XY GTHO Phase 3 It was the fastest 4 door saloon in the world in 1971. Well done on your summary of the Ford Motors here, not bad for an American ! Cheers from Maroochydore, Queensland
@@wooly1950 I know I didn't even come close to covering everything, but I really tried and really appreciate it. I read up a lot on the XY GTHO while researching the video, you guys effectively got the 4 door mustang. I'd KILL for one of those. For me it's gotta be the '95 XR6 Falcon Ute. It just looks so cool.
The reason Ford Australia was tied-in with Ford Canada instead of Ford USA is because both Australia and Canada are part of the commonwealth...countries that were once part of the British Empire. There were certain tax and tariff benefits from dealing with Ford Canada instead of directly with Ford in the USA.
In fact, Ford sold a licence to the Canadians to produce Ford vehicles to the British Commonwealth countries as Ford America were producing so many cars for the American market. This started in 1927 with the model T. Ford Australia was originally a subsidiary of Ford of Canada.
@@markdrennan5723 another thing I didn’t know! I tried looking more into the beginnings of ford Oz by watching videos and reading articles, but most of them focus on the end, and skip over the beginning. Thanks for the help!
Yes. The Commonwealth had a common market up until the 70s which offered benefits. Same with tractors. Canadian and US farm tractors were different. Canadian being Commonwealth market built. Many Canadian/US remote items worked on different frequencies (garage door remotes being an example.) Today we have the UK in the EU market and Canada in NAFTA, later USMCA.
Makes sense, that’s right around the time the whole financial sector here in the states went belly up, and ford was up shits creek without a paddle to put it lightly
@@andrewg2618 Plenty of rumours were flying around over the years. I was working on the production line Christmas break from Uni ~ 1987 and saw the last XF. It was a sky blue GL with the "last XF" banner on its roof. Then a few mins went by, and the EA started.
The changing of australian motoring, coincided with the changing of Australian culture. People who were coming into the country, had no interest whatsoever, in either ford, holden, or motor racing in general.
Sort of similar in America, NASCAR and Indycar are nowhere near what they used to be in terms of fan numbers. Nobody cares about performance or race cars here. Most of the people here who buy performance cars are either going through a midlife crisis, using daddy’s money and will total it in a month, or are just going to keep it in a garage and wait until the car skyrockets in value.
@@daniellebcooper7160 It would be fair to say the migrant demographic bought locally made cars in the same ratio as anyone already living here. The international trend towards buying SUVs has affected this country as well. Assuming we of the imported variety bought cars that were not locally made smacks of ignorance. My first 3 cars were Holdens from the 60s and 70s. When I could afford newer cars I started to realise the local product was no longer up to scratch… so I started buying Japanese made instead. Great balance of reliability,durability and quality the locals could not match. My father bought a VX Monaro new, I drove it back to back with my then 7 year old Skyline… the Holden felt like a second hand car. Survival of the fittest…
One thing that always gets me with these types of videos is that the naturally aspirated Barras get ignored and yet in years to come it won't be the modified turbo Barras you see on the road with Falcons being driven on a daily basis but naturally aspirated Barras. Sure the turbo Barras are capable of amazing outputs but the highly modified ones shortens their lifespan. AU Falcons are still on the road in everyday service over twenty years after the last ones were sold new and are they the modified examples?, no they're the stock standard cars with the modified cars already in the wrecking yards. It's the same with a BA, BF, FG and FGX highly modified Falcons which will be in the wrecking yards long before the unmodified Barras join them. With high fuel prices turbo Barras only take the most expensive fuel with is 98 and 95 at a push. But N/A Barras will run happily on E10, 91, 95 or 98 giving their owners a cheaper choice with no risks of damaging the engine. If a Bogan asks what sort of car they drive and if they answer a Falcon like an FG then the next question the Bogan asks is "is it a turbo?" and if one answers NO. then the Bogan wanting to know says "oh you have to have a turbo". Well no you don't actually for my FG N/A Barra will outlast so many of these highly modified turbo Barras by many years. The Barra is tough but it's not unbreakable.
Australia is such a special and unique place for car culture. Really a shame that manufacturing turned unfeasible and killed off legendary nameplates. At least the tracks and races remain exciting to this day - BTW, Ford and Red Bull just shattered Mercedes's pride and joy once again by lowering the Bathurst lap record w/ a (2000hp) Transit, not even a week after the unrestricted AMG GT3 did it 🤣 Also, I can relate to the pain that this global restructuring can cause. The axing of the local manufacturing plants and the Troller off-roaders is still hard to swallow for many, even though it enabled the blue oval to turn a profit after a long string of losses for the Brazilian operations.
I saw that the transit van smoked the Merc GT3. And it looks like there might finally be hope for that Gen 3 mustang in Supercars too. Even in the states we felt the restructuring woes of the late 2000s. For a while we got those Aussie holdens like the Monaro and the Commodore through Pontiac. We were even supposed to get the Commodore Ute in the form of the G8 ST. Unfortunately, GM restructured and had to kill off Pontiac which meant we stopped getting Holdens in the U.S. I do agree tho, it was necessary for ford and gm to stop making cars Down Under, the cost of labor there has (and continues to) skyrocketed and it just isn’t sustainable at all.
I posted this comment in another comments section, but I'll post it again here. Both Ford, Holden and Toyota have closed operations due to a long list of government failures. For a start the Button Car Plan, where all tariffs were eliminated, then, more recently, the decision to end any subsidies, therefore dooming a large part of our manufacturing to the scrapheap. Now our government is subsidising forgiven built electric cars, and mandating we will soon not be able to buy any ICE vehicles. Never mind that most of the electricity to charge those EV's will come from burning fossil fuels. Never mind that, our grid can't support EV's. Maybe the government should have mandated to protect our industries 10 years ago.
@@RUHappyATM Holden exported some vehicles into the US, starting with a rebadged Monaro, sold as a Pontiac GTO. Then it was a rebadged Commodore, sold as a Pontiac G8, or G6. After Pontiac was shutdown post GFC, GM were importing a few thousand rebadged Commodores as Chevy SS's. At no time was there any real attempt by GM to market the SS. There wasn't even a TV commercial for it. Many people in the US, including GM sales people, didn't even know the car existed at the time. The value of a Pontiac G8 GXP manual transmission, which is a 2008 Holden SSV, in the US, is anything from $US 70,000 up to and above $US 100,000. They are worth big money now.
