Where are all the Falcon/ Fairlane Prototype pics

[Eaturbo]

With the end of Manufacturing I was hoping to see a lot more photos of previous Prototype Falcons and Fairlane/LTD's. I would love to see what they had proposed with replacement Fairlane and Falcon Wagons. There must be loads of files and pictures and stories which seam like its been purposely not spoken about. This sort of stuff really interests me being that it's history about a car that I love. There is a lot more stuff that didn't make it to production than did. They have absolutely nothing to lose by publishing this stuff and probably more to gain than anything. So come on Ford Aus, let the stuff out and let us dream. There must have been some wild cars that were considered but never made it. Rumors were that Tickford tried turbo and supercharging a Windsor for T3.

[FalconXV]

I imagine they'd be buried in the documents about to be sent to Dearborn. If that happens, we will never see them.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by FalconXV

I imagine they'd be buried in the documents about to be sent to Dearborn. If that happens, we will never see them.

Correct. All of Ford Australia's plans will be hidden from us so that we won't be able to see how Dearborn undermined the Australian operation.

[Trump]

Those sorts of documents would have been an awesome addition to the recently published book about Ford Australia.

[Sprint]

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Sprint

image

That's....actually a pretty tasty little thing. Obviously the look they were going for is that of a miniature Thunderbird. Would certainly be a unique little thing to make up.

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

That's....actually a pretty tasty little thing. Obviously the look they were going for is that of a miniature Thunderbird. Would certainly be a unique little thing to make up.

Someone did. Google Ford Saxon.



.

[jpd80]

[HO 3]

Originally Posted by Eaturbo

With the end of Manufacturing I was hoping to see a lot more photos of previous Prototype Falcons and Fairlane/LTD's. I would love to see what they had proposed with replacement Fairlane and Falcon Wagons. There must be loads of files and pictures and stories which seam like its been purposely not spoken about. This sort of stuff really interests me being that it's history about a car that I love. There is a lot more stuff that didn't make it to production than did. They have absolutely nothing to lose by publishing this stuff and probably more to gain than anything. So come on Ford Aus, let the stuff out and let us dream. There must have been some wild cars that were considered but never made it. Rumors were that Tickford tried turbo and supercharging a Windsor for T3.

Another money making opportunity to be extracted from the faithful, momentarily shelved for the future.

Cheers Mick

[Dauphin]

I contacted Ford on Monday about getting prototype and concept material from over the decades, particularly Fairlane and LTD stuff which is severely lacking on the web.

Their response is that they don't publish or release such material.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by Eaturbo

Rumors were that Tickford tried turbo and supercharging a Windsor for T3.

I wonder how many LS-swapped AUs were taken around the You Yangs?

[Struggo]

Sort of on topic and a good read, http://www.aus-ford-uk.co.uk/html/st...-_bonnets.html

+

Late 70/80's Clay - XE Perhaps

[commodorenutt]

Great link there. Thanks for posting it..

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Struggo

Sort of on topic and a good read, http://www.aus-ford-uk.co.uk/html/st...-_bonnets.html

+

Late 70/80's Clay - XE Perhaps

image

Only truly rust free xe in existence...

[mcflux]

That foxbody front-end mockup doesn't look half-bad!

[commodorenutt]

Still not as good as the XF's front

[V8 Ghia Mike]

I'm interested in the TE Cortina in the background. I had one the same colour. It was a GL with factory black bumpers, window frames and rear panel between the lights. It also had the tacho dash and Ghia steering wheel, no AC or power steering, 2 litre, 4 speed. It didn't have any S pack decals and I could never work out if it was some sort of limited edition or something. Does anyone know?

[4stanger]

Originally Posted by V8 Ghia Mike

I'm interested in the TE Cortina in the background. I had one the same colour. It was a GL with factory black bumpers, window frames and rear panel between the lights. It also had the tacho dash and Ghia steering wheel, no AC or power steering, 2 litre, 4 speed. It didn't have any S pack decals and I could never work out if it was some sort of limited edition or something. Does anyone know?

The one in the back ground looks more like a TF Cortina to me, the TF had thinner black (plastic) bumper bars.
Your TE was probably a "GS Rally Pack" option, seen pictured here in the Brochure scan section http://www.fordforums.com.au/photos/...php?photo=1090
You could have a Cortina sedan or wagon, L or GL with the GS Rally Pack but not the Ghia, there were stripes on the side as shown in the photos but no GS or S logos, there was a limited edition Cortina that came out in 1979, with scheel seats and other stuff with a "S" badge where the L or GL would normally be located.

