Shannon's AU Falcon Story

[BA Supa Pursuit]

I recently bought my low km mint 99 Au XR8 because it was the best weekend car I could buy with my budget of $7k. After having previously owned two BA's (FPV and XR8), and driven countless FG's, I am pleasantly surprised by the AU's seating position, comfort and quality. I wasn't really a fan on them back in the day, but the Tickford kit and headlights on the Au XR series has really grown on me.

[FPV8U]

AU's are great cars, handling its much better than the B-Series and a real shame they didn't just improve the IRS for the BA instead of the POS they lifted from a focus and just threw the diff into with chewing gum for bushes.

The XR's are a real drivers car with lots of steering feel, had the Windsor block had a bit more scope in it and they thrown in a T56 from factory they would be far more sort after today.

[Silver Ghia]

Here was my 1998 Fairmont:



The looks hasn't aged one little bit, unlike the VT - VX of the time.

Better car than the BA Ghia that replaced it.

[NX74205]

Can we have an AU thread without the obligatory B-series bashing that goes with it?

[Uncle_Ken]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Can we have an AU thread without the obligatory B-series bashing that goes with it?

I like them both. I drove a lot of 'stock' BAs when they first came out as company cars and were OK by me. I guess AU 'fans' take the above line cause they/we feel the AU series wasn't 'that bad'.
Lets face it every series has its pros and cons. Its interesting that a lot of comments follow a better/worse compare between Fords rather that Holden's.

UK

[Sprintey]

Some AU memories when new.

Looking at a near new AU1 Futura sedan in a lot. We had a 6 year old ED at the time. Looking at the curves, thinking the whole lot was wild.
In Laws' new AUII SR, black interior, just amazed at the shape, especially the turret and roof space. Loved it's throttle response, so meaty. I remember its steering was more lively than my ED GLi.
Working around the East in '02 when they were running them out - the amazing stockpile of new AUs on the grass near Werribee, two guys zooming past my work wagon somewhere west of the Grampians in AU1 XRs, absolutely pushing them and driving like they knew the road backwards. An old fella towing with a mint black AU1 V8 Fairmont wagon that had Tickford enhancements. Looking over a new red AUIII Forte wagon in Western Vic (should have bought it), looking over a Blueprint AUIII XR8 in same, 35K runout I think, (should have bought that too, as it was put off buying a new car until 2007 Territory, money was spent on house instead which seems to be the bane of adult life but goes up in value). Loved the dash, the ovoid screen, the curves. Little did I know it was also the most bulletproof and cheap to run Aussie car built in recent times.

So lately, being totally dismayed by medium SUV styling and omnipresence; being totally underwhelmed by the shift to FWD 'midsize' (read: bigger than AU) cars filled with tech (that I try to minimise in my life) - I might go back to the future.

[Sprintey]

There's also this, some memories from Joe Kenright:

http://www.motoring.com.au/reviews/2...ii-falcon-3483

"AU Series II Falcon 4.0 auto Wagon
An overseas cousin, her husband and two boys were on a flying two day visit to Melbourne. My job was to pick them up from the airport in the morning, take them and their luggage on a 500 km round trip of the mountains and wine growing areas and get them back to Melbourne later that day for a family dinner. Just your average Aussie trip really.
With four out of five occupants in the six foot range plus enough luggage for a month away, there was only one choice. It was the same AUII Falcon wagon that a colleague had just taken to Central Australia and pronounced better for the job than a 4WD. As we nipped and tucked through dirt forest roads to cover as much as we could, the big Falcon never once bottomed out. It was also serene and comfortable enough for my passengers to snatch a few zzzzs before dinner who were still raving about the amazing Aussie wagon when they left the next day.



AU Series II Fairmont Ghia 4.0 auto Sedan
It was a wet, miserable Saturday so a group of us decided to head out of the city to find a country pub and watch the footy around a log fire. As the Ghia glided over the rutted and slippery dirt roads with passengers semi-reclined in leather lounges and its premium sound delivering crystal clear footy coverage, I was talked into driving on until we reached the snow resorts. After a long lazy dinner, we arrived back at around midnight. The AUII Fairmont Ghia was that sort of car."


Nice.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Can we have an AU thread without the obligatory B-series bashing that goes with it?

Its a very curious situation when a model line actually goes backwards with quality.

[SSVPom]

My series 2 Ghia VCT gave me no trouble in the 4 yrs I owned it, and still think the shape looks fresh now. Traded it in '09 for a VE SSV Commodore which had a lower quality interior...

[Sprintey]

Wow that's nice.

[bluestripes]

Love my AU Ute ....

Perfect car for old school performance mods

[HULK_I6T]

I've owned an AU, pretty decent car. I didn't mind it's looks but non ford people think it looks atrocious

I had a few comments and chuckles from people that say "what a shocking looking car" and "that's the car that killed falcon, they just never recovered from that"

It drove nice though, mine was an AU series 3 i6.

[Maka]

I'm glad you ignored your mates comments & purchased one Hulk!

cheer's, Maka

[Chopped]

From the factory, most of the AUs looked terrible IMO.
BUT with the right wheels, ride height, little subtle mods etc I think they look great. The shape was way ahead of it's time.

[ebv8]

I have had 4 of them, AU2 XR6, AU1 XR8, AU2 Forte Wagon & an AU3 XR8.
I loved all of them and the AU1 XR8 was my favourite
I own a BA GT now but would happily buy an AU if i could convince the missus they look better than her Commodore.

[tranquilized]

I've never owned an AU but have a lot of memories from their era.

Mid 1998 I started a job at Rex Gorell Ford as a spare parts interpreter. I remember the boss asking me on day one whether I liked the new Falcon - I was non committal at the time, but soon came around.

My supervisor bought one early on - a Forte. He raided the spares catalog and decked it with high series bits and pieces, had them installed during PD and had the Forte-spec stuff put back into inventory. It was a great looking car, but despite the Tickford "sports" suspension sat far too high. After constant jibes from mainly myself, he finally relented and took it to Pedders for a proper lowering. This was the first modified AU I'd seen in Geelong. I got to drive it a lot at the time, and the looks this car pulled was unbelievable. The AU backlash was in full swing by now, but take a few inches out of the ride height and the shape was transformed - it really did look stunning - people would stop to stare.

This is the car, mine was the EB. I surprised myself the day I took that photo when I came to the opinion the AU was the best looking car of the 3





Another thing I remember soon after they came out was the mechanics in the workshop commenting on how well they were put together - will make good taxis a few said. Kinda back-handed praise but the point stands - they were well built. They weren't without their quality issues though, I remember they had their fair share of recalls early on. A lot of dash pads, as in the entire dash board, had to be completely replaced on the AU's

I've got a March 1999 build XH panel van, and it too seems like it was well put together - Ford must have had their act together for a while there.

[HULK_I6T]

If the Au falcon came with knock out performance from a v8 many would have ignored its looks.. Look at the wrx, it was hideous to look in the mid 90s, but it's performance made it a cult car.

The au received a double punch as the VT commodore looked comparatively much nicer and the ls1 V8 in the vt2 killed the au falcon v8s

But I still say AU was a nice drive, but looks are important to buyers

[mik]

coming out of the shopping centre this arbo, it occurred to me how good and modern my nearly 15 year old beat up xr6 looks compared to the many other modern cars of which a hell of a lot of them look boringly the same ....... white goods.

[Adamz Ghia]

I've always said that with a few proportional changes to overhangs, wheel arches ect. they could release the AU today and it'd look fresh. Even a well looked after Series 1 Forte that lives in my area looks the goods, had the T1's and bodykit on it, in silver...