Ford Falcon 1988 News

This avatar, now being built by Ford using data from Chinese hospitals, is a critical step in recreating a human baby to ensure its maximum chance of survival in any vehicle accident. But this model - one of the world's first digital child crash dummies - won't take the place of traditional crash test dummies. Ford's senior technical leader for its safety and research division, Dr Steve Rouhana, says: "We want to better understand how injuries to younger occupants may be different". "They don't take the place of crash dummies, which measure the effect of forces on the body. Instead, they are used as a way to understand how to further improve restraint system effectiveness through better understanding of injury mechanisms." Making a baby in digital form is intensely complex. Ford took 11 years building an adult version and committing it to the computer. Ford's task, announced this week, is to build a digital human model of a child with more lifelike re-creations of the skeletal structure, internal organs and brain. The model for the avatar comes from child MRIs to allow better a understanding of how crash forces affect children and adults differently. "We study injury trends in the field, and we know that traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people from age one to 34," says Dr Rouhana. "Our restraint systems are developed to help reduce serious injuries and fatalities in the field, and they have proven to be very effective. But crash injuries still occur. The more you know about the human body, the more we can consider how to make our restraint systems even better." He says that building the model of a person is just like building a model of a car. "You start with your surface geometry for each component and any subcomponent it contains - in this case the geometry of the human body and its internal organs." Ford admits that child data are not as extensively available as adults. It has contracted into a one-year agreement with Tianjin University of Science and Technology, which is working with Tianjin Children's Hospital, to obtain child geometry and basic body information from sources like MRIs and CAT scans provided by volunteers. Ford says, in a statement, that Tianjin is one of the largest cities in China, close to the capital of Beijing. "All other information for the project will be obtained from public domain literature," it says.

Decisions are needed soon on the future replacements of both cars, which are set for a total overhaul within five years.  Australia's third maker, Toyota, is already committed to a new - generation Camry that will hit the road later this year. It is also investing more than $300 million in a local engine factory and will have a replacement for its current Camry hybrid in 2012. But there are more questions than answers on the Falcon and Commodore - which will each cost more than $500 million to renew for sales beyond 2015.  Ford's global boss Alan Mulally will face a grilling at the opening of the North American International Motor Show and his counterpart at General Motors, Mark Reuss, will get similar questions. Both men are well connected to Australia - Mulally has been guiding the blue oval brand for more than five years and has visited Broadmeadows, while Reuss is a former president of GM Holden - and know the critical importance of their local heroes. Holden is already hinting through its current chief, Mike Devereux, that it sees an ongoing future for a large, rear-wheel drive replacement for the Commodore. He tells Carsguide yesterday that Holden has a solid plan and is tracking towards another year of profitable sales in 2011. "My goal is to be the best car company in Australia. A very profitable, great car company. I think there are outcomes to being great," says Devereux. But Mulally rocked the Australian motor industry exactly a year ago - at the opening of last year's Detroit motor show - when he refused to confirm a future for a local Falcon.  Since then, two potential paths for the Falcon have emerged - some sort of joint-venture development with the next Mustang in the USA or a twinning with a global Taurus sedan under the worldwide One Ford program. In either case, Mulally has said repeatedly that there will not be an 'orphan' car in Australia without some sort of global synergy.  Ford Australia also faces a major crunch this year on local sales, with the Falcon continuing to lag below sustainable levels and needing a significant boost from the much-updated Territory SUV that hits the road in the first quarter.

The Ranger, which is still more than six months away from showrooms, is a reflection of Ford Australia's new role in the blue oval world. Designed and developed at Broadmeadows, and twinned with the Mazda BT-50, the Ranger is planned to finally give Ford a rival to the benchmark Toyota HiLux. But the international sweep of the Ford stand - imported from Europe for the local event - is also reflected in the Focus RS and the latest update of the mid-sized Mondeo. "Today is our most significant motor show ever," says Ford Australia's president, Marin Burela.  "Australia is playing a key role in the global Ford product story.  Today's show is the springboard to the future." The Ranger was unveiled at the show by Ford's Asia-Pacific president, Joe Hinrichs, who promises big things from the ute. "We want to transform the pickup experience," he says.

