Ford Falcon 1968 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

How can they not, when the Japanese hero is now the world's all-time favourite with a production total that has just topped 40 million cars. Based on those numbers, the Corolla is nearly twice as popular as the Volkswagen Beetle with 21.5 million sales and even further ahead of the T-Model Ford at 16.5 million, although it has had the advantage of selling at a time when far more people everywhere in the world own and drive cars.My first experience of the Corolla was in the 1960s, soon after the original cars landed in Australia. By the standard of the times, and we're talking here about Falcons and Kingswoods and Valiants, it was tiny and tinny but also solid, sensible and smartly priced. I was only a rider and not a driver at the time, but it also had a fun factor that was missing from other cars of my acquaintance - and you have to remember that an Austin Freeway cringed in our suburban Sydney driveway.The original Corolla helped ignite a small-car revolution and laid the firm foundation that now sees Toyota rampaging along as Australia's favourite carmaker, with annual sales that trump the combined efforts of Holden and Mazda in the other podium places.In America, the Corolla - along with the Honda Civic - is credited with the relatively recent bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler. Looking back to the USA in the sixties, it became the 'second' car in many American households and won over women and youngsters driving for the first time. They went Japanese and never came back. Does that sound familiar?Since the late 1970s I've driven every new Corolla model and had some fantastic fun on the side, including flat-out track laps in pursuit of an Australian racing championship and several forest fights in the Australian Rally Championship. And a Corolla has never let me down.And that gets me thinking about the Honda 750 four. You see, the Honda stalwart from the seventies was tagged as the Universal Japanese Motorcycle because it could do anything, from high-speed pursuit duties with the Highway Patrol police to daily commutes to touring the world in the days before long-distance motorcyclists switched to BMWs.In the same way, the Corolla should be known as the Universal Japanese Car. It's as sensible as an accountant, as dependable as a bullet train, and as predictable as a new tech toy from Apple.  It's also a bankable investment on the secondhand scene and will never offend or annoy. It doesn't have the attitude of an Alfa, or the performance of a Porsche, but a UJC is just fine and we have 40 million signatures to prove it.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

The car Ford should have had in the noughties. The four-cylinder engine enhances economy and driving enjoyment. "It's the Falcon of the year. It's what Ford needed to do, but four or five years ago," Karla Pincott said at the COTY judging.It’s an unpalatable fact of life for our local carmakers that big sedan sales are slumping everywhere from Germany to Geraldton as buyers scale down and step up.What the EcoBoost mill does prove is just how good Ford’s new generation of engines are. Ironically, that’s one of the reasons why the Focus will supplant the Falcon as the Blue Oval’s biggest seller this year.But for those who can’t fit in a Focus, the Falcon’s ride and handling makes it a better option than an SUV. The EcoBoost makes the six-cylinder redundant, unless buyers need the extra towing capacity - 2300kg against 1600kg.The four-cylinder prefers premium leaded, in which case sub-seven second times to 100km/h are easily within reach. More impressive is the mid-range acceleration and the way the six-speed auto has been calibrated to bring out the EcoBoost’s best.It lopes along at under 2000rpm at 100km/h and a quick dab of the pedal provides instant overtaking response. It's the same at 60 and 80km/h and at any speed this car turns-in better than bigger-engined Falcons, courtesy of the 60kg weight cut over the front wheels.The ride is also near XR levels of firmness but never feels unsettled. The seats need upgrading though - bolstering support is marginal at the cornering speeds the EcoBoost is capable of.The EcoBoost Falcon makes sense at a time when big cars don’t. It has the interior space to deal with a mushrooming family and the baggage that comes with them, backed by decent fuel economy and well-sorted road manners.Ford Falcon EcoBoost G6Price: from $40,835Engine: two-litre turbocharged direct-injection four-cylinderTransmission: six-speed automatic, rear wheel drivePower: 179kW @ 5500rpmTorque: 353Nm @ 2000rpmFuel use/emissions: 8.5 l/100km, tank 68 litres; 201g/kmBrakes/safety systems: Driver and front passenger airbags, front seat side/thorax, curtain airbags, stability control (Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Traction Control), rear parking sensorsDimensions: Length 4966mm, width 1868mm, height 1483mm, wheelbase 2838mm, cargo volume 535 litres, weight 1648kgWheels/tyres: 17in alloy wheelsWin $5,000 in our People's Choice competition. 

