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54-837: The Ford Falcon (XA) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1972 to 1973. It was the first iteration of the third generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XA) —the luxury-oriented version. The XA platform was also used for the Australian Ford Landau . Sold between March 1972 and September 1973, the XA series was the first Falcon to be designed (with assistance from Ford's US headquarters) and manufactured in Australia. Designed by Jack Telnack , it featured an entirely new body which

108-658: A vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars . It is the largest size class for cars. In the United Kingdom, this class is referred to as the executive car , while in Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment . The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Fuel Economy Regulations for 1977 and Later Model Year (dated July 1996) includes definitions for classes of automobiles. Based on

162-559: A longer wheelbase than the sedan. Fairmont wagons had a dual-action tailgate that could be opened either downwards or sideways, optional on base model Falcon and Falcon 500 Wagons. The addition of a two-door hardtop to the range marked the first time that this body style had been offered on an Australian Falcon since the XP series of 1965–1966. The XA hardtop bore a notable resemblance to the U.S 1971-1973 Ford Mustang hardtop. The XA hardtop's longer doors with frameless windows were shared with

216-418: A lower cost. Into the 1970s, the same vehicles could transport up to six occupants comfortably (or eight in a station wagon), at the expense of high fuel consumption. The sales of full-size vehicles in the United States declined after the early 1970s fuel crisis. In response to the 1978 implementation of CAFE , American manufacturers implemented downsizing to improve fuel economy, with full-size vehicles as

270-556: A rally car campaigned by Bruce Hodgson. It was later destroyed in a road accident. Although the three cars featured standard Falcon GT compliance plates, they are considered by most Ford fans to be race-prepared versions of the XA Falcon GT-HO Phase IV. Howard Marsden, head of Lot 6, designated the race cars as follows XA-1 Allan Moffat (Carthew); XA-2 Gibson (Bowden); XA-3 (Hodgson). Between April 1973 and August 1973, Ford Australia built 250 XA Falcon GTs fitted with

324-406: A rear window louvre. Three contrasting paints schemes matched with colour-coded wheel centres were offered, the choices being Polar White with Cosmic Blue accent, Yellow Fire with Walnut Glow accent and Lime Glaze with Jewel Green accent. Large "Superbird" decals adorned the rear quarter panels and the rear-mounted "Falcon 500" badging was retained. The advertised production run was 750 units; however,

378-486: The 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island Firth and Jane drove a Ford XL Falcon to victory and the following year won again this time in a Ford Cortina Mk.I GT at the first Armstrong 500 run at Bathurst . In 1964 Bob Jane and George Reynolds were first across the line at Bathurst in a works Cortina GT and also that year Harry Firth took out the Ampol Trial. 1966 saw Firth and navigator Graham Hoinville take out

432-630: The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 at Bathurst. Production of the required 200 examples was abandoned in July 1972 following intense media and political pressure , and only one production example was completed. This significant road car was manufactured in Calypso Green metallic with a white vinyl interior, and has recently been completely restored. Additionally, three regular production Falcon GT sedans - especially painted in Brambles Red - had been in

486-553: The 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 . Following the positive public reaction given to its XA Falcon GT Hardtop-based “Superbird” show car at the 1973 Melbourne Motor Show , Ford Australia released a limited production “Superbird” to the public. The production Superbird was an XA Falcon 500 Hardtop fitted with an option package designated as RPO 77. The package included the Australian-built 302 cubic inch Cleveland V8 engine, sports suspension, Grand Sport Rally Pack instrumentation and

540-464: The 1996 season with his Falcon's major sponsor being Ford Credit. In rallying, in 1977 a very competitive Ford works rally team was formed with 1971, 1972 and 1974 Australian Rally Champion Colin Bond as team manager and lead driver with future triple ARC champion Greg Carr as the other team driver. Carr won the 1978 Australian Rally Championship (his first) for Ford in a Ford Escort BDA . The team

594-478: The Chevrolet Corvair , Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant ), the "full-size car" designation came into wider use. In the 1960s, the term was applied to the traditional car lines of lower-price brands, including Chevrolet, Ford, and Plymouth. As a relative term, full-size cars were marketed by the same brands offering compact cars, with entry-level cars for buyers seeking the roominess of a luxury car at

