Aussie Wagons HO!

Just flicking through a couple of my old folders today, and spotted a few pics that I have taken over the years at various car shows that I thought you guys might appreciate.

The first is of a luxury variant of a Falcon wagon called the "Fairmont". - As you can see, a few mods have been called for here - including the 19" rims, lowered, aftermarket headlights & body colour rear deflector. Seriously, it doesn't take much to get a Falcon looking this good...



The 'Fairmont' came with the chrome grill surround and a more luxurious interior including velour & wood grain as well as automatic climate control. From the badges on the guards, this one also came with a 5.0L V8. Unfortunately, the V8 was only rated at a rather asthmatic 175kW, but there are plenty of mods available for them as they are virtually the same as the ones fitted to your Mustangs in the early 90's before they went OHC. When Ford US stopped it's production of the 302, Ford Australia stocked up on the things so it could continue to produce Falcons right up to August 2002 with this engine.

One of the reasons Ford didn't do so well at this time was that GM were selling the Commodore wagon with the 220kW 5.7L Gen III all alloy V8 as an option. Gave some dismal excuse that Ford's OHC V8 wouldn't fit between the Falcon's shocker towers - which has since been proved to be a lie...damn Ford, always last one to the party...



Another angle... These were a really nice car, and if I had to go again, I don't think I'd have a problem going older if it was kept in really nice condition!



Of course, rear shot. You will notice how similar it is from the rear to our December 2002 'BA' Wagon - and this is for a very good reason. Basically, the rear of the car is identical to ours with a different front grafted on and different engine, with the interior and dash being the only difference from the firewall back. - Which meant that the BA wagon had to make do with AU wheel arches - kinda didn't suit, but nobody noticed...



I took these photos while at Australia's premier modified car show - called the "Street Machine Summernats" after the most popular modified car magazine over here. There are plenty of other shows that have arisen since (the Summernats has been running for well over 25 years now) but nothing comes close in atmosphere and fun times. It's held on the first weekend in January each year in our capital city, Canberra (yes, I'm sure all the politicians and greenies would like to shut it down!)

Finally, is this shot of a LTD hearse at the Summernats on the cruise route. The LTD in Australia was a stretched version of the Falcon with all the fruit from the early 70's on, this one being from the late 70's and featured a Rolls-Royce type grill. Most came with a 351 Cleveland (the largest engine available in Australia) and featured four-wheel disc brakes. - Yes, we had some of the earlier American LTD's sold too, but they were too expensive for the Australian public as a result of the exchange rate and tarrifs, and as a result are pretty rare.




Hope you enjoyed those - I took all the photos here and so there are no copyright issues for me using them. I hope it isn't too inappropriate for me to include them here...

I have some more to post up, but maybe this isn't the right place? What do you think?

 

Stop it. Right now! I've always been jealous of the Aussie Fords and Holdens. I don't understand why we in North America have rejected modern wagons.

That Fairmont is gorgeous and I'm jealous.....

 

Cool. That hearse looks stretched... Is that standard?

 

I agree fully with you Tbird. Those holdens looks like a modern Opel crossed with an US car. Standard we have 1.8l in an Omega wagon.....
Jealous!!!

 

Awesome styling! Who knew that a humble Fairmont could look so good? I'm driving real potential!

 

All hearses in Australia were individually built by various body shops around the country - so there is no 'standard' hearse design. So yes - the LTD hearse in the pic is stretched considerably over the car it is based on - which never came in a wagon either...

Just a couple more snaps - this time of what would have been a AU2 Falcon 'Futura' or 'Forte' that has been converted to XR6 spec via sports suspension, XR nose cone & headlights (H4 & H3 Hella combo - exceptionally good lighting!), matching bonnet, and the XR6 17" wheels :



This photo was taken in the wee opening hours of a All Ford Day in Sydney, New South Wales (a state of Australia) - hence the lack of people around. For the first so many years of this event - the Ford dealer cleared his yard of all his stock so that the car clubs could display their cars (from 1908 to present). Awesome day! These photos were taken on an old Minolta 101 and scanned, hence the slightly deteriorated quality...