@@RUHappyATM they exported the commodore here. Started as the G8, then the Caprice, and finally as the SS. We were even supposed to get the Commodore Utes. Pontiac was gonna sell it here as the G8 ST, had a whole reveal at the Detroit auto show and everything. Then Pontiac went belly up and the G8 ST went with it. The Caprice was actually really successful here, but it was never available to the public. It was only sold as a fleet vehicle. Granted it did make for some super cool cop cars, but still kinda annoying. The SS was a total failure, but that was because Chevy didn’t do any marketing. If they did, I’m 100% sure it would have sold crazy here. They do market the CT4 and 5 blackwing, which are performance sedans, and those sell like crazy here. If GM actually put effort into bringing Holdens here, I really think it would have given them a massive cash boost, and maybe they wouldn’t be a dead brand.
Ford USA didn’t want Ford Australia making cars in LHD and exporting into their markets and the USA and I think your powerful unions didn’t want it either to protect the workers, I believe that the Aussie FG Falcon with its wonderful Barra engine was regarded within the Ford empire as the best product of any of its world manufacturers, anyway one of my cars is a pristine series one FG XR-6 Falcon that I bought new and intend to look after and keep it in its Mickey Mouse condition as you cannot get another big rear wheel drive highway hauler anywhere for the price unless you spend obscene amounts for a big German product and lose too much in resale let alone the cost of maintenance, parts and simple reliability as a comparison, I’ve had many Ford Australia products over many decades as well as from Holden and some from Chrysler and I still can’t believe it’s all over and gone now, what a damn shame, I would never have thought that the end of our automotive history would turn out to be like this! It’s a real Piss off to say the least! 👍
The FG was a superb car. The Barra in it’s finest form hooked up to the ZF six speed was a match made in heaven. One day people will be amazed that such a brilliant car was designed and built in Australia.
Thank Detroit for that @Jerseygarage Ford Australia wanted to export into LHD markets like Europe and Middle East and Latin America... they said no as it might threaten their markets, hell, at the 100 year celebration Ford Australia sent over a BA XR6 Turbo and the people who where there started asking questions about it being sold there. For the the reply of no it may take sales from the Mustang
@@aussieausdeutschland4245 which is total crap. They sold sedans here like the Taurus, crown Vic, and more. Ford American just didn’t seem to be too fond of what the Aussies had to offer, for whatever reason. At least GM did one thing right, we did get some Commodores and the Monaro.
"Australians are very comfortable with big government in their lives." John Anderson There's a very subtle authoritarian political culture here and we have an extremely efficient bureaucracy that's difficult to understand to people who haven't lived here. It's even more difficult to understand for the majority of the people who were born here.
Take just two things that the government decided we had to have in Medicare and Superannuation. People in power in those times came up with good ideas but thought the majority of people are just too stupid to understand how it will benefit them. So we'll choose for them, a form of forced choosing that's fundamentally different to any other democracy in the world. Because of superannuation Australia doesn't have a pensions crisis like the US and the UK do. Medicare Australia's universal healthcare is some of the BEST universal healthcare in the world. Sure it's not perfect but it's so much better than many others. During the pandemic Victoria had the worst health outcomes of any state in Australia and yet Victoria out performed Germany which has the best universal healthcare of any country within the EU. The Australian and German universal healthcare systems are very similar.
Gee-long lol. Its more like jelong but good try mate. Id love to hear your pronunciation of cockburn 🤣. We really miss the falcon down here. Would love an AU falcon sedan. So stylish and sporty.
@@Jerseygarage even just with a welded diff those things will go insane at burnouts, they have a sohc 4.0l 6cyl, basically a first gen barra and they go hard while also not breaking.
@@cruize55 So I've heard. My friend knows Barras like the back of his hand. He's got one stateside its an old Pinto Mustang that he's working on Barra swapping. They rev so high and are bulletproof its a great platform. I swear by inline 6 engines as a whole, but IMO. Nothing beats the sound of a V8 in a burnout pit.
Update. Ford no longer sells the Puma in Australia. It's set to be replaced by E-Puma (EV) later on. I wish Ford didn't cut Sedans all entirely. Fusion, Taurus and Falcon were my favorite ones. The Falcon, one generation for now, is finally legal in our shores.
I know, I want a 95 XR6 Ute so bad. They lowkey look like a foxbody pickup. As for the Puma, that makes sense. It's the same for GMSV, they are both hyper focused on bringing EVs to Aussie shores. Almost all the new cars they are bringing down under are EV's.
More than one generation, there's 5 generations you can currently choose from from the 1960 XK first gen to the 1998 EL fifth Gen Falcon for the USA 25 year rule
@@VeronicaMorrieSlays Going off that 25-year rule, it's actually up to the AU Series I you'd be able to import into the US, as it's been legal to for 6 or so months now (production of the AU started in September 1998). So there's a little more information for you, being six generations you can pick from.
This is a story about corporate power vs what the people want and the corporates won. Our engineers may not have had the money or the full backing of their US corporate fathers but what they achieved on a shoestring budget was truly amazing. Beginning with the engines in the Phase Three's which were a spin of of the US Boss 351 Mustang, they modified the oiling system on these engines to better lubricate the cast cranks these motors ran amongst other things. In fact the Boss 351 had a lot more upgraded parts in the engine than a Phase Three, what it didn't have was Australian cunning and resource. We managed to achieve more reliable horsepower with less upgraded components which is no easy task! then there were the suspension systems, how do you get a falcon to handle like a racing car? give it to an Australian! The mods included: 1. Front spindles from the Ford Fairlane, for better steering angles. 2. A reverse leaf in the rear springs to reduce bounce. 3. Greater upstroke damping on the shocks front and rear for more controlled handling. 4. Stronger upper and lower front ball joints and suspension arms. 5. Stronger coil springs for the front suspension. This was all 20 years before the Barra, so that tells you why the Barra and indeed FPV's were so good and still are a an engineering masterstroke. But to be fair the boy's from the "Dark Side" ( Holden) also achieved great things ( the GTR XUI & A9X Torana's). OUGH THOSE AUSTRALIANS!! Regards Ken Graham.
I love the fact that all of your "original cars" listed at the start of the video are just Falcons. The Fairlane? A Falcon with an extended wheelbase and a luxury trim. The Territory? Built on the Falcon chassis. You gotta realise, with Australia's unique needs and relatively small market size, the Falcons (and commodores) were EVERYTHING. Taxis? Falcons. Cop cars? Falcons. Trade Vehicles? Falcons. Race cars? Falcons. Teen's first car? Falcon. Dad's midlife crisis car? Falcon. Grandpa's pride and joy? Falcon. Here's the thing. Before the SUV, mid size sedans and coupe utilities ruled out land. Simple. Rugged. Versatile. Holden and Aus Ford ruled because these beautifully crude machines could do everything an Australian needed at the time. More fuel efficient than an American road boat, more rugged than an Asian hatchback, more aerodynamic than a truck chassis pickup, easier to work on than a European sedan. But, since the Falcon and Commodore were the only unique things these two companies had, once the traditional RWD sedan fell out of fashion, there was no way to adapt. Every car configuration now considered desirable was already being sold by their competitors and by their parent company. Once the Aussie government refused to bail out the auto industry in 2016 (I think), every brand moved their manufacturing out of the country. From there it was only a matter of time before GM and Ford pulled the plug on their respective Aussie institutions, which had become nothing more than badges on American and European market cars.
