Ford Falcon XP - Ford Fights Back 

Thanks Michael. Glad you liked it.

Yes keep them going 🇦🇺👍

@@jamieteal2107 Thank Jamie 👍

Thanks very much. I do cover the disc brakes. The electric rear window is a good point too. 👍

Cool memories hey 👍

Yes and the XPs drove really well too. 👍

Thanks 👍

Thanks Gerard. That would have been a nice looking car.

The Fairmont had front disc brakes so that may have been the go. 👍

@@bossdog1480 Great old cars hey? 👍

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. We were generally a Ford family, however, I worked for Mitsubishi (nee Chrysler before my time), Holden and Ford - so I appreciate all the survivors of our great car industry these days.

@@lees_box The XP was a really good car. 👍

@@markbehr88 Yea it was. It's funny, I was thinking about it after I wrote this comment, back in the 80's when I had this car, I was 25 in 1988 and the car was 23 years old, right? It looked like a vintage car. People used to get in it and say "wow what a cool old car". Without fail. It was so vintage to look at compared to cars of the 80's. It stood out like a sore thumb. Fast forward to today, my EL is older now than that XP was but when you get in it it still feels contemporary. No-one looks at an EL and goes "what a cool old vintage car from a bygone age", it just blends in with all the surrounding cars in the parking lot. Oh well, interesting to ponder. So I subbed, look forward to seeing more videos. I love the old cars. Cheers. 👍

@@lees_box Thanks for the Subscription 👍. I know what you mean. If you had a 23 year old car now it would be a 2001 model. Not old at all. 🤔

Hi John. I don’t mind it at all. You’d never know they used the Mercury Comet front guards and hood (bonnet). I reckon they did a pretty good job. They sold around 71,000 so it was quite popular here too.

Definitely. We tortured our cars. Please check out the other Falcon episodes on the channel.

@@markbehr88 The XK Falcon? I watched.

That’s the one. @@jasoncarpp7742

Thanks for the info 👍👍

Did you find the three speed better than the two

Wow. You really do love the XP. Great collection! 👍👍

Cool. There was a business on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and others who used to do conversions with the 260 and 289 V8 engines, however, not available ex factory unless you bought a fully imported Falcon Sprint from 1963 onwards.

@@markbehr88 this was in country Victoria, so I think maybe he got the engine from a wrecked XR later on and retro-fitted. Had the 289 badge as well.

@@scottmclennan6114 Yes, could be. 👍. Would have been a cool car. 👍👍

Thanks Rob. Glad you liked it. Now, is your Fairlane the ZA or ZB (I was thinking ZB?) as I will do a series on the Fairlane once I have done the Falcon series. Be great to feature your car when I do. I’m thinking around December?

It's a 1969 ZB 500. December is good by me, let me know when and where you want it and it'll be there.@@markbehr88