Unfortunately, Ford Australia never made the AU Falcons in the XR variant - which was dropped in 1996 due to low sales (of the only two 'official' XR6 wagon models made, there were only 400 produced each - the ED & EF Falcon models). So a few dealers took it upon themselves to produce a few 'dealer specials' for the customers. The rear of the car remained essentially the same - which wasn't a bad thing :



These cars came with a 4.0L SOHC straight six and electronically controlled four speed auto - all up 157kW on ULP. A LPG only variant was available, with only 143kW. The XR6 sedan came in two variants : the 'HP' at 164kW, with the 'VCT' (yep, Variable Cam Timing) lifting this to 172kW. The XR8 sedan lifted this to 200kW for AU2 and 220kW for AU3 (still running the pushrod 302 'Windsor' V8) but the wagon received neither the XR6 or XR8 variants.

Hmmm - maybe I should stop now? Plenty more to come...

 

Hi.

I just found this site, and am an Aussie to. I live in Sydney, NSW.

Here are a couple of pics of my 1991 EB Fairmont Ghia Wagon Custom.





The EB falcon also runs a 4.0l straight six which evolved into the engines used in the AU, BA and now FG falcons.

I have added a few special touches to my wagon, using parts from older and newer Falcon variants.

Cheers
BenJ

 

Thats a cool lookin' wagon you have there.

I too never understood why GM won't bring other vehicles over here, so many cool cars over the years that could have been something here. Same for GM and Ford with some of their European models that I would have loved to see here in the States.

 

You all are killing me! I want one.

 

That would be the end of the 1990s GM wagons.

What years are those EB, AU, BA and FG wagons. I'd change my hood to shoehorn one of those 4.0L sixes. Was a Turbo version offered?

Man! Sign me up!

 

Hi.

EA 1988
EB 1991 - 1992
ED 1992 - 1994
EF 1994 - 1996
EL 1996 - 1998
AU 1998 - 2002
BA 2002 - 2010
FG 2010

Ford Australia discontinued wagons with the FG range.

The 4.0l OHC six was introduced in the EA as a 3.9l, but was quickly changed to the 4.0l. The engine received minor enhancements over time, with the big improvement being the Broad Band Manifold, a two stage inlet manifold, which was introduced with the EF.

The AU variant was much smoother and has a cast alloy sump and a stronger bottom end.

The BA added DOHC and 4 valves per cylinder. There is also a turbo version of this motor from factory.

It is a common upgrade here to use the EL-AU engine in the early EA-ED cars. Not so common, is the BA engine. I myself am working on this at the moment. The biggest hurdle is the engine management as the BA engine has continuously variable camshafts and an electronic throttle body.

Cheers
BenJ

 

A comes before C. We're both ex-British colonies and you guys get the good stuff.

 

Damn -that is one nice EB! Not too many get that sort of treatment - which is a shame... Some very nice touches there.

The Aussie Falcon six began it's journey as the same 200 & 250ci sixes you guys got over there (i.e. USA) with the "Australian-isation" begining in 1976 with the XC Falcon gaining a cross-flow head (i.e. having the intake & exhaust on opposite sides of the engine).

The XD Falcon of 1979 eventually gained an alloy headed version of the same motor and somewhere about there electronic ignition (although the ignition might have been XC, can't remember). The XE of 1982 gained a Webber twin-throat carby and optional multi-point fuel injection. The XF basically followed the same formula (with a little bit more power) in 1984, and was updated to ULP specs in 1986.

1988 brought the EA Falcon and a reduction of capacity from 4.1L to 3.9L (the 3.3 became 3.2) the move to SOHC saying goodbye to pushrods forever, and gained a new block along the way... A throttle body fuel injected version replaced the carby version of the old motor. Both the 3.2L and CFi versions were quickly withdrawn due to lack of patronidge. A 3.9L multi point EFi equipped Falcon 'S' with 5 speed manual would do the standing quarter in 15.5 seconds!

The 3.9 quickly became 4.0L and the hi-po XR6 made it's entry half way through the EB, cementing it's reputation for being quicker than the newly re-introduced 5.0L V8.

PART 2 of the Falcon 6 story in a few minutes...

 

PART 2 - the Falcon 6 story...

The EF Falcon of 1995 gained a "broadband" (i.e. dual intake path) intake manifold, as well as a fully counterweighted crank to try and calm some of the coarseness that the media at the time spent so much time attacking. The EF also made the switch to a micro-vee serpentine drive belt and coil pack ignition doing away with the distributor. A new style of rocker cover was introduced to help stop oil leaks which had plagued previous models.