Tony Abbott wears 90%of the blame why Australia has no car industry and Turnbull has the remaining responsibility for Australia's loss of its total car industry
Whitlam started removing trade tariffs (import taxes to protect local industries) to lower prices as the global free trade ideal progressed across the world that subsequent governments have driven. Till then, radios, TVs, whitegoods, clothing, furniture, cars, trucks, machinery etc were all locally manufactured. The result was reduced prices that closed every one of these manufacturing industries as a small population cannot compete with a much larger one producing many more products.
That's fake news: Nissan closed in 1992 under the Keating Labor Government, Mitsubishi closed in 2008 during the Rudd Labor government and Ford announced its closure of local manufacturing in May 2013 during the Gillard Labor government. Abbott became PM in September 2013. By then the fate of Holden and Toyota manufacturing in Australia was already sealed.
GM USA ripped off Australian consumers accepting government funding while at the same time closing manufacturing here and then to add insult to injury took the equipment. They have never recovered when they tried to import a vehicle which they called a Commodore - it never took of because it was front wheel drive. Ford dumped us and then Toyota did the same. Toyota is still popular with the marketing hype being reliability. Ford lives on the Ranger model even though there are reported endemic problems. We are now the dumping ground for what other countries don't want. We are a small market in the world and therefore the manufacturers don't want to waster their time on us. South Korea and Japan (Mazda) are the preferred vehicle now.IMO
From the outside looking in, you guys have a cool thing with Toyota. You guys get the 70 series new to this very day, even though it’s horrendously overpriced. Along with the GR Corolla, GR Yaris, and Supra. We here only get the GR Corolla and Supra, and the 4Runner which is our land cruiser substitute. All of those vehicles are horribly overpriced, so I can totally understand preferring Mazda over other brands. You are 100% correct tho Oz is a super small market compared to Europe and the US, so naturally it’s just going to be a dumping ground bc they won’t make as much money, which sucks.
That was a really impressive video! I was 9 when Ford Australia stopped producing vehicles, and I remember the dealerships going from Falcons and Territories to Rangers. It sucked, especially with Holden ceasing production not long after (at least in Australia, they continued in Germany for a very short amount of time). (Toyota build cars in Australia up until 2017 too I think!) I went to a massive Holden meet in the dealership car park when it closed down and that was fun but also sad knowing that there were no longer any Australian production cars being made. I guess the only cool thing is there's more variety on the roads now, they used to be almost only Falcons and Commodores and now we're starting to see lots of Mustangs, and more recently the really, really big utes like the Ram 1500 and 2500, and the Silverado.
You’d be correct, Toyota also closed its plant down in 2017, and Mitsubishi closed its plant down in 2010(?) I believe. I get that entirely, here in the states we got some Holdens like the Monaro and Commodore through Pontiac. But then in 2010 Pontiac went tits up and it wasn’t the same. And yeah over here in the states our roads are infested with what you call super Utes, it’s kinda becoming a problem because they’ve become so big that and expensive that people who actually need to use them like tradies and farmers are starting to have a tough time affording then. Not to mention they clog up city roads and a whole bunch of other issues. But that depends on who you ask some people swear by them here.
@@Jerseygarage Mitsubishi ceased local production in 2008 with their only Australian made model by that time, the 380 (aka Galant internationally)....🙂 And with utes (and also some larger SUVs), some carparks locally just weren't designed for them, so they can take up space.
The FGX sprints were produced by Ford Australia as the final Falcon. The last car built by FPV was the GTF and pursuit ute. please don't forget the current Rangers were designed and Engineered in Australia
One of my dads mates was a union rep for ford for years the only reason we don’t make fords anymore was because ford America pulled the carpet out under them and they took the blue prints and castings to the Barra engine which we were actually exporting them around the world as generators and we all know about the uprising at the time with wages why pay someone 40+ dollars hour were you can pay someone a quarter of that. Even though the cars we made were better produced but yeah
It's starting to happen in the states too. The unions keep asking for more, and its becoming harder and hard business wise for the big 3 to keep making cars here, especially when they can open plants in Eastern Europe and Asia and pay workers a days wage that here in the States wouldn't cover 15 minutes of work.
Once the import tarrifs (taxes on imports) were removed, our local industry was done for. It would'nt have even survived in the 50s, 60s or 70s without these tarrifs.
@@Andronicus2007 tariffs remain to this date and were only significantly reduced during the 1990s and 2000s, during which time the local not only survived but thrived and had some of their best and successful years. Starting at 60%, they were reduced to 47.5 in the late 1980s, then declined by 2.5% percentage points each year until 2000, then by another 5% percentage points in 2005 and 2010 to a total of 5% where they sit today (except for cars imported from US or Thailand under respective FTAs). But the tariffs were gradually replaced by subsidies and other government policies aimed at keeping local manufacturing viable which had the same effect. The fact that Toyota pulled out of local manufacturing in 2017, some 15 years after the bulk of the tariffs were reduced, and some 7 years after the current levels were introduced, and now manufactures the same models elsewhere - this tells you how lucrative the subsidies were. What did kill the industry was the Button plan of the 1980s, which attempted to improve efficiency by forced consolidation, limiting the number of local models which could be produced locally (and under subsidy) by each manufacturer. This is what gave us the badge-engineered Nissan Ute and Toyota Lexcen, neither which were a hit with the market - case proven decades later with the ZB Commodore. The badge-engineered numbers were dismal, approx. 10-20% of sales volumes compared to the original. Other global markets at the time did the opposite, they encouraged consolidation of marques into groups, recognising that each brand had its own identity, but which could benefit from sharing the costs of the “under the bonnet” engineered and non-stylistic components. VAG with their Audi/VW/SEAT/Skoda etc models all sharing the same engineered and non-stylistic components, all the way up to the chassis and some body work. Tell an Audi driver that their car runs VW bits and wait for the reaction. The Koreans took it next level - despite Hyundai’s minor ownership of Kia, they are head to head competitors in market but they co-develop and share the same platforms for effectively every passenger car they’ve made in the last 20 years, yet they could arguably be compared to their own versions of Ford and Holden (GM). There was an opportunity for Australia to do similar. In response to the Button plan, Toyota and Holden formed a joint venture - the United Australian Automobile Industries company - but as said, that didn't do much more than just allow them to sell rebadged vehicles. An opportunity lost to consolidate manufacturing, think co-develop and adapt Corollas which looked like a GM product rather than import Suzuki Barinas, a Camry sized replacement for Torana once the VN went larger etc. Ironically, the V8 Supercar’s Gen3 program has effectively done what the local industry couldn’t in 70 years by creating a single platform.
