Here is my latest episode in the Falcon series - the BF. Please help the channel by giving the episode a 👍Like👍 and please Subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming episodes. Please also check out past episodes plus the Playlists for more. Thanks for watching. 👍
I love the Ford History Mark. You had the best job in the world. Thanks for your amazing contribution to our Ford Heritage. You made History mate. Regards Tony.
I'm very late to the Falcon party, having only just bought my first one a few months ago (2007 BF MkII XT)... but my god is that a great car. I can see myself buying a couple more Falcons now (probably B-Series, but maybe an FG or FGX for Sunday best)
The BF (in particular Mk2) definitely felt more refined than the BA and is in many ways a more comfortable car than the later FG model, especially when it came to seating. Have owned multiple BA and BF Falcons as well as a BF Fairlane and a late BF mid-high series is definitely the pick of the bunch.
I owned a BF Fairmont for 13 years. It had the usual Falcon issues with diff bushes, starter motor, driveshaft, and low beam globes. But other than that, the BF was a magnificent car. I bought it when it was 11 months old in 2006, and had 16,000kms on the clock. I sold it 5 years ago now, but I still miss it. If I could buy it back I'd do it in a heartbeat.
@@markbehr88 by chance I found my old car again on Facebook Marketplace. The exact one I owned. Unfortunately, it had been completely trashed by some young punk. Chopped springs, welded diff, evidence of it being used in skids, doesn't have the original rear bumper anymore, dent in the bootlid ... that hurts.
Oh boy, the BF Cobra. This has to be your finest hour. I loved it since it was announced. The little "Boss 302" on the power bulge is a nice little nod to the Mustang as well, it just all mixes together so well
Thanks for the great videos Mark. It just cuts me up. Knowing that we no longer make, these fantastic Ford's & Holdens in Aus anymore. A real crime in my opinion. 😢.
I can remember riding in a Falcon wagon Taxi, just after Ford announced the end of the BF3 Wagon.. The Taxi owner was whinging and whining and calling Ford all the names under the sun for letting people like him down.. So, already knowing the answer, I asked, how often he purchased a brand new Falcon... "Oh no, I don't buy new ones, I buy em second hand, ex government from the auctions" He did not seem to understand why Ford would not give a damn about him...
@@markbehr88 In the end, I don't think Ford gave a damn about the taxi market. Whining, high mileage taxi's is hardly an image most sane car companies would wish apon themselves.
@@noelgibson5956 If you go back to pre AU days, I think Ford really valued it as it was reasonable volume but also a reinforcement of the durability and service the car could provide. As Australians developed the cultural cringe and started keeping up with the Johannes (ie love of Euro cars to reflect their success or perceived success) then the Taxi became a negative reflection of the brand. 👍
@@markbehr88 Yeah.......the Holden Commodore never really took off with the taxi market, and as far as I know, Holden wasn't chasing it with any real vigour. They thrived on their Bathurst winning image. Yet without the taxi market, Commodores were still outselling Falcons during this period.
@@noelgibson5956 They did try again with VN when the car became suitable size wise as per the Commodore specific taxi brochures they put out but a lot of the operators were welded on Ford fans. As you say, they pushed the performance angle - something Ford had dominated in the late 1960’s to very early 70’s but then became more focussed on fleet sales.
My BF MK2 XR6 has the dark grey bodykit inserts, commonly called the Aggressor kit and was built in April 2008. Mine also has the standard sound system and climate control. It also has the 4 Speed BTR and the standard 17inch rims. It’s an ex-Avis rental car. Ford must have caved to car rental companies to offer them the cheapest XR6 while keeping the Aggressor kit.
I'm making a lot of comments here but i would like to thank you for your contribution to these beautiful cars, especially to the FPV range. You've done an awesome job.
What an era, thanks again Mark for another episode and your first hand information. I was working at Bosch from 2004-2009, which was the BA to BF and early FG era. The lineup was exciting to see. Bosch did a lot of work for the stability control systems. Was also great when the ZF and the turbos appeared. Loved the 5.4 (both the 3v and 4v).That whole era was a leap forward in tech and performance.