When Dick Johnson hit The Rock at Mount Panorama in 1980 his Tru-Blue Falcon won an instant place in Australian motorsport history.  Now, on the 50th anniversary of the Bathurst 1000, the Tru-Blue Falcon is back - with a twist. It's one of a series of retro liveries that will be run this October including, if rumours are true, an FPR Falcon for David Reynolds that will mimic an XR Falcon from 1967.  The Tru-Blue livery is unveiled today thanks to Dick Johnson and the current sponsors of James Moffat's DJR Falcon, including Norton.  They have agreed to the retro look that includes the same bright blue bodywork and Tru-Blu sign writing on the sides, although the use of Johnson's signature racing number - 17 - is likely to be changed to Moffat's regular number by Bathurst time.  The Rock is also likely to make an appearance at the press call this morning, as it lives in a display case at Johnson's workshop and museum on the Gold Coast.

Ford is rolling the dice on a last-ditch effort to win a stay of execution for its homegrown Falcon.  It has installed a fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine in the nose of the car that was once Australia's favourite but is now spiralling downwards on the sales charts as buyers flock to new-age SUVs and abandon old-style Aussie family cars. The Falcon EcoBoost promises impressive fuel economy and performance that almost matches a traditional six-cylinder engine, with parity pricing starting at $37,235 despite the extra cost of the imported powerplant. The EcoBoost package is more than just an engine, as Ford has overhauled its green leader with everything from improved aerodynamics and smoother suspension to a quieter cabin.  Ford denies it is too little or too late, even though it is only committed to the Falcon until 2016 and the successor is likely to be a global car with minor local tweaking and a Falcon badge for the Ford faithful. "I don't think it's make-or-break for us, but EcoBoost continues to fill out the portfolio," says Bob Graziano, president of Ford Australia. "The timing is right. There are people who want four-cylinder cars and this provides us with an advantage, so hopefully we'll get onto some buy lists."  He says Ford is being deliberately conservative in its EcoBoost planning, only targeting 2000 sales by the end of the year despite the seachange switch in a car that has always been a six-cylinder and V8 staple. "We're continuing to improve the Falcon. The efficiency, the performance, and moving with customer expectations and demands," says Graziano. "It's a very important launch for us. If you look at what customers want, EcoBoost is another tool in the toolkit."  The raw numbers are impressive, from the pricing to 179 kiloWatts of power and fuel economy of 8.1 litres/100km that is a huge improvement over the 9.9 of the Falcon six and 12.3 for the LPG-fuelled Falcon. But there is no four-cylinder engine for the Falcon ute or XR models, and towing capacity is down, although Ford says the engine will run happily on standard 91-octane unleaded petrol.  "It does provide us with an advantage. It also hopefully gives us an opportunity to talk to some folks that we haven't been able to with the existing powertrain lineup," says Graziano. He will not reveal the cost of the EcoBoost program, but says funding came from a $232 million local investment package announced in 2009.  Ford won another $103 million at the start of the year to continue improvements on the Falcon through to 2016, but it still amounts to another appeal for a car that's sitting on death row.  