@@astrawally8448 So there is a 5% tarriff left, surely the reduction from 60% to 5% was a factor in the demise of our industry? Plus a lot of cars coming from Thailand now. Our industry seemed to be mostly focused on large traditional cars too, which started losing popularity around 2005 or so. I myself refuse to own a SUV or ute, and will keep my Aussie made car until the wheels fall off!
Ford Australia certainly sti engineer and design vehicles in Australia. The Ranger and Bronco are engineered and designed in Australia, they employ over 1700 employees in Melbourne designing and engineering cars. Melbourne is one of Fords global design studios.
Yeah which is good, because at least they still have some jobs there. I did read recently tho that they are moving design of the Ranger and the Everest over to Detroit, which sucks.
I lived in Adelaide during the early 2000's, and went to a few of the Clipsal 500 races. These were the first of that season, so tensions were high after the season break to really test out new car configurations and driver set ups. It was an absolute blast. We had main straight seated tickets, and sat there all day getting roasted by the sun while these beasts screamed around the track. The rivalry between Holden and Ford was this healthy 'my car is better than yours!' sort of thing, and wearing colours and waving flags and such just added to the excitement. Later on, I got my license and bought my first car. Being a Holden family, I naturally bought a second hand Holden Commodore VP V6 for way too much. I loved that car to pieces. Cleaned it every weekend. Kept up its maintenance. It was even in a Commodore car club and won a awards at Show n Shines. Long story short, its age quickly caught up with it, and the V6 was getting tired. I wanted a V8, so I bought a second hand VN SS 5l V8 'Aussie' engine, and all the bits needed and swapped the engine. My VP was now a V8. But it needed a new coat of paint. It was looking rough after living in the backyard for a couple of years while I worked on it. In 2013 I bought a second hand Holden Calais VS V8. Basically a V8 Commodore with extra trims and options. Very nice car honestly. I hadn't finished the VP project, but then I had to move to Melbourne and leave that project behind. And around this time, we found out the sad news. Holden were going to stop all local production. And then later, they closed off completely. Suddenly, us Aussies with our locally grown beer powered cars were no longer. We still have the V8 Supercars, but I've long stopped watching. The thrill isn't there anymore.
I grew up in Brisbane, and you were either Ford or Holden. But when my dad died, mum didn't have a license to drive. So she paid for instruction and got a license. So when dad;'s estate was settled she bought a car. A Datsun Bluebird. All the men that were dad's friends were horrified. Taat car will never do they said. It isn't built for Australian Conditions they said. Should 'ave bought a Holden or a Ford they sed. But actually she had thaat car to about 1975, and you couldn't kill it. great car had aa few myself fords and holdens, but my favourite was the Barina sedan
I spent a lot of time in Geelong back in the 90's and 00's. The locals were very loyal to Ford- many people drove their cars - and not just those who worked at the plant. It was a sad day when it shut down for good. Their last Falcon design was the best since the 1970's in my humble opinion.
Being an Aussie myself and an absolute Falcon fan especially the AU I can appreciate the video, I do how ever wish you spoke of the AU in a little more detail for what it really is, yes it was a marketing flop but they released some very exciting models especially the T series range and XR8 all having hand built aussie V8s and the later T series actually had a 5.6L factory stroked Windsor which was 250kw and as for the Fairlane I'd take a look at the TL50 which came with the said 5.6L Windsor, the AU was the backbone of the later Falcon models many of the designs being used all the way up to the FGX
I do plan on making a video solely about the Falcon. Focusing mostly on the AU falcon because of how iconic and monumental it is. Obviously, there’s a lot to talk about with Ford Australia, and I really struggled to fit everything I did into just this video. Trust me tho, Ford Falcon video is on the way.
Been a Ford Oz bloke since 15; first car was an ex- NSW highway patrol 351ci XD sedan with single rail manual. Later bought an ex police BA XT, then onto a BF2 XR8 manual (later GT500 engine swapped), had an F6 Tornado as my daily driver, and now have an FG2 XR6T manual; will never sell it. Would love to get an FG-X XR6T Sprint, but thats a dream
At last count there were three small companies developing Barra i6 billet alloy blocks. Some years back an Aussie dragster squeezed 2,200 HP from a cast iron barra.
Holden was a long-established company well before they became a subsidiary of GM. Having started as a saddlery business in the 1850s, they expanded into carriage-building and during WW1 they were building motorcycle sidecars for the army. That led to Holden becoming motor body builders, manufacturing and installing bodies and interiors for cars that were imported as rolling chassis' from the US and Europe. If you bought a Model T Ford in Australia, what you got was a US-built Ford drivetrain and chassis with a body and interior built by Holden (to Ford's design). GM established a company called General Motors Australia in 1926 and contracted Holden to produce bodies exclusively for GM products. GMA bought Holden in 1931, with the new company renamed General Motors-Holden and the rest, as they say, is history.
I still drive a BA ute its already done 465,000kms, motor got a small head gasket leak, valve steam seals leak. The fuel injectors, coil packs, ECU, 4 speed gearbox automatic and motor are still the original, the air conditioner still blows cold air and hasn't had regas since new.
I once had an XE Falcon from 1983.......one of Ford Oz's most successful models, along with the XF. It was a cream GL sedan with the four speed manual and 3-3 six. After a while, i became disalussioned with the company........ making only Falcon based vehicles locally and importing everything else when the market was shifting away from large sedans. I love the look of the new Ford Ranger. It would have been a great vehicle for Ford Australia to make locally. Unions made our workers too expensive to employ. That combined with low tariffs is not a business model you want if you want manufacturing to be sustainable. I drive a 2012 Corolla sedan now. If i must buy imported anyway, then it may as well be of the most reliable badge there is. This car has given me literally no dramas in eleven years of ownership.
