Ford Falcon 1974 News

As the successor to the XA model, with its 'coke bottle' shape and raked windscreen, the stylists at Ford gave it a Mustang Mach 1 inspired front end and grille. The result was a car that looked lean, muscular and fast.Frank Hileay has owned his black V8 XB Ute from when he bought it new, on 10th October 1974. Since then he's driven it 400,000km and, according to Frank, "it has not missed a beat in all those years".Frank signed the deal at the now closed Holmes Ford dealership in Melbourne. He selected the Falcon 500 trim level and the GS Rally pack, which gave him two air scoops stretching down the bonnet, gold GS stripes, additional driving lights, the GT dashboard and twelve slot wheels. He then added the five litre V8 (302 cubic inches) and automatic transmission."I had to wait six weeks for it to be delivered, because back then black was not a common colour" says Frank. The Ute cost $4,400 and he still has the original sales receipt showing the car is a factory ordered GS.The patina of age is starting to show on the Ute's paint and chrome but this does not deter Frank from driving it almost every day. "I've used it in my roofing contracting business since new, and it has never let me down. It drives as good as anything else available today and it has never been in an accident", says Frank.The car always attracts attention. "People come up to me and ask if it is for sale and tell me to call them if I ever intend selling", confides Frank. So, would he sell it? "No way" is his quick and forthright answer.Ford pioneered the market in aggressively combing style, comfort and work space in Utilities, particularly with the XB. This appealed directly to the growing group of tradespeople who wanted more than a poverty pack work vehicle. The stylish design came from using the front doors and frameless windows of the two door Falcon hardtop rather than the more upright, pillared sedan doors. The massive rear cargo tray comes from the Ute to sitting on the longer Fairlane wheelbase.The XB range was a big success for Ford. They sold 212,000 units during its almost three year production run and it helped move them ever closer to Holden in the sales race.David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au 

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 it comes to used dream cars, the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III takes the cake.

PETFOOD magnate Tony Quinn scored the biggest success of his motorsport career when he drove to victory in the 2009 Targa Tasmania with his Nissan GT-R. His job was made easier when Jim Richards and Kevin Weeks both crashed out of contention, leaving the VIP Pet Foods boss with an eventual winning margin of six minutes over Jason White in a Lamborghini. Rex Broadbent completed a hat-trick with classic victory in his Porsche 911, while Greg Johnston took the showroom class in a Mitsubishi Evo.FOUR points was the margin between success and failure for Chad Reed in this year's AMA and World Supercross Championship as the superstar Aussie came up just short in the grand final in Las Vegas at the weekend. Reed scored 11 seconds places from 17 starts in the supercross series with his Suzuki, as well as three wins, but it was not enough to stop James Stewart lifting the title with a safe third place in Las Vegas.MARCUS Marshall surprised his V8 Supercar rivals by re-setting the lap record at Winton last weekend in his unsponsored BF Falcon. The speedy young Queenslander did the job in an ex-Triple Eight Ford on the soft Dunlop racing tyres used for the first time at Winton, dropping the benchmark time to 1 minute 22.9813 seconds as he raced to a memorable ninth place on Sunday afternoon.NICK Percat made another clean sweep of the Formula Ford championship races at Winton last weekend, with Chaz Mostert following him home in each of three heats. The weekend result gives Percat a 61-48 break over Mostert, with Mitchell Evans and Scott Pye next in the junior series.MARCOS Ambrose finished just outside of the top 10 in his latest Nascar start at Richmond in Virginia despite contact with the wall early in the event. Finishing 11th, after his benchmark fourth place a week earlier at Talladega, gave him his seventh top-20 result from 10 starts and moved him up to 19th in the Sprint Cup standings with his Toyota Camry.DEAN Canto and Luke Youlden have filled the co-driving seats at Ford Performance Racing for this year's V8 Supercar enduros. It is their second year alongside FPR regulars Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards at Phillip Island and Bathurst, as Nathan Pretty also returns for the long-distance events as a member of Kelly Racing.The pace-setting car in V8 Supercar racing is now driven by a woman. Amber Anderson, a 25-year-old Melbourne lawyer who is trying to build a racing career, has been chosen to drive the Nissan GT-R safety car at several rounds of the series and had her first start at Winton last weekend.SWINE flu meant an early end of the A1GP season which was planned to finish in Mexico City at the end of May. The series ended instead in Britain last weekend, when Team Ireland raced to the championship with Adam Carroll, as Team Australia trailed in eighth after an identical finish in the feature race in the UK by John Martin.THE popular Speed on Tweed historic festival has been revived as part of the program for Repco Rally Australia in September. The course through the streets of Mulwillumbah on the NSW north coast will also be used as a special stage during the running of Australia's event in the World Rally Championship.THE remaining events in the Aussie Racing Cars championship have been re-jigged for the rest of 2009, with a break until the Shannons Nationals meeting at Winton on June 27-28. The baby racers then head to Eastern Creek on August 7-9, Oran Park on August 29-30 and Homebush for the Sydney 500 meeting from December 4-6.The re-scheduled Victorian Open Sprint Kar Championship will be held this weekend at the Hume International Raceway near Seymour. More than 400 of Australia's best racers will compete at an event which was postponed from February 13-15 because of the tragic Victorian bushfires. 

