Ford Falcon

Ford Falcon, 1960

The Ford Falcon is a model car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company between 1959 and 2016 .

It was first introduced in the USA and Canada in 1959 and was also produced at times in Argentina , Mexico and Chile . While the North American version was discontinued in 1970, cars with the name Falcon were built in Australia until 2016 . With a total of 56 years of construction, the Falcon is the longest-used model name in Ford history.

The falcon in North America

Ford Falcon, 1964

Ford Falcon, 1966

In the 1950s, the three large American automobile groups Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler produced larger cars for the US and Canadian markets with almost every new model year, because large models brought a larger profit margin and because customers wanted longer Time asked for bigger and bigger cars. In the sales crisis of 1958, however, the companies noticed that their previous model policy was no longer working. While the big three all suffered heavy losses, AMC was very successful with its Rambler American , the only American-made compact car. At that time the VW Beetle found more and more buyers. Almost simultaneously in the fall of 1959 for the 1960 model year, Chrysler presented the Plymouth Valiant , GM the Chevrolet Corvair , Ford the Falcon and shortly afterwards the Mercury Comet derived from it.

In North America in the 1960s, the Ford Falcon was considered a compact car , while abroad it was more of a mid-range car. The Falcon had a six-cylinder engine with a single carburetor ; from 1963 there was also a V8 on request . The vehicle had a self-supporting body. The chassis was similar to that of other Fords of the time: front wheels individually suspended on double wishbones with coil springs, recirculating ball steering; behind a rigid axle on leaf springs. There was space for six people thanks to the front bench. The car could be bought as a station wagon , sedan or flatbed truck .

In 1964, Ford introduced the first Mustang . The Mustang was based on the Ford Falcon, but should appeal to young drivers. The Mustang took away a significant share of the market from the Falcon as it was destined for similar purposes. The second generation of the Falcon was built from model year 1966. This was larger than its predecessor and was based more on the mid-range model from Ford at the time, the Fairlane , which had also been renewed from 1966. Almost the same chassis was used for the Fairlane and Falcon , that of the Falcon was slightly shortened. The last North American Falcon was produced in 1970. From 1970 there was a Falcon named simple version of the Fairlane / Torino for a short time .

In the lower price segment, for which the Falcon was originally designed, it was replaced from the end of 1969 by the Ford Maverick , which is neither technically nor stylistically related to the Falcon. When this was also available with four doors from 1971, the Falcon version of the Fairlane was discontinued.

1960: Frontenac in Canada

In 1960 Ford Canada introduced the Frontenac to give Mercury and Meteor dealers a mid-range car. The car, which was only produced in 1960, was essentially a Ford Falcon from the same year with a 2,360 cc six-cylinder engine, but had a different grille, different taillights and different chrome fittings (including emblems with the Canadian red maple leaf). Despite good sales figures (5% of all Ford vehicles sold in Canada in 1960), the Frontenac was discontinued in 1961 and replaced by the Mercury Comet .

The Frontenac is an example of the attempts by US automobile manufacturers to create their own Canadian brands from slightly modified US models. Like the Ford models Monarch and Meteor and the Acadian from GM, the Frontenac was not assigned to Ford's Meteor series, but was established and marketed as an independent brand.

model	Construction period	cylinder	power	wheelbase	Superstructures
Frontenac	1960	6 row	85 bhp (62.5 kW)	3023 mm	Sedan 2/4 doors, station wagon 3/5 doors

The falcon in South America

An Argentine Ford Falcon (1970)

Argentine Ford Falcon (1982-1991)

The Falcon was produced in Argentina from 1961 to 1991. Unlike in North America and Australia, there was no model change in this long time; until the end the Argentine Falcon was based on the original model from 1959. From time to time there was a facelift, for example in 1973 it was given rectangular headlights that did not really match the original design. The engines were exclusively six-cylinder and had since 1970 a displacement of 3000 and 3600 cm³, variants that had not existed in North America.

The Argentine Falcon had constant sales for decades, but the numbers were too low to justify the cost of a model change.

Green Falcons got a bad rap in Argentina for their use by state kidnapping forces during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship .

