Ford XD Falcon GL Wagon
The XD was the first iteration of the project known as 'Blackwood' - the new Falcon launched in 1979. The result was a large family car, designed to look as modern and compact as possible, despite being based on the preceding XA-XC Falcon platform, itself derived from the US model of 1966.
The car had a very modern appearance for the time, very crisp edged, in the manner of Pininfarina and Italdesign designs seen in Europe on cars such as the FIAT 130 and the VW Golf.
The fuel crises during the 1970s had led to a number of studies to develop a smaller, lighter car, potentially in combination with Mazda. Indecision (a common Ford malady) led to a re-skin of the existing car, despite an observed swing to smaller cars. The Blackwood was fitted with 3.3L and 4.1L inline six-cylinder engines, along with 5.0L and 5.8L V8 engines.
The main Australian competitor, Holden, had developed a new car, derived from the GM Europe V-Var platform, debuting in 1978, including a 4-cylinder engine, had Ford sweating out the remainder of the year, with ever-reducing sales of the outgoing XC Falcon model.
Despite these headwinds, there was still a perceived customer need for a broad rear seat, an advantage that Ford made the most of in advertising materials for the new car.
Enter the 1980s, and despite a general movement to smaller cars, a reduction in fuel prices, along with fuel efficiency gains to the Falcon engine (in conjunction with Honda), let to an upswing in Falcon sales (at the expense of the Commodore, delivering Ford Australia market leadership for the first time.
The indecision that had put the company at risk had delivered the car that the market had wanted once the fuel crisis had subsided. Ford enjoyed healthy profits throughout the life of Blackwood (1979-1988), while Holden had required significant cash-injections from its GM parent to provide the funds to develop a bigger car as a more direct competitor to the Falcon (the VN Commodore) in late 1988.
Shown here is the XD Falcon wagon model (with optional driving lights), which drove on a longer wheelbase than the regular sedan model. This was popular with families, as the second row could be optioned with four seatbelt positions. Like a few models this month, a model just like this was owned by family friends at the time.
An curious little anecdote. For some reason my father (who was otherwise quite mechanically practical) when offered to drive the car at some point, and for inexplicable reason, was unable to drive the car, as he did not know how to operate the automatic transmission controls - odd that I can remember this detail from 35 years ago.
Ford XD Falcon GL Wagon
The XD was the first iteration of the project known as 'Blackwood' - the new Falcon launched in 1979. The result was a large family car, designed to look as modern and compact as possible, despite being based on the preceding XA-XC Falcon platform, itself derived from the US model of 1966.
The car had a very modern appearance for the time, very crisp edged, in the manner of Pininfarina and Italdesign designs seen in Europe on cars such as the FIAT 130 and the VW Golf.
The fuel crises during the 1970s had led to a number of studies to develop a smaller, lighter car, potentially in combination with Mazda. Indecision (a common Ford malady) led to a re-skin of the existing car, despite an observed swing to smaller cars. The Blackwood was fitted with 3.3L and 4.1L inline six-cylinder engines, along with 5.0L and 5.8L V8 engines.
The main Australian competitor, Holden, had developed a new car, derived from the GM Europe V-Var platform, debuting in 1978, including a 4-cylinder engine, had Ford sweating out the remainder of the year, with ever-reducing sales of the outgoing XC Falcon model.
Despite these headwinds, there was still a perceived customer need for a broad rear seat, an advantage that Ford made the most of in advertising materials for the new car.
Enter the 1980s, and despite a general movement to smaller cars, a reduction in fuel prices, along with fuel efficiency gains to the Falcon engine (in conjunction with Honda), let to an upswing in Falcon sales (at the expense of the Commodore, delivering Ford Australia market leadership for the first time.
The indecision that had put the company at risk had delivered the car that the market had wanted once the fuel crisis had subsided. Ford enjoyed healthy profits throughout the life of Blackwood (1979-1988), while Holden had required significant cash-injections from its GM parent to provide the funds to develop a bigger car as a more direct competitor to the Falcon (the VN Commodore) in late 1988.
Shown here is the XD Falcon wagon model (with optional driving lights), which drove on a longer wheelbase than the regular sedan model. This was popular with families, as the second row could be optioned with four seatbelt positions. Like a few models this month, a model just like this was owned by family friends at the time.
An curious little anecdote. For some reason my father (who was otherwise quite mechanically practical) when offered to drive the car at some point, and for inexplicable reason, was unable to drive the car, as he did not know how to operate the automatic transmission controls - odd that I can remember this detail from 35 years ago.