Meaning of XR?

[cool65]

Having worked in the automotive industry as a tier 1 supplier to Ford around that time, I'm pretty sure that the badge (LEVEL) was invented to be able to get fleet buyers to spec the car as GT's were out of bounds for insurance reasons. Also a slightly cheaper way to get into the V8.
In those days 20 years ago, there really was only Australian built cars (before tarriffs dropped) offered to fleet buyers. Lease vehicles were virtually non-existant so you had to take what was on offer.
(Personally I believe this was one of the greatest downfalls of the Australian car industry when people were offered the choice to get anything in a certain price range as a salary sacrificed company car. You just can't trust it when people to think for themselves sometimes.)
This enabled the fleet execs/reps to get their hands on sporty vehicles that they were not normally able to access.
So I think it was just a way for "the man" to cheat the system.

And visually with the quad headlights and red sidestrip, it put the ford way out in front with looks compared to VP commodore.

[ZGM86]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I stumbled across this link discussing Aussie Fords in the UK that XC GXL posted in the 'MIA Landau' thread:

http://www.aus-ford-uk.co.uk/html/so...ackground.html

This quote in particular caught my eye:

"The first Aussie Fords to be sold in this country were the then current XR Falcon 500 sedans and wagons, six and V8, the XR Fairmont sedans and wagons (V8) and probably the Fairlane sedans as well. What is interesting is that in 1967, Lincolns imported the Mercury Cougar XR7 for the first time, as well as the Aussie XR ‘Mustang bred’ Falcon. I believe that Ford in the US appropriated the initials ‘XR’ for the Cougar, as it was also Mustang based, and thereby started the trend for Ford word wide to use the initials ‘XR’ for performance cars, ranging from the XR2 Fiesta versions to the South African Sierra and Aussie Falcon XR8’s"

Did Ford US pinch the XR term from the original XR Falcon? Obviously the author is just speculating as there's no reference for his claim, but it is food for thought.

[Olbucko]

Holden had the HD, " Hardly Drivable " and then the HR, " Hastily Revised "

[fordAU]

eXtra Rack of lamb.