Thanks. Yes, I remember we did a lot of work with Bosch. You would have worked with Steve Coughlin ( a great Yorkshire man I used to drive mad with my requests - 19” wheels, dual exhaust, 6 piston Brembos). His favourite saying “Bloody Marketing” but he also knew we were selling plenty of cars. He was a great guy! 👍
I owned a BF mkII xr6 in the bright blue colour??. One of the best looking falcons ever I reckon. Sold it to my mate. He still has it. Bit of upkeep over the years but still goes well. Still looks amazing.
Thank you for the Falcon series videos. I see you’re going to do Fairlane and Valiant too. I’m looking forward to them also. Great channel and great work. Thanks Mark.
Thanks Mark Excellent inside knowledge which we appreciate, My old MK1 BF XR8 now has 410kw at the engine and 730nm with Vortech helping but stock rods and no intercooler The suspension was lowered and fat whiteline bars track shocks springs etc and corners incredible and is magnifiicient These BFs have a very strong frame and are still a top vehicle today Cheers and thanks
I've owned an EF XR8 a BF Mk2 XR8 and an FG Mk1 XR8 and my favourite is the BF I owned the FG and BF at the same time, and while I appreciated the extra 30kw of the FG and only 33000km on the clock I sold it and kept the BF I just think the styling and handling are more balanced in the BF The FG is bigger all round and you feel it No real interior change except that the FG headrests push your head too far forward I think it also looks a lot better than the MEGA Mondeo aka the FGX Still have the BF, and she's not going anywhere for the foreseeable future BF ? BEST FORD built here 👍
Yes, I tend to agree with you. The BF was a great looking car. I also love the EF XR8 (see episode on the channel on the EF range if you haven’t already watched it). 👍
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode on the BF Falcon Mark. I never knew there were so many variants in the FPV Range. So I've learn something new from this video. My chances of buying one are extremely remote for good examples will be highly priced and the flogged out ones or modified to blazes aren't even worth considering.
Thanks very much. They have gone up in price a lot. That is for sure. Like you, apart from say, exhaust, I would only buy an original one. They are the ones that will be worth the most. 👍
Mark; big thanks for your earlier design work and these more recent vlogs. I have a Nov 06 Black Force6 with a genuine 50K Klms on it. It has a mild tune and suspension changes and PWR transmission heat exchanger (to avoid the OEMs milkshake issue). Garaged since late 2000s and considering selling it.
2016 Mercedes C250 owner now but years ago in the early 00s (in my 20s) had a EF II Fairmont Ghia (First Ghia with Tickford XR6 engine too) and my last car was a FG II XR6 Turbo Limited Edition Loved every Falcon video and brings back lots of memories. Hopefully one day I can buy a EL Fairmont Ghia or a EL XR6 as my weekend driver. One can dream in this cost of living challenge... Thanks for the vids and your contribution to these Falcons
Also a Lowndes XR 8 ute...2007 ford supercar team were unstoppable...Lowndes later stating his BF was the best racing car he ever drove ! ...my BF XR ute was a late build 3rd month 08.. registered 4th month 08...having the new FG electronics and computer.traction and stability control being assisted by the ABS braking which senses loss of traction to each individual wheel...also hill descent control and fitted with the much improved FG auto trans....so smooth you cant feel the shift ...all these upgrades make it a great allround car... the MK 3 wagons always popular on the used market...cheers...another great video...always loved the FPVs !!! 👍👍
Thanks for this excellent series Mark. Might have to look at one of these BF's as a forever car, while the price is still reasonable. Always wondered if we would see the Superoo decal again, you answered this for me , looks like we nearly did but as you say "a big mistake". Talking about the colours I regularly see a B series XR ute around that is painted in a colour very similar to the old XA "Copper Bronze." Not sure it is factory as I have never seen another but it look stunning, love that colour..like my old Aussie assembled XA.
Thanks. I know the colour you mention (my Dad’s 1972 Galaxie I found and bought back - see ep on the channel, is Copper Bronze). I saw a GT in that colour on carsales last night. Looks good. You should get a BF I reckon. So, should I (GT or Force). 👍
I bought the first xr6t ba series 1 and loved that thing. Smoked commodores day in day out. Bought my 2nd one (FG) in ‘08 because it had the 270kw and zf auto. 16 years later and some upgrades I’ve still got it. I’ll never sell it. BF F6 will be my midlife crisis machine in a few years probably pay through the roof for one but I don’t care. Up the barra boys🤘🏼
My cousin bought a BF F6 new back in the day. Wow, that thing flew and looked so cool. As a young Ford fan, the BA was such a cool car and is what the brand needed, and then the BF took it to the next level!
