The Ford Falcon (XK) is a
mid-sized car that was produced by
Ford Australia
Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of Automotive industry in the United States, United States–based automaker Ford Motor Company. It was founded in 1925 as an Austral ...
between 1960 and 1962. It was the first of seven generations of the
Falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
, produced until
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
.
Overview
The first Falcon sold in Australia was the XK series, which was introduced in September 1960. It was initially offered only as a four-door
sedan, in both Falcon and Falcon Deluxe trim levels. The XK was essentially a
right-hand drive
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes called the ...
version of the North American model, although local country dealers often included modifications such as heavy-duty rear suspension (five leaves) and larger 6.50 x 13 tyres. Front seat belts were optional.
The steering was light and the ride surprisingly good, on well-paved roads. Whereas the North American model used an 'economy' 3.10:1 rear axle ratio, the Australian Falcon was built with a 3.56:1 ratio which better complemented the torque characteristics of the engine. It had a turning circle.
The wagon, added to the range in November 1960, was shortened at the rear due to concern that the back of the car might scrape on rough roads and spoon drains.
Billed as being "Australian-with a world of difference", Falcon offered the first serious alternative to
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...
, and became an instant success. Sales were aided by the contemporary
FB series Holden being perceived as lacklustre and dated by comparison. Two engines were available; a
Falcon Six inline-six
A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...
, which produced and an optional version of the Falcon Six, which produced .
The Falcon was available with either a three-speed column shift
manual transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...
, or a two-speed
Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission
An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions.
The 1904 ...
.
Although the engines were superior to the
Holden FB's inline-six, which produced , and the Holden did not offer an automatic gearbox, the Falcon quickly gained a reputation for weak gearboxes and suspension components, and struggled to take much of Holden's marketshare.
This was further compounded by the introduction of the new
Holden EJ in July 1962.
The XK range was expanded in May 1961 with the addition of
utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings.
* In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...
and
panel van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
body styles, officially designated as Falcon Utility and Falcon Sedan Delivery, respectively.
As with the wagons, these lacked the extended rear overhang of their American counterparts, and also used the four-door front doors rather than the longer two-door units used by the
Ranchero and US sedan delivery. When production of the XK Falcon ended in August 1962, 68,465 units had been sold.
The Falcon was also exported in small numbers to the various
Empire colonies and
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
nations.
Pricing for a base model XK Falcon started at £1,137 ($2,274 AUD)
References
{{Ford Falcon
XK
Cars of Australia
Cars introduced in 1960
Cars discontinued in 1962
XK Falcon
Sedans
Station wagons
Coupé utilities
Vans
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles