Guest Article: 50 Years of the Ford Falcon Wagon

Although SUVs are now ubiquitous on Australian roads, there was a time when the wagon was the first choice for Australian families. With the release of the XK Falcon in November 1960, Ford Australia introduced a wagon body style. The XK wagon was based on the American counterpart, but the Australian version featured a shorter rear body, to better suit Australian roads and conditions.

XK Falcon Wagon

For most of its production life, Ford focused on lower trim levels, except for some limited production models, such as XL Squire, with simulated woodgrain panelling, XF Fairmont Ghia, the ED and EF XR6. The Fairmont held its place as the highest-spec variant until the introduction of the BA Falcon, when the Futura took over as the top trim level. Ford Australian made available a V8 option on wagon variants from the XA (March 1972) until the XE (82-83). With Ford removing the V8 option from the XF onwards, the V8 option was again made available on the EB Series II (August 1991) and continued until the AU, but it was only available in Fairmont variant and was a limited production run (~120-160 vehicles).

XF Fairmont Ghia Wagon

Ford Falcon EF XR6 Wagon

Ford Falcon XL Squire Wagon

With the release of the AU wagon, Ford changed the axle position, with the shock absorbers moved outboard, providing additional real estate. Structural changes were required over the EL predecessor, with the rear floor being redesigned, allowing a plastic petrol tank and the relocation of the spare tyre underneath. The AU wagon in base Forte trim weighed 83kg more than its sedan sibling, which was 26kg lighter than it’s EL wagon predecessor.

AU Futura Wagon

Moving forward to 2008 with the release of the ‘kinetic’ FG Falcon, Ford continued the wagon, but using the older BF wagon body style, naming it the BF MK3. This model could trace its roots back to the 1998 AU model. Rumours were Ford continued to offer the wagon due to their large Telstra contract, supplying white wagons. The BF MK3 changes were limited to ESP for petrol powered variants, flip key, warm charcoal carpet and the removal of the Futura model.

BF MK3 Falcon Wagon

Wagon sales continued to decline, due to market switch to SUVs and the introduction of the Territory. Finally in March 2010 Ford announced the end of the wagon variant, with the last wagon coming off the line September 2010. Sales of Falcon sedan and Territory had remained relatively stable from 2008-2010, but wagon production in these three years halved.

While Ford never released official wagon sales figures, the XF Falcon wagon was likely the best-seller, as the XF series overall recorded the highest sales of any Falcon model. In total Ford Australia manufactured a total of 714,982 wagons, over 50 years of production.

As an owner of a 2008 MK2 wagon, I see it as a staple food, meat and three veg. It’s not fancy, but it’s solid, practical, and you know exactly what you’re getting. Even though Territory was a far bigger seller than Falcon wagon, I now see more BA/BF wagons than the Territory. I assume Falcon wagons owners know they can’t replace their wagons, while a Territory can be replaced by another SUV.

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here