Last Falcon Ute Built today

[boss351290]

The falcon is a great car, but too many things changed all at once that all went against the falcon and commodore as well to a lesser degree.

[jgmdat]

Very sad. Have had every model ute since 1990, currently have a GS. No idea what to get next.

[sr71]

Hmm. It seems strange to be feeling sad about this. Im a Ute guy, so today was, in my eyes, Ford Australia's last day.
Best wishes to the Ford employees, with Gratitude and Respect.
Thank you for a Ute with Soul.

My Dream Garage is a Supercar, and a collection of Ford Utes.
When I die, my Casket will be in a Ford Falcon Ute!

[mr smith]

Originally Posted by au2000

Yes, I'm sure there are no annoyed or cut employees working in the plant thinking hell I better not take pics for fear of loosing my job

Getting the sack at the last minute would mean no redundancy payout, so not the smartest move if that was their thinking.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by mr smith

Getting the sack at the last minute would mean no redundancy payout, so not the smartest move if that was their thinking.

Doesn't seem to bother these workers. At least two taking pictures.

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/0...69b6dc965268ca

[Express]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Doesn't seem to bother these workers. At least two taking pictures.

I agree.

With production closing down forever and a product that is already in the public domain why on earth would you sack anyone for taking a photo.

In fact if I was the production manager I’d want my staff to go out on as happy a note as possible given the sad circumstances.

[roddy1960]

G'day , Great topic.. As each day passes and that obscure date to the unknowing or uncaring of October 7th approaches the actual reality of what we are REALLY losing starts to hit home for me. We will be at the total mercy of overseas manufacturers with not much in the way of Australian -isation...I read once about the original Ford Falcon that came here set up for U.S. conditions and it took Aussie ingenuity and upgrading to make it the legend it finished up. America wiped it like a dirty bum in 1970 and it took us to make it that legendary Aussie car..Some on AFF say we have always been beholding to Ford US and Canada , maybe we have but we may also have been decent contributors to the Ford worldwide in lots of ways..No point banging on about it cos' it's preaching to the already converted but the Ute will be missed just as much as the sedan , station wagon and the panel van.. Falcon at one time had ..Sedan , coupe , station wagon , panel van and the mighty ute..Not too many other platforms could boast that fact..Now , that's Australian innovation if ever there was..RIP the Ute and soon the car..
REALLY SAD ALL ROUND FOR ALL OF US...Cheers Rod..

[Pepscobra]

There'll never be anything else like it again:

[axe]

Oldie but a goodie.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/110272/2...rgring/photos/

I bet people would be queuing up if BMW actually did it because it's European so it must be good unlike the rubbish we manufacture in Australia.

[78xcgxl]

Originally Posted by axe

Oldie but a goodie.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/110272/2...rgring/photos/

I bet people would be queuing up if BMW actually did it because it's European so it must be good unlike the rubbish we manufacture in Australia.

LOL it's simply rubbish. Utes that are not of cab chassis design are just useless toys. Best thing ford ever did was go to a Cab chassis design in the AU model or else the Ute would of been dead 10 years ago.

Love my FG Mk2 Turbo Ute it is the best car i have ever owned and never see my self getting rid of it. I am in the process of removing the tub and installing a tray and canopy setup

[menil]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day , Great topic.. As each day passes and that obscure date to the unknowing or uncaring of October 7th approaches the actual reality of what we are REALLY losing starts to hit home for me. We will be at the total mercy of overseas manufacturers with not much in the way of Australian -isation...I read once about the original Ford Falcon that came here set up for U.S. conditions and it took Aussie ingenuity and upgrading to make it the legend it finished up. America wiped it like a dirty bum in 1970 and it took us to make it that legendary Aussie car..Some on AFF say we have always been beholding to Ford US and Canada , maybe we have but we may also have been decent contributors to the Ford worldwide in lots of ways..No point banging on about it cos' it's preaching to the already converted but the Ute will be missed just as much as the sedan , station wagon and the panel van.. Falcon at one time had ..Sedan , coupe , station wagon , panel van and the mighty ute..Not too many other platforms could boast that fact..Now , that's Australian innovation if ever there was..RIP the Ute and soon the car..
REALLY SAD ALL ROUND FOR ALL OF US...Cheers Rod..

And the Fairlane.

