Ford Falcon XD - We’d Like to Thank….

I was detailing at City Ford 6th floor at the time, The Fords would come in after having been sitting out in the open at Maroubra for 8 months. They would be covered completely in surface rust , except for the rubber and plastic of course.
Vinyl,rubber,plastic and that ming rust proofing over spray everywhere.
On the other hand the Couriers and Econovans from Japan only needed a wash , always spot on .
Oh , and the rust was removed with a acid wash lol

My dad had an XD GL wagon, great car, years later i had an XE sedan two tone blue over silver, known as the eclipse, apparently a limited run of these were made. Funny considerimg we're mostly a Holden family lol

I had a 1979 XD 351 Fairmont back in 1992. I had that car apart, re-sealed, replaced the suspension, upgraded the trans from a slushmatic to a 5 speed manual from an XF, repaired the electrical system, replaced the interior trim. Spent about 3 months sanding and flatting it before giving it a fresh coat of factory-correct paint. Basically made it new. The car was an utter bastard to drive normally - waay too much power... In the wet it would actively try to kill you. I'd never have so much fun in my life. Drove it for 130,000 trouble-free Kms until I bought an EB-GT. I sold the XD and got not much money for it. Now - that would be worth $40K at least.

thanks for the video man

Great video Mark. Can you do a series on the Australian Bronco & F series production. Love to know the story.

They looked at the granada and built something with essentially the exact same look but on steroids.

I was a motor mechanic at a large used car yard in the late 1980's and boy did I get sick of replacing broken door handles on the XD-XE-XF. Ford and the after market must have done quite well out of those.

Agreed the XD was a real change in my opinion. They looked away ahead of their time in 1979 I think the first XD came out. I had a factory 351 4 speed top loader. It was amazing. One day I’d like to build a gun metal grey XD ghia with the 351 but 400hp not out of control but definitely a huge power upgrade with a bigger cam and so on.

RIP Garry 😔 he accidentally kicked the rock 😢

I'm still conflicted with the chassis design of this one. They are very boxy and don't have the exotic lines of some earlier models. The sedan did have a macho kind of look to them though.

In 1979 I was working in Western Queensland when I visited the Ford Garage In St George. I enquired if they had a brochure on the new XD Ute ? I can do better than that said the salesman.. he took me out the back ... and there sat a New XD Ute.. absolutely basic pack 4.1 with 3 on the tree. I can still smell the newness of the interior as I sat in it. I got my brochure but could never afford the real thing. 40 odd years later I still love the XD.

😂 worlds most shit door handles

Your videos are great but you really must edit this one to correct the Bathurst 80/81 confusion.

in full agreeance with the comment below. the Devil from Daisy Hill came to prominance via the on air cudos expressed by Mike Raymond & Garry Wilkinson. True & rare fact re Honda's contribution to the cross flow 4.1. have you had any thoughts about selling that lovely Western Aussie V8 EF Fairmont?

Awesome, thanks mark.❤

Which Falcon had the turbo six cylinder Mark that Dick Johnson wanted in V8 Super cars for Bathurst ?

An American working for G.M Holden designed the Holden Commodore and that was sent to Opal in the U.K. so it’s not English it’s Australian

the XD XE XF would have to be the worst cars Ford ever made for rusting....there would be hundreds more of these on the roads if not for this issue

Also they had to go "cap in hand" to Ford US to get permission to make the XD and they had many folders containing pages of information for Project Blackwood. The US Ford board just took the top folder and read through it as it was just before lunch and approved the XD Falcon. Just as well they didn't ask to see the other folders as they only contained pages from old phone directories.

My father still daily drives a xd s pac wagon. We have put a T5 gearbox and 3.23 limited slip disc brake diff in it and a few suspension upgrades. Great car to drive.

Garbage, XD was step in wrong direction and one of the worst looking falcons.

Had a 351, 4 speed ESP. The real deal, not a replica.
Nice car but underpowered and drank like a horse

My Dad had a white XD Fairmont Ghia with the 4.9 V8 when I was growing up. Absolutely loved that car. I remember it was stolen a couple of times and fortunately recovered. I still remember the sound engine - it was quite distinctive.

Totally enjoyed. OMG. I ❤ these cars forever. I worked at Charles McInerney Ford Trinidad & Tobago W. I. in 1981,fresh out of school, got my driver's license & a trainee on Fire Tractor, & the company imported 300 XD Falcon GL & Fairmont Ghia, some Esp. Magnificent, I was in love. 4.1 litter in line six, leather interior, gorgeous fabric in the Fairmont. I can't even see one on the roads here. Shameful. I saw the LTD Cartier v8 only in brochure. I am coming to Australia🇦🇺 this year 2024 ( the XD Falcons/Fairmont Ghia are the love of my life) dream cars of mine forever, but, I can afford them now, I will buy them & bring them back to the Caribbean I I can find them there. Every version of the XD cars, vans, wagons, v8 too. Thanks for a most beautiful comprehensive video on my favorite Australian Ford's Car.