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648-670: The Chrysler LH cars (Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, Chrysler Concorde/New Yorker/LHS). The same year, the Buick Roadmaster was introduced, becoming the first rear-wheel drive GM model line adopted outside of Chevrolet and Cadillac since 1985; the Chevrolet Impala was returned for the 1994 model year. The 1989 Lexus LS400 luxury sedan was the first Japanese full-size car sold in North America. Following

702-583: The Dodge Monaco ). Developed by AMC before its acquisition by Chrysler, the Premier was a version of the front-wheel drive Renault 25 adapted for North America. The Saab 9000 took a special position at the end of the 1980s, as for a long time it was the only imported car to be classified as a "large car" by the EPA. From the 1980s to the 1990s, the market share of full-size cars began to decline; along with

756-755: The H and C platforms . Only station wagons, the Chevrolet Caprice , and the Cadillac Brougham remained. Initially developed to replace the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, the 1986 Ford Taurus was produced alongside it as the Ford mid-size model line. After largely abandoning the full-size segment for compact cars and minivans, Chrysler gained reentry into the full-size segment in 1988 with the Eagle Premier (also produced as

810-667: The Holden Monaro GTS327 powered by a 5.3 L (327 cui) Chevrolet V8 engine. While the Monaro's would prove slightly faster than the Falcons in 1968, late in the race the works Ford of Fred Gibson and 1965 race winner Barry Seton was leading until a stone from the circuit thrown by another car put a hole in the radiator and ended their race on lap 113, though they were classified in 31st place. The Geoghegan brother's Falcon GT would finish in 12th place. They had planned to go

864-887: The Moffat Ford Dealers Team , in the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 with Allan Moffat. The team expanded to two cars in 1977 with Moffat and Colin Bond as drivers (after 8 years, Bond had left the Holden Dealer Team at the end of 1976 to join Moffat). Moffat and Bond finished 1-2 in both the Touring Car Championship before going on to a memorable 1-2 finish in the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 with multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx joining Moffat in victory. The #1 Falcon

918-542: The XD and XE Falcon 's saw success in the 1981 , 1982 and 1984 as well as the 1981 James Hardie 1000 with Dick Johnson at the wheel. Johnson also told that he never really had official help from Ford until the early days of the Group 3A 5.0L touring cars (the forerunner of V8 Supercars ) which began in late 1992, although like most top Ford drivers he received support from Ford's auto parts brand Motorcraft . In order for

972-517: The eighth-generation Hyundai Sonata , is classified by the EPA as full-size despite being marketed as a mid-size model. In 2018, the three highest-selling cars in the full-size sedan category in the United States were the Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Impala, and Chrysler 300. The large car segment has been declining in the United States accounting for 3.6% of new vehicle sales in 2021, down from 6.6% in 2016. The models in this category included

1026-456: The 1920s to the 1950s, most manufacturers produced model lines in a single size, growing in size with each model redesign. While the length and wheelbase varied between model lines, width was a relatively constant dimension, as the American federal government required the addition of clearance lights on a width past 80 inches. In 1960, following the introduction of compact cars (such as

1080-558: The 1950s, and have become increasingly common since the downsizing of full-sized cars in the 1980s. The lineage of mass-produced full-size American cars begins with the 1908 Ford Model T . In 1923, General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Superior , becoming the first vehicle to adopt a common chassis (the A-body ) for several brands. Compared to the cars of the 21st century, these vehicles are small in length and width. From

1134-496: The 1996 model year, GM ended production of large rear-wheel drive sedans. By 2000, with the sole exception of the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car, full-size cars had abandoned rear-wheel drive and body-on-frame construction. Instead of model lineage, the EPA "large car" definition of over 120 interior cubic feet was widely used. Initially developed for the midsize Oldsmobile Aurora ,

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1188-479: The 5.7 L, 350 Chevrolet V8 powered Monaros, but Al Turner's tactic of flying in untested special tyres from the USA proved to be the undoing of the Ford challenge as Falcons kept pulling into the pits with shredded tyres. Ironically, the one Ford works car that did not chew through its tyres was the one driven by Moffat and Allan Hamilton. Moffat contends that had he not been called into the pits early to change tyres after