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by 4stanger

The one in the back ground looks more like a TF Cortina to me, the TF had thinner black (plastic) bumper bars.
Your TE was probably a "GS Rally Pack" option, seen pictured here in the Brochure scan section http://www.fordforums.com.au/photos/...php?photo=1090
You could have a Cortina sedan or wagon, L or GL with the GS Rally Pack but not the Ghia, there were stripes on the side as shown in the photos but no GS or S logos, there was a limited edition Cortina that came out in 1979, with scheel seats and other stuff with a "S" badge where the L or GL would normally be located.

I don't reckon it's a te or tf, I think it might be a uk, or kiwi mk5.

[jpd80]

[malazn mafia]

Anyone have pictures or prototypes of how the EF came to be? That design was amazing for 1994, and hid its ED origins extremely well. Ford did the same a decade later with the AU to BA facelift: I remember seeing an early concept of the EF in a photo circa 1991.

[Dauphin]

[Joel.]

Originally Posted by Dauphin

image

Really like this.

[V8 Ghia Mike]

Thanks 4stanger, that would be it. My first car in 1987, long gone now. It looked just like the brochure pics, orange/red but had vinyl seats, no LH mirror. The bumper over riders and driving lights were gone but as a P plater, I found those parts at the wreckers easily in the 80S.

The one in the Ford studio photo is a TE as it doesn't have the TF triangular front indicators...yet. Looks like they were working on the TF update with the thinner (plastic?) bumpers.

Anyone here from the Mildura area? I wonder if my orange TE is still around? Also, I knew a guy there in the 80s with a white TF with a 302 conversion, ultra low and with MY GIRL plates. Last time I saw it, it had been rebuilt as a show car in gunmetal grey. I wonder what happened to it?

[commodorenutt]

Some of those images were published back in the day in the mainstream motoring magazines like Motor Manual, Wheels, (and the later Car Australia). I do recall a fair few pics on the EF at the time, as I was working for a company that was a subtier to Ford during that period, and we were sent a lot of marketing literature, including cut-down versions of the road tests in popular motoring magazines (back when marketing/promotions gave out lots of freebies to suppliers). Shame I never got to grab the ED XR6/8 Sprint "with wings" dealer style poster that was stashed in the clean-room when the EF posters arrived (which were subsequently replaced with AU ones....) but I digress...


Has there ever been a decent book released on the development of the Falcon over the years, that includes photos/drawings of concepts?

The Pedr & Tony Davis book "Project VN" goes into extensive detail about the development of the VN, and explores a lot of the concepts:


The other one that's pretty good like that is "Billion Dollar Baby" on the VE.

Just wondering if there's a decent Ford one covering the Falcon - across all 56 years (or even 40 or 30 years of it).

Some of the development history of the Falcon was well ahead of other manufacturers - yet people just don't know about it, or the story has never been told. Look at the aero work they did with the angle of the cooler in the front of the EF - achieving a much greater efficiency than just stacking them all vertically. And when the EF seats were released, they were so highly praised by the media for having so many adjustments to cater to all. We take those 10-way adjustments for granted these days!

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

The Pedr & Tony Davis book "Project VN" goes into extensive detail about the development of the VN, and explores a lot of the concepts:
image

The other one that's pretty good like that is "Billion Dollar Baby" on the VE.
!

VE never felt like a Billion Dollars worth of development. Always wondered how much of that money went toward the stupid HOLDEN Blimp. The ED to EF makeover looked a Billion bucks, and so did the AU to BA Facelift

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

VE never felt like a Billion Dollars worth of development. Always wondered how much of that money went toward the stupid HOLDEN Blimp. The ED to EF makeover looked a Billion bucks, and so did the AU to BA Facelift

It was not only spent on commodore development - GM USA tipped in so they could spawn other models off the chassis development, like the Cadillac CTS-V, and the reborn Camaro (which was a whole plot better than the retro mustang at the time with its live axle under the bum).

The US know Aussies can develop a better car than they can - look at how many Ford development jobs have been retained. Same with Holden.

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

VE never felt like a Billion Dollars worth of development. Always wondered how much of that money went toward the stupid HOLDEN Blimp. The ED to EF makeover looked a Billion bucks, and so did the AU to BA Facelift

Do you always have to be so negative about anything GM? ffs.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by MethodX

Do you always have to be so negative about anything GM? ffs.

Don’t have anything against GM products. I admire the current range of Cadillac Escalades, Camaro’s and Corvettes. And my pick is VF over FGX, Holden won the last round and i’ll begrudgingly admit that. But the 2006 VE was a complete disappointment for $1bn of development. For the same amount of money, Ford Australia turned the AU into the BA, and also created the Territory from scratch.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by MethodX

Do you always have to be so negative about anything GM? ffs.

Do you always have to trash Ford and praise GM on a Ford site ffs.