Ford XD Falcon

Ford XD Fairmont Ghia (with non-standard wheels)

Ford XD Falcon
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford Australia
Also called	Ford XD Fairmont
Production	March 1979 – March 1982
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door coupe utility 2-door panel van 4-door sedan 5-door station wagon
Powertrain
Engine	3.3 L I6 4.1 L I6 4.9 L V8 5.8 L V8
Transmission	3-speed automatic (column, floor) 3-speed manual (column) 4-speed manual (floor)
Chronology
Predecessor	Ford XC Falcon
Successor	Ford XE Falcon

Overview

The Ford XD Falcon is a car that was produced by the Ford Motor Company of Australia between 1979 and 1982.

The XD series was introduced on 28 March 1979 and was initially offered in five models:

There was also an ESP (European Sports Pack) model released in 1980.

The base engine was a 3.3 litre six cylinder engine. Other choices were: a 4.1-litre (250 cu in) six cylinder, a 4.9-litre (302 cu in) eight cylinder and a 5.8-litre (351 cu in) eight cylinder engine. Transmissions available were a three speed column shift manual for six cylinder versions, the popular four speed manual floor shift, and the most popular transmission choice, the three speed automatic with the selector lever located either the column or floor. Stylistically, the XD was strongly influenced by the European Ford Granada Mark II of 1977.

All vehicles had the carburetor, but they did have electronic ignition. Late in the production run, the alloy head was introduced to the 4.1 inline six.

Model range

• Falcon GL (sedan and wagon)
• Fairmont (sedan and wagon)
• Fairmont Ghia (sedan)
• Fairmont Ghia ESP (sedan)

Commercial variants of the XD Falcon were released in September 1979 with four models offered:

• Falcon (utility and van)
• Falcon GL (utility and van)

A total of 197,293 XD Falcons were built.

Fairmont sedan	Falcon GL sedan		Falcon GL Wagon
Fairmont Ghia ESP Sedan		Falcon utility

XD Phase 5

With Ford no longer involved in motorsport, Ford Australia designer Wayne Draper saw an opportunity to provide teams with racing spoilers. He set up an aftermarket body styling company with Bob McWilliam, but remained a silent partner to avoid conflicts with Ford management. Between 1976 and 1978 they produced front splitters for XB and XC Falcon Hardtop race cars. Draper, who was a Senior Designer for the XD-XF Falcon, purchased the rights to the "HO" nameplate, as "homologated options". Draper then designed an aero kit and tested scale models of a XD Falcon in Ford's Wind tunnel. This became known as "XD Phase 5". The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport implemented a few changes (including using Dick Johnson's "bucket" wing) to the cars for homologation and HO/Phase Auto then produced the 25 cars required to allow the XD to race as a Group C Touring Car.

1979 Ford Falcon XD Phase 5 

Motorsport

Dick Johnson and John French won the 1981 James Hardie 1000 driving a Ford XD Falcon

Dick Johnson drove a Group C XD Falcon to win the 1981 and 1982 Australian Touring Car Championships as well as the 1981 James Hardie 1000.



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Last updated on 28 August 2014 at 04:53.