Based on bang-for-buck impact, as well as classic muscle appeal, Shannons Insurance says it has to be the Falcon XY GTHO Phase 3 that ruled at Bathurst in the 1970s and was the world's fastest four-door sedan at the time it was introduced. A silver HO was passed in at the Brisbane Motor Show auction in 2008 at about $750,000."You wouldn't get those prices now as the bubble burst on the Aussie V8 muscle car market over 12 months ago and we haven't seen those numbers back ... yet," says Shannons spokesman Phil Ross.But Dan Bowden, whose Sunshine Coast family museum has one of the greatest collections of Aussie muscle cars, reckons the top prize goes to the Falcon XR GT which he calls "The first of the real Aussie V8s". It won Bathurst in 1967.Bathurst victory seems to be the common thread here. But what about Holdens? Ross says the number two and three cars in the price stakes are both Bathurst-winning Holdens: the 1978/79 A9X hatchback 308 V8 LX SS and the 1968 327 V8 HK Holden Monaro, "or possibly the 1970 HT 350 V8 Monaro"."Shannons Auctions sold a HK 327 Monaro for $220,000 at one of our auctions at the height of the muscle car price wars," he says.Earlier this year an A9X was passed in at a Shannons auction in Melbourne for more than $270,000. "They only made 100 of these so the Holden fans will argue it's the number one Aussie V8 of all time and the most collectable," says Ross.Road cars are one thing, but race cars attract even higher price tags. Bowden's museum has Peter Brock's 1979 A9X in which he won Bathurst by six laps, setting a record on the last lap while waving at the fans.It's insured for over $1m. Bowden says the car recently won an Auto Action poll as the most significant race car in Australia's history and won a Facebook poll among Bowden followers.Despite all that, he says the HK 327 GTS Monaro is "one of the most beautiful and a real contender", winning Bathurst in 1968.Ross says the cars that conquered Bathurst were awarded hero status by the car-buying public. "I don't think this kind of hero status for Aussie V8s will be as big with the later model cars but time may prove me wrong," he says. "I have just noticed there is a bit of a cult following starting with younger guys and the humble XD Falcon at shows."I always thought it looked more like a taxi but after looking at the Dick Johnson `Tru Blu' Falcon Group C race car at Bowden's museum I have changed my mind."Neither Ross nor Bowden mentioned any Chrysler product. "Sadly Chrysler didn't have any good V8s," says Bowden. "The ones with any real sporting pedigree were the six-cylinder versions."In the end they built the V8s in the Charger, the VJ E55 versions, but they were very toned down, marketed against the big luxury Ford Fairmont and LS Monaros, not as a sporting car."Ross says the six-cylinder E49 E49 RT Charger in the popular Vitamin C (orange) six pack "Big Tank" (extra Fuel for Bathurst) fully restored can be worth $170,000-$200.000."I once asked Leo Geogeghan if he thought a Charger could win Bathurst and he said not without a V8," he says. "He couldn't beat the V8 GT Falcons up the mountain. There was a 770 Charger released with a V8 but it never ran at Bathurst. If they had won maybe they would be worth more."Of the current batch of Aussie V8s, Bowden likes the FPV GT. "Amazing engine. The only manufacturer that hand assembles its engine in Australia," he says.Bowden also throws a monkey into the works with the rear-mounted HSV V8 engine in the Alfa Romeo Sprint made by Giocattolo Motori Pty Ltd. The Australian car company built just 15 cars from 1986 to 1989 which were capable of up to 260km/h.OTHERS TO CONSIDER* Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV, the one Ford said they never built, killed by the super car scare and only one road car ever made.* Holden L34 Torana, with Hi-Po option, our only all-Aussie-made engine.* VL HDT Group A Brock Commodore, another homologation special. "The polariser plus pack version just adds to the story," says Bowden.* Falcon XA RPO-83 option GT. A lot of those Phase IV bits went on these special cars.* Falcon XC Cobra, one of the first 30, the Bathurst special versions.

