October 8, 2016
The Ford Falcon passed into automotive history on Friday when the last Falcon rolled off the assembly line at Broadmeadows in Victoria.
That vehicle, a blue XR6 sedan, won’t be put on sale … Ford intends to keep it as a display piece, along with the last Territory and the last Falcon Ute.
It was a sad day for the 600 workers who lost their jobs, and a sad day for Ford fans who have long loved the blue-oval marque.
And it has suddenly made Falcons a collectors’ item …
South Burnett Ford dealer Mark Huston admitted he was disappointed when he first heard that Ford was stopping Australian manufacturing.
However, he said it was important to remember that Ford would still be around, and there would still be Ford employees in Australia involved in product development.
According to Ford Australia chief executive Graeme Whickman, Ford will still employ 1500 people and 500 contractors in Australia despite the end of manufacturing locally.
Mr Huston said the fact that Toyota and General Motors were also pulling out (they will close their Australian plants next year) showed how the global market was changing.
“It’s the end of an era,” he said.
But life goes on, and he said Ford was promising to add some exciting new models to its line-up.
In the meantime, he had been very lucky to secure two special Falcons that were now on his showroom floor which he believed would quickly become collectors’ items.
The first is a winter white FGX XR6 Falcon Turbo Sprint with leather and suede trim and 19 inch alloy wheels. It is number 182 of just 500 manufactured – and has a plate on its Geelong-made motor to prove it.
The second Falcon is a 2016 build smoke FGX XR6 Falcon Ute with XR luxury pack and leather trim. Ford stopped manufacturing utilities a few weeks back which is making them scarce at dealerships.
These two Falcons are “soulmates” to two of the vehicles that Ford Australia has set aside for a charity auction, which proves just how rare they really are.
On October 15, Ford will be auctioning a winter white Falcon XR6 Turbo Sprint (#500/500) and a smoke FGX Falcon XR6 Turbo Ute.
Footnote: In a sad irony, an actor who best represented the other half of those 1960s Aussie playground arguments (Falcon! Kingswood!) died today. Veteran Aussie actor Ross Higgins, star of “Kingswood Country”, died aged 86.
