Ford bet the Falcon's future on staying big while Holden shrank the Kingswood into the Opel-based Commodore.
Median 89 hp across 202 similar cars
Lead trim: XD 3.3 L six · up to 200 hp
Ford Falcon (Australia)1979–1982
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Ford Falcon (Australia) yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactFord bet the Falcon's future on staying big while Holden shrank the Kingswood into the Opel-based Commodore.
The Ford Falcon (XD) is a full-size car produced by Ford Australia from March 1979 to March 1982, the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Falcon, also including the luxury-oriented Fairmont (XD). Released in March 1979 to replace the XC, its design was a major gamble by Ford Australia in a time of rising fuel prices, having opted to retain the full-size Falcon platform rather than follow arch-rival Holden, which had replaced its large Kingswood with the considerably smaller Opel-derived Commodore. During the 1970s Ford Australia had evaluated both the European Ford Granada and the American Ford Fairmont as replacements but ruled them out on the costs of adapting them to harsher Australian road conditions and towing requirements and of developing long-wheelbase luxury variants for the Fairlane and LTD; instead it sought fuel-economy improvements with the existing platform through lighter materials, including high-strength low-alloy steel for door intrusion bars and wheels and plastics for bumpers and the fuel tank. It kept the same wheelbase as the XC with a 20 mm wider front track and a new, smaller body, in sedan, wagon, coupé utility and panel van forms, with 3.3- and 4.1-litre sixes and 4.9- and 5.8-litre V8s and three-speed automatic or Borg Warner three- and four-speed manual transmissions; it is related to the Fairlane (ZJ) and LTD (FC).
Collectors Spotted in the Ford Falcon (Australia) Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Ford Falcon (Australia) yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
4 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD 3.3 L six | 1979–1982 | 3.3 L Inline-6 | 113 hp | 170 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| XD 4.1 L six | 1979–1982 | 4.1 L Inline-6 | 126 hp | 225 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| XD 4.9 L V8 | 1979–1982 | 4.9 L V8 | 188 hp | 254 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| XD 5.8 L V8 | 1979–1982 | 5.8 L V8 | 200 hp | 306 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
One GT-F 351 went to the NSW Highway Patrol, then had its engine tuned by racing legend Dick Johnson to 600kW, making it more powerful than an actual V8 Supercar and Australia's most powerful police car.
When the old 5.4-litre V8 could no longer meet emissions rules, FPV swapped in a supercharged 5.0-litre "Miami" V8 — reviving the GT and giving the GS a reason to exist after the XR8 was cancelled.
Ford dropped the Fairmont name entirely on the FG and named the whole generation after it anyway: FG stands for Fairmont Ghia.
FPV revived a name retired since the '70s for this run: just 250 GS sedans and 75 utes, built with a detuned version of the GT's V8 as a tribute edition.
Ford's performance arm built a one-off engine just for this car: the Boss 302, created specifically for the GT Cobra special edition and not used in any other FPV road car before it.
FPV's BF-era F6 "R-Spec" Typhoon was the only limited-edition turbo FPV ever built, and the only R-Spec with a turbo under the bonnet at all.
The BF replaced its old Tibbe car key with a German Huf twin-track lock system, a small security upgrade lost in a mechanical overhaul.
FPV's Boss 290 V8 in the GT, GT-P and Pursuit borrowed its cylinder heads from the limited-edition 2000 Mustang Cobra R — American muscle-car hardware in an Australian Falcon.
The BA's XR6 Turbo made 240 kW from a straight six, more power than the V8 Fairmont sitting next to it on the line.
Ford Australia weighed importing a Mazda 929 or a Ford Scorpio before spending A$700 million to keep building its own Falcon.
Ford spent A$40 million just to stretch the E-series body one more generation, making the EL a stopgap that outsold expectations.
The EF Falcon was the first Falcon with polycarbonate headlight lenses instead of glass, lighter and shatter-resistant.
Ford made over 280 changes for the ED yet gave the XR6 and XR8 a four-headlight face nothing else in the range wore.
Ford brought the V8 back for the EB after a nine-year absence, and marked it with a 250-unit anniversary GT.
Ford built the EA Falcon with a front bench seat just so taxis could still fit three across, front and back.
The XF was only meant to be a stopgap facelift, yet it became Ford Australia's best-selling Falcon ever at 278,101 built.
The XE Falcon quietly dropped V8 power altogether, and Ford wouldn't offer one again until the EB arrived in 1991.
Ford bet the Falcon's future on staying big while Holden shrank the Kingswood into the Opel-based Commodore.
Ford spent $16 million just to claw back power the XC lost to new emissions rules, and still called it a ten percent gain.
A special Sovereign Edition XB marked Ford Australia's 50th anniversary in 1974, buried quietly within the regular range.
The XA Falcon Hardtop wasn't purely Australian engineering — it shared its floor sheet metal with the American Ford Torino SportsRoof.
Ford built 432 four-wheel-drive utes on the XY platform in 1972, a one-year oddity buried among 1,557 GTs.
The 1969 XW Falcon GT didn't mess around: Ford dropped in a 351-cubic-inch Canadian-built Windsor V8 making 291 hp, plus 'Super Roo' stripes running the full length of the car.
The XT Falcon finished third in the 1968 London–Sydney Marathon and still took home the Teams Prize.
Ford marketed the XR Falcon as "Mustang-bred" and backed it up with a factory GT that won Bathurst outright in 1967.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.