Hey mate I'm from Australia and have an au six wagon but always wanted to get a V8 wagon but very rare. Just wondering if you have an idea of the fuel economy figures driven sensibly. I'm easily getting 9L/100km from the six driving sensibly and wondered if the V8 is much thirstier. PS can't wait to move to NZ one day
I love these unusual factory ordered cars. One of my mates ordered a BA from the factory with the 5.4 and a 5 speed manual. He loved that car and really regrets trading it so the wife could get a new car because he knows it’s extremely unlikely he could ever find another one.
Don’t you hate it when wives make you do that...lol... luckily mines the opposite, makes me keep them and tells me I’ll regret it if I sell them. She’s bloody right and I’m glad I still have em
Ford spent an incredible amount of money designing the AU. Some of my customers were Ford evaluation designers. I heard lots of and saw interesting stuff. Sadly I predicted to one of the engineers that the engineering side of things was spot on but there was no way anybody will buy them with that body shape. I had a 12/98 forte, one of the first. Daughters had series2 and series 3 SR. Fantastic reliable cars all of them, in fact sold the series 2 to a mate who got it up to 650000 ks and then on sold it. It never had the head off or gearbox or diff touched. He actually sold it to a mechanic who was impressed by the way it still run. I saw the backpackers starting to buy them quite a few years back and said to my wife all they want is a vehicle they can put gas in and drive anywhere in Australia. The AU is the one to do it no sweat, hence the rise in price from $800 to $3000. Very good review thanks.
My time with my 2001 series 2 AU Futura has passed 18 years ....Totally unstoppable..she's running just as good as the day I brought her home from the car yard with already 60,000 kays in April 2003...Just spent the most I've ever spent on her recently with new front brake calipers with one starting to stick . Quite corroded on closer inspection so spent $600 to fit brand new ones for peace of mind ..One alternator five years ago , one power steering pump kit , one inlet manifold gasket and a couple of steering boots and one front left wheel bearing and a couple of window switches is it . Other than tyres , batteries , bulbs and exhausts , services etc of course . Nothing else has caused any grief . THE MIGHTY AU ..Thanks again Jon for a wonderful video...I love them .
Love AU’s I have a series 2 v8 Fairmont myself painted in the great meteorite has 270,000ks and doesn’t burn any oil. Has some nice tickford options aswell. They are a great car.
That's a beautiful example of the AU! I am privileged enough to own a series 1 AU Falcon 5.0l ute, and I love it. I had the motor stroked and it only goes out on nice days.
I have two AUI series, Fairmont wagon and Ghia sedan. I like the AUI looks better that's what the AU was meant to look like. Not trying to square of certain things like the AUII & III. But I hate the series AUI brakes!
@@triggeredleftyvegan6004 I agree with you there. Picked up a S1 XR8 ute, and (as a graphic designer) I think the flow, curves and styling of the grill etc works together better than the later ones. And yes, the brakes... that was an unpleasant surprise when I first drove it. 🤣
Mate The AU is highly underrated. The series 1 AU falcon with shark tooth grill is the slipperyst Vehicle ever produced In Australia with a co efficient drag of .29 As comparison other vehicles rate at VL groupa A .32 VT commodore .33 Porsche 997 GT2 .32 1993 Supra .32 19988 Nissan 200 sx .32
A great review! I have two AUs, both Fairmont wagons. One (that's my daily drive) is a 4 litre six with dual fuel that's just a few thousand kilometres short of 500,000 all up! It's very economical but still has plenty of power, especially if you switch it back to petrol. The other is a quite rare example with the same Windsor 5 litre V8 as in your review car but it only comes out on weekends, strictly running premium 98. Just like you experienced, the engine is awesome. It is probably the most perfectly balanced and solid wagon I've ever driven, an absolute delight and joy to drive on the open road. In Fairmont spec level these are brilliant touring cars and with the wagon, super practical too.
You found a really clean and rare example of the AU, good on you Jono! Many years ago I owned a very clean Intech powered Futura that I bought off my parents quite cheap, and I admit admit at the time, they were really put down in their looks, to somewhat I agree with you they are starting to come of age! Cheers for sharing...
Ross, thats the best looking falcon you've had. Those steel wheels lowered with reasonable paint. Truly it should be the start of the new mad max film. Just gorgeous. Fkn luv it.
I nearly bought an AU Fairmont style wagon with a windsor in it. Very cool combination. Ive always thought manual swapping one would be the cherry on the cake though.
Great info, basically every Falcon has got a good thing about it, and while to not everyones taste they sure as hell were a well engineered vehicle that is more reliable than basically anything you can buy brand new today. Great review, keep the Falcon ones coming.
