Magazine advertisement for the 1960 Ford Falcon

It was probably the baby boom generations’ first muscle car. I remember well when as a young reporter, my flatmate got access to the ‘office car’ in the Canberra bureau of the newspaper we worked for. It was our passport to weekend exploration of New South Wales, and a sure date attraction for a Saturday night at the drive-in movies.

The Falcon was ‘the car’ back in those heady days of the 60s, on both sides of the Tasman. Now an era may be coming to an end.

For half a century in fact, the Falcon has been pretty much at the centre of the antipodean motoring world but now Ford, struggling manfully out of the recession, appears to be going for a universal large car product.

This month, at the Detroit motor show, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said that in future, only one large car platform would be built for the international market under the company’s One Ford programme.

He said the days were gone when car manufacturers could produce a different marque for a single market sector. 

“I think those days are gone, because you can’t compete with the global companies, and Ford’s going to be a powerhouse globally,’’ he said.

Industry insiders believe that the successor to an Australian designed Falcon, and it’s trans-Tasman market, will be designed around the  Ford Taurus.

Out will go the rear-powered Falcon in favour of  front-wheel drive.

Flagging sales because of higher fuel prices have hurt the Falcon and the Australian large car sector in recent years.

While the ‘actual’ Falcon may end its days, the name could still continue for the ‘global’ model — which could simply be locally badged for Australia and New Zealand, but it seems the days a of vehicle designed and built from the ground up for our market are over.

But industry commentators have also speculated that the Falcon could also signal the demise of Australia’s car industry as well, with warnings that economics of scale simply indictate it will not be viable. However, it is noted that Ford, General Motors and Toyota have all denied this prospect.

The  Falcon has been built by Ford Australia since 1960 following the phasing out of the American Falcon of 1960-71, with the car re-engineered for harsher Australian conditions.

It became one of the biggest selling names in world automotive history, selling over 3,000,000 cars in Australia and New Zealand. 

Falcons, as well as the equivalent Holden Commodores, are prominent in the Australasian taxi and police fleets. 

Now however, the Falcon, as such, may go the way of the Ford Futura, Ford Fairmont and Ford Landau, as well as the long wheelbase Ford Fairlane and Ford LTD

And just a final note — how many of us know that the ‘father’ of the Ford Falcon was none other than the late Robert McNamara  who as US Secretary of Defence, saw out the Cuban missile crisis and the United States’ early involvement in the Vietnam War. 

He was formerly head of the Ford division which developed the Falcon. Now it seems the baby boomers’ iconic car is also headed off, down memory lane.