Hindsight and the AUII

[GlennBA]

all base model falcons are ugly standard. I think the AU series 1, 2 or 3 are fantastic cars and deserve a lot more credit. You have to do so little to them to make them look outstanding. I'd have one over an E series any day.

[GlennBA]

They're sexy as. This is my old one, and exterior wise i spent hardly anything on it. AU1's are no harder to make look great.

[apolloxbgt]

Everyone has bagged the waterfall grille,and untill I owned one ( an s1 forte) I did too.I always thought the first thing I would change if I ever owned an s1 would be the grille,but after a while it grew on me.I think the fact it the car was silver certainly helped.

Mabey if ford colour coded them right away they wouldn't have stood out quite as much.

Despite the horrible reception and sales they got,they've stood the test of time,Alot of people I know say the desighn has grown on them,and the cars have proven to be very reilable.

[Bossxr8]

The AU would have done much better if it was released with the looks of the AU2. It corrected some of the AU1's worst points, the high rise suspension, the too high lower rear bumpers that showed off the ugly suspension bits underneath, the terrible low rise bonnet and poxy forte/futura grilles. They did a reasonable job with what they had. It would not have outsold VT but it would have given it a good go.

[Dark Horse]

The article here explains how, as an example, the AUI Forte waterfall grille could be used to identify the radical edge styling of the late 90's as a Ford.

It is very easy to look in hindsight and say the AUII should've been the original AUI. However, for what it's worth, the edge styling was always going to stir contreversy no matter what series AU should've been put forth first. For such a rapid directional change in styling over the X series and E series, whatever would emerge as the first series of AU was always going to be critically placed as it would set the scene for the Falcon glasshouse for the coming decade.

Certainly minor refinements here and there with regards to grilles, bonnets, skirts, bars, interior changes and so forth was always welcome. However, in view of that, looking beyond the cosmetic and mechanical upgrades inherent with each coming update, from a systemic overview of the introduction of AU, a lot of the marketing and communication issues inherent at Ford Australia then are still existent now, and that is a concern for the future beyond Orion.

Surely Ford did learn physically in terms of the actual transformation of the car from AUI to AUII and onwards but they really haven't learnt enough with regards to promoting the product, spending enough on development to get it right and to ensure it is there to suit the buyers and ensure their resurgence and confidence in aftersales support. It is still in AUI days for want of term with regards to that. One need only look at current Falcon sales figures.

Luckily as an overall package, mechanically the AU was sound and reliable.

So in overall summation would there have been better reception if AUII was released as AUI? Not a great deal enough I think to justify that hindsight given all things considered.

[blk_frmnt]

Originally Posted by blackwood

However I can still watch an ad for the
S1 and feel all nostalgic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEe4O2lYCnA

I just cried a little...

[sleekism]

Apparently the guy who designed the AU Forte designed the XY funny ay!

Seriously ay leave the AU alone nufin wrong wif tha good old wheezer in the AU and it meant i was able 2 buy a dirt cheap car. A shorter first wood be better damn VT V6 drivers think their car is fast lol a Daihatsu can launch better thanmy AU at least after 5 metres its 100 metres behind lol

[JBomb3000]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Apparently the guy who designed the AU Forte designed the XY funny ay!

Seriously ay leave the AU alone nufin wrong wif tha good old wheezer in the AU and it meant i was able 2 buy a dirt cheap car. A shorter first wood be better damn VT V6 drivers think their car is fast lol a Daihatsu can launch better thanmy AU at least after 5 metres its 100 metres behind lol

Do you speak english? :

[MAGPIE]

They were butt ugly then, they are butt ugly now & they will still be butt ugly in the future :

in my humble opinion

[Nikked]

Well intended design, poorly executed.
eg:
-Ugly door moulds, BA style should have been used
-bumperbars, cheap and nasty, with little difference between models
-ugly wheel arches
-interior just too cheep looking (although the fairmont looked nice)

...but it is interesting to see some cars today that seem to have some likness to the AU...

...especially a new Merc out (can't remembers its name) it has very simmiler tail lights...

[blackwood]

Originally Posted by Nikk O'lass

...especially a new Merc out (can't remembers its name) it has very simmiler tail lights...

Merc CLS

Striking similarity, don't you think?