After being a smiling model on quiz shows The Price Is Right and Temptation, McGregor has landed a gig hosting the Foxtel reality show, Blood, Sweat & Gears."It was always the next step," McGregor says. "I meet people saying they love Temptation, but it's so hard to get your personality across when you're just smiling in the background."A graphic designer by trade, 26-year-old McGregor spent the past two-and-a-half years in Nine's Temptation family with Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon.McGregor admits he's not "the craziest car fan," but didn't hesitate when it came to auditioning for BS&G."To be honest, I got a phone call from one of the guys at Foxtel asking me if I would like to audition for it," he says. "I never knock back an audition, even if I don't think I'm suited to it."He may not be a revhead, but the Aussies on the show certainly are."They're absolute nuts. It's like a religion to them. Since I have had the gig, I have had so many people come up to me and tell me a story about their cars," McGregor says.The show pits seven guys and their beloved cars against each other.The contestants are;Andrew: Japanese Import (Nissan 200SX)Andy: American Muscle(Chevy Corvette)Dave: Classic Australian(Holden LJ Torana)Dimitri: Classic Australian(Ford GT Falcon)Dominic: Performance Rotary (Mazda RX7)Jeremy: Australian Muscle (Holden Commodore VL HDT)Mohamed: High Performance European (Ferrari 350 Modena)Official judges are Ian Luff, a former race driver, and Nathan Luck, a motoring journalist. Each week, the revheads and the cars will be put through a series of tests. While the drivers will know who wins each stage, they never find out their placing on the leaderboard. McGregor says it adds to the tension."They don't know who is doing well and the challengers get a little angry and eaten up inside," he says."These guys think their car is the best. But they find out a few things about themselves as drivers - maybe they're not as good as they thought. I think it will get people into the show."While McGregor is enjoying his debut as TV host, he is unused to seeing himself as a presenter."You're always your own biggest critic and it is still kind of strange when I see myself. But I love hearing feedback, even when it's bad. It makes you better at what you do."

The type of used car you buy could mean the difference between life and death, an Australian study says.The study found, for example, that drivers and passengers are 26 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a Daihatsu Hi-Jet microvan (made between 1982-1990), than a VW Golf hatch (1999-2004), the 2007 Used Car Safety Ratings report says.And the Transport Accident Commission believes the report's release could potentially slash the road toll by a third.Released in Melbourne yesterday, the study examined more than 2.8 million cars of 279 different types involved in crashes from 1987-2005 in Australia and New Zealand.Researchers rated vehicles on how much protection was offered to drivers and how much the vehicle was likely to harm other road users in an accident.Small cars and other vehicles built before 1990 performed worst for safety, with the Daihatsu Hi-Jet, Daewoo Kalos (2003-2004) and Ford Falcon XE/XF (1982-1988) poor examples.About two-thirds of cars in the worst performing category were light cars, including the Daewoo Kalos (now badged as Holden Barina) and the Hyundai Getz.Cars rated the highest for protection were the VW Golf and Bora models (built between 1999 and 2004) and the Holden Astra TS (1998-2005).Most four-wheel drives scored average or better results for occupant protection, but were more likely to harm or kill other road users.The report was conducted by the Monash University Accident Research Centre with support from Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, TAC, VicRoads and state and federal road authorities.VicRoads vehicle safety chief Ross McArthur said selecting a vehicle that met minimum safety standards was not enough.“You can get good performing cars that are cheaper and you can get cars that are more expensive that don't perform as well,” Mr McArthur said.“As a rule, the newer the car is, the better performance it has, but that's not always the case so you need to be informed.”The cost of a vehicle also did not necessarily mean it was safer, said RACV chief vehicle engineer Michael Case.Consumers needed to consider the safety ratings when buying a car to ensure its safety.Mr Case said structural design and safety equipment such as airbags played an important role.“Among small cars, the Toyota Corolla, the Holden Astra and the VW Golf have performed well and these vehicles are very affordable for used-car buyers,” he said.  Safety scoreVehicles scoring better than average in crashes:VW Golf/Bora (1999-2004)Holden Astra TS (1998-2005)Toyota Corolla (1998-2001)Honda Accord (1991-1993)Mercedes C Class (1995-2000)Peugeot 405 (1989-1997)Subaru Liberty/Legacy (1989-1993)Toyota Cressida/Mark II (1989-1993)Subaru Forester (1997-2002) Models that scored worse than average:Mitsubishi Cordia (1983-1987)Ford Falcon XE/XF (1982-1988)Mitsubishi Starwagon/Delica/L300 (1983-1986 and 1987-1993)Toyota Tarago (1983-1989)Toyota Hiace/Liteace (1982-1986 and 1987-1989 and 1990-1995).Source: 2007 Used Car Safety Ratings report