End of an Era.

[Crazy Dazz]

I was going to transplant my Tickford Fairmont bits into it, but in the end just sold them.
I was going to fix it up as a tow pig, but the current boat is too big for that.

It was going to be a cheap spare runaround, but circumstances have passed that by.

A cheap car for kids to learn to drive in, but alas.

So in the end, I just sold it. My last AU.

It's a testament to this model, that having barely travelled anywhere in the last decade, it still started first time, drove perfectly, and even the a/c still worked.

For the First time in 30 years, I am now completely without a Falcon.

[Vekgib]

Coincidence. Today I sold my BF2 ute. I too am now without a Falcon for the first time since 1993.

[PHATAL]

It is a sad world we now find ourselves in.

[Swordie]

Are you going to get another Falcon?

[Polyal]

Dont give up, buy a falcon and keep them, its basically recycling!

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

For the First time in 30 years, I am now completely without a Falcon.

So what happened to the van you were talking about travelling the country in ?

[Franco Cozzo]

lol AU

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Swordie

Are you going to get another Falcon?

Originally Posted by roKWiz

So what happened to the van you were talking about travelling the country in ?

I am keeping an eye out.
Currently prioritising a few other projects, but definitely still on the agenda.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

It's a testament to this model, that having barely travelled anywhere in the last decade, it still started first time

Ironically, IIRC, the fact that starting first time was the one thing it wouldnt do, was the reason a friend of mine got his AU replaced by Ford....

[roddy1960]

They're a hunk of metal ,paint , glass,chrome, rubber, plastic , cloth/leather/vinyl and numerous oils and liquids in suitable combinations cobbled together somehow aren't they ? But some cars we own become very emotional to us . Others we have not so much .

Up until 2003 since 1978 when I got my licence I owned a number of cars that I liked a lot but would trade without too much trouble .. At the time I had a seven year old EF Futura that was quite a nice bus with a 5 speed manual and in gun metal grey ..One afternoon I was driving along the coast and a local servo used to have cars from a city car dealership on display .

One at the time was this beaut looking (to me anyway) 2001 AU ll Futura . Even though I didn't really need petrol I called in for a look and she smacked me straight away ..Chris , the owner of the servo who I knew pretty well said it had just arrived that day for display .. Took it for a drive and something just told me I'd need to talk to the sales consultant . Chris actually got him on the phone for me and he came down the next day . We did a deal and I got a pretty good trade on the EF and by that weekend the 2 year old AU was sitting in the shed ..

She's still here , she's driven almost every day and to be honest I can't imagine it not being here..The longest I ever owned any car other than the old AU is about 5 years and that was a Ford Escort Mk2..The AU is coming up 18 years about Easter ..I bloody love the old bird ...still...

Sitting there also is the lovely FG XR6 that leaves the AU behind in so many ways but I can honestly say I get just as much a thrill of pottering around in the AU as the XR6...

That's just me and it's probably just for this one particular AU maybe ...and I'm not sure that when the day comes that the old girl has to be retired I'd necessarily look for another AU but only time will tell on that ...

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I have a whole fantasy garage filled with various AU derivations,

Do any of those derivations not look like a squashed turd?

I've owned more AUs than any other model. And only recently got rid of my last one.
Vastly underrated and undervalued car.
At one point, I came within inches of buying a Gorgeous Series 3 XR8, with the 5spd, Leather, and LPG.
So wish I had that car.
They will be great collectables. After that, the XRs just became mainstream, and of course they were the last of the Windsors.

Unfortunately they suffered, possibly more than most, from Fords Lethargy and Intransigence.

Apart from a few minor foibles, even the series one was a good car.
Just BUTT UGLY.
But it wasn't irredeemable.
The "High Series" Bonnet was ok, and the Fairmonts didn't look too bad.

All FoA had to do was keep the "Low Series" for the XRs, fit the "High Series" as standard, and in doing so get rid of the gawping grills that featured on the Falcon, Forte, and Futura. And BINGO, you've solved the single biggest problem with the AU.
They wouldn't have actually needed to "do" anything. No redesign, retooling, or anything. Just a few keystrokes at the assembly line, and drop a few thousand grills into recycling. This could have been done before production began in earnest. They must have already known at that point that people hated the look.
But no, typical Ford made us wait almost two years, whilst they did irreparable harm to their business.
Had they managed at the same time to ditch the 1980's interior, the S1 would have been a bolter.
Yeah ok, they still needed to fix the brakes, firewall, sway-bars, and a few other things, but they didn't kill early sales like the sheer ugliness.