last Falcon Sedan starts its being built

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Such a sad day. I take pride in building the engines that powered them for 15 years, and continue in a job at the proving ground that would not be in existence without Falcon. Ford have provided a means to live for my family over 3 generations.

I'm just glad it's going out the way it was intended, with an I6 or V8 driving the rear wheels, and not being a badge slapped on some FWD V6 imported POS. RIP Falcon and Territory.

G'day ...Well done..YOU DONE GOOD...Maybe you had a hand in my FG XR6 eight or so years ago or even in my AU ll in 2001 when you first started at Ford...
Totally agree to retire the Falcon nameplate with dignity of not whacking it on some FWD thing....I hope FA never ever do that in the future , not unless it is indeed RWD or AWD at the very least..Highly unlikely as that is..
Glad you still have a job..That's awesome.....Cheers Rod..

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by Ford17

There is something seriously wrong with this country.

We're the 2nd largest producer of iron ore in the world, yet we are content with simply selling off the raw materials to everyone else, who in turn sell us back finished goods made of steel.

Smarter thinking would ensure the whole value-adding process remains within, or is manged by, that country who owns the resources.

Overly simplistic I know, but throwing away the ability to design, engineer, and manufacture complex machinery has got to be a backwards step for any nation.

Hopefully in time that will be realised. There's little that we can do when the Yanks are pulling the rug from under us. There was little scope to change when we're a subsidiary of a company owned overseas.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I think you mean "Cars the same as the rest of the world gets"...which will open us up to some truly interesting vehicles that have never been "allowed" to be sold here because of protection of the local manufacturing industry.

Care to name any of these "interesting vehicles" that are not allowed here because of local industry? They should have tightened the laws so these interesting pieces of trash like Hyundai's, Kia's, Great Walls, LDV, Mahindras, mitsubishis, etc wouldn't be littering our streets. The Koreans, Japs and even the Malaysians tax the crap out of any car that isn't made locally, to make them uncompetitive and this makes perfect business sense. Here in Australia, we tax the crap out of the hardworking middle class man to feed the disabled and unemployed, or spend on unprofitable, over-budget national projects like the NBN. The thing that hindered Australia more than anything is choosing to drive on the wrong side of the road when it was founded. This stopped us from getting some real interesting vehicles , and also our own interesting vehicles from getting on the world stage effectively.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Care to name any of these "interesting vehicles" that are not allowed here because of local industry? They should have tightened the laws so these interesting pieces of trash like Hyundai's, Kia's, Great Walls, LDV, Mahindras, mitsubishis, etc wouldn't be littering our streets. The Koreans, Japs and even the Malaysians tax the crap out of any car that isn't made locally, to make them uncompetitive and this makes perfect business sense. Here in Australia, we tax the crap out of the hardworking middle class man to feed the disabled and unemployed, or spend on unprofitable, over-budget national projects like the NBN. The thing that hindered Australia more than anything is choosing to drive on the wrong side of the road when it was founded. This stopped us from getting some real interesting vehicles , and also our own interesting vehicles from getting on the world stage effectively.

G'day...Two things that signed the demise of Australia's car industry... 1...Button Car Plan
2. Just about every Free Trade Agreement with just about everybody.. Nuff said..
Malazn mafia...You are correct...Bloody nightmare is the NBN..especially where I am..Not a fan at all. While I'm at it tickles me no end how often our Falcons are ogled by Ford fans from Yankland.."You Aussies get the best Fords , why can't we get these in the States "..
That's a very regular comment on Falcon vids on You Tube..Truly...
Cheers Rod..

[roddy1960]

G'day....AND ANOTHER THING...re my previous rant..I began thinking about advertising or lack there of for the FGX.. I recall this one..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ2oeSaOR6U...Actually pretty good by Ford Oz's modern abysmal standards in my humble opinion..
Been told in other threads that Ad's don't sell cars necessarily but surely can't hurt.. What other dedicated FGX ad's were there..Someone jog my useless memory... Cheers Rod....

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

....... While I'm at it tickles me no end how often our Falcons are ogled by Ford fans from Yankland.."You Aussies get the best Fords , why can't we get these in the States "........

You are spot on.
I've driven a number of yankee colleagues around in my FG LPi.
First comment is normally how nice it is - inside & out, compared to their local runabouts (mind you, the Fusion wasn't around then).

2nd reaction is total respect for a rear drive IRS chassis, that they consider to be up there with Euros.

And a few have even questioned if the LPi was a V8 with a crappy exhaust - one such discussion got so heated between the 2 yankee passengers that I had to pull over and lift the bonnet to show them it was a straight 6. Betting money changed hands between them.....

But by far the best reaction was when we test drove the Miami in late 2010. One yank asked to get out of the car or he'd be sick..... before asking the engineers from FPV how much of the Miami would fit into his Mustang back home.... After seeing the Miami GTE press car, the 2nd guy was almost in tears that the FG wasn't available in LH drive.

We also took them to Holden (Salmon st), and at the time the Marilyn convertible Monaro was on display, and so was the retro Camaro, the Efigy, and the panel van concept. They particularly loved the Marilyn and the Efigy, commenting on how great the local cars are, and lamenting that they didn't get a decent chance at US exports (in Holden's case).

They also reckoned the Commodore ute and FG ute would have both done well in the USA as reborn El Camino & Ranchero pickups.

It is very sad that we have lost, and are losing, such highly regarded (even by yanks) vehicles.

Remember too, it was yanks who authorised the billion dollar investment in the VE development, which fed into various global models. If they really wanted Australia to make cars, Ford would have come up with a global RWD sedan that could be easily built in LH & RH drive - the various law enforcement departments, taxi industry, and large sedan market (however small) would have worked with the combined totals. Holden could have also remained bouyant with those sorts of numbers too, but alas, the decision was made by others. Perhaps it's the fear of being upstaged... :P