1242-565: The Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Nissan Maxima, and Toyota Avalon. They have been discontinued after the 2023 or 2024 model years. The trend in the large car market segment in United States is toward the SUV. Ford Works Team (Australia) In 1962 the Firth Motors workshop at Queens Avenue, Auburn (Melbourne) became the base for the Ford works team with Harry Firth as team manager. At

1296-485: The Falcon to still be eligible for racing though, a limited number of XD Falcon 's were produced by Phase Autos, with aerodynamic improvements by Ford Australia designer Wayne Draper. It wasn't until 1999 that Ford supported a proper factory outfit, purchasing Glenn Seton 's team and renaming it Ford Tickford Racing . Seton, the son of former Ford Works driver Barry Seton, had been receiving financial support from Ford since

1350-818: The Five Hundred was renamed the Taurus. After the 2011 model year, Ford ended production of the Panther platform, shifting to the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS; in 2017, the latter was replaced by the Lincoln Continental . In 2011, General Motors ended production of the G-body for several chassis (with Cadillac later shifting its largest sedans to rear-wheel drive). In 2012, the Tesla Model S became

1404-546: The Ford team and became the team's No.1 driver. With Harry Firth switching to Holden and forming the Holden Dealer Team , American Al Turner was signed up as the new team manager. The Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase I powered by the 5.8 L, 351 "Windsor" V8 engine looked to be a big threat at the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 against the new Holden HT Monaro GTS350 with the GTHO's proving to have a slight speed advantage over

1458-744: The GM G-body chassis was expanded into the full-size segment for Cadillac in 2000 (for the Deville, later the DTS) and adapted by Buick (the Lucerne) in 2006. For the 2005 model year, Chrysler replaced the LH cars with the LX cars (returning to rear-wheel drive). The same year, Ford introduced the Five Hundred, its first front-wheel drive full-size car (the first American full-size car offered with all-wheel drive); in 2008,

1512-628: The GT, however it was a common addition. The GT bonnet with NACA style ducts was not available as an option on the XA GS. As the previous XW and XY series Falcon GT sedans, an extra-high-performance limited-production version of the XA Falcon GT sedan, the GT-HO Phase IV, was developed by Ford Australia for homologation in Group E Series Production Touring Car racing, targeting in particular

1566-529: The HDT car he shared with Brock out of petrol. On 25 January 1974, the Ford Motor Company announced that they were ending factory involvement in motor racing, with the effects of the 1973 Oil Crisis being cited as one of the reasons for the company's withdrawal. The Australian Ford works team was wound up, with Moffat driving as a privateer in 1974 with sponsorship from Brut 33. In 1976 Ford supported

1620-781: The HDT winning the 1978 ATCC , the Sandown 400 and the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 (with Jim Richards ). Ford introduced the Ford XC Falcon Cobra in late 1978, but even this could not halt the Holden/Brock onslaught. Ford withdrew its support for touring car racing at the end of 1978, with Moffat and Bond going their separate ways. After 1978, Ford withdrew all development and involvement in Australian motor racing. Various drivers however stuck to Ford products, and

1674-503: The RPO 83 package, 130 of these being sedans and 120 being hardtops. RPO 83 comprised three variations from the standard XA Falcon GT, these being of a Holley 780 carburettor, 2.25 inch exhaust headers and a clutch slave cylinder hydraulic pipe heat shield. Pricing and external appearance did not vary from the standard models. The 2.25 inch exhaust headers were subsequently homologated for the XA Falcon GT for Group C Touring Car racing , including

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1728-705: The Utilities and Vans in October of that year. A Grand Sport Rally Pack was offered on Falcon, Falcon 500 and Fairmont models. The XA GS had rally stripes that ran from the front indicators to the end of the rear doors. It also shared many options as used on the GT Falcon, such as the 12 slot steel wheels with plain brushed centre caps, the three spoke wooden rimmed steering wheel with rim squeeze horn and full GT dash instrumentation featuring tachometer, odometer, oil pressure, water temperature and voltmeter as standard. For

1782-500: The actual production total is thought to have been lower. The entire production run was completed in the months of March through May 1973. . Allan Moffat and Ian Geoghegan won the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst in a factory entered XA Falcon GT Hardtop and John Goss and Kevin Bartlett won the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 in a privately entered example. Full-size car Full-size car —also known as large car —is