[4vxc]

Another

http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news...dmeadows-44155

[PepeLePew]

I took the ute out today for the first time in two months (a rare dry day). I swear this news is striking a chord...especially with those of earlier generations when the Falcon ute was a staple. She normally gets the odd look but today I swear every head with a hint of grey had a quick crank, and plenty of nice Falcon utes out too in Gawlers main drag (which seems to be a cruise strip these days personally I was just picking up KFC as you do). Thought I had a naked chick in the tray or something. It's weird this first initiation into a world without the Aussie Falcon. I gave her a polish before we went out and can't wrap my mind around she's the last new Falcon I'll have in my drive.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by menil

And the Fairlane.

G'day , Yes indeed the Fairlane , the LTD , the model variants of the base model Falcon too . Futura , Fairmont , Fairmont Ghia...The Fairlane was a beauty. Never owned one but have seen and travelled in a few ..Another Falcon model was the Landau..she was a really different variant..Cheers Rod..

[roddy1960]

G'day all.....If this doesn't get to you I'd be shocked . See what you think of this .This has happened in many of our lifetimes.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-q45n19XLM Most if not all of those workers would be gone now and I wonder what they would have thought if they knew that their kids would see the end of this big industry within their lifetime..Great little film on how it was when Falcon was born.. Cheers Rod..

[9triton]

my dec 1961 XK ute :

55 years this Dec

[hackney]

Originally Posted by boss351290

I have had a few falcon utes and now own a xr6 turbo fgx ute. Bloody fantastic car. The reason things started to head south fast from 2005 are fuel prices and the release of the ve commodore a year later. In2005 fuel was about 95c a litre for unleaded. By 2008 it hit $1.70 a litre. That is why the falcon died and the fact cars like the Kia rio and others could be bought for $13990 with five year warranty. Cheap small cars and expensive fuel killed the falcon. Sorry also salary sacfricing (leasing) killed the falcon as well. Before this time fleet managers would buy thousands of falcons and give them to workers as company cars. When tax laws changed workers could buy whatever car they wanted and claimed that through their work tax situations. The individual worker could now buy what ever car they wanted through there own salary sacrificing. These are the real reasons the falcon died.

A few "fact" corrections needed here,(& have to disagree on a few points.) One word "Button" remember him? Yes, John Button.Senior Gov't Minister in the Hawke,Keating Ministry. Minister for industry & Commerce."Father" of the "Button Plan".he was responsible with reorganising the Australian Motor industry in attempt to make it competitive without tariff protection.One part of the plan was(& a lot of people will recall this.)"badge" sharing between manufacturers,not popular with buying public at all.It all caused large job losses through the the industry.The "flood gate's" where open for cheap imports EG: Hyundai excel $9,990.This plan really was the "deathnell" for local manufacturing.Fuel was not really a big factor.People had choice.(& quite frankly I think it has been good for the Aus buying public as a whole.)otherwise we would have still being served up sub-standard vehicles.(because there was nobody to compete with the "big two".Lift your game" or die!Rest is history.I am certainly not shedding tears over these companies.We now have fantastic choice in what we buy.And yes it will be sad, but we will all get use to it.Sun is still going to rise tomorrow"Rant Over" Cheers:

[roddy1960]

G'day..Pie in the sky time now..I wonder what would have happened if some company had made an offer to buy out Ford Australia something akin to what happened to many other car companies over time and what nearly happened with GMH . Would Ford U.S. have even considered it as the parent company ? Nup..because they even ate up their own like Mercury that built cars like the Cougar until the early noughties. In reality and due to my education through AFF our Falcon had reached it's practical 'use by' date. The platform would not have not been able to go much further without huge re development. Money nobody was prepared to spend for at best scenario a lowish sales market. The really sad thing for me is that Ford Australia will now only be a distant cousin in the Ford global family..Volume or fleet sales unlikely given the much cheaper imports from other companies so those who stay loyal to the Blue Oval will get what they get or have to wait months for a particular vehicle they want on order. As rightly stated in this thread..We'll get used to it and the next generation will not be impacted in the same way..Just how it is I suppose.For me I'll enjoy driving my FG and AU until time or circumstances change and by then maybe Ford will have a car that suits my needs . Who knows ? .Cheers Rod..

[Eaturbo]

Originally Posted by 4vxc

Another

http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news...dmeadows-44155

So sad to see that picture with all the workers standing around the last Falcon Utes. They all look so proud of what they are doing and you can see the joy on there faces from doing a job they love. Can't believe that we are losing this industry from Australia which will be gone forever. I suppose we are fortunate to get as long as we did and that Ford built the performance cars it did. When you look at some countries they never got anything like we did even with lots bigger volumes. Aussies have always had a way with pushing the boundaries while using little amounts of money. I don't think Ford USA would have really wanted them to build the cars they did but the passion from within the team and there ability to build these performance cars on a limited budget was why they got away with it for as long as they did. We will be forever grateful

[tranquilized]

Had a quick look on carsales.com and there appears to be a handful of 2016-build XR6 Turbo utes in stock at dealers around the country. Anyone know if this is the case or are they just bait ads? So damn tempting to grab one even though it wouldn't be a very responsible action right now in my own case financially speaking...

