THE SEVENTIES Options

[wonkipop]

out for my saturday morning long distance grocery walk.

........lo and behold.



1973 ford falcon XA.
pepper red. GT. 351 cleveland.
(aussie ford that is).
however ......styled in detroit. last of the aussie fords styled in the USA.
put me in a good mood all day.
owner was standing nearby and i had a quick chat.
freshly restored by him.
cracked a joke about it having its nose up like a 914.
......he knew what a 914 was and asked me why i said that.
told him i had one that was one shade of orange off his pepper red.
or was that pepper orange?
ie phoenix red. or is that phoenix orange. he knew what phoenix red was.

car blokes. top blokes.



70s. top era. go fast stripes. wild colors. emotionally crippled cars suffering from epa strangulation pillow suffocation.
sure beats the 21st century. what shade of grey is that again. oh yeah. mirage grey.
ah i thought it was saharan grey. nice polar silver SUV there mate. its not silver. its uber unsaturated black. tops. beaudiful touch screen you got there where the gear lever used to be. yeah. gear levers are for pensioners. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Jett]

Cool!

[SO.O.C914er]

The seventies was my jam!! High school daze and so many cool cars. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[76-914]

It looks like the white car in the "Brokenwood" series. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[StarBear]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[KELTY360]

Very cool. A couple of decades ago I organized a Mercury/Lincoln/Ford car show where 7 Falcon GTs entered. It was thought to be the largest gathering of Aussie Falcons in the US. Awesome cars.

[wonkipop]

It looks like the white car in the "Brokenwood" series. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

i recall seeing that tv show at some stage.
that was a holden kingswood - rival homegrown GM product - if my memory is correct.

ford falcon, holden kingswood and chrysler valient were your basic aussie family cars right through the 60s and 70s.

[Maltese Falcon]

Recently at the Toluca Lake Bob's Big Boy cruise-in, a proper Mad Max re-creation / photos by my bud Derek W.

[Maltese Falcon]

...view as she 'Blew by you

[Maltese Falcon]

Proper pipes too !

[Maltese Falcon]

RHD and the 'Book em Dano (aka Hawaii five Oh) blue lawman light (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[wonkipop]

@Maltese Falcon

yeah the two door hard top (mad max car) is an absolute classic.
possibly one of the most beautiful fords anywhere, any market?
big swollen rear guards to take the rubber for mount panorama bathurst 500.
literally designed to win that race and then sold on the street.
and ford surprised themselves. sold more than they ever expected.




if you knew how to fill out the options order book the right way you could basically get ford to build you one off the production line to bathurst spec. apart from the specially welded bodies the team cars had.

prior to that you could pretty much walk into the show room and buy what was called a GTHO with the earlier model cars. the HO was the bathurst car. the supercar scare put an end to that around 1971. similar to the death of the muscle car in the USA with insurance and epa standards.
the 4 door GTHO phase 4 looked pretty much like the red falcon i posted photo of.
only 4 ever built before the program was cancelled due to the threatened government legislation. i believe 3 of the 4 survive and are all held tightly by collectors here in aus.
thats the one to have. absolutely brutal car dressed in 4 door family car sheep clothing (sort of sheep clothing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )

so the hardtops kind of became the secret GTHO. strictly speaking ford made it appear you could no longer buy the bathurst car in the showroom to appease the govt. legislators.

[wonkipop]

@Maltese Falcon

i posted photo above for your interest.
yes Jackie Ickx drove at bathurst.
alan moffat talked him into coming here in 77 to do the 500 as his co driver.
he was one of the first international drivers to haul himself all the way down here to do the race.
back then it was an obscure provincial event.
of course its gone on to have legendary status and all the international drivers want to pit themselves against the mountain.

https://practicalmotoring.com.au/interview/jacky-ickx/

would have been a shock for j i to wrestle that big ford down the mountain with its crap brakes compared to his life with nimble porsches at le mans. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[bkrantz]

Wonk, nice find and story--thanks.