@@MotoringBoxTV very realiable motor,and with the right mods Windsors will rev ,just got let those heads breath, the 220 tickford special wasn't a bad effort and they are the basic architecture for NASCAR motors ,but not as cheap as chev or turbo barra to get horspower from I guess
just found a AU Fairmont Ghia been in a front ender and the interior stripped, but still has the 302 in it as well as the drive line. paid $1350 and will be rebuilding it
I recently upgraded to a 2014 g6e turbo,i still have an au xr6,and something about them i just can't get past they drive mint when well maintained.And can easily say no doubt driving my au across Australia without any issues ....Definitely earned their position in Australian motoring history...If you havent driven one do yourself a favour
That was quick for a auto Windsor , I should know as I’ve got one, mines a Fairmont..definitely a cult classic the au Telling u now that ford did a special auto quick shift in the v8 boxes.. btw au xr8’s are goin through the roof
My s3 Fairmount ghia has had a terrible life from being thrashed to very little service history always got me home. Only reason it’s parked up now is because a wagon is more practical. It was my pops car who’s since passed and I just couldn’t sell it for any amount of money.
I love my AU 2 Fairmont Ghia V8. It sounds great, not as sharp sounding as the modern DOHC 8's. The fairmonts also look bang on with a tickford bodykit. It really transforms the look of the car.
Nice work. You need to search for an EB GT. The return to a platform that was moth balled for 20 years. I can remember, as an apprentice the Royal treatment that the customer and car received and 40 technicians all wanting to do the predelivery on the first GT.
I had an AU2 6 cyl work car with a BENCH SEAT , yep you could fit 6 people in it party style, I was on my to work and stopped at the lights and a charade hit me from behind doing about 70k, pushed in the rear almost into the back seat, cabin was intact. The guy in the charade was f....d, people were trying to save him. They pulled the rear of the AU back out and I drove it for another 6 months lol
Just bought an au Fairmont wagon with 121000 kms so just a baby. My job is to look after it just as much as the other owners have and still be my daily driver
Great engine those Windsor’s, you are absolutely correct when you say the AU’s get better with each passing year, l tell you what they may not be the most neck snapping in the acceleration department but they deliver a smooth type of power that is enjoyable, l have had a few cars like that in the past and still have a genuine bog standard EB S-XR8 in my small collection, other Aussie cars l have had in the past now many years ago that have a similar type of enjoyable power include my VR SS commodore with that great injected 304 V8 Holden engine & the 273 V8 in my VE VIP Chrysler and VC Valiant Regal, cheers for the real interesting road test.
I got a 2001 au2 xls v8 wood floor trayback ute, the paint is cactus, the wood floor has the colour of a dead ghost gum, the cd player stuffed, radio is scratchy but it still turns over first time and never missed a beat.
My work ute is a base model AU series 1 but fitted from factory a 5 litre V8 and 5 speed box,as rare as.Skinny steel wheels and sunviser,lovely to drive.
Bloody awesome video and awesome car!!! I have a s1 Windsor au forte and S3 Windsor Fairmont ghia. I can tell you now the Forte is my favourite. I would love to know how many s1’s produced. I remember reading somewhere that the WA police force Ordered a few V8 S1 fortes and mine being a opt20 again I wonder how many they had. My old man owned an XB back in the day and said how everyone was hating on the XA XB falcon and loving the kingswood. Turns out those x series weren’t so bad after all. Loving those early Xseries sexy coke bottle lines. AU’s definitely going to be classics too...
Hey Mate,the mighty AU & a rare one too,I'm not keen on their look for me the BF & FG MK1 are my favourites,but I do highly admire their reliability & this one sounds beautiful as well,also hats off to the the owner it looks brand new very nice condition,you've hit the bullseye once again Johnny,everyone hurry up & get this man to 100k he deserves a RU-vid award to hang up on his wall lol,take care buddy.
Not sure what aftermarket exhaust it has fitted, but it sounded awesome at the 10.50 mark. I had an XH XR8 ute with a straight through exhaust and couldn't get it to sound half as good.
Great review Mate love it! I at the time owned an Ef manual simply because I hated the front styling of the series 1 but would have owned a series 2. Then Tickford treated us to the TE50’s I loved those, more than the XR’s. Watching this has got me wanting a Au series 2 again 👌
The series 3 XR8 is the most desirable one and skyrocketing in price . I regret selling my series 3 XR8 ute . When you nailed it the thing wanted to go sideways. It was the 200kw tickford .
Just a tit bit for you mate. AU was the last Falcon that you could "tick the box" so you could option a V8 in any variant. When you ticked the V8 box the LSD was part of the option. So the 101 units you speak of were all that were ordered that way, they didn't just build Forte V8s. They had to be special ordered. You want to find RARE!- there must be a V8 manual wagon survivor out there somewhere.
@@RossReviewsau AU was the last time Ford Aus optioned a V8 in a wagon. Maybe there's one out there still. The problem was the 6 was so good nobody needed a V8 anymore! It's the only downside of the six's success. I remember hiring a brand new bog stock series one Forte{that grille!} in 98 and thinking holy crap this thing goes like an 8! The rest is history of course......
What a crazy cool car! Thanks for another great video mate. I have had an Au2 fairlane with the straight 6 for 11 years now. Awesome unstoppable cars from the early 2000's!
Had one !! 2000 Series 2 AU Forte, Factory Optioned V8, Auto, No Cruise control, and only front power windows Black in colour and one owner vehicle. Bought it in 2003 with 19,000kms Regrettably sold it for a new BA Turbo when it came out Would own it again instantly !
