1970 1/2 Ford Falcon Station wagon - $12000

http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/4287024823.html

 

Guy thinks he has something rare/special. I'm thinking not so much. Says 10,000 of these were made, but only 500 like his - 2-barrel 302/cruiseomatic. I'm thinking that was probably the most common engine/trans combo in these. Guy's blowing smoke......

 

Krash, the seller is not blowing smoke. Check the back issues of Collectable Automobile. They did an article on this half-year model only. When the Maverick came into the market, the Falcon name was moved up to replace the old Fairlane model for half the production year. As it was the very, very base model, and with only 6 months on the market, they were very scarce indeed. Not many bought them as the up-charge to move to the Torino was not very great at all. Only those watching every penny, or going for the highest performance variant bought the Falcon. There could well have been but 500 wagons build in the 6 months. I'm actually surprised there were that many!

 

I agree with Mike. 70 1/2 Falcons are very hard to find. I'm wondering where he got his numbers from. I can't believe that 10,000 70 1/2 Falcon station wagons were produced. That sounds high.

 

Looks like the seller is right. I found the following numbers for 1970:

Fairlane 500 wagon - 13,613
Torino wagon - 10,613
Torino Squire wagon - 13,166

And for 1970 1/2:

Falcon wagon - 10,539

 

It is rare, Info is a bit hard to find though. A couple links I read the inline 6 was the standard engine but you could order up to a 429 CJ.

Link below says 10538 Falcon wagons were built in 70......

http://www.torinocobra.com/production_numbers.htm

The only numbers as what engines I could find was in this sleeper.....

http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/11/2...ing-lot-the-1970-5-ford-falcon-429-cobra-jet/

 

wow that is crazy, a seller knowing what they have, and what it's worth?? crazy!

 

I'm still saying BS.........
The problem with this 1/2 year Falcon is that it looks exactly like the base model Fairlane, except for the emblems. That to me makes it not so 'exclusive'. The seller claims there were only '500 spec'd out like mine....'. Well, so what? Doesn't make it worth a bunch. Now if you had a Cobra jet 429 in it when it came off the assembly line, that would be a different story.

 

I think everyone has a bit of the point here. I don't know what "specs" the seller is taking into account to get his number of 500 out of a total production of 10,000. Do records of all the different installed drivetrain combos, options, etc. actually exist? Does he mean there were only 500 '70 1/2 Falcon wagons with 302 AT, PS, PB white built on a Tuesday by a guy named Phil?

Also, did Ford use a C6 behind a 302 at this time? Every small block and 2V Cleveland I know of back then had either the C4 or the FMX.

By the way, the engine choices were exactly the same as for the Torino wagon (250, 302 351 -- 2V or 4V -- and two flavors of 429).

True, even by the total production, it's a rare car, but rarity alone doesn't make it extra valuable.

I can say this, there's no way I'd pay $12K (even if I had it to spend) for a '70 1/2 Falcon on which anything needed "attention" and on which several things had been altered from stock (wheels, tires, exhaust, intake...). $6K, maybe.

Now, if you really want rare, look for a regular '70 Falcon wagon. If I remember correctly, there were something like 1600 Futuras produced, and I'm sure not many more base models. And you could still get the "rare" 302 AT, PS, PB setup.

 

Exactly, I found out how many 'wagons" with the Falcon name were made, but could not find any info on how many with what engine. So does the seller have a Marti Report to back up his drive train claims?

The way I understand it, the Falcon name was used because the new smaller Maverick was not going to be ready intill 71. Dang rites it's a lower model Torino and nothing more. Base model rite down to 2 and 4 door post sedans and no fastback roof that the Torino had.



The Torino did have a Coupe (Torino 500) though ...... so excluding the name, Ford offered 3 roof lines for the same model that year.










I'd still like the wagon, just because of the underdog plain jane of it, but not for the $12k price, not even close.

 

I think this is a case where rarity does not necessarily mean desirability. I think it is a nice looking car and I always liked the 70 Torino body style, but I don't see the 70-1/2 Falcon as anything more than an oddity. The seller doesn't say how the car is spec'd out so there were only 500 made like that, but you could probably say that about almost every car if you get into every option. The fact that there were 10,000 total built doesn't make it extremely rare either.

Overall it is a 302-2bbl Torino wagon with a different name and an interior that is just "okay". Now if it were a 429 4 speed car or something along those lines then I'd say he's got something.

 

Actually, the Torino 500 was a '71 only model, and the Maverick, as I recall, was introduced as a late '69. I really can't figure Ford's rationale for the 70 1/2 Falcon (sometimes called the Torino Falcon) -- unless it was to use up a lot of Torino Cobra parts and leftover parts from the soon-to-be-discontinued Fairlane 500.

You're right about Torino having 3 different roof lines, but it was for '71, not '70. I guess technically, you could say there were 4 different roof lines, if you included the convertible.
That's a far cry from today where most cars are offered in one body style, one roof line only.

 

Yeah, The Torino 500 was a 71, in 70 it was under the Fairlane name....