Falcon Celebrates 45 Years on the Road
Two Falcons - seven generations and 45 years apart - gathered near the birthplace of Ford Australia today to mark the 45th anniversary of the legendary Australian family car.
On June 28, 1960, the first Australian-built XK Falcon rolled off the production line at Broadmeadows, launching the longest continuous model line in Australian motoring history.
Since then, Australians have bought more than 3 million Falcons, making the iconic brand the biggest selling in the history of Australian motoring.
Ford Australia President Tom Gorman said the Falcon had a unique place in Australia's social history.
"Over the years, the Falcon has established itself as a brand name synonymous with Australian innovation in design and engineering," he said.
"It has spearheaded the charge by the Australian motoring industry to become a world class player with a car featuring the latest in engineering technology, and personifying the changes in styling tastes of Australians over more than four decades.
"In the sixties, the Falcon was all chrome and white wall tyres, while in the seventies we had burnt orange soft top Falcon coupes to go with our flares and platform shoes.
"Today, the BA MkII Falcon reflects Australia's growing sophistication in the world of the 21st century."
Mr Gorman said most Australians had a special memory of a Falcon.
"It might have been watching Moffat, Johnson or Ambrose greet the chequered flag on their way to another race win, their first set of wheels after securing their driver's licence or loading up the Falcon wagon for the traditional family holiday," he said.
The Falcon has been part of Australian life longer than colour television, decimal currency, maternity leave, the jumbo jet, the pill, Four Corners and the Opera House.
During its lifetime, the Falcon has seen ten prime ministers, five popes, ten Olympic Games and two national anthems.
The BA Falcon is the 21st model designation for the Falcon. It is estimated that Australian Falcons have collectively covered more than 450 billion kilometres since they first hit the road in 1960.
Pictures
Today, the XK Falcon lined up alongside the latest BA Falcon MkII at the Ford Discovery Centre in Geelong to mark the occasion.
Also on hand were two Ford employees who - like the XK Falcon - started their careers in 1960.
Giorgio Torcia began work as a maintenance fitter in July 1960, and has continued to work in the body build department of the Broadmeadows plant ever since.
Torcia has seen every iteration of the Falcon go down the line in his time.
"When I started there it was all manual labor and we lifted every part of the car to put it together.
"There were no robots, all the welding was done by hand.
"The way we build cars today is 300 per cent better than how we did it then," he said.
Allan Jones began work in production control in Ford Geelong and went onto a career in product engineering that has also spanned every version of the Falcon.
"Back then we didn't have computers, it was all manual labour.
"Everything we do now is just so far advanced from the way did things then."
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