1836-574: The combined passenger and cargo volume, large cars (full-size cars) are defined as having an interior volume index of more than 120 cu ft (3.4 m ) for sedan models, or 160 cu ft (4.5 m ) for station wagons. From the introduction of the Ford Flathead V8 in the 1930s until the 1980s, most North American full-size cars were powered by V8 engines . However, V6 engines and straight-six engines have also been available on American full-size cars, especially until

1890-882: The country over mostly dirt roads) was won by Peter Brock in a HDT prepared Holden VB Commodore . The HDT would in fact lock out the podium with a 1-2-3 finish. 1964 Lowood 4 Hour - Harry Firth & John Raeburn ( Ford Cortina GT ) 1964 Ampol Trial - Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville ( Ford Cortina GT ) 1966 Southern Cross Rally - Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville ( Ford Cortina GT ) 1968 Australian Rally Championship - Harry Firth & Graham Hoinville ( Ford Cortina Lotus ) 1969 Australian Rally Championship - Frank Kilfoyle & Doug Rutherford ( Ford Cortina Lotus ) 1970 Tasman Touring Series - Allan Moffat ( Ford Falcon GTHO ) 1970 Rothmans 250 Production Classic - Allan Moffat ( Ford Falcon GTHO ) 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship ( Ford Falcon GTHO ) (Note: Ford's championship points were scored by

1944-525: The day. But Ford did add a major trophy to their cabinet by winning the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship . In 1973 the Ford team contested the Australian Touring Car Championship with Allan Moffat winning from Holden rival Brock. At Bathurst (now a 1,000 km race) Moffat and co-driver Ian Geoghegan won in a Falcon XA GT after early leader John Goss was involved in a collision and Doug Chivas famously ran

1998-518: The failures on the Geoghegan brothers car and the Gibson/Seton car, that he would have won the race. Unlike Pete Geoghegan and Fred Gibson, Moffat had looked after his tyres and the unscheduled stop ultimately cost the team victory. Following the race, Ford took the extraordinary step of running a full page newspaper add with the caption of "We were a little deflated". The 1970 Bathurst race

2052-740: The first Falcons fitted with in-dash vents for face level flow-thru ventilation, although they only worked while the car was in motion. A total of 129,473 XAs were built. While successful, the XA Falcon range proved to be short-lived as it gained a significant frontal appearance update to become the XB series in September 1973. Sedans and Wagons were introduced in March 1972, the Hardtops in August 1972 and

2106-513: The first fully electric full-size car sold in North America. For the 2013 model year, the Chevrolet Impala became the final American-market full-size sedan sold with a front bench seat . By the mid-2010s, full-size cars began seeing a steep decline in sales in North America, with SUVs replacing much of the full-size segment. At the end of the decade, demand for sedans (of all sizes) shifted towards vehicles of other layouts, reducing or shuttering production of sedans entirely. In 2018, Ford announced

2160-400: The first model lines to see major change. While General Motors and Ford would reduce the exterior footprint of their full-size lines to that of their intermediates, AMC withdrew its Ambassador and Matador full-size lines (to concentrate on production of mid-size vehicles). To save production costs, Chrysler repackaged its intermediates using the erstwhile full-size names, moving on to exiting

2214-505: The first time the GS model range was also available as a two-door hardtop. The GS package was also offered as an option on utes and panel vans as per XY. The 260 hp (190 kW) two barrel version of the 5.8 L (351 cu in) Cleveland V8 was the largest engine option available. The GS option did not come standard with the Option 56 ‘driving lights’ grille which was standard on

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2268-421: The inaugural Southern Cross Rally in a Cortina. In 1967 Firth won another Bathurst 500 with co-driver Fred Gibson in a 4.7-litre ( 289 cui ) Ford XR Falcon GT , with the Geoghegan brothers finishing in second place after a re-count of the lap scores (The Geoghegan's were actually flagged in first, but they had mistakenly been credited with a lap early in the race when Leo Geoghegan ran out of fuel just after

2322-511: The increased use of mid-size cars, vans, and SUVs grew in use as family vehicles. Between 1960 and 1994, the market share of full-size cars declined from 65 to only 8.3 percent. From 1990 until 1992, both GM and Ford redesigned its full-size car lines for the first time since the late 1970s. For the 1992 model year, Chrysler introduced a new front-wheel drive full-size car line, replacing the Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco with