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?      

Making his MarcosMarcos Ambrose had a good weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway in Nascar Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series events. He finished ninth in Saturday's Nationwide race and backed it up with 21st in Sunday's Cup event.Ford boss moves onFord Racing boss Ray Price will move on at the end of the V8 Supercar season. He will become service engineering director for Ford Asia-Pacific and Africa. A replacement has yet to be named, so Price will remain until a handover is made. Price has overseen the introduction of the FG Falcon racer and three Bathurst 1000 wins in his time in charge.Seton back in a FordGlenn Seton returned to racing last weekend in a Ford. The longtime Blue Oval racer, and dual V8 Supercar champion, has spent the past two years as an endurance driver for the Holden Racing Team. But he got behind the wheel of his Ford Capri to win the South Australian Historic Touring Car Cup at Mallala. It was Seton's first visit to the track in 10 years, but he won three races to take the honours.Stoner surgery successFormer MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has had successful surgery on his injured wrist. The Australian has troubled by the injury since mid-way through the season, but held off the operation until now to carry out testing on the 2009 Ducati at Valencia last week.Rossi to test FerrariFerrari has confirmed MotoGP star Valentino Rossi will test its Formula One car. The Italian world champion expressed a desire to sample the F1 racer at the season-ending MotoGP race. Ferrari has revealed that Rossi will test before the end of the year, but hasn't revealed where. Rossi and Ferrari have said the test is just for fun.Adelaide changesOrganisers of Adelaide's popular Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar street race have revealed a number of changes for next year's event. New temporary pit facilities will be erected for 2009 and every grandstand will be covered. Section of the track will also be resurfaced.Meidecke's mountainGeorge Meidecke and navigator Daniel Wilson have won this year's Mt Buller Sprint. Meidecke raced his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX to the win in 10 stages up the famous mountain. Former Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst was second in his Subaru Impreza WRX, just ahead of the Lamborghini Gallardo of Kevin Weeks. 

He has been the front man for Ford for so long that his days in a 1950s 'Humpy' Holden and giant killing Torana XU1 have faded into the pages of time.

