The 1964 Ford Falcon

I often talk about my favourite roadster, the Mazda MX-5, but what about some of the other cars I have owned? The first car I bought with my own money was a 1964 Ford Falcon, sixteen years old when I purchased it for $300.

From 1960, Ford Australia started manufacturing cars, and the first generation models of the Ford Falcons were based on the American Ford Falcon. Marketed as being "Australian-with a world of difference", the Falcon offered the first serious alternative to Holden and was instantly successful. My car had the 170 cubic inch pursuit engine, the motor of choice in the mid-1960s.

The early Falcons sales started to suffer when complaints mounted about the durability on the rough outback roads. This was due to collapsing front ball joints and adjusting shims dropping out of the front suspension. Both problems inducing some rather severe front camber; the car earned the unflattering nicknames "foul can" or "fault can" during this time.

They had fixed most of these issues by 1964, and I was fortunate not to suffer any suspension failure. My 1964 Ford Falcon served me well. It wasn't fast, and it wasn't pretty, but it got me to and from Uni for over a year. 

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