkie so everything he does is dangerous, anyway."They also have a restored 1957 Cadillac of which they are very proud."My wife's had her XP for 21 years. It was her first car, but she was getting bored with it and I wouldn't let her sell it. It's a cool car," Brenton says."She always liked Caddys and big American cars so we hunted one down for $20,000 from Victoria a couple of years ago. We called it a 30-footer as it looks good from 30 feet away, but when you get close it has some imperfections. However, we haven't spent a lot on it. We drive it. It's not really a show car. We just lowered it, cleaned it up a little bit, a bit of TLC for the engine and that's pretty much it. If it ever wins an award I'll be shocked."Brenton bought his XM about eight years ago for $6000 and spent another $6000 rebuilding the engine, replacing the differential, fixing the front end and steering, lowering the suspension, fitting a new exhaust, adding some custom features and replacing the trim."The trim is not cheap nor easy to find," he says. "Ford only ever produced about 3500 and they only made about 5500 XPs, so finding parts is difficult."Katrina's car required a more comprehensive rebuild."That thing's been pulled apart and restored from scratch," she says. "It had a four-speed gearbox and 1985 XF Falcon 4.1 crossflow motor in it, so we pulled that out and put in the original 170 cubic inch six cylinder and three on the tree. It was also repainted, lowered and had pretty much everything done."Katrina bought it for $3000 from a Redcliffe surfer who carried his surfboards on the car. "It was a terrible pile of rubbish.There was plenty of rust through it," she says. "It's disappointing what some people do to cars. They don't respect what they've got."The couple will show their Caddy and XM at the annual GreazeFest Kustom Kulture Festival at the Rocklea Showground on August 1. Visit: www.greazefest.com.

It's not just on the bodywork, its on the wheels, the bumper bars, the grille and even the engine is painted blue. But then this is a unique car. Essentially its a 1965 Ford XP Coupe with the original dashboard. But that's about it for originality.The front end is from the earlier XM Coupe, the 5-litre V8 engine is out of 10-year old AU Falcon, the doorhandles are off a HQ Holden, the gearbox is from an XY Falcon and the wheels have been specially produced, down to even getting the same shade of blue paint as the rest of the car.And that shade, Aegean blue, comes from a 1991 Ford Fiesta. Beaumont first saw the coupe featured in a car magazine 13 years ago and quickly fell in love. "I was very keen on the car even though I'd never seen it."Some time later he discovered that his local mechanic owned the car and had undertaken the five-year restoration of the coupe. "He said it was a labour of love. I asked what does it owe you. He said, `oh, $40,000."When it came up for sale three years ago Beaumont settled on a sale after a quick test drive. "I'm almost 70 years of age, I don't have much money, I have lusted over a convertible or a car without a roof."The keen motorcyclist says he sees the convertible as a much safer form of fun motoring than riding a bike. "It has a V8 in it. I love it. I think the whole thing has been done fairly eccentrically. It's got HQ Holden door-handles and the front end's from an XM."He says the paintjob has been overdone but he likes the colour. "There is much that could be done to improve the appearance but its an absolute hoot. It's a real head turner. "I don't mind the madness of it. It's the only one of its kind in the world."Beaumont says it is lightweight and very powerful though the steering is heavy and the suspension is solid. "The suspension is so hard you could drive over a 50-cent piece and tell whether it was head or tails."The convertible has a white vinyl foldaway roof but it's rarely seen. "It looks crap when its up. It doesn't match anything and the profile is all wrong." He says the car came into the previous owner's hands after being sold to him by actor John Jarrett before the restoration.Beaumont says the car was then basically a standard XP Coupe but it had a non-standard V8 engine and was riddled with rust. "It was an absolute horror but it had perfect sills."It was a survivor car that was getting very, very close to the knacker's yard. It had a feint heartbeat and out of that this suave Frankenstein monster was created." Beaumont says that after the conversion the car's old V8 engine was like a "boat anchor."It was noisy and heavy and extremely thirsty on fuel, drinking up to 30 litres per 100km. The current engine was put in to produce much more respectable figures of about 12-l/100km.He says that immediately after buying the car it developed a series of problems that cost him a lot to fix. "Everything one by one failed over a six-month period." It ranged from the clutch to the brake master-cylinder. So, how do you value a 44-year old one-off Aussie street machine that has a stunning on-road presence? "I paid $20,000. It owes me 30 with what I have put into it. "If someone offered me $30,000 I'd probably accept it."

He’s been a green superhero in The Hulk, defended an ancient Greek city in Troy, and gone to the rescue of stranded troops in Black Hawk Down. So can Eric Bana now save the Aussie large car whose woes are beyond the surgical skills of government packages, marketing campaigns and hasty engine revisions. Probably not. Don’t expect to see reports of new V8s booming as a result of Bana’s auto-focus movie, Love the Beast. But don’t be surprised if there’s a spike in sales of classic cars … and perhaps particularly higher interest in the 1974 XB GT Falcon Coupe at the centre of the film – and at the centre of Bana’s life since his teens. Watch the Love the Beast trailer here... Released nationally this week, the film follows Bana’s journey with the car through first getting it to driveable standard, then as a touchstone for his early social life, and finally to the years of dipping into racing that brought it to a crashing end in the slippery rally that is Targa Tasmania. Part home movie, part car cult film, part psychological and sociological analysis, the story is told using narrative from Bana, his family and longtime friends – and a few more recent ones like Top Gear linchpin Jeremy Clarkson, comedian Jay Leno and a teeth-grittingly tedious Dr Phil (of Oprah fame and spin-off). And it works. Through a range of mechanisms, and some great camera work – best seen on the big screen — Love the Beast manages to infect you with the near-romantic passion for classic muscle cars and racing, while not ignoring the obvious dangers. And since he’s now fairly at home in a Hollywood that is obsessive about airbrushing the personal image, it’s great to see Bana’s still proud to trot out the kind of early family photos and footage that would otherwise be cringe-worthy. There were occasional moments that seemed a little contrived, but this was mainly because they stood out against the natural charm of most of the film. It’s warm, it’s casual, and in places it’s very funny. Much like hanging out in the garage with your mates. Is Bana’s Ford XB Coupe the best muscle car? Or is it something from Holden or Chrysler, or perhaps even one of the Europeans?      

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