Thank you Mark. This one should one should have been sold in the United States and at least globally. Then again there is the issue of the Taurus and Fusion/Mondeo. This one opne is nice looking. The Australians invest where it makes a difference( you experience it or feel it). The Americans focus on cosmetic things. Ford Australia used the same trim level names at American Ford( XL, XLS, XLT). I now understand more as I have watched the series. Falcon= Holden Commodore Fairmont= Holden Calais. The GT models remind me of Mustang GT. You were forward thinking at Ford. I liked the story about the Regency red from the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. I smiled when I heard that. You were so deeply involved with product development.
Regards trim or tier levels it's Falcon XT equivalent to Commodore Executive, later Omega, Falcon Futura equalled the Commodore Acclaim, Fairmont equivalent to Berlina and Fairmont Ghia equaled Calais. It was truly amazing that this high quality product was sold only in Australia and a few minor right drive markets in the region. It was certainly worthy of being sold elsewhere. I spoke to an American of Asian descent who hired a BA or BF XR6 and he was amazed at the quality, saying how American Fords interiors fell apart within 10 years.
@@jamesfrench7299 Thank you for explaining the trim levels compared to Holden. They did not export it. It should have been sold in the United States and The Middle East at least. They almost happened, but it did not thanks to Ford Taurus. Ford Fusion/Mondeo. Holden brought the Commodore and Monaro and Caprice to the United States and England, the mIddle East, China, and South Korea. Those are places I can name off the top of my head. He is telling the truth. The quality was night and day in comparing the United States to Australia. Like I said they focused on trim and things like that where Australia focused on quality materials and upgrading the things you can experience and feel.
Thanks Olds98. Glad you enjoyed it. With some additional NVH I reckon the Falcon would have done well in the USA. Shame it never happened but at least the Commodores arrived there under Pontiac and Chevrolet guise. 👍
@@markbehr88 I think it would have done well in the United States and The Middle East and Brazil as well. It is sad it did not happen. We got the Commodore and Caprice. China got the Caprice as a Buick as well as the Middle East got it as a Chevrolet. Great video. They did not market the Chevrolet SS..
I have a BF fairmont 4speed auto. Bought for $5k in 2019. A great highway car, so quiet and smooth. Tows the 1200 kg jayco caravan with ease. Dunno why everyone thinks they need a 4wd to tow a van when the falcon is such a great car
I think the BF was peak Falcon to be honest, I could never warm to the FG or FG-X. I know I'm in the minority but I always preferred the BA FPVs though. I have 2 BA F6s tucked away (including a P car) and had a BF Tornado for a while which was also great. I just thought the BA was a cleaner look which appealed to me. And I LOVE Velocity so a Velocity F6 was always what I wanted. It's interesting, not knowing the story, that when the BF FPVs came out I commented to a couple of friends that it looked like it had been styled by HSV. And now I've learned they did share some DNA haha... And even tho they obviously didn't sell brilliantly I love the Force cars. Ego Force 8 with the red interior is welcome in my collection any day! Lots of interesting info from an insider, thanks for the video Mark.
@@maxrockatanksyOG Typhoon P0011. Mandarin with cloth and Brembos. Rego at the time was TDC493. Have found a few pics of it in mags but always looking :)
A big thanks to you, I like the B series the most ( probably why I maintain two 😂) and now I know who to thank! Love the outlandish colours, would have loved a Toxic Falc but to no avail, had to settle for Acid Rush and Vibe.
Thanks very much. When I was ordering my BF GT co car - it was a really hard decision. I was thinking of Toxic too but we t with the Black with orange stripes (which I loved). I used to go out to the holding yard to look at all the different colours and stripes people ordered. I wish I had of taken my camera. One of the best ever looking GT’s I saw was a car going to Brisbane. It was a factory White with gold stripes. It may not sound exciting but it looked bloody fantastic. 👍
Crammed with detail Mark. Found it very interesting to hear the back story to these special editions. Loved the red leather interior. Black and grey are boring. I hope we get back to varied colour interiors.