Good vid Ross, i have watched a few, i have an EB Fairmont 5.0 and an AU Fairmont Ghia 5.0 slightly hopped up, you can notice the difference between the two in performance, but at the same time, they are luxury cars, and that's the beauty of the V8 option if you just want cruising in comfort.
The AU copped flack from every direction including many Ford nuts, LARGELY undeserved in my opinion. I had a AU2 XLS ute for many years, that was a pleasure to drive, had ample power from stock IMO, was mechanically sound (apart from a couple of batteries), huge tray in the back, and looked great.
I have a spare AU Fairmont in the shed the missus wants me to sell as i have a BA daily and a BF Fairlane weekender. I have to fight tooth and nail with her to keep it. I know it's taking up room we don't have but im finding it hard to part with. I also know it will be a regretful sale years down the line. Engine has some topend issues and that's why im not daily driving it. Also has classic clear coat fade but other then that it's fairly immaculate.
Loved all my AU's Series 2 inlines and XR8 220 absolute bulletproof sherman tank strength and no door creek and wobble going into big potholes or rough roads Bullet proof reliability because they were over engineered 💥💥💥
After owning the AU S3 Ghia model 6 Cylinder reliability is in the AU's DNA. apart from replacing some old suspension parts and getting the exhaust worked on everything else about it runs like a clock and it drives to how I feel and some days I really get the shits it has the power to keep up with me ;) cruise control can be scary at times especially coming up hills. it pulls you over them hills and i have to turn it off because otherwise it sits up peoples ass as they struggle to get up the hill. the exhaust turns heads sounds louder than it should be as it needs work otherwise lol amazing car proud to have it as my first car after passing the license test :).
Over east they are starting to use Au's for cheal drift cars. Luke fink,mhc, keep it reet etc. Never did i ever think Au's would become desirable sought after or expensive but hey they are durable and reliable as hell and the ugly factor just kinda adds to the cult following haha
they can take the abuse so well! would make a mint drift car honestly! i would love to have a cheap AU one day.. but every day that dream becomes harder and harder to achieve
Drove my old au wagon with 430 000 km on the clock without oil In her for a whole day and she didn’t cease up 🤨😆 mate was howling about it. Never broke down on me once either and It was at that moment I realised how durable au were and why taxi AUs get upto a million Ks on the clock sometimes.
Very nice AU indeed. The steelies look great and it's such a nicely kept example of that model year. Please do a review of a VT 5.0 litre if you can Jon!
Love the AU's, I have 2 myself but thinking about the 0-100 time you ran made me realise you really should get a G-tech Pro or at least use an app on your phone because the time here seems a bit quick and thinking about why instantly made me realise the speedo could be out 10% or more especially considering that time is about bang on for what this car should be doing 0-90. But my love for the AU is not about acceleration times, it's actually the opposite and how the AU makes you not care about acceleration times by realising it's possibly the most enjoyable car ever to drive at legal speeds on public roads and in traffic. It's also why the auto is the better option.
i did recently buy a dragy 0-100 timer.. wasnt able to use it for this review as it did not arrive in time.. but in the future i will use it to get a more true time.
These are great cars I have one with 400k on the clock never had the head off or major work. Problem is time is killing them off, the BCM electronics are breaking down in nearly but all. Once that goes it's not cheap or viable to get them fixed. Indestructible engine and drivetrain just poor electronics (I think Boshe made the BCM?) probably the best falcon ever in every regard except looks on that series 1. Mine is a black series 3 S Model I think it looks great.
My Dad had the AU II it sounded great and was very comfortable to drive. However the AU is the car that almost closed Ford 😂 the looks were just not selling and everyone had a Head bump as when you got in you would hit your head 😁 Car had 210k when was sold 🙂 was replaced with a Territory 🇦🇺
I will second your attestment to the au & between my partner & I , we have had a lot of cars over the years , Holden & ford , the taxi pack au dedicated lpg wagon is the only one I will cry for if I have to part with it .
Have a 99 au tickford sports 6 redhead, 5 speed manual ute..xr front. 170,000 ks. Interior perfect, regularly serviced Silver paint on roof clear coat oxidised, can't see that behind wheel. Basically stock. A pleasure to drive.
The 5.0 was a good honest V8. Had one in an EB Fairmont. Also had an AU III Forte as a company car. The steering on the AU was the best of any Ford and tbh the AU was the most economical Falcon I ever owned.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this AU was ordered as a Police Traffic optioned vehicle (for unmarked highway duties). Although I didn't notice any holes for radios etc, in the dash and centre console. Making this a definite rarity and collectible Ford. Hat's off to its lucky owner! .
Wife has 2002 AU ser.3 One of One V8 F/mont .Tickford Enhanced body kit wheels wheel etc great car 159ks sunroof great cruiser, always garaged. 70k in 18years
Another great vid Ross. 👍 What a great car that Fairmont is. Owning a series 1 AU XR8 has made me really take notice of them more. And appreciate the styling of some AU's. 'Some' being the key word 🤣
Man I love AUs. It sucks that they're dropping like flies due to rust these days 😭 I'd love to find a super clean example for my next car, but I think that's going to take some real searching, and cost a premium. Could be worth it, though!