The Ford Falcon (XD) is a

full-size car Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. Af ...

that was produced by

Ford Australia Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford Motor Company. It was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Comp ...

from 1979 to 1982. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

and also included the Ford Fairmont (XD)—the luxury-oriented version.''Ford XD Falcon technical specifications'', www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
Retrieved on 5 June 2009

Overview

The Falcon XD was released in March 1979Tony Davis, "1979 Ford Falcon XD", Aussie Cars, 1987, page 156 replacing the

Falcon XC The Ford Falcon (XC) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1976 to 1979. It was the third and last iteration of the third generation of the Ford Falcon (Australia), Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XC)—the luxu ...

. It featured a new smaller body with no reduction in interior space. Stylistically, the XD was strongly influenced by the European Ford Granada Mark II of 1977. The only common components shared between the Granada and the Falcon however were the headlights. Unlike its predecessor, the XD range did not include a 2-door Hardtop model. The base engine offered in the XD range was a 3.3-litre six cylinder engine. Other choices were a six cylinder, a eight cylinder and a "Cleveland" eight cylinder engine. Transmissions available were a three speed column shift manual for six cylinder versions, the popular four speed manual floor shift, and the most popular transmission choice, the three speed automatic with the selector lever located either on the steering column or the floor.Ford XD Falcon
Retrieved from www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au on 5 June 2009 All engines had a carburettor with electronic ignition. In June 1980 the 3.3 and 4.1 inline six's iron cylinder head was replaced by an alloy head. A total of 197,293 XD Falcons were built prior to the XD being replaced by the Falcon XE in March 1982.

Model range

The XD series was offered in five models:Ford XD Falcon brochure
Retrieved from www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au on 5 June 2009 * Falcon GL sedan * Falcon GL wagon * Fairmont sedan * Fairmont wagon * Fairmont Ghia sedan Commercial variants of the XD Falcon were released in September 1979 with four models offered: * Falcon utility * Falcon van * Falcon GL utility * Falcon GL van File:1981 Ford Falcon (XD) GL station wagon (2015-08-09) 03.jpg, Falcon GL wagon File:1981 Ford Falcon (XD) GL ESP sedan (2009-05-31).jpg, Falcon GL sedan with ESP option File:1979 Ford Fairmont (XD) sedan (2015-11-13) 01.jpg, Fairmont sedan File:1979 Ford Fairmont (XD) Ghia sedan (2010-12-10) 02.jpg, Fairmont Ghia sedan File:Fairmont Ghia XD ESP.jpg, Fairmont Ghia sedan with ESP option File:Ford Falcon XG GL Ute (16016652000).jpg, Falcon GL utility (with "S Pack" option) File:1981 Ford XD Falcon GL Utility (25146281171).jpg, Falcon GL utility File:Ford Falcon XD Sundowner Panel Van (16017945469).jpg, Falcon GL van (with Sundowner option)

S Pack option

An "S Pack" option was introduced at launch in March 1979. It included slotted wheels, pinstriping, "S" badging, wool blend cloth trim, digital clock, driving lights, blacked out paint treatments and sports instrumentation which included a

tachometer A tachometer (revolution-counter, tach, rev-counter, RPM gauge) is an instrument measuring the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated anal ...

.XD Falcon (1979 - 1982)
Retrieved 17 April 2015

European Sports Pack (ESP) option

A European Sports Pack (ESP), noted as option 54, was introduced in June 1980.Blackwood, the XD Falcon, ateupwithmotor.com
Retrieved 18 April 2015 It was offered as an option on the Falcon GL Sedan,Ford Cars Catalogue September 1980, Ford Sales Company of Australia Limited and included "Bathurst" globe alloy wheels, sports suspension with

Bilstein shock absorbers ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and E ...