It was dire straits Rob, they had to do something as not enough brave souls stumped up the cash to buy an XM, and Ford Aust ' had spent a fortune on the reengineering of the XM with scant sales. Then with their budget blown, with no bulk spare cash, they had to go back in time and raid the Edsel Comet parts bins, as before it became the Mercury Comet, it was going to be an Edsel. What we were served up as the XP would have been the base level Edsel with single headlights. All we did was basically fit the RHD firewall and graft on the XM rear mudguards instead of the unusual Comet ones. Ford USA even had an unused stockpile of clear glass and plastic blinker/parking light lenses, as when the car became a Mercury Comet, USA home rules said amber FRONT blinkers & parking lights. But when proposed in 1959 were still clear lens at the front. Then the Edsel debacle happened, and 1960 models were built for just a few weeks in late 1959 less than 3,000 full size cars and not one Comet at all. What most Aussies are unaware of is the loss of product differentiation when Ford USA made all the car lines look the same, the big Galaxies had been made to look like giant Falcons in 1961, then in 1962 the Fairlane ceased being a full-size car 4 inches shorter than a Galaxie and was made into an Intermediate size car also looking like an oversized Falcon. then there was the Falcon. For as long as Ford kept all three carlines looking the same, they bled read ink with sales, I love the look of the '64 Galaxies, however that was a terrible sales year. Henry Ford 2 came in his chopper to the You-Yangs, he asked the same question, what if this fails, there is a very strained expression on the Aussie guy in charge of the event, no answer was given. I was a kid in late primary school and it was the first time TV ran 24/7 filming the "race" play out. It was early 1965 and the sales of the new square cut 1965 Galaxies were selling well in the USA, and they cleaned up on the NASCAR tracks with 48 wins out of 52 starts. So coupled with their new Mustang sales and great new looking Galaxie sales, Ford was getting out of debt and back into black ink financially. So, they had had it tough globally, and they had copped it in Gt Britain as GM had sent some of their best men to shake up Vauxhall/Bedford group with a new range of cab over engine trucks using the 1959 US GMC cabin pressings but with a bigger new front panel & giant windscreen the TK series truck, and the PB series Vauxhall Cresta that was the width of a Chev Impala and only about a foot shorter. Then to really "bash" Ford over the head GM had the new Cortina in their gunsights, as the Cortina with a flimsy front end and narrow front track, plus the slightly bigger Consul Classic & Capri also with weak front ends. So, GM UK released the FB series Vauxhall Victors tough as iron and to be rally winning. Then GM launched their new small car the HA Viva. Not only in UK but also in Germany GM sent some of their best guys to Opel to shake it up and go on the sales attack in Germany too, some of the products released there even attacked Mercedes earlier S class sales with their superb BIG new Opel Diplomat and Admiral luxury cars, fitting them with Chevy 327ci V8's and decent IRS rear suspension. So poor old Ford needed a bit of a sales win somewhere around the globe.

@@gregharvie3896 Thanks for all the info Greg, very cool. I reckon you'd make a great research assistant for Mark 🙂

@@robertknights1028Mark & I have been best mates/friends for the last 35 years, he keeps the info' short as some people would or will switch off as they find it a bit boring

Thanks David. Glad you liked them. My association with Ford was as Senior account director at JWT on the Ford account in the late 1990’s and then as Product Planning and Brand Marketing Manager for FPV from 2002 to 2007. Fun times. 👍

Thanks Don. The round tail lights were a feature of Fords for many years. In the US they moved away from it around 1966 but we kept them up to 1969 when XW moved to a different style. Glad you liked the episode. 👍

Yes a big accolade back then for sure 👍.

The Wheels Car of The Year Award was awarded to Ford for the XP Falcon in January 1966. Exactly at that time, my late father bought the wagon and ute brand new trading in a 59 FC Holden Ute and 58/59 Zephyr Mark II sedan. Homicide featured XPs for eighteen months and the XPs were on the intro well after the introduction of the XR and even the later episodes when the XR Falcon became the police car in use. I think January 1966 to mid 1967.

A great model and my favourite of the earlier ones. Having said that I like the red interior of the XL and XM Falcon Futura.

@@LeopoldoNotarianni-rk9vv I personally like the XM but they are all cool. 👍

@@joellamoureux7914 Yes, that is Australia!

Thanks Rohan. And best of all, I guarantee my episodes are calorie free! 😀

Glad you enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure there was a metallic blue in XM?

@@markbehr88 -- You could well be right there.

@@couttsy222 I am even wondering if the green XL wagon ala my Dad’s similar car was also a metallic? You can see the video on the channel. 👍

It would be great to have it now. 👍

Hi Dave. I have never heard of those options on the XP. It almost sounds like an ex Ford Motor Company vehicle that one of the management had. It is well known, apart from Bill Bourke’s special company cars (outside of his Lincoln MKIII amongst others), that very senior leaders within Ford Australia often had one offs built for themselves, including head of production, product planning etc. I could ask David Ford if he recalls such an animal? 👍

Very cool. If you are referring to the 70,000 Mile Durability test promo at You Yangs, I have that video thanks very much. 👍

@@markbehr88 hi yep that’s the one but this Is Dads own footage on his movie camera👍👍

@@AshField-wg4th Right. Sure. If you have a digital file of it you can send it to mjbehr@yahoo.com.au 👍

@@markbehr88 no problem I’ll drag it out over the next few weeks and see what I can do👍 cheers Ash

@@AshField-wg4th Thanks Ash. 👍