[XEXXR8]

Sold my FG MKII XR6T ute in may thinking I could walk in an order a new one with 4 months till production was supposed to end. Was told no more orders were being taken(wouldn't of sold it if I knew) and after ringing nearly every ford dealer in Victoria managed to get a dealer ordered XR6T in auto, had to settle for no lux pack but just happy to source one in this last batch made which was to be July build for August delivery. Got a call from my dealer at 4:00 pm on friday saying ute was built and to be delivered to them early this week . May be a coincidence but the pictures of the last ute coming down the line came out around 3:00 pm on friday and in the picture with the paperwork stuck to the top of the bonnet the first 4 letters of my surname are on the second bottom row on the right. Anyone know what the codes mean on that sheet ?

[Express]

Originally Posted by XEXXR8

Sold my FG MKII XR6T ute in may thinking I could walk in an order a new one with 4 months till production was supposed to end. Was told no more orders were being taken(wouldn't of sold it if I knew) and after ringing nearly every ford dealer in Victoria managed to get a dealer ordered XR6T in auto, had to settle for no lux pack but just happy to source one in this last batch made which was to be July build for August delivery. Got a call from my dealer at 4:00 pm on friday saying ute was built and to be delivered to them early this week . May be a coincidence but the pictures of the last ute coming down the line came out around 3:00 pm on friday and in the picture with the paperwork stuck to the top of the bonnet the first 4 letters of my surname are on the second bottom row on the right. Anyone know what the codes mean on that sheet ?

[Giant Cranium]

Originally Posted by XEXXR8

Sold my FG MKII XR6T ute in may thinking I could walk in an order a new one with 4 months till production was supposed to end. Was told no more orders were being taken(wouldn't of sold it if I knew) and after ringing nearly every ford dealer in Victoria managed to get a dealer ordered XR6T in auto, had to settle for no lux pack but just happy to source one in this last batch made which was to be July build for August delivery. Got a call from my dealer at 4:00 pm on friday saying ute was built and to be delivered to them early this week . May be a coincidence but the pictures of the last ute coming down the line came out around 3:00 pm on friday and in the picture with the paperwork stuck to the top of the bonnet the first 4 letters of my surname are on the second bottom row on the right. Anyone know what the codes mean on that sheet ?

don't think thats your ute unless they forgot to put the turbo on

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by XEXXR8

Got a call from my dealer at 4:00 pm on friday saying ute was built and to be delivered to them early this week . May be a coincidence but the pictures of the last ute coming down the line came out around 3:00 pm on friday and in the picture with the paperwork stuck to the top of the bonnet the first 4 letters of my surname are on the second bottom row on the right.

If it is yours it's awfully decent of you to donate it to Fords Historical Fleet

From the article.........
Ford Australia’s communications and public affairs director Wes Sherwood said today that the last ute would not be sold or auctioned off for charity.

“It will be held in our historical vehicle fleet, along with the final Falcon and final Territory, both of which will be built on October 7,” he said.

[Pepscobra]

It's moments like this that really make you realise what we once took for granted is now gone for good. It's sad.
Sadder thing is that even this will soon be forgotten, the feelings will go away and life will continue.

[TS50AU]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

It's moments like this that really make you realise what we once took for granted is now gone for good. It's sad.
Sadder thing is that even this will soon be forgotten, the feelings will go away and life will continue.

Getting all emotional now Joe...

[4vxc]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day all.....If this doesn't get to you I'd be shocked . See what you think of this .This has happened in many of our lifetimes.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-q45n19XLM Most if not all of those workers would be gone now and I wonder what they would have thought if they knew that their kids would see the end of this big industry within their lifetime..Great little film on how it was when Falcon was born.. Cheers Rod..

that wasn't bad, would be good to watch another from 30 years or so latter

[SumoDog68]

It will be very emotional putting the last one together for all the workers involved. End of an era.

[stefcio007]

I went on two plant tours, the first one they allowed photos/videos.
Second one, not allowed anymore.

Very cool.

[Bill M]

Last ute going down the line Wheels mag video...

http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/news/160...ring-shut-down