, "Scheel" front seats, red lit instrument panel and clock and the 4.1 litre alloy head six cylinder engine. A European Sports Pack was also offered as an option on the Fairmont Ghia''Ford Fairmont, Fairmont Ghia'' (sales brochure for XD series Ford Fairmont & Fairmont Ghia), Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited, March 1981, page 7 from January 1981.''Ford Falcon ESP - Ford's Sleeper'', www.motoring.com.au
Retrieved on 17 April 2015

Limited Edition Fairmont Ghia

In late 1981 a Limited Edition run of 500 Fairmont Ghias were offered. This limited edition offered distinctive features over and above the high specification already found in the Fairmont Ghia. They were two-tone in colour, with either Galaxy Blue or Dark Burgundy over Aztec Gold paint. The exterior also featured the Marchal fog lights from the ESP and 14-inch "Volante" style alloy wheels made by Globe. The interior borrowed a few luxury items from the larger FC LTD like power seats and a padded centre console. They were available with the 4.1 litre alloy head six cylinder engine and optional V8's.

Sundowner van

A Sundowner van was offered with standard equipment as in GL van but also including the 4.1-litre engine, four-speed manual floor shift transmission, slotted steel wheels, sports instrumentation, front and rear spoilers, driving lights and exterior striping.

Motorsport

When Ford Australia pulled out of racing in 1973 designer Wayne Draper saw an opportunity to provide Falcon racing teams with aerodynamic kits. He set up an aftermarket body styling company with Bob McWilliam, but remained a silent partner to avoid conflicts with Ford management. Between 1976 and 1978 they produced front splitters and rear spoilers for XB and XC Falcon Hardtop race cars. Draper, who was a Senior Designer for the XD-XF Falcon, purchased the rights to the "HO" nameplate, as "homologated options". Draper then designed an aero kit and tested scale models of an XD Falcon in Ford's

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

. This became known as "XD Phase 5". The

Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Motorsport Australia, formerly the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), is the nationally recognised governing and sanctioning body for four-wheeled motorsport in Australia. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l'Au ...

implemented a few changes (including using Dick Johnson's rear spoiler rather than the Phase 5 wing) to the cars for homologation and HO/Phase Auto then produced the 25 cars required to allow the XD to race as a

Group C Touring Car In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with t ...

Dick Johnson drove a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

Falcon XD, commonly called "Tru-Blu" (due to the cars blue paint and the name of the steel products from the main sponsor - Palmer Tube Mills), to win the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Australian Touring Car Championships. Johnson and co-driver John French also won the 1981 James Hardie 1000 driving an XD when race was stopped after a multi-car accident on lap 121 of 163. For the first time in the history of the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

, the race officials declared the race over as more than 2/3 had been completed. French was driving the car at the time of the accident and was well clear in first place, gradually increasing his lead on the second placed XD Falcon of Bob Morris (co-driver John Fitzpatrick). The Falcon was rated at and is now part of the David Bowden collection.

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four win ...

also raced an XD Falcon in the 1980 Bathurst 1000 when delays in approval of his

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...

meant he would have to wait until the following season in 1981. Ford Australia had announced that they would not be taking part in racing due to a disagreement with CAMS over homologating the XD, which left AMR with no program and budget. By the end of the ATCC, Moffat still had no vehicle and it eventuated that he might miss the upcoming Bathurst 1000. Six weeks out from the race, Moffat put together a deal to run a yellow XD Falcon. Lack of time limited its development and Moffat had to essentially use the practice sessions at Bathurst to test the car. Recurring oil problems with the

dry-sump A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conve ...

system could not be eliminated during practice and on race day the vehicle was a DNF after only 2 laps due to the failure of the oil system. This was the last time Ford racing legend Allan Moffat would race a Falcon for many years and the yellow XD is also part of the David Bowden collection along with many of his other racing Falcons.

References

External links

* {{Ford Falcon XD XD Falcon Cars of Australia Sedans Station wagons Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Vans Cars introduced in 1979 1970s cars 1980s cars