Based on bang-for-buck impact, as well as classic muscle appeal, Shannons Insurance says it has to be the Falcon XY GTHO Phase 3 that ruled at Bathurst in the 1970s and was the world's fastest four-door sedan at the time it was introduced.A Silver HO was passed in at the Brisbane Motor Show auction in 2008 at about $750,000."You wouldn't get those prices now as the bubble burst on the Aussie V8 muscle car market over 12 months ago and we haven't seen those numbers back ... yet," says Shannons spokesman Phil Ross.But Dan Bowden, whose family museum has one of the greatest collections of Aussie muscle cars, reckons the top prize goes to the Falcon XR GT which he calls "The first of the real Aussie V8s". It won Bathurst in 1967.What about Holdens?Ross says the number two and three cars in the price stake are both Bathurst winning Holdens: the A9X hatchback 308 V8 LX SS and the 1968 327 V8 HK Holden Monaro, "or possibly the 1970 HT 350 V8 Monaro". Shannons Auctions sold a HK 327 Monaro for $220,000 at one of our auctions at the height of the muscle car price wars," he says."We have an A9X in our next auction ... and it may go for around $250,000 or more. They only made 100 of these so the Holden fans will argue it's the number one Aussie V8 of all time and the most collectable."Bowden's museum seems to favour the Falcons, but he agrees that the HK 327 GTS Monaro is "one of the most beautiful and a real contender", winning Bathurst in 1968.Others to consider are:Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV, the one Ford said they never built, killed by the super car scare and only one road car ever made.Holden L34 Torana, with Hi-Po option, our only all-Aussie-made engine.VL HDT Group A Brock Commodore, another homologation special. "The polariser plus pack version just adds to the story," says Bowden.Falcon XA RPO-83 option GT. A lot of those Phase IV bits went on these special cars.Falcon XC Cobra, one of the first 30, the Bathurst special versions.Ross says the cars that conquered Bathurst were awarded hero status by the car-buying public."But I don't think this kind of hero status for Aussie V8s will be as big with the later model cars but time may prove me wrong," he says. "I have just noticed there is a bit of a cult following starting with younger guys and the humble XD Falcon at shows. I always thought it looked more like a taxi but after looking at the Dick Johnson `Tru Blu' Falcon Group C race car at Bowden's museum I have changed my mind."Neither Ross nor Bowden mentioned any Chrysler product."Sadly Chrysler didn't have any good V8s," says Bowden. "The ones with any real sporting pedigree were the six-cylinder versions. In the end they built the V8s in the Charger, the VJ E55 versions, but they were very toned down, marketed against the big luxury Ford Fairmont and LS Monaros, not as a sporting car."Ross says the six-cylinder E49 E49 RT Charger in the popular Vitamin C (orange) six pack "Big Tank" (extra Fuel for Bathurst) fully restored can be worth $170,000-$200.000."I once asked Leo Geogeghan if he thought a Charger could win Bathurst and he said not without a V8," he says. "He couldn't beat the V8 GT Falcons up the mountain. There was a 770 Charger released with a V8 but it never ran at Bathurst. If they had won maybe they would be worth more."Of the current batch of Aussie V8s, Bowden likes the FPV GT."Amazing engine. The only manufacturer that hand assembles its engine in Australia," he says.Bowden also throws a monkey into the works with the rear-mounted HSV V8 engine in the Alfa Romeo Sprint made by Giocattolo Motori Pty Ltd.The Australian car company built just 15 cars from 1986 to 1989 which were capable of up to 260km/h.

In June, the marque’s prime asset, the Falcon, turned 50 and Ford wasted no time producing a special 50th anniversary edition of the iconic car.  You’ll be able to get up close and personal to the Falcon XR6 50th anniversary special at this year’s Australian International Motor Show.The XR sedan models feature unique “dark stealth” colour accents on the upper and lower grilles, go lamp bezels and rear bumber insert, along with higher side mirrors with G6-spec tail lamps.  The car looks extra cool on the outside with special XR50 badging and body stripes, while the interior also carries the XR50 brand on carpet mats and door scuff plates.There is a new partial leather seat trim and 18-inch alloy wheels the base edition. The Turbo edition jumps to 19-inch alloy wheels and also carries a premium audio system and reverse sensor system.  All the usual Falcon comfort and performance measures are on hand, from engine efficiency to the sleek design.Alongside the Falcon on the Ford stand at this year’s Show will be several of Ford’s 2010 big guns, including the Australian introduction of the Focus RS.  With only 315 Focus RS models being made available to Australian consumers, the Show could well be the best place to see this popular small car.The hot three-door hatch boasts a turbocharged five-cylinder engine that churns our near-V8 style performance, with 224kW of power and 440Nm of torque.