@JGarage okay this was an awesome video! Every other American RU-vidr that has tried talking about Australian cars has been laughably misinformed! You have clearly done a heap of research! I’m definitely subscribing to you but I do want to address a few inaccuracies. You did mispronounce Gelong, all good though, our accents are a lot weirder than you think and weirder than we would like to admit. you pronounce the first three letters the same way you would pronounce the first 4 letters in Jello. Aussie falcons have never had a V6. It has always been V8 or inline 6 with only the FG fitting an inline 4 which was a flop. US imported falcons fell to bits in Australian conditions and were a flop in the beginning, so ford Australia decided to do the falcon our way and in 1965 we held a 70,000 mile marathon to prove that the new Australian built (or at least modified at that point in time) falcons would survive our harsh roads. They did and we fell in love with them. The BF falcon cobras were V8 not turbo 6, but still fast and cool The V8 supercars formula started in 1993 not 1991, it wasn’t rebranded to V8 supercars until the end of 1996 I also want to share with you something too. The AU looked the way it did for a pretty nefarious reason, so did the EL. Ford America actually wanted to kill off the Aussie falcon in the mid 90’s. They started with the EL falcon back in 1996. They demanded that ford Australia redesigned the EL falcon to look like the Ford Mondeo. They would sit the two together in the show rooms and the salesman would try to convince the Australian public to buy the mondeo. It didn’t work. People wanted the Falcon and the mondeo was a flop in Australia. Fortunately Ford Australia had already shown the XR, fairlane and LTD before being told to redesign the EL so only the base models got the ugly front end. Ford America then did almost the exact same thing with the AU but wanted the AU to look like the Taurus to try lead people into buying the Taurus instead. As ugly as the AU was, people still wanted the falcon more and the Taurus flopped in Australia. The AU fairlane and LTD were released before ford America demanded the AU be redesigned which is why they look so different as well. Ford America were forced by the media and public opinion in Australia to take a step back and let the Aussies go which resulted in the BA and the Barra inline 6 which is really just a redesign of the same inline 6 in every previous Aussie falcon. The dual overhead cams unlocked a Pandora’s box of untapped horsepower which ford Australia actually had to restrict at first. Ford Australia also wanted to export the falcon to the US and Europe in the late 80’s. They came to ford America wanting enough money to develop the next generation of falcon (the EA) and to export it. Ford America vindictively replied with “I’ll give you enough funding for just one of those things. You decide which one.” Ford Australia was forced to choose the former because exporting the now obsolete XF falcon would have been a flop in such competitive markets as America and Europe.
Appreciate it so much dude. Apologies for my mistakes. Some of it is down to poor wording on my part, like the Supercars bit. The rules were passed in 1991 by the FIA, but obviously Supercars didn’t come around like you said, till a few years later. I just gotta work on my wording. And I saw the import woes and the overall butting heads between Ford US and Ford Oz. It was a similar trend with Holden and GM in the U.S. I personally, really believe that if Ford Oz and Holden were allowed to do what they wanted, when they wanted, there’s a good chance they would still be around today. They both saw massive success in the 90s and very early 2000s because for the most part, they were left alone to do their own thing. But then Ford and GM tried to reign in their respective brands right around the time of the financial crisis here in the states, and they tried to force all their overseas brands to only sell cars meant for the U.S. market. Other factors obviously played a role, like skyrocketing cost of living and manufacturing costs in Oz. But I don’t think it would have put them under, like it unfortunately did in our timeline…
I read a lot about them while researching this video. I don’t think there’s any denying tho that the Holdens and Ford made in Oz have more emotional connection than the Toyotas and Mitsubishis made down under
15:30 negative the thing that killed local manufacturing wasn't quality It was price and body styles plenty of them are still driven as dailys my daily is a 50 year old unrestored one tonner ute but the buyers move was away from sedans and towards SUVs because of the practically given the distance between population centers And the lack of sedans and 2wd utes a really made a push for the dual cab market that is currently booming Basically the only thing the holden and ford couldn't complete with aa far a quality was Toyota but no one can compleat with them for quality My 27 year old hilux with 400k in the clock still has its factory headlight globes and ac gas
Yeah, I said in the end of the video that when Holden and Ford went tits up it was bc the cost to make vehicles in Australia just became too much for manufacturers to justify staying there. I mean even Toyota pulled out at the same time with their Camry plant and they are easily top dogs in Oz in terms of car sales. I do appreciate the insight tho, I wish I could have used more sources from actual people who live in Oz, but I don’t know anyone who lives there.
If you didn’t buy an Australian made car in my book, then you don’t deserve to be in this country. If you can’t support local then all you are doing is sending money overseas and selling our future down the drain. Well Australia , you ticked every fkn box on that one. I bought Falcons and lasers from 1982 to the day they stopped local production. I’m proud to have supported Ford and I’m proud to have kept most of the cars I have bought which totals 26. To to all those who bought Asian and European shitboxes , may travels be fraught with breakdowns and expensive repairs.
It's a real tragedy that the Aussies didn't look to export their legendary Ford and Holden V8s. I guess the Yanks didn't wanna have their local V8s get absolutely stonked!
I'm just a couple of minutes in, but I paused it for a couple of minor corrections. Geelong is pronounced with a soft G at the start like Jersey. Holden didn't start producing cars under that name until after WW2, in 1948. The Fairlane may have been the first car made in Broadmeadows, but the Falcon soon followed, and by it's second model (the 1962 XL), it was a design that was based on the US Falcon, but modifed to better suit Australia's rougher conditions. The following 2 models, the XM and XP were nothing like the US Falcon. The Fairlane was never a mainstream model for Ford Australia, more a niche model.
The XM is just an XL with the taillights shifted up about 3 inches and more shiny stuff tacked on. The XP is an XM with a '60/'62 Mercury Comet front clip with a dodgy local single-headlight grille slapped on to try and mask the styling.
Finally an American talking about Ford AUSTRALIA. The life blood. All 3 of my cars are V8 Fords. 2 different Fairlanes and a Pursuit ute ;) No I'm not old either 😂
I lived close to broadmeadows. Closure of the site has also affected local takeway shops. As a lot of ford workers would go there for lunch. Ford factory was really bustling with life my dad even took me there for a open day. Ford had a open day they had v8 supercars on display and various other Aussie ford cars from past and present. Now the site most of it has been demolished. Lots of jobs went but also the place was really bustling with life before closure. Really saddens me.
It's pronounced "jeeLONG", emphasis on the second syllable, and a soft 'G'. And incidentally, there was never a V6 Fairlane. In-line six and V8 were the only two engine options. But overall, an excellent, well researched video, thank you for telling the Ford Australia story that deserves to be told.
As a guy who grew up around Holdens, this was pretty sad.... and then too Holden would see its own demise. Now?, the OG aussie built Ford and Holdens are worth alotta money.