2376-531: The pits and returned to pit lane via the back of the pits. Firth knew this and successfully protested against his team mates). It was the first time a V8 powered car had won the race. Then in 1968 Firth and Hoinville won the first Australian Rally Championship in a Cortina. At the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 at Bathurst, Ford introduced the Ford XT Falcon GT , now powered by the 5.0 L 302 cui V8 engine. However rival manufacturer Holden had introduced

2430-490: The process of being developed for racing to GT-HO specification by Ford Special Vehicles Division and were to be raced at Bathurst in 1972 by factory drivers Allan Moffat and Fred Gibson . With the abandonment of the XA Falcon GT-HO as a production car, development was immediately halted on the three race cars and they were sold off. However, one of these cars did go on to serve a life in motorsport, specifically as

2484-578: The sales of all Ford-branded passenger cars (except for the Mustang ) would end in North America by 2022. General Motors announced the closure of several manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada, with the production of the Chevrolet Impala and Buick LaCrosse ending in 2020. As of 2022, full-size cars from Asian manufacturers include the Lexus LS , Genesis G80 / G90 , Nissan Maxima , and Toyota Avalon . Another car from an Asian manufacturer,

2538-535: The segment in 1981. During the 1980s, manufacturers further reduced the exterior footprint of several model lines from the full-size segment into the mid-size class to comply with more stringent CAFE standards. With the 1982 model year, Chrysler exited the full-size segment entirely, with the mid-size Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury serving as its largest sedan lines. Following the 1985 model year, General Motors replaced most of its full-size rear-wheel-drive model lines with smaller front-wheel drive sedans on

2592-415: The utility and van, with a different shape glass to suit the commercial vehicles' body apertures. The shorter doors of the sedan and wagon with their framed windows were also available with optional quarter vent windows, though these were very rare, mainly fitted to cars in the hotter parts of Australia. This option was available in the subsequent XB and XC models, though very scarce. The XA Falcon range were

2646-621: The whole race without changing their brakes as they had done in 1967 (despite warnings from Firth that they were not taking into account the increased pace), but this backfired and they lost 7 laps in the pits after the worn brake pads welded themselves to the brake rotors. The third works entry (using an automatic transmission and running in Class C) driven by Barry Arentz and Mike Champion finished in 11th place. After some impressive performances in his Ford Mustang Boss 302 Improved Production touring car in 1969, Canadian-born Allan Moffat joined

2700-451: Was a 1–2 victory for the Ford works team with Allan Moffat winning his first Bathurst 500 in a Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II from team-mate Bruce McPhee whose car was much healthier but was holding back in the final laps following team orders. The Phase II GTHO Falcon's, while still using a 5.8 L V8 engine, were now using the Australian manufactured 351 "Cleveland" engine rather than the imported 351 Windsor engines. By 1971 Howard Marsden

2754-410: Was larger and more roomy than that of its XY series predecessor, giving it the " coke-bottle " look. The XA range also had a longer list of options, although the choice of engines carried over from the previous XY Falcon range. All V8 302 CID and most 351 CID "Cleveland" engines were now Aussie made. GT Falcons could have Aussie or imported 351 CID V8s fitted. Wagons, utilities and panel vans now featured

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2808-495: Was limping at the finish of the race with no brakes after Ickx had been overly hard on them during his driving stint, but as the team owner Moffat had ordered that Bond not pass him to take the victory, orders which years later Bond regretted following. It was to be the high point for the team who faced stiff opposition in 1978 from the Holden LX Torana SS A9X 's which swept all before them with Peter Brock and

2862-473: Was the new team manager at Ford. Moffat drove his Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III to an 'all the-way' win at the 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500 at Bathurst. 1972 saw the " Supercar scare " which killed off the Phase 4 Falcon project. Ford was forced to use the Phase 3 GTHO again for its Bathurst campaign and in a race that started on a wet track the light-footed Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 driven by a young Peter Brock won

2916-472: Was wound up at the end of the 1980 season. Ford also entered a three car Ford Cortina team in the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial which started and finished at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds . Despite the late decision to enter the event, the Cortinas, led by Colin Bond, were quick but fragile with the example driven by Gregg Carr proving to be "the fastesty combination in the event". Carr eventually placed fifth. The 20,000 km rally (ran clockwise around

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