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by JBomb3000

Do you speak english? :

Certainly old chap now I'm going to pop down to the local tavern for a pint of warm beer!

Typing in a hurry mate it happens get over it

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Apparently the guy who designed the AU Forte designed the XY funny ay!

Well when you look at the vertical grille, raised front guards (compared to the bonnet), the crease in the middle, and the identical "falcon" font, there are a fair few similarities. In an entirely abstract kind of way.

As for typing in a hurry, wouldn't that generally result in random spelling mistakes that don't look like phoenetic homie dialect (despite them being spelling mistakes anyway)?

[sleekism]

Geez it's a forum and I'm not being "homie" I'm used to texting and I'm cheap so try and shortcut plus I was drinking so whatever!

Anyway I have a feeling cars are going to get a lot uglier with all the standards they have to follow eg.pedestrian safety etc.

BTW anybody read the Drive article about the new Mazda2 being smaller ans lighter good on Mazda for bucking the trend.

I'm pretty sure the AU base was 70 kilos than EL equivalent yet people flocked to an increasingly bigger and heavier VT.

Imagine what would happen if Ford released a new Falcon that was 70 kilos lighter and 8% more fuel efficient in the current climate.

[Peuty]

[QUOTE=XRated]The silver AU I've attached is probably the only series one base-model that I think looks nice - I believe it's mostly because of the wheels. [QUOTE]

That would be my old car before it copped a Fairmont grille and bonnet. That is my favourite picture of that car.



This is it with the grille.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Apparently the guy who designed the AU Forte designed the XY funny ay!

You couldn't be more wrong with that comment. Scott Strong was probably in primary school when the XY was designed. I know Brian Rossi designed the XA, not 100% wether he did the XY too but i'd assume so.

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

You couldn't be more wrong with that comment. Scott Strong was probably in primary school when the XY was designed. I know Brian Rossi designed the XA, not 100% wether he did the XY too but i'd assume so.

Im pretty sure it was Steve Park who did the AU and apparently a few details were loosely influenced by the XY. Eg. centre bonnet crease on the low series bonnet. Maybe the bars in the waterfall grille too.

[buickman]

[

QUOTE=auslandau]
The ghia and the XR's were / are spot on from the start! (XR's also made big improvements though)

[/QUOTE]

I agree on that having owned a AU1 Ghia it was a great car and AU's a still good cars for the money. I currently drive a EB its a POS compared to the AU in every way.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Sloth

Im pretty sure it was Steve Park who did the AU and apparently a few details were loosely influenced by the XY. Eg. centre bonnet crease on the low series bonnet. Maybe the bars in the waterfall grille too.

Yes your right, it was Steve Park, got the names mixed up. Scott Strong did some work on the AU and the BA.

[Fairlane]

Yeah steve park did the AU.

Park also did the EL GT which i love and was a proving ground for his waterfall slatted grilles.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Yeah steve park did the AU.

.

I thought it was Picasso! Boy do i look silly...

[V3RSAC3]

Originally Posted by blackwood

Striking similarity, don't you think?

Merc CLS


AUI Fairmont


Jaguar S-Type


yes i do lolz ... what you's think?

[SpoolMan]

Originally Posted by nversace

yes i do lolz ... what you's think?

I read once where a Mercedes Benz engineer said the problem with the AU Falcon the shape was to far ahead of it's time...

[falzoony]

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

I read once where a Mercedes Benz engineer said the problem with the AU Falcon the shape was to far ahead of it's time...

Whatever it was it was a big change from the EL and I think thats what shocked people.

[V3RSAC3]

yeah, most people say that the AU was ahead of it's time ... which y was that bad .. look at Audi and Masseratti

[falzoony]

Originally Posted by nversace

yeah, most people say that the AU was ahead of it's time ... which y was that bad .. look at Audi and Masseratti

Yeah but people buy those cars so they do stand out, and most people buy falcon's because of their more 'conservative' look. However this would only be the case in the standard models.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Sloth

Im pretty sure it was Steve Park who did the AU and apparently a few details were loosely influenced by the XY. Eg. centre bonnet crease on the low series bonnet. Maybe the bars in the waterfall grille too.

Yeah it was a salient means to identify AU as a Ford.