Ford also had a big UK influence. So the Cortina and Escort were made in Australia until 1982, But then Ford USA bought a big share of Mazda. So then Ford Australia had Mazda based vehicles with cosmetic changes to replace the Escort and Cortina. The Mazda 323 hatchback built by Ford was called a Laser, , the sedan variant was called a Meteor and the Mazda 626 to replace the Cortina was called a Telstar. Sadly the Cortina's replacement in the UK, the Sierra and it's racing Cosworth model was never sold in Australia.
Can you say Ford Granada. XD Falcon was a direct styling copy, but stretched and adapted for local conditions. No different to what Holden did with the VN years later, using the Opel Omega/GM V-Platform of the era.
The Granada and the XD Falcon were similar styled cars but completely different. The XD was a reskin of the XC - it even retained its leaf spring suspension. The Granada was a reskin of the most 2 model, but at least had coils with independent rear suspension (Ford Oz believed that owners wanted the leaf springs for towing purposes). If you look at both cars closely, you'll noticed that the XD Falcon has a deeper window line than the Granada of the same vintage. But otherwise, kudos to Ford Oz for going down the Euro style path. I have much respect for the Granada 👍
Gelong produced the Clevland from 1974? to 1982, or there abouts. The most famous ford here was the XY HO GT. It had a 4v Clevland in it and hauled ass.
The reason Ford and GM pulled out of manufacturing is that the government were getting tired of blowing taxpayer funds subsidizing them and the companies realized the days of fleecing the Australian public were over. Now if they'd have done some actual development work back in the 70s instead of just presenting cheap copies of American designs then the market might have been different.
Ford US asked Ford Australia "what is the distance between the Geelong plant and the new Broadmedows plant?". Back came the answer "4.5miles". It's actually 45 miles and to this day nobody knows if it was a typo or a well aimed fly poo spot. When the Geelong plant opened Ford Australia asked the Victorian Railways if they could have a spur line off the Melbourne-Geelong railway line into the new plant and if they could how long would it take to build the new line. Victorian Railways answered "Yes you can have a spur line and it will take five years to build". Ford Australia thought stuff that we'll build it and so they did and it was done and in use within three months. In the days of the endurance trial with the XP Falcon Edsell Ford II paid a visit to see for himself the Falcons hooning round the track in the endurance trial and he remarked "You're all mad ya bastards". In the 1970's Ford Australia produced the P6 LTD Silver Monarch which was silver with chrome bumpers, chrome wheel caps, silver vinyl roof, white wall tyres and a plumb coloured vulgarlour interior. People working at Ford said it was hideous and would never sell. One Ford Australia exec said "don't underestimate the bad taste of the buying public" He was right for it sold. Ford people from Victoria went to Mount Panorama to see what cars the die hard Ford fans were driving. They were driving Toyota Rav 4's, Kia's and Hyundai's. Die hard Ford fans in name only. It's people like them that saw the demise of the Falcon for the car industry model is real simple. Build cars and sell cars but if people won't buy the cars we build then there's no point in building them. They could wave their big blue oval flags as often as they wished to but as they weren't prepared to put their money where their mouth was on a new Falcon as a secondhand purchase doesn't count for car manufacturers don't make used cars then they played their part in the kissing of the local produced blue oval goodbye. Marketing of the Falcon was woeful at the end with the new 2.0L four cylinder turbo eco boost finding more Ford employees owning one than the general buying public. One person said that the marketing department at Ford would have been better off marketing washing powders than marketing new cars. But it was all part of the grand plan in winding down local manufacturing. As soon as the closure was announced marketing of all locally produced vehicles ended full stop.
Why? That's a pretty shitty thing to be happy about. "Yay lot's of people are going to lose their jobs and a local industry is going to die, hooray." You must be a total F-wit.
Ireland was our original v8 sedan tow vehicle and a fantastic long distance driver. When you drive 2500 kilometers to visit family you want comfort and that's what the fairlane have us.
It's truely devastating how we lost local car production here, losing Ford and Toyota to Thailand and GM shutting down entirely. Not completely doom and gloom though as Australian designed and engineered car still exist with the forth and fifth generation Ford Ranger being a completely Australian product (just not made manufacturered here sadly). Too bad the car is a bit of a lemon, not our best work I must say.
Yes you are right Ranger and Everest was designed in Australia . Which part in lemon , I don’t own one but I have a workshop and compared to most out. There they definitely aren’t a lemon
@@tba3900 same issue with the F-150 Raptor here, especially with the newest generation if you hear the exhaust they sound exactly like those hoons who cut the muffler and cat off a G35 or G37, not the best sounding truck.
@@Jerseygarage these things have a bi-modal exhaust. Smaller pipes for quiet and big pipes for loud. Doesn’t matter which way you look at it still sounds crap. Turbos usually cancel out the shock waves and it becomes a more linear sound but not in this case.
GeeWizz, Geelong, great history, mortgage market made wages for employees unsustainable, once land tax was removed cost of living went through the roof
So I’ve seen. I was curious about moving down under, mostly because the wheeling culture there is the best in the world IMO. You got places like Frazier Island and Cape York, we don’t have anything like that in the states at all. On top of that the street car culture is the best behind the U.S., you guys have a crazy JDM scene and the Aussie cars too are some of the coolest in the world. Then I saw the house and apartment prices, and that killed my dream on the spot😂
Nicely crafted production and enjoyed your perspective . Future generations have missed out . The final Fords and Holdens were very nice . Old Maloo owner :)
Every year the car companies begged for more Government money or they would leave Australia. This went on for years. They would get money and then the Unions would strike for more money and get it. Round and round. Toyota was the last one. The workers agreed to a halt in increases and the union went against it. Court case. Toyota left. GM in America wouldn’t advertise the imported Commodores.
5:15 the american falcon your reffering to is the fastback capri. The XA was the car that came after in a few varients like Landau LTD, Fairmont and Futura edit: for clarity there is a ford just called the falcon that was just as loved but the Capri fastback was the rarity people wanted. Also according to wiki the capri was euro, so I got that wrong. mb. The capri was also less of a mustang and more of its own thing, the looks carry over in a bigger form in the XA series.
As an aussie I cant watch Ford or Holden history without getting tears, its just fucked bro. They killed a massive part of Australia's Identity, those races brought alot of people together. And there was a somewhat generational thing were Fathers would have their sons take their positions in the factories. Damn shame
I saw that, I think its supposed to be a massive business park. Total shame, should have been a museum or something to remember all the automotive history there.