Great Vids. I didn’t realise how much I like these XDs.

I had an 81 XD 4.1 column auto . Great car but a rust bucket .

Looks like our cortina/granada from the uk.... (commented before getting that far in vid.)
That holden opel commodore looks very similar to our vauxhall cavalier ....

What about the dick Johnson grand Prix turbo? Tell us about that car. Id love to know more

Good video except you got your history mixed up with regard to the part about Dick Johnsons' Bathurst crash He hit the rock in the 1980 race after 17 laps and then in 1981 he won in the shortened race due to the accident at McPhillamy corner

I was born in 1980 14 January I always liked the xd In my teens I remember looking inside them in mates cars and really wanting to get in let’s go hooning but my father was a holden man brought me a commodore Vb thing was like Gemini compared with cooler xd xf falcon

ZH Fairlane omg 😳 now that’s a beautiful car always wanted one ZH in my opinion is the sexiest one made

My Dad got a bit carried away with XD's. Began with an early 1980 light blue Fairmont 6 cyl sedan (which was prior to the Alloy Head update) - had issues with this car, so then bought a later 1980 XD Fairmont Ghia with the Alloy Head update). Then in late 1981, bought a ZJ Fairlane Sportsman in the light/dark blue combo & 4.9ltr V8.

Aah, that famous "Not-very-Granada" Ford. To be honest it looks kinda strange, especially front part. And Ford engineers shouldn't have kept that old platform.

Significant similarities to the grenada? Yep just like the vb had significant parts from the opel.

Probably the most stolen car of all time in the world. Bikies and weeckers made alot of money off Stolen Falcons.

What an amazing car....once again australians have been too stupid to preserve them

My uncle bought a brand new Falcon xpack 1980 XD DARK GREEN WITH 5*8 4speed He owned it only for 4 months and the seat fabfell apart Ford fixed straight away I believe it would be very rare and worth big money today in a good example 👍

Correct me if I’m wrong Mark, but I think Holden didn’t introduce an alloy head until the VK came out with fuel injection ? I recall as a child seeing the Alloy Head & "Alloy Head II " on the fenders of XD/XE Falcons…

The unmistakable thermoquad carb opening up you could hear it coming a klm or more away , we learnt to flip the air filter lids when we bought ours ;-)

This video came up again ..... The google algorithm 😊, it was a good video watched it again ( thanks Mark ) , good to read the comments too.
I still think they where a good designed body , lovely airy and ckean cabin with lots of glass , stacks of room .
Thinking back in the workshop of the Ford dealer i worked in , i remember there was mixed feelings from some mechanics with the little bit of electronics in the XDs , which they saw this as the begining of the end for basic simpler cars , but by todays standards . It was barely anything .
I wish they'd make cars like these again , roomy , simple , easy to maintain and work on , everything you need and no gimmicky crap !
I too also miss the old style models with the coke bottle waist line and proper chrome bumpers though .
A family member has an electric car , all i can say is what a dung box , gimmick filled plastic fantastic ( apologies to electric car owners ..... Not really 😂).

Very interesting Mark.
XD was a nice looking car. I never had one, but I did have several XF's which were great cars, except for the head gaskets that Fords were famous for blowing.

The rock incident happened in 1980,which was won by Brock. Tricky won in 1981 after he rebuilt his Tru Blu with donations from the public and the Deuce(Henry Ford II).

I remember a X-PAK XD Falcon.

XD was very plastic compared to the previous models

The XC was my dream car the body design was a lot better then the XD .

Didn't the crappy door handle design come from overseas

I drove a 81 xd for ten years bought it off the original owner, was a 250 ci four on the floor GL pac great car heaps more room than my bro in law VB commy and yes ive done a trip with four adults in the VB and it was cramped.....great car ....only problem with it was when it died no wreckers wanted it as opposed to my HQ which was my previous car to the XD was written off and the local wrecker gave me $400 for it.....yeah the door handles

My father had a Monza red Fairmont ghia with black velour trim 4.9 it was a beautiful car 12 slotters. And I have had 2 xd ghias in my time. All three were crashed with new owners. Rest in peace.

What’s the difference between the Falcon Ute and GL Ute?

The RTA XD's were everywhere in perth, i got far too many yellow stickers.