Each 50th anniversary model will get special exterior design elements, exclusive interior finishes and more standard equipment. The range will include G Series and XR models, with six individual variants available across both sedan and ute models, including a G6E, G6E Turbo, Falcon XR6 sedan, XR6 Turbo sedan, XR6 Ute and XR6 Turbo ute. Ford will build about 750 G-Series and 4000 XR birthday specials. The Falcon XR 50th Anniversary sedans will feature "Dark Stealth" colour accents on the grille, fog light bezels and rear bumper insert, and "Medium Stealth" accents on the alloys, along with high series side mirrors with integrated indicators and G6-spec tail lights. Anniversary features for the exterior include "XR50" graphics, body stripes and a "50th Anniversary" badging. Inside there is an embroidered XR50 logo on the seats, carpet mats and door scuff plates and 50th Anniversary instrument graphics. Other highlights include special interior trim on the centre console, dashboard and front doors, along with standard dual zone climate control, premium audio system and high series sports leather steering wheel. Features specific to the Falcon XR6 50th Anniversary include new partial leather seat trim and 18-inch XR alloy wheels with the detail accent treatment. The Falcon XR6 Turbo 50th Anniversary receives new leather-detailed seat trim, reverse sensors and 19-inch XR alloys with full colour accents. Production of XR anniversary models start in June, with G Series anniversary models to follow a month later. The longest running vehicle name in Australian motoring history marks its 50th birthday on June 28. It will be half a century after the first XK Falcon rolled off Ford Australia's Campbellfield production line. Ford Australia's marketing, sales and service vice president Beth Donovan, says 50 years of continuity in any industry is a remarkable achievement "but it's especially rare in a dynamic field like the car industry". "The Falcon's long and distinguished heritage is unmatched by any other car in the history of Australian motoring." Prices for the 50th Anniversary range will be announced closer to the on sale date. "But as with previous limited edition models, customers can expect these special vehicles to come with some equally special pricing that will deliver exceptional value for money," Donovan says. The timing of the anniversary anniversary Falcons also marks 50 years since the first inline six-cylinder engine was built at Ford's Geelong engine plant. The 144 cubic inch (2.4-litre) overhead valve (OHV) engine developed 67kW when it was introduced, which was class-leading at the time but only average for a 1.5-litre four-cylinder today. By comparison, the advanced design of today's Falcon engine would have been unimaginable back in 1960, with high-tech features like a dual-mode split plenum composite intake manifold, fast burn cylinder head, double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and dual independent variable camshaft timing (DI-VCT). The current Falcon's six-cylinder engine produces almost three times the power and more than twice the peak torque, while being significantly more fuel efficient despite a 50 per cent increase in total vehicle mass.

Was it "Big Bopper" - the '79 XB Falcon from Mad Max, or Steve McQueen's '68 Mustang GT in Bullitt. Or could it be the '64 Aston Martin DB5 driven by Bond in Goldfinger. How about the Mini Coopers of 1969 in the Italian Job? Or, does the '77 Pontiac Trans Am from Smokey and The Bandit top your list?Take our poll below to tell us what you think, or leave a comment if your top pick is not listed.But if the Oscars gave out awards to cars instead of stars, Audi would probably get the most nominations. During the past few years, Audis have featured in all the Transporter movies, Ronin, I Robot, Mission Impossible 2, About a Boy, Legally Blonde 2, Hitman, The Matrix 2, Iron Man and now its sequel.In the first Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr plays Tony Stark (a.k.a 'Iron Man'). His workshop houses a 1932 Ford Flathead roadster, a 1967 Shelby Cobra, a Saleen S7, a prototype Tesla Roadster and a 2008 Audi R8.Supporting roles were played by the S5 sports sedan driven by American secret service agents and a Q7 SUV which is literally held up by Iron Man, who saves the family inside from the enemy. For the Australian premiere, Downey Jr arrived in a silver R8. In Iron Man 2 he drives an Audi R8 Spyder and his secretary, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), drives an A8 TDI.Audi Australia corporate communications general manager Anna Burgdorf could not confirm whether any payment was made for the placement. However, she could confirm that the super-sport R8 V10 Spyder will arrive here towards the end of the year.The R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro features a lightweight-cloth top that opens automatically in about 19 seconds. Its V10 engine produces 386kW of power and launches the open-top two-seater to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 313km/h.Product placement of cars is not new to the sliver screen. Most critics believe it started with Bond films, notably the Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger, in 1964. Aston returned in 1965 for Thunderball and was replaced by the DBS for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.Other companies then got into the act of pushing their vehicles on to the Bond screen with the highlights being the amphibious Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me and the launch of the BMW Z3 Roadster in GoldenEye. Even a pre-production Aston Martin DBS scored a role in Casino Royale, and scored a Guinness record for "the most cannon rolls in a car at the same time" - seven - for its very brief appearance.Iron Man 2 begins screening in Australia on April 29.