Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Australia So here's how the story goes. Back in early 2006, Ford and the Australian government announced that the automaker would invest $100 million (Australian) to develop a left-hand-drive version of the next generation Falcon. The LHD Falcon was intended for export primarily to markets like the Middle East where rival Holden manages to sell quite a few Chevy-badged Commodores and Statesmans. Ford apparently decided that the potential sales volumes for the LHD Falcon weren't sufficient to justify the effort and there wasn't room in the car to accommodate the hardware. Unlike Holden, they evidently didn't look far enough ahead in their initial engineering and decided it just wasn't practical to do with the 2008 model. Instead, the government money will be used to expand production capacity for the next generation Focus in Australia, which will then be exported. Meanwhile, it looks like North American Ford fans will have to wait until 2012 when a new global rear-wheel-drive platform is introduced. [Source: Drive.com.au] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments More...
That story sucks about that car. I think that it looks awesome and would be a good investment for the Ford. Customers and car lovers alike will purchase this vehicle
I hope Ford's still alive in 5 years. They shouldn't have brought the taurus back, a Falcon with different models/trim would've been better. But no, Ford think it'll mess their lineup cause the mustang is RWD and V8 powered too. Argh...
Knowing that first came the Fairlane/Falcon , then the Maverick, then the Fairmont then the Tempo, then the Focus replaced both the Tempo and the Escort, This Fairlane is a distant relative of our Maverick, and this coud very well be what a (4door Mav) would look like.. in my opinon.
It ain't just Fords... They got some of the coolest cars made today no matter the brand. Holden (Aus Chevy) has made V8 RWD cars all along too. That is where the GTO comes from. They had it there for years, then GM decided it would be cool to sell it here. They had Clevelands down there for many years too! Far, far longer than the 4 years we had them here.
The Fairlane became the Torino, and then eventually the Taurus, 500, then Taurus again. Falcon, Maverick, Fairmont, Tempo, Contour, Fusion... is our bloodline. Fuk-us is pure Pinto-Escort...
Dang I knew i was forgetting something in there somewhere, completely forgot the Contour, but I thought the Fairlane was basically a trim level for the Falcon?? Like "Cuda and Barracuda. I admit though I don't know my Falcons and Farlaines very well, I thought they mad Fairlanes off the same platform as Falcons for a while But then along those lines you've got the Torino, then the LTD II then the fairmont based LTD right? Then the Taurus, 500, Taurus. By the Way I've owned a 2000 " focus and now own an '06 Focus ( bought new) sold the 2000 to my son who drives it daily with 180k on it, mine is flawless (except for a power steering o ring replaced uinder warranty) last week in $32k miles I'd by another one any day of the week, Had an escort also and a pinto wagon, thats a good bloodline . in my opinion too!
1970 was the only year the Falcon and Fairlane/Torino intermingled. The Falcon was built on the larger Fairlane/Torino platform that year. They really didn't need the Falcon that year, upsized or downsized, because the Mav came out. I guess they didn't know what to do with it... Trivia: The 'Ford' started out as one body style/size with different trim levels. Fairlane was a trim level as well as Crown Vic. When the Fairlane became it's own line, it was a step below the Ford car, which is commonly known as the Galaxie now. Galaxie became LTD and Crown Vic. I think Crown Vic is all but washed up now... ??? I heard it will continue for a while as Police and Taxi fleet only. Don't know if that's true or not tho.
its not often i see a "modern" crown vic thats not a cop or taxi car as it is. when i do see on as a daily driver its usually a retired and auctioned off cop car
I love this kind of trivia, I think yuo are right the Crown Vic is a fleet car only, the buyers of those kind of cars are now buying High end SUV's and the like. Its a shame too, I talked to a cab dirver in vegas one time and asked him what is the most dependable cab, ( I thought who woudl know better than a cab driver0 he said the Crown Vic without blinking then he said close behind that is the Old Caprice. Funny he said the only thing that goes wrong with the Crown vic is the blower motor for the Heat /AC makes sence in Vegas that's gonna run year around.