Thanks very much. Yes, I loved the red interior. We offered black/grey for those who did not, however, the car looked much better imo with the red interior. 👍
I definitely think the BF was the best looking, as well as best engineered modern Falcon made. You were very lucky getting to play with the Falcon and design some nice addons to them. I'm hunting around for a BF wagon. They are the last of the Falcon wagons and I will find one before they all get scrapped. I'm disappointed that they didn't make the FG in a wagon. I think I once saw a BA/BF with the FG front clip on Ebay. Not sure if it was a clip on job or a major bit of work to make it fit. Back when I was 17, I had an XR wagon with the 289. Used to get along nicely. It would do 92 mph if you held it in second before it lugged into third. 😁😁
If us Holden blokes can admit & see the FGX was the sexiest/best Aussie production car ever made… sayin’ something great doco on the great Aussie taxi.
Great video Mate, and great work on the Falcons 👍 My first ever brand new car was a BF XR6 Turbo Ute. Silhouette 6sp manual. Cloth seats, no hard lid and the og 17” 5 spokes that matched the fog light surrounds with those 3 grooves (was that one of your touches?) So much fun to drive especially with the SCT flasher stashed in the glovebox 👍
It’s cool seeing the new super roo logo. I remember the conversation/speculation in the Ford Forums on why those badges were left off when it was well known they existed. I loved the black painted wheels on that model, very well done.
Fantastic Mark. Would be an interesting story regarding what got you out of FPV at the stage you did. Some of those BF FPV cars are some of the Falcon platform's most beautiful, and as you say differentiated the models so well. That 40th anni GT - wow!
Thanks. What got me out of FPV was a mass redundancy that removed the MD, Marketing Manager, PR Manager and a stack of others. When they told me I would be impacted, I could not believe it as I felt I had been one of the main people who actually got them from the point of selling 12-15 cars per month to 250 plus and we just had our best ever sales result. I said “Well, if you think this is a smart business decision, knock yourself out”. They never sold as many cars again, even with the FG and made many mis-steps after that point, which I would not have done. 🤔
@@markbehr88 Terrible Mark. It's a very American corporate thing that is seen by the upper brass as an instant saving with a share price hike. Problem is on the ground, come Monday morning the people who really had done the work aren't there anymore, and in the resultant panic are covered with consultants and contractors who have no vested interest or ownership going forward long term. I'm about to be laid off for the third time.
@@coalfacechris1336 Very true. And the decision makers end up costing the company more money but are not held to account. Very sorry to hear about your situation. I hope it all works out for you mate. 👍👍
@@markbehr88 I'm OK mate. Bit of a tricky time being in my early 50's. But you have to make it the best thing that has ever happened, as there is no choice 😉The lay-off cycle in mining is just that. Take their money, I say!
Thanks again for the excellent video mate, amazing to see your input, and good to know about Gordon as well - us Ford fans owe a lot to you both for turning the brand around from the AU days. I think every performance ford fan will thank you for the Dark Argents - they still sell like hotcakes on Facebook Marketplace to this day.. and have been slapped on every iteration of Falcon that I can think of. I've even seen XFs with those wheels attached (copies though I'm sure). P.S. I would kill for a Force 6!...
Thanks very much. Of course, there are many more people apart from us who did great work on our Aussie Fords. I am glad to have had the opportunity to do this work and create a great legacy too. Yes, the Dark Argent wheels are very sought after. I just like to see them on F6 models. 😀👍
Thanks Mark, not only for the videos, but for your work with FPV. You definitely have different tastes in wheels to me! I've always preferred spokes that start thick at the hub and taper towards the rim. I guess to me it just looks more like it's engineered to handle the loads, with no excess metal. My favourite factory Ford alloys have always been the wheels on the RS3100 Capri. Having said all that though, I thought the wheels on the BF Cobra looked absolutely fantastic!