Sorry mate, a few inaccuracies here - guess that's what happens when you rely solely on Wikipedia. Geelong is pronounced Geeeeee-long as in "golly geeeeee". The Territory was not the first SUV/Crossover designed/built - that was the Holden Adventra, released in late 2003 vs the Territory's April 2004. Holden also release the Crewman, a ute (or pickup for the Seppos) which had the same AWD underpinnings. Granted it was based on the Commodore Wagon and retained almost all body work, but the Territory was based on the EA169/AU platform but with significant exterior and body differences (thankfully not the AU look). The XA-XC is heavily influenced by the Ford Torino/Maverick, which is what incidentally the US Falcon range of that same era was renamed into. The Barra is essentially a penultimate development of the original 144 CI Ford Thriftpower from the late 1950s/ The whole early 90s is also wrong. The ATCC (Australian Touring Car Championship) followed the World Group A regulations for the period 1985-1992, where during this time it was almost universally abandoned in all other markets. At the time, Ford has resurrected the V8 Falcon - it had been missing in the Falcon since the early 1980s - so it was decided to create a local formula (as has existed prior to Group A), with 2L and 5L classes. 2L persisted until the late 1990s but run and promoted as a separate series. The 3rd generation of the 5L cars still exist today as V8 Supercars, but it's now Camaro vs Mustang. The other challenge for manufacturers in Australia during the 2010s was that there were something like double the number of distinct models in market when compared to the USA, for a market which was approx. 1/10th the size. Easy to see how it became difficult to carry on local design and manufacture, although both Ford and Holden tried to maintain relevance and play more globally via the Ford Design Centre and Holden similarly with the design of the Zeta "GM Global RWD Architecture", which was used globally for the Chevrolet Camaro and various Cadillacs via the Sigma platform derivative. You are right on the cost of manufacturing here. There was a long running (70+ year) battle between government subsidies (initially via taxes on imported cars, then later with direct injection of money) and trade unions which wanted better pay, conditions, safety etc (which is why it is so cheap to manufacture in emerging markets), and reluctance to explore automation and other labour saving advances. In fact government subsidies have been baked into the local car manufacturing from day 1. Before Holden built their first 48-215 model, both Ford and Holden has submitted plans to government to build a local model, the government of the day actually preferred Ford's plan but it required substantial investment from government, whereas Holden's idea, which required the adoption of an existing but unused GM design, didn't require as much, so it was what the government backed. This was post-war, at a time where Australia was transitioning from a primary economy (agriculture, resources) to a secondary (manufacturing) and had to provide jobs and opportunity for the returning soldiers and the influx of immigrants which were required to help build the country. Unfortunately, 70 years later manufacturing became unprofitable, the government elected to subsidise other industries to fuel jobs growth, and we lost these icons.
Yeah, I used a lot of different articles and sources and some things got lost in translation. The only thing I will say is that I did know about the Adventura, if you look it up it’s just a lifted commodore wagon, where as the territory is a (relatively) unique pure SUV. As for everything else, you are 100% correct. If I’m being honest the way I spoke, a lot of things got lost in translation. Something I need to improve on, not to mention it’s near impossible to condense the entire history of a brand like Ford Oz into one video. Been a massive fan of Holden and Supercars since a kid, but really started getting into it like 6/7 years ago, so while I could tell you a lot of the current teams, drivers, and tracks. I’m still rough around the edges with history, as I wasn’t even swimming in my daddies nutsack when V8 Supercars was first introduced.
Its pronounced (Ge Long). Also the F150 unless things have changed its imported via a thired party not Ford propper so if you have problems Ford wont do jack you have to go through the importer and that has mixed resualts depending on who it is.
Yeah I saw that, it seems to be the same with all the super utes over there. I know it’s the same thing with Dodge and ram in Europe as well, they also use 3rd party companies to import and convert American cars and trucks to euro spec. I just never knew it was such a pain for you guys.
Australian licencing isn't that bad, only the fishing licence doesn't make that much and that is not in all states. You do need a licence for electrical work but we do have higher voltages. Also we don't have much enforcement.
@@Jerseygarage Gen F Maloo R8 6.2 litre six speed in green, it's my only toy and the wife still wants to sell it, but I keep telling her the car price is appreciating, so when I die you can then sell it
You forgot Dick Johnson ( Ford) Dick Johnson Vs Peter Brock Balttles are legendary. You done a good Video , but you Gotta research Bathurst have a look at the 1970's, 1980's an 1990's early 2000
Great vid, but what's with all the licence and permit stuff? Ok I have a firearms licence here in Australia, but next to the USA, I don't understand how we have red tape crap you talk about?
Small examples would be something like modifying your vehicle. Unless you live in California, you can basically mod your vehicle however you’d like (within reason) and you’ll be totally fine. So say you wanted to do a crazy build doing something like V8 swapping a Supra or something. Long you keep certain parts of the car, it’s totally legal. Even if you have a turbo the size of your head and it’s louder than a Slipknot concert. Some states don’t have any inspections at all, meaning that you can literally drive full fledge race cars on the road and as long as they started out as road cars, they are 100% legal. Guns too. It depends in each state, but basically long as you don’t have a criminal background and have a pulse, your good to go. You can effectively buy almost any gun you want, and if it’s illegal, they make a kit gun that is legal. Compared to Oz, out here we have next to zero red tape. I know you guys got those defect stickers for your vehicles if their modded. Things like P plates, we don’t have those here. There’s a lot.
Both Ford AU and Holden died before they had to start making EVs, so I guess you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain is kind of true here imo
Does everyone know, from the mid 90,s Glean Setton days. and on. Ford super cars had paritys ( hanycaps ) every year because Holden were always underpoward . Especially the AU days. New rules made Ford remove 225 mm from the spltter. Not to change rear wing or test and make any changes to the air package, while Holden were testing and tuning constantly.
I know I am slightly off track. but is Ford on the way out of production? Here in the UK or GB there was a Ford dealer in every town/city and often villages of around four, five hundred people. now you are lucky to find a dealer in any town! I used to transport Ford engines, suspensions parts from Bridgend & Swansea, and turn loads from Cologne Germany, for the Dagenham plant on the Thames. Recently I drove into a KIA storage yard only to see FORD badge KIA's also the KA model is now a rebadge FIAT 500. I will give less than 10 years to survive at the moment (sorry) the only bright side in Europe is the newish FORD tractor unit on the lorry (HGV) side (but this has looks to be a VOLVO cab ) and is made in Turkey. FORD gave up in the early 1990's selling out to IVECO (FIAT). GM has sold out to PEUGEOT, Chrysler went bust & I think TESLA could follow once people come to realise they are being mis-sold on the battery pack or Duracell formula as being green!
