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1960's Ford Falcons

133 messages,  Last post on Feb 05, 2008 at 7:50 AM

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#78 of 133 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Oct 07, 2002 (1:36 pm)
The Falcon was built to compete with the VW Bug, but the idea was that Americans would never drive small cars, so they made it bigger and more powerful and charged more for it.   Still compared to a Falcon, a VW Bug was built like a Mercedes Benz, wheezy engine though it might have had. Most of the other imports were no great shakes that's true. Well, little Borgwards were good cars, and the Volvo 544and Mercedes 190s were excellent, albeit more expensive.   Basically, American car companies refused to believe that you could make money building small cars. Their slogan was "small cars = small profits"   The Japanese proved them very very wrong about ten years later. Also, the Japanese got lucky with the 1973 oil embargo and with the wonderful little Honda CVCC.    And American companies STILL didn't get it about smaller, good handling, economical cars until the 1980s.
#79 of 133 I dont know....... by crosley4 Oct 08, 2002 (4:10 am)
Mayb the big 3 got it together on small cars in the early 1990's........   I see a couple of Falcons and a Comet on the road here weekly. Actually see them on the I-10 headed to down town PHX, AZ   Besides my 62 Falcon that I see daily... LOL   Tony
#80 of 133 I would imagine... by andre1969 Oct 08, 2002 (4:40 am)
...that the Falcon, Corvair, Valiant/Lancer, and Chevy II were built not only to compete with the Beetle, but to serve double duty and go after the likes of the Rambler and Studebaker Lark. The compact Rambler was a hot enough seller to push the nameplate into the #3 slot for a few years, and the Lark gave a temporary reprieve to Studebaker's death sentence.   Just out of curiosity, what kind of demographics did the typical Beetle driver have back in, say, 1960? I'd imagine that most people bought the Beetle as a spare car, or it was bought as a car for high school and college kids who hadn't started a family yet. GM, Ford, and Chrysler seemed more intent on making a car that could substitute for a standard-sized car or even replace it, rather than merely accent it, as the Beetle seemed more suited to do.   As for the Big 2.5, sometimes I question whether or not they've gotten it together with their small cars, even today!
#81 of 133 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Oct 08, 2002 (11:05 am)
The Bettle cut across all demographics, which is what so confused the Big Three. Rich people, poor people, city people, country people, it didn't seem to matter.   Of course, the VW advertising was truly brilliant, and this played a large role is re-fashioning American drivers' attitudes about small cars.   In this sense, VW probably helped the American compacts. I say this because resistance to small cars was so fierce in the 1950s that no American company dared to try and sell one, even Falcon sized.   You'd think that when cars as cheap, bad and homely as the Rambler sold in large numbers, that the Big Three would have awakened and said "My god, if they can sell THAT, we can sell anything!". Hard to believe, but people were buying Rambler Americans with flathead engines in the 60s!!   I remember these cars. The labels for the dash knobs were actually glue on decals, and right side sun visor was optional.
#82 of 133 figured I'd stagger in here.... by bretfraz Oct 08, 2002 (11:19 am)
And talk Falcons with y'all.   The first car I ever owned was a 1964 Falcon Sprint. Bought it about 2 weeks after getting my licence for $575. It had a 260 V8, 2 speed Fordomatic, buckets, and all the Sprint trim (chrome engine kit, center console, fake woodgrain steering wheel, wire wheel covers, etc).   One of the many things I learned about old cars is that they always seemed to need new batteries and radiators. I got pretty good at replacing those after a few cars....   Anyway, after a clean up and whatnot my best friend and I took it cruising on Van Nuys Blvd. This was 1981 and the whole cruising phase was winding down on places like Van Nuys Blvd due to massive police presence. Still, growing up a car crazy kid in LA meant Van Nuys was a critical right of passage and had to be cruised; kinda like earning your Combat Infantrymen's Badge.   On the way home I "raced" a friend who had a '68 Camaro SS with a 396 in it. Driving north on I-5 leaving the Valley I was doing about 105 and the car was allll over the place. My friend must have been doing 130+ because he completely blew my doors off. Ahhhhhh, youth.   I kept that car a good long time. Had it repainted in the original color (that 60's gold color), had some interior work done, and eventually put in a 289 and C-4. It was fun to drive in a wild and wooly sort of way. Pressing on the manual brakes was a real adventure - you could feel each wheel cylinder doing it's job one at a time and with 3/4 turn loose steering, it was a real chore bringing that car to a straight stop.   My roommate eventually killed it by driving a U-Haul truck into the LR 1/4 panel and messing up the best part of the car, the body, which was arrow straight and totally rust free being a CA car its whole life (it was built in San Jose and was sold originally in the SF Valley). Ended up selling it to a parts guy for $1000, IIRC.   Still, Falcon's are pretty cool in their own right. I get the urge every once in awhile to dig up another one but there are soooo many cars vying for my attention.   Great thread.
#83 of 133 Good story bretfraz by carnut4 Oct 08, 2002 (12:07 pm)
I remembered a story myself, after my last post here. When my sister and former brother-in-law were in college, his car was a 1960 Comet 4door with a 3spd stick. Now if you think a Falcon was gutless, try the heavier Comet! Same car with those weird fins and extra length. Anyway, my sister had borrowed that car once to drive home from Stockton, CA to San Francisco-a 2 hr drive or so. On one part of the trip, she came to a hill, and had to shift to second gear to make it up the hill. As she shoved the lever in to second, it came right out of the column in her hand, leaving her stranded. Had to get towed. My bro-in-law traded that car soon after, for, um, a 61 Rambler American 4dr, flathead 6 and 3sp stick. This was in 1968. Some of us used to joke about the cars he had in those days, and the stories that went with them...
#84 of 133 1961 Dodge lancer by crosley4 Oct 08, 2002 (4:43 pm)
I own one of those too. A 4 door at that!
#85 of 133 KILLER! by bretfraz Oct 08, 2002 (5:28 pm)
That car look awesome!   Now all you need are American Racing 17" wheels, a little more rake, have Ernie Elliott build you a 340 stroker, pop in a Jerico Slamshifter (do they still make those?), about 500W of stereo, some flames.............   But as it is it looks very cool.   EDIT: This is the tranny I'm thinking of: http://www.jericoperformance.com/products/clutchtype4speed.html
#86 of 133 by speedshift Oct 08, 2002 (9:10 pm)
I think I would have bought a Valiant or Lancer too, instead of a Falcon. The 225 was a strong engine and it could be modified. And the styling, whatever the purist might think of it, isn't appliance-like.
#87 of 133 Mayb I should have mentioned by crosley4 Oct 10, 2002 (6:31 pm)
The Dodge Lancer I posted the pic of is powered by a 350 chevy with a Ford rear diff. It will push your eyes back into their sockets.   I have all 3 of the major manufacturers covered in the car........LOL

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