The Falcon in Australia

Ford Falcon GL, 1982

Ford Falcon Estate EA, 1990

Ford Falcon EA Sedan, 1990

Ford Falcon AU, 2001

Ford Falcon FG, 2009

Initially, a slightly modified North American Falcon was sold in Australia. It was with him that Ford wanted to face Holden .

In the 1950s, Ford's Australian sales declined due to the popularity of the Holden, which had no effective competitor. Ford assembled the British Zephyr and its Consul and Zodiac derivatives. Although these cars were moderately successful and had a good reputation, Ford Holden's price couldn't keep up and sales suffered. One of the reasons for the price difference was the higher cost of imported parts that were subject to an import duty. Ford also assembled Canadian Ford V8 models, but these cars were in a higher price range and out of reach for the average buyer.

So Ford decided to start local production of a Holden Challenger. Initially, they wanted to make the Zephyr, Consul, and Zodiac using expensive Ford of Britain molds. However, during a visit to Ford headquarters in Detroit in 1958, they were shown the new Falcon that was being prepared for launch in the United States. The executives were immediately taken with the new car - it was about the size of the EK Holden, but low, long, wide and modern. The width allowed it to accommodate six people, and a two-speed automatic transmission was available. Ford Australia also felt they had more experience building North American cars. So it was decided to make the Falcon the new Australian car. In 1959, Ford built a factory in Campbellfield, a suburb of Melbourne, for the local production of the North American Ford Falcon. The factory was designed in Canada and had a roof that made it easier to distribute snow, although snow does not normally fall in Melbourne.

When production in North America ended in 1970, Ford Australia continued the series independently. Over several generations, the car was modernized and adapted to current tastes with the basic concept unchanged. It remained until the end of Australian production with a longitudinally installed engine and rear-wheel drive. In North America, the Ford Taurus had already been converted to front-wheel drive in 1985 .

The Falcon was a combi , van (panel van), sedan or pickup ( Ute available). It was available with a 4,000 cc six-cylinder in-line engine and - for a surcharge - with a 5400 cc V8 of North American origin. There was no diesel engine.

From 1988 to 1991 a Falcon Ute was also offered as a Nissan Ute ( OEM , badge engineering ). The Falcon station wagon was discontinued in 2010 and replaced by the Ford Territory SUV .

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  Nissan Ute

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  Ford XF Falcon Ute rear view

After being converted to four-valve technology, the six-cylinder now developed 195 kW (265 hp), the eight-cylinder 290 kW (394 hp). The Falcon XR sports variant is even more powerful, with a choice of a turbocharged six-cylinder (XR6: 245 kW / 333 PS) or an enhanced eight-cylinder (XR8: up to 335 kW / 455 PS).

The XD, XE and XF models (early 1980s to early 1990s) have the same bodywork as the last Ford Granada in Europe. In Australia, instead of the Ford Falcon, you will find primarily Holden Commodore Executive, the larger police cars are partly Ford Falcon with an attached security cell.

In addition, the Falcon is used in the V8 supercar series, where it drives against the Holden Commodore.

On May 23, 2013 Ford announced that it would cease Australian production in October 2016, which would also give up the name Falcon. The last Falcon rolled off the assembly line on October 7, 2016. The fourth generation of the smaller Mondeo and the sixth generation of the American Mustang are imported as successors . Interestingly, the rival Holden Commodore suffered the same fate, as it was also discontinued in 2017 and replaced by an imported mid-range model (a version of the Opel Insignia B ). In contrast to Ford, however, Holden wants to keep the old name for the new model.

literature

• Automobile revue. , Catalog number 1987 (technical data)
• Perry R. Zavitz: Canadian Cars, 1946-1984. Bookman Publishing, Baltimore MD 1985, ISBN 0-934780-43-9 .
• John Gunnell (Ed.): Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Krause Publications, Iola WI 2002, ISBN 0-87349-461-X .

Web links

Commons : Ford Falcon  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ford Falcon Specifications. Brochure page with technical data
2. ↑ Cult car and messenger of death . In: FAZ . October 2, 2012, p. 7.