Can't speak for down under, but here stateside, it was mostly down to the woes of the 08 financial crisis. We had a Ford dealership in my town, right in the center of town. My uncle got his Terminator Cobra from there, my mom got her E350 diesel van from there, it really was a great dealer. After 08 tho, Ford had to cut costs, and that meant consolidating. Wasn't just a ford thing tho, all brands in the U.S. consolidated and cut costs. Problem with that is that now they can make as much money if not more, and not have nearly as many dealers, which is much cheaper for them. Said consolidation meant vehicles like your Cossies and Mondeos, and Australias Falcons and Territories needed to perform at the top of their game in terms of sales, and as we both know, that just didn't happen. Ford is playing is safe now with vehicles like the Mach E and Expedition in the states, and with vehicles like the Everest and Puma oveseas. I understand why, doesn't make it hurt any less knowing we will almost certainly never see the Mondeo or Falcon being made ever again. The area I'm in (NYC metro area) had a lot of Ford stuff here as a whole. There was the plant in Mahwah NJ, dealers in every town, and more. Even still, the area is the HQ to brands like BMW, MINI, Ferrari, Volvo, and more.
Ford got out of farm machinery and big trucks in most of the world. The New Holland brand of tractors and farm equipment is connected to Fiat nowadays but has its origins in Ford tractors. New Holland products are still painted a "Ford' blue colour. In Australia Ford assembled a RHD version of the big US "Louisville" truck (lorry) range. These once popular trucks are long gone as are the British designed D series cab -over trucks. Ford Australia also had a long history of assembling British built Ford cars. starting with the post War Prefects and Pilots ultimately finishing with the local editions of Cortina, Escort and Capri. The Australian Ford Falcon almost didn't happen. Ford Australia were looking at building a modified Ford Zephyr mark II for our market. A group of Australian executives visited Canada and saw the North American Falcon and decided this was ideal for the Australian market. This heavily advertised new car initially sold well but quickly developed a poor reputation with suspension problems as these "freeway cruisers" weren't able to cope with Australia's then rough rural roads. From the second model along the Australian Falcons differed from their Canadian cousins with "Compact Fairlane" front shock absorbers and extra engine bay bracing. By Australianising the Falcon they Ford was able to restore its reputation.
The reason ford america closed the australian arm as a australian myself america didnt like the fact we were building cars that were better than the american mustang and ford exploder and the barra would kill a coyote motor for power any day of the week because the turbo f6 was detuned to keep the power level under the supercharged coyote
Had a lot to cover and not a lot of time. Told someone else that I will be making a more in depth video on the Falcon, and it’s success both on the road and in Supercars. That’ll be on the way soon.
JGarage, you say that the Australian cars look boring and then you only show the boring looking ones. Great video though. Please do more on Australian cars. It's pronounced "G-long" like the letter G
no no, I said the fairlane looks boring. Aussie cars are my #2 behind American cars. Half of my dream car lists are Holdens or Oz Fords. Like the 95 XR6 Falcon, 96 GTSR, the 17 GTSR W1, the R8 Maloo, and so many more. I get that the fairlane is a big deal over there, I'm just saying I think it looks boring.
@@Jerseygarage Fair enough. (I commented to early) The Falcons always looked better than the Fairlanes. I'd love to have a '78 XC Cobra. I own a few old Holdens (1960, 1971, 72 & 74) and am thinking of buying my brothers XR6 Falcon as a daily driver if he decides to sell it for 2000 dollarydos.
The 67 Aust. Fairlane replaced the imported Customlines, Fairlane (1959 to 64) and Galaxie (1964 to 68) which were imported as kits and remanufactured by Ford as Right hand drive. (Just like GM did with Chev Impala and Pontiacs, and the Chrysler Dodge Phoenix). There were many models, not just the AU based one that you showed. In the 50s to the 80s the big 4 door sedan was the luxury status symbol, that is why they were imported then manufactured here.
You have no idea how many comments of these I’ve been getting. I said I was sorry if I mispronounced it😂. Love your country and cat culture but you aussies got some weird sounding names for things
@@Jerseygarage 😂 appreciate your video, very well done. I live in Geelong so I found it hilarious 😂 I also restore classic cars and I work on a lot of American cars so I have a love for usa car culture too. Has fof the names of places yeah they can be tricky. Would like to see you do another Australian based car video maybe more info on some topics you touched on in this video. Bathurst is absolutely amazing look up the lap of the gods Greg Murphy. I was there that year 🔥
@@therig1339 would have love to have been at Bathurst this year with the GT3 races and the Bathurst 500, definitely on the bucket list for me. I made a shorter, less in depth video on Holden a while back. Was one of my earlier videos so it wasn’t quite as good as this one, but still it’s there. As for Oz cars, I got 3 on my dream list. I gotta get a 95 XR6 Ute, and 96 VS GTSR (I know, it’s next to impossible) and my Hail Mary is a 17 GTSR W1, bonus points if it’s one of the 4 Maloo’s. There’s so many more cool cars down under, if I could I’d buy as many as possible, unfortunately it’s super expensive to import them, and I’m spending money on college, not a super sick Ute (unfortunately)
@@Jerseygarage you could get the 95 xr6 ute but the other 2 are ridiculous money now and rare. The w1 is a 1M$ car . And the vs gtsr is very rare and 100k+ . Ive got a baby blue 1990 VN calais started life as a 5ltr v8 auto car I just finished swapping an ls1 t56 into it . Car originally made 165kw with the 5ltr. Now it makes 312rwkw or 424rwhp for you guys across the pond 😆 my daily is a fd2 type r . But I sold my 2005 xr6 turbo ute for the Honda 😆 ute made 346rwkw..with basic mods .. I watch pfi speed. They converted me to 4cyl
@@therig1339 you got quite the garage you lucky bastard. Right now I’m sitting on a 99 Jeep Cherokee, getting built rn with Dana 44 axles, lockers, snorkel, the whole lot. Also about to pull the trigger one of them new GR Corollas, which I’m super stoked about, and that’ll be my daily. And LS swapped Calais sounds like a ball, especially somewhere like a burnout pit. As for the W1s, the maloo would be if I ever became a billionaire, in other words, I’ll never get one😂. The sedans tho, they about $250k usd, which is like the price of a decent house here, but in the long run, might be doable. The 96 GTSR, the biggest problem would be finding one, they are almost never for sale, and again, crazy expensive.
I thought the XA was Australian designed but was corrected by a Ford fanatic, like their Holden counterparts though they had enough design tinkling to appear uniqely Australian & they used Australian designed suspension