My car heroes of the 70s, including some I owned:
Porsche 914 (of course)
Fiat X1/9
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 930
Datsun 240Z
Chevy Camaro (Gen 2)
Chevy Chevelle SS

BTW, for those who were not there or have not studied automotive history, the 1970s was a difficult time for cars and fans. Initial emission requirements were ramped up leading to all kinds of crap bolted on to motors. Giant crash bumpers were bolted onto fronts and rears. Safety systems included all sorts of belts, buzzers, lights, ignition locks, etc. Cars got fatter, uglier, slower, and just not fun.

[JeffBowlsby]

Wonk, nice find and story--thanks.

My car heroes of the 70s, including some I owned:
Porsche 914 (of course)
Fiat X1/9
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 930
Datsun 240Z
Chevy Camaro (Gen 2)
Chevy Chevelle SS

BTW, for those who were not there or have not studied automotive history, the 1970s was a difficult time for cars and fans. Initial emission requirements were ramped up leading to all kinds of crap bolted on to motors. Giant crash bumpers were bolted onto fronts and rears. Safety systems included all sorts of belts, buzzers, lights, ignition locks, etc. Cars got fatter, uglier, slower, and just not fun.

...and don't forget cat converters starting in 1975.

[Artfrombama]

out for my saturday morning long distance grocery walk.

........lo and behold.



1973 ford falcon XA.
pepper red. GT. 351 cleveland.
(aussie ford that is).
however ......styled in detroit.

Always loved the Aussie Falcons, thought they looked like a cross between a Torino and a mach1 Mustang

[wonkipop]

out for my saturday morning long distance grocery walk.

........lo and behold.



1973 ford falcon XA.
pepper red. GT. 351 cleveland.
(aussie ford that is).
however ......styled in detroit.

Always loved the Aussie Falcons, thought they looked like a cross between a Torino and a mach1 Mustang

right on the money there art.
they are a slightly shrunk down 1970 and half USA falcon (only slightly reduced) with a healthy dose of torino thrown in the mix. the detroit styling team were on a roll around that time. the mavericks are like a shrunken aussie falcon a bit.
all really nice cars.

myself i have always had a soft spot for the mavericks.
only a few rare private import examples floating around in australia.
i like em better than mustangs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[wonkipop]

Wonk, nice find and story--thanks.

My car heroes of the 70s, including some I owned:
Porsche 914 (of course)
Fiat X1/9
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 930
Datsun 240Z
Chevy Camaro (Gen 2)
Chevy Chevelle SS

BTW, for those who were not there or have not studied automotive history, the 1970s was a difficult time for cars and fans. Initial emission requirements were ramped up leading to all kinds of crap bolted on to motors. Giant crash bumpers were bolted onto fronts and rears. Safety systems included all sorts of belts, buzzers, lights, ignition locks, etc. Cars got fatter, uglier, slower, and just not fun.

very tasteful collection of cars you have had there my man.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Jett]

Wonk, nice find and story--thanks.

My car heroes of the 70s, including some I owned:
Porsche 914 (of course)
Fiat X1/9
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 930
Datsun 240Z
Chevy Camaro (Gen 2)
Chevy Chevelle SS

BTW, for those who were not there or have not studied automotive history, the 1970s was a difficult time for cars and fans. Initial emission requirements were ramped up leading to all kinds of crap bolted on to motors. Giant crash bumpers were bolted onto fronts and rears. Safety systems included all sorts of belts, buzzers, lights, ignition locks, etc. Cars got fatter, uglier, slower, and just not fun.

+1 only missing a Datsun 510 and Capri w/302!…
very tasteful collection of cars you have had there my man.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[930cabman]

Wonk, nice find and story--thanks.

My car heroes of the 70s, including some I owned:
Porsche 914 (of course)
Fiat X1/9
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 930
Datsun 240Z
Chevy Camaro (Gen 2)
Chevy Chevelle SS

BTW, for those who were not there or have not studied automotive history, the 1970s was a difficult time for cars and fans. Initial emission requirements were ramped up leading to all kinds of crap bolted on to motors. Giant crash bumpers were bolted onto fronts and rears. Safety systems included all sorts of belts, buzzers, lights, ignition locks, etc. Cars got fatter, uglier, slower, and just not fun.

I would add an early 70 or 71 Boss 302, but the 914 and 930 for sure