1960 XK Ford Falcon. March 2006

Since its debut Australians have bought more than 3 million Falcons, making the iconic model the biggest selling in the history of Australian motoring.
Back in the Sixties, the Holden was king and the FC Holden was to be countered with the more powerful Zephyr Mark II. As chance would have it, Ford M.D. Charles Smith was in Dearborn (US) in 1958 to view the new Zephyr when he chanced upon a clay model of the upcoming American Ford Falcon. The Australian delegation were disappointed with the styling of the Zephyr, which they knew would fail against the Holden. Instead they were enthusiastic about the Falcon compact, any ideas of the Zephyr scrapped to be replaced with the all-American Falcon.
The car was launched in September 1960, with no Australian testing or serious consideration for local conditions - essentially the Falcon was a locally built version of the US model, transplanted with little modification. The sedan was followed by the wagon in November and commercials in May '61. Known as the XK, two models were initially offered - a Standard priced at _1,137 and a Deluxe model at _1,199. Automatic transmission was an additional _119.
After initial encouraging sales the Falcon's fragility under Australian conditions became apparent with customers reporting various problems. Notably the front suspension was too soft for rough country roads and the ball joints were too weak. Transmission failures were to follow in large numbers and Ford was forced to offer a heavy duty suspension seven months after release.
The major differences from the American Falcon was that the wagon was reduced in length to that of the sedan and local specifications included a Borg Warner rear axle. Despite its mechanical flaws, the Falcon was a stylish, modern-looking vehicle, especially compared to the Zephyr that preceded it, but failed to live up to some rather extravagant advertising claims. The Falcon was priced at _30 more than the Holden FB, was lower and about 90kg lighter than the Holden. With a wider track it provided better ride and road handling. The Falcon's 2.36-litre engine also gave it an edge over the Holden. The Falcon was the first to offer an auto transmission and could achieve 0-80km/h in about 12 seconds with a top speed of approx. 137 km/h.
Standard interior features included bench seats, rubber mats on the floor, a three-speed manual gearbox (lacking synchromesh on first) with column shift and minimal instrumentation.

In brief: 1960 Ford Falcon
Engines: 2.36-litre six cylinder (68kW @ 4200rpm) and 2.78-litre(76kW @ 4400rpm) six cylinder .
Performance: 0-100km/h approx 17 seconds.
Transmission: Three-speed manual and three-speed automatic transmission.
Models: Standard sedan, Deluxe sedan and wagon, utility and van.
Price when new: _1,137 (manual sedan); _1,256 (Fordmatic sedan); _1,119 (Manual Deluxe sedan); _1,318 (Fordmatic Deluxe sedan).
Total built: 68,465