The EL Falcon of 1996 returned to the old style distributor type electronic ignition both to save money to pay for the coming AU Falcon - and to help cut the warranty cost of the old EF coil pack ignition which was having to be replaced far more often than Ford wanted it to be...

The AU Falcon of 1998 was a HUGE step forward with a cast-alloy structural sump featuring side bolts into the bearing caps. The crank mains were also increased in size, and the crank counterweights were externally machined for greater control over piston to counterweight clearance which was tightened up for this model. The block was also revised to make space for the crank changes. Short skirt teflon coated pistons were also introduced to increase fuel economy, with the conrods being increased in length to reduce side loading on the pistons - another fuel economy measure. The result was an extremely smooth revving engine which Ford had been chasing for all those years.

But that was not all - as stronger head studs and a new two-piece graphite coated shim steel head gasket was introduced in an attempt to stop head gasket failure - which in combination with the fail-safe electronic engine protection stategy, it was more than successful at. Temperature sensing also made it's move from measuring coolant temperature, to measuring the metal temp just above #6 combustion chamber for quicker response and reliability in the face of coolant loss. Finally, coil pack ignition was re-introduced. A Variable Cam Timing variant of the 4.0L Falcon six was introduced which was fitted to the up-spec XR6, Fairmont Ghia and Fairlanes.

NEXT : the move to DOHC.

 

Part 3 : the move to DOHC

2002 was a huge year for changes to the Falcon 4.0L - building on the strengths of the AU first by moving the oil pump from it's old location (a left over of the old push-rod days) to a new Z-tech inspired crank mounted position driven off two flats on the front of the crank.

The head was changed from SOHC & 2 valves per cyl to DOHC and 4 valves per cylinder. Both cams featured VCT, which was able to be operated independant of one-another (i.e. allowing adjustment of intake & exhaust timing independant of one another) but Ford ran out of time and dollars to complete the programming side of things - so the BA phasing was in sync with one another.

Whereas the AU VCT was a simple on / off type operation, the BA phasors became continually variable. The single cast-iron camshaft (4kg) for AU was exchanged for two roll-forged hollow drilled items at 2kg each. The BA retained the previous broadband intake manifold but was updated to match the new port shape, which matched the 4.6L V8 design coming from America.

All of these changes took the AU's output of 172kW max for the VCT motor - to a more healthy 182kW. But with all these changes we all knew there was much, much, much more potential left in the old mill.

But the news I am sure you are all waiting for was for the first time in Falcon history - a factory turbo six! This took power levels to 240kW, and made use of stronger conrods and turbo specific pistons. FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) did their own version - with a tickle here and a tickle there giving 270kW and a 13 second quarter - not bad for a near 1800kg car!

But the story does not end there. The BF Falcon of 2005? (getting a little hazy here) introduced another knock sensor (now 2 in total), which in combination with independant phasing on the camshafts (finally!) stepped the output up to 195kW for the non-turbo model. Introduction of the ZF six speed auto somewhere in here also increased economy and accelaration markedly.

But the final iteration came with the FG - which unfortunately also saw the discontinuation of the Falcon wagon, which would continue to be made in BF II spec for some months until Ford finally decided to pull the pin.

For the FG, the Falcon 6 gained a plastic intake manifold for reduced weight, and with a 6 speed auto attached was able to return better fuel economy figures than GM's 3.0L V6 while retaining all the adv of the bigger motor RE torque & accelaration.

The turbo got a new single piece cast-alloy intake manifold (what the punters had been asking for for years) and stepped outputs up to 270kW for the XR6 turbo and 310kW for the FPV F6. The Fairmont Ghia was renamed the G6E - and was now available with a 270kW turbo 4.0L six attached to a ZF six speed auto - and was now quicker than a 6.0L Gen IV V8 fitted to a HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) Commodore.

But the bad news was that the only option the wagon came with in all this time was the standard atmo 4.0L six (182kW and later 195) and four speed auto - or a 4.0L straight gas (LPG) motor at only 156kW - not even a V8. All the while GM offered the Commodore wagon with the 5.7L Gen III V8 and later 6.0L - as a Calais (i.e. top level luxury), a SS (equivalent of Ford's sedan only XR8) AND as a HSV version as well! - And Ford wondered why they were losing market share for the wagons...