Thanks very much. Interesting re the wheels as a lot of the impact initially happens on the outer rim. My main approach was to make the wheels as open as possible and quite aggressive as the original GT wheels and the GT-P wheels were very conservative. I had some resistance from the Ford designers originally as they were not used to someone from Marketing having so much equity in the design process - however, that is what I was used to at Holden and HSV. Once they could see how much we were improving the cars, everyone became very enthused. I also had David Flint as a great support, telling the head of Ford Design “Give this guy what he wants”. 👍
@@markbehr88 yeah, the impacts happen on the rim, but the spokes then act as levers, amplifying the force onto the hub. This is obviously moreso with cornering, braking and acceleration forces than with impact loads though. Anyway it's probably all subjective, but it just looks more right to me.
hi i have a bf2 xr8 rip curl Ute colour seduce 2007 . just to let you know which you failed to mention as a lot of people also forgets is that if you want to replace all of the coils x8 don't ask for xr8 plugs as you will probably get the standard plug which wont fit which i found out the hard way. my model has the boss fpv 5.4 (260). the plugs that i had to have only come in (290) and GT mustang (5.0).so i have in my car is a 290 detuned to a 260 motor because of the limited edtion rip curl spec. has been confirmed from ford victoria. cheers
The GT badge sample board & ‘70’s colour chart evolution - both brilliant. Continuity is the absolute king in terms of customer loyalty and engagement. Aka The X Factor.
Light years ahead of it's competition (with the possible exception of the Magna) in terms of refinement and overall good design. Ford really had things sorted with this car.
Bound too, but the 3.5 Magna was a damn good thing. Awesome handling and build quality, plus reliability. I had one for six years and I always remember it with fondness. It was truly a standout in the history of our proud Aussie car manufacturing legacy.
...just not the Olivier Boulay-nosed final Magna pls - it was abandoned by its mother for a reason lol! Shame about the excellent Mitsu380. Not many around now that I see. Paint seems a weakness.
Hi Mark love the channel been enjoying all the videos you’ve been putting up Really enjoyed this episode, specially with the information about the force 8 I actually bought a force8 build number 007 brand-new at Parramatta Thompson Ford all the things you mentioned about the force 8 is the reason I bought it and loved it. Have a lot of regrets of selling it been looking for it when it comes up for sale again but now they’re asking the same money as what I bought it for so I guess that will be a no now And plus, I’ve got a pretty full garage now Lotus Elise brand-new Ford Ranger wild track X and my old Ford Telstar turbo 89 model Keep up the great work looking forward for your series about the Telstar
Thanks for sharing your story Mark, you guys did make the BA update look great. No doubt about that. However, when I saw that very minor refresh, looked at it in profile, then thought of the AU, I had a very bad feeling for Ford's future here. It was obvious Ford hadn't invested in factory tooling. I agree, the base BF could've been the "BA MkIV" & no-one would've noticed. So whilst it's likely the best Falcon, it's also the saddest one for me with its foreshadowing of doom. Lovely looking cars tho'. Cheers.
I had similar feelings. I couldn't see too many BA owners rushing out to buy a new car that looked so similar. And in fact, a mate of mine had bought a BA when they first came out, and didn't update for that exact reason, even though his accountant was telling him he should lease a new car.
My view is - while Ford continued with the AU doors, the restyle was such a major one, that they did get away with it. They simply did not have the funds to re-do the whole body shell. At the end of the day, Australia and NZ are pretty small markets to justify a uniquely designed car, so I am just glad we got these cars as long as we did, before globalisation made it all too hard. 👍
@@alanjm1234 Yes, that is a fair comment. I cover that off in the episode re nervousness. I had no such issue with the FPV models as I saw it as my chance to make them more differentiated and more aggressive. 👍
G'day Mark, Your video's are the best, extremely well presented & informative for everyone to enjoy for years and years to come. Thoroughly enjoyed this & all of them. Cheers Louis Kats 👍
Top coverage of the bf range. If i strike the jackpot i know what to go looking for as far as Bf collectables. Can u please document the involvement of Gordon Barfieild in the i6 turbo side of things Bf and Fg. love this now lost Ford Au history coming to life. Cheers
BAs where good , personal choice though I liked the BF series , I was always a GT boy from 1967 , , but when the F6 models came along I felt my GT loyalty divided :) ., but I could never afford either so it was moot lol.
