From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Ford Falcon is a large car which has been produced by Ford since 1960. It is Ford's most popular model in Australia, which is also the only country in which new Falcons are now built. Falcon and associated names like Fairmont and Fairlane are still well-known in the US, even though the cars have not been made there since 1970. Models closely resembling the 1960s Falcons were also built in Argentina until the early 1990s. Falcons are exported from Australia to several countries around the world and are also popular in New Zealand and Fiji.
1973 Australian Ford XB Falcon GT 351
Throughout its history the Falcon has been available in sedan, wagon and pick-up or "ute" (utility) versions. Falcons dominate the ranks of taxis in Australia and are also widely used as a police cars. Other Falcon-based cars made in Australia include the Fairmont and Futura (not to be confused with the US-made Futura, scheduled to be sold from 2006). The Fairlane and LTD limousine models, which are popular as government cars in Australia and New Zealand, use a longer wheelbase that the Falcon. These are also converted for use at funerals, as hearses. A Falcon-based off-road model, called the Territory, is due for release in 2004.
The first Falcons sold in Australia were essentially a right hand drive version of the US model of that name. Ford Australia needed a model that was much larger than British models, such as the Ford Zephyr, which were not always suitable for local requirements.
Ford Falcons have been raced in Australia's premier touring car racing categories for many years. In the late 1960's, when the Bathurst Enduro was raced in production cars, a series of high-performance Falcon variants were built, the GT and later the GTHO. The GTHO Phase III, built in 1971, is the most famous of these, and was at the time the fastest four-door sedan in the world. The GT's, and particularly the Phase III, are valuable collector's cars. Government pressure and the fuel crisis curtailed the development of high performance Falcons until the Tickford Fords of the 1990s These included the high performance XR8, engineered by the British company Tickford, which also does work for Aston Martin, now also owned by Ford.
The Falcon, while popular, was outsold in Australia by GM Holden's Kingswood until 1978, when Holden decided to replace the Kingswood with a smaller model called the Commodore, based on the European Opel models. Ford's next model Falcon, introduced in 1979, bore some styling resemblances to the European Ford Granada, but was somewhat larger, and outsold the Commodore.
The EA model Falcon, introduced in 1988, similarly bore a passing resemblance to the European Ford Scorpio, but under the skin, remained entirely Australian. The AU model Falcon was produced in 1998, but was panned by the motoring press, and faced an uphill battle against the new VT model Holden Commodore.
However, Ford Australia has fought back with the BA model Falcon, which is a unique design. Attempts to sell the US Ford Taurus in Australia and New Zealand as a possible future replacement for the Falcon proved unsuccessful. Since the dropping of the Scorpio, the largest model available from Ford in Europe is now the Mondeo, which proved unpopular in Australia, even competing in the same medium-sized segment of the market as it does in Europe.
Australian Falcon exports have traditionally been confined to neighbouring countries. The only export market for Falcons outside the Asia-Pacific region has been South Africa, where they returned in [1996]], after an absence of nearly twenty years. Some Fairlanes and LTDs, converted into limousines and hearses, are imported into the UK by Coleman Milne, which used to convert Granadass and Scorpioss for use at funerals.