The actor was lucky to walk away unhurt from the accident, which had spectators drawing parallels with the fatal crash that claimed the life of motor racing legend Peter Brock last year.Bana's immaculately-restored 1974 Ford XB coupe, similar to the one Mel Gibson drove as the Interceptor in Mad Max, over-shot a corner on a high-speed stage about 2pm.Bana and his navigator Tony Ramunno climbed from the dented Ford and put up safety signs to indicate to other competitors that they were okay.As soon as Bana's support crew arrived, they jumped in the back-up vehicle and left the scene.“They're fine,” event director Mark Perry said.“They overcooked it coming into a pretty sharp turn and left the road and smacked into a bank.”Bana went into a hard-right-hand corner on a downhill slope going too fast, over-shooting the bend. He was placed 53rd in a starting field of 276 at the time.The 600-horsepower Ford bounced off a large rock before slamming into a tree on the driver's side.“The damage to the front of the car was enough to put them out for the rest of the day,” Mr Perry said. “They bent a steering arm. They're hoping to fix it overnight and be back in the event tomorrow.”

And what better place for a reunion and an anniversary celebration than the Australian Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek, where more than 500 of these powerful, historic cars will be raced and displayed.It's a step into the past as racing car legends such as Morris, Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Leo Geoghegan, Harry Firth, John Goss and many more will be in attendance to meet fans and sign autographs.All the best cars from the 1960s, '70s and '80s will strut their stuff in Historic Touring Races and Hot Lap sessions. Morris hasn't driven that winning Torana L34 in almost 30 years, and is looking forward to his hot lap next Sunday, September 3."It was the very first Torana with a V8 engine and the car that we raced was the very first Torana L34 that was ever built off the production line," Morris said this week. "It was fantastic. I raced that car in 1975, also, and I drove with Frank Gardner that year and we came in second place. So it had a second outright and a first outright at Bathurst, and I don't know if that's been repeated."Morris says the 1976 victory was the highlight of his 20-year career, describing it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The piece of nostalgia that saw him to success now lives at the Bathurst Museum but will make the trek to Eastern Creek next weekend.In a contrast of fortune, also on display will be the Torana that captured all the 1976 pre-race publicity but crashed on the grid. The blue Torana due to be driven in that race by Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss jammed in gear at the start and was rammed from behind by a little Triumph Dolomite.Now, 30 years later, it too has been restored for display.More than 150 cars have already entered the race events with a range of Historic Touring Car events covering categories from the 1950s to the '90s. And there will be specific events, such as the biggest Torana race in the world and the best of the best.Racing driver Des Wall is looking forward to toeing the line next Sunday in the classic he bought at an auction last November.The Ian "Pete" Geoghegan Mustang, which has a story of its own, is worth quite a large sum. Wall claims it is probably the best car of its time."It's a significant car in Australian motor-racing history. It won three Australian touring car championships and it's been restored to the way it was in 1971," Wall says.Wall has been racing for more than 30 years and his son, David, has followed in his footsteps as a race driver.He says the Mustang performs surprisingly well, but differently, of course, to the newer Porsches and Chev Corvette he usually races."It's very good. It surprised me how competitive the car is for a car of that era," he says. "We drive current race cars also. The difference ... I expected it to be wider than what it is. Apart from the brakes not being what current cars have, the car is quite a substantial race car."Next Sunday's show is expected to draw big crowds, after the same event last year attracted more than 10,000 people, despite appalling weather."I think a lot of people who are motor-racing enthusiasts are getting more and more interested in the history, they want to see the cars that the heroes were in," Wall says."Some people love football and tennis and various things, we just love motor racing. It's our sport of choice, something we're very passionate about."Among the classic old touring cars on display that became famous in the golden Bathurst era of the 1970s and '80s will be the VK Group A Commodore that gave Allan Grice his first Bathurst win, in 1986. Also on show is the Allan Moffat/Jacky Ickx Falcon XC Hardtop that was involved in the dominant Ford 1-2 team win in 1977. The only man to win Bathurst and the Australian Grand Prix, John Goss, will display his 1974 winning Falcon and the 1985 winning Jag XJS. Kevin Bartlett will have his Chev Camaro in action.The event is also a major drawcard for car clubs. The 2006 Torana GTR and XU-1 Nationals are expected to attract up to 80 road-going machines.