History of the Falcon 1960 - 1968

Launched here in September 1960, the Falcon quickly revealed itself to be under-engineered for local roads. After getting off to a flying sales start, the sleek new compact Ford developed a poor reputation.
After much persistence, Ford Australia's engineers convinced their American colleagues that the ball joints really were failing in service. Heavier duty items from the compact Fairlane were installed quite early in the XK's model life.
At launch the Falcon seemed to have the FB Holden's measure. Looks, performance, the availability of an automatic transmission and maybe that US inheritance (after all, we loved the Customline and the Tank Fairlane!) made the Ford seem like tomorrow's car and the Holden a relic of the 1950s.
The XK was facelifted into the XL and then the XM with its (uncertified) 'Certified Golden Quality'. Undoubtedly the Falcon was much improved but the poor reputation lingered. Sales slowed. Even the introduction of the gorgeous two-door Hardtop barely helped.
Then a bloke called Bill Bourke (deputy MD) had an inspired idea to reverse the Falcon's reputation. Why not use the new proving ground in the You-Yangs west of Melbourne to demonstrate the new XP's durability? Even without the tales of woe, the XP looked in for a hard time, being the fourth iteration of a 1960 theme. Since then, Holden had introduced the new look EJ and then the powerful 'red' engines with the 1963 EH. And there was Chrysler's powerful Valiant as a further challenge. Bourke reckoned that a quintet of XPs could, in the hands of racing drivers, average 70 miles per hour over 70,000 miles in seven days on the tortuous test track. They did, but not before four of the five cars rolled. It was big news and marked the turning point for the Falcon's local fortunes.
Even bigger news came the following spring with the release of the XR, said to be 'Mustang-bred'. An enormous amount of thorough local engineering went into this larger car to make sure there would be no repeat of the earlier generation Falcon's shortcomings. The XR brought a new level of sophistication to the Australian scene. It was clearly a superior vehicle to the HR Holden, which felt narrow and old-fashioned by comparison. A V8 engine was optional, which further consolidated the Falcon's advantage (Chrysler offered a V8 version of its local Valiant but that was a stand-alone up-spec model). Then in April 1967 came the limited edition Falcon GT, based on the police pursuit car. It was Bill Bourke's brainchild to create the world's first four-door GT. Bourke subsequently told your author that his American colleagues thought he was mad: a GT should be a coupe.
The XR shared its shape with the US Falcon but the future of the model was set to change forever. By early 1968 the Falcon had been dropped from future US model plans. Ford Australia had a huge investment in the nameplate and would have to go it alone. This meant developing an all-new local model. The 1972 XA was the first uniquely Australian Falcon.

By HD Young