Yes, I preferred the BF too. I had the choice of a GT or F6 company car, and chose the GT. However, the F6 was every bit as good and different enough from the V8 cars. 👍
Hi Mark, hope your well, Sorry for late late reply ,my Dad was taken ill yesterday and I had to take him to hospital he suffered a heart attack, good news he is recovering well and doing well with the treatment he is 80 next month. I like the look of the Falcon Force 8 the colour looks great and suit the care and like the finish on the wheels and like the look of the Rebel, F6R and the Super Roo editions. I did not know that these cars comply to Euro compliance. Like I said many a time I would love to see these cars on the roads in Wales, as always I've be enjoying the Falcon history it's one of the best cars we never had, great video, Take care
Hi Shaun. Sorry to hear about your dad and I hope he is doing ok? Yes, the Force 8 is a terrific looking car although I may be biased 😀. It’s a shame Ford did not export the Falcon. I think it would have done well in the USA especially and as a niche car for the UK market too. Imagine seeing an F6 Typhoon driving around Japan as well! 👍
Thank you. The FPV ones did. I think it may have been available on the XR utes later on (anyone?). It would have been a Bosch calibration cost equation and engineering resource availability I would say. No other reason really. 🤔
@markbehr88 you're most welcome mate. Look forward to a new video each week. Just something I've always been curious about but never knew much about. Sadly most of my knowledge is with Holden and Mitsubishi. Not a complete illiterate with them, I've owned a few and worked on all of them, but my knowledge is definitely limited. Did wagons ever get the 6 speed?
Back in the day I always wanted to buy a pursuit Ute but what put me off was rivets in the tray So I ended up with an ssv Ute and I still have it Only driven on sundays you know You certainly did some good stuff with the bf model Mark My ef I just sold had typhoon wheels on it when I bought it I did sell them as I didn’t like the rubber band tyres All the bf xr cars looked so good especially the fpv ones 👍👍👍
Thanks very much. The Holden utes were terrific for sure. I did like the Ford ones too though. The Fords were more truck like if that makes sense. More work like. 👍
I had a BF xr6t with the 6 speed manual in arguably the best looking but worst colour in terms of peeling, Shockwave. We did a lot of warranty resprays with that particular colour apparently it was due to poor adhesion to the primer. The whole car would have to be taken right back to bare metal.
Crazy to have that kind of problem. I also remember some cars had “tiger stripes” as they called it - obvious vertical lines in the painting process that sounded to me as simply not putting enough paint on in the first place. 🤔
Very detailed video mate really impressed. Just a question, you say the force models had red interior as standard although majority came with black interior. Or did most people choose black as apposed to red.
Thanks very much. Please check put the other Falcon history videos going back to XK. The red interior was standard on the BF Force models, so dealers or customers would have to order the Dark Charcoal - otherwise the default was Regency Red. 👍
@@markbehr88 i see. Thanks for the reply, would love to see another video on in particular the BA-BF series models as ive had a few and own a few and really save a soft spot for them.
As a once owner of a BF2 XR8 manual (in Ego) with a GT500 engine swap, the whole BF series was the best. BA felt a lot looser body wise; BF fixed that & nailed by BF2. The FG series (current FG2 XR6T owner) sucks arse compared to the BF2; NVH, interior & exterior fit & finish, even the paint seemed "off". You can kinda tell by FG, FG2 & FG X that Ford Oz was limited; it wasnt as great as it could have been- the FG X engine should have been in FG2, and the FG X should have been a complete balls-to-the-wall farewell; it was good, but wasnt _great_ . Owned a BF Tornado (No 20) as my daily, it was smooth AF with the Barra 6T & ZF- only things i did with it was Plazmaman cooler pipes, GFB BOV, complete Pedders suspension with rear swaybar mod & better speakers
My "first" new Ford Falcon was an ex Landsbourough police station duty car; factory options were: XR6 suspension PBR Sports Brakes Engine/ Trans bash plate (heavy plucker that was) Rear power windows Dual Battery Kit (for police lights etc) Random police added blood stain on the head lining & rear parcel tray (could never get those out) And cut drivers side drip rail for the police lights wiring Only things I did was lower the arse, fitted a XR boot spoiler, shift kit in the BTR, decent speakers & XR8 rims; it used to haul arse for what it was. Previous to that was an ex NSW highway patrol XD 351 single rail; had a police mechanic modded Carter carby, GT 40 coil, sports dash, 4 wheel discs &Hurricane Headers (which we dumped at the diff- there is a funny story with that!). Late 1990's as a 18 yr old, going into 2000/ 01, that thing would give the newly allowed JDM cars a run for their money; I managed to do a Tamworth- Nundle run in 7. 40 mins (record was owned by a heavily worked 6cyl EFI XF 4 speed of 6 mins flat that an old speedway dude owned). It is sad how Ford Oz ended
I have a factory bf mark 2 xt with a zf six speed and dsc. Is the are rare car? I have heard it was meant to be an esp edition but that never happened.
@@markbehr88 An XE was my first car.......but it was certainly nothing like the one just described. How does a 3-3 GL with absolutely no options fitted sound? Still, it gave me a few good years.
@@noelgibson5956 I once had a 3.3 manual XD wagon. I actually really liked it. It was no performance car but it was reliable and smooth - so very relaxing to drive. Would I have preferred a 5.8 V8? Absolutely. 😀👍
If you’ve been following along for the whole series, you’ll find I am doing a seperate series on the Fairlane once I have completed Falcon. Check out the playlist. 👍
My 06 BF xr8 ute factory 6sp manual is just sitting in my carport with a car cover over it. Got to 267000klms and now it needs lash adjusters and timing chain. Just waiting till tax time this yr to get the timing chain. Then she be back on the road as a weekend warrior.
I have to ask, as someone who has insider knowledge of Ford Australia. Why did the wagon have that awful window line? It seemed to begin during the EA era and was never updated. The commodore always had a cleaner, continuous window in comparison. Would love to know your thoughts.
Ford REALLY should've just let the aussies handle the sedan designs for the falcon size cars sold in the USA. The falcon is so much better a car than the Taurus we got here in USA. All they would have had to do is change it to lhd. Could have saved and made millions and millions. I personally almost hate ford's. The Falcon is a definite exception. Dama great looking car. Holden almost always had better looking cars, but not against these!
@@noelgibson5956 It’s a bit like turning up at a steak house and stating you are a vegetarian. If you can’t appreciate competitive makes then go to another channel and don’t let the door hit you on the way out! 😀👍
All your "hard yards" of design, plan & delivery of all the sporting models Mark, and even the more plain ones, cars that you should feel proud to have help created, they looked good, drove good, and were decently built to last . With the constant Holden & Falcon battle for number one spot, now look what we have A Ranger, A Hi-lux, A D-max pitching for the number one sales spot hardly exciting, how sad, just boring bland 4x4's with ZERO style or class.
The BA @ BF were the best looking cars in the world, in my opinion (that’s all that matters)..I had a FPV 2003 boss 290 GT and I loved every time I drove it, of course I had it supercharged lol. So sad I sold it.
Your done a great job Mark. An My BF2 Fairmont Ghia colour Ford name is " Seduce " an I have had a few jokes with friends about the name 🤣🤣 an its real meaning as a word. I say to people mine is a Cardinal Red with a perl finish through it. As most people know what Colour Cardinal Red is.
The BF fixed the NVH backward step the BA represented over the AU which had finally overcome criticism over the engine's agricultural feel. I thought it was reasonable to expect some harshness from an undersquare long stroke torque rich powerplant. That the AU Intech still made that sort of engine manage to be smooth at all levels deserved a standing ovation which is why the BA was a disappointingly rough though powerful engine. I'll take refinement any day. Strange how the BF looked almost exactly like a BA with the changes mainly underneath, while the BF2 and BF3 got much more differentiation, while the XR6 and XR8 got nearly non that was easily detectable.
Yes, I think the BF Mark 2 should have been the first effort and agree that the XR models could have had more of a change. We did do that for the FapV range of course. 👍
@@markbehr88 having said all that, I do like the X as you termed it extending down through the bumper grill. It's my way of identifying its a BF from the front (and the parabolic taillights) and adds a little bit more style quite effectively. I didn't like the BF2 and BF3 headlights at first but they grew on me and give the front a more masculine feel.
Love this vids. Such a looker that range, (apart from the wagon with its strangely crooked window line). Really should have beaten the Commodore in the sales race on looks alone.
Yes, those two weren’t mine. They were all down to the Colour and Trim team. I did put forward the dark cherry black colour (can’t remember the name?). I took that from a very nice VR or VS HSV colour. 👍
Hi Mark great job as usual!. Just a question. Was there ever any BF Mark 3 sedans?. My understanding was the Mark 3 moniker was purely for the last of the wagons.
Thanks very much. Re the Mark 111, I always thought wagon only too but the references say there were XT sedans. Keen to hear if anyone has one? Doesn’t really make sense as there was a base FG but no wagon in FG? 👍
