Post-war American cars were long, wide, had massive V8 engines, and were gas-guzzlers. Those are some of the clichés used – in many cases with good reason – to describe U.S made cars from that period.
However, things began to change in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, as more compact cars began to roll out of Detroit. “Compact” is a relative term, of course, compared to cars coming out of European factories, and soon to emerge from the then-nascent Japanese car industry.
Nevertheless, there was clearly a new type of car being sold to the American public, who were beginning to find the standard full-size product too expensive to buy and to run. In addition, many families were now in the market for a second car, often for the women in the family who found the average Cadillac or Chevy unwieldy and cumbersome to drive; some would also joke, to park. Personally, I would sympathise with the distaff side; I wouldn’t fancy trying to park a Cadillac Coupé de Ville either. At the time the other options available were generally limited to imports such as the VW Beetle, Renault Dauphine and FIAT 1100.
As a result, each of the Big Three manufacturers in the US – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – all introduced so-called “compact” models – the Chevrolet Corvair, the Ford Falcon and the Plymouth Valiant all appeared between 1959 and 1961. Besides these, Rambler had already introduced their down-sized American in 1959 and Studebaker brought out the Lark that same year, so this was a newly competitive market sector among domestic manufacturers.
Compact is – as I mentioned – a relative term; these were still pretty big cars; the Corvair was 15 feet long, the Plymouth Valiant 15 feet 4 inches, a Studebaker Lark – perhaps the most genuinely compact of these cars – came in at 14 feet 7 inches. These were within a few inches of a Mercedes Fintail, at 15 feet 6 inches a big car by European standards. By way of comparison, a VW Beetle is about 13 feet 4 inches.
Compact cars, US style
Let’s take a closer look at the car that is our Prime Find this week, as it is one of this then-new breed of compact cars – the Ford Falcon.
Announced in 1959 before going on sale the following year, the Falcon was effectively developed as a down-sized Galaxie, and was offered with the same body styles, those being two-and-four door saloon, two-and-four door coupés and convertibles, three-and-five door estates, as well as a pick-up.
In terms of size, the Falcon was a little over 15 feet (4.6m) long, compared to the 17 feet 9 inches (5.43m) of the 1960 Galaxie. It was also powered by considerably smaller and lighter engines than it’s full-sized sibling, starting with a 2.4-litre straight-six power unit that produced just 90 bhp. Performance was therefore obviously fairly modest, with Autocar magazine achieving a top speed of just under 90mph and a 0-60 time of 18.6 seconds when they tested a basic 2.4-litre model in April 1960.
The magazine summarised the Falcon by saying the following – “An economical, roomy and comfortable in its class six-seater over here [the UK], while in its home market, it must be an attractive proposition indeed”. This was despite a UK price of £2,000, thanks to import duties, whereas in the US it cost the equivalent of just £715, which must have made it a bargain there. They liked the lightness of its steering, the quality of the car’s fit and finish, and generally felt positive towards a car not really designed for UK road conditions. Perhaps the closest UK equivalent to the Falcon was the Ford Zephyr and Zodiac – similar in size and transatlantic feel.
The Falcon was a major sales success for Ford, with over half a million sold in the first year and the one million mark was passed by the end of the second year.
As was generally the way with American cars, the Falcon underwent numerous specification and line-up changes on an annual basis, including higher trim models called Futura and Squire, and importantly for this piece, an optional 2.8-litre, 101bhp engine. This was not the most powerful engine to be offered with the first-generation Falcon, however – 1963, the last year of the first-generation series, saw the launch of the most potent Falcon, the 4.3-litre V8, 164bhp Sprint model, the only first-generation Falcon to be offered with a V8, and became the basis for the following year’s Mustang.
There were to be two further generations of Ford Falcon, staying true to the compact concept until it’s termination in December 1969. There was a so-called “intermediate” model in 1970, but this was short-lived, with the Torino name replacing the Falcon.
Our Prime Find Falcon goes under the hammer with Historics auction house at their Mercedes-Benz World sale on Saturday November 26th, and this is not your average Falcon. Finished in Cambridge Blue metallic with an interior in various hues of blue and cream, this Falcon has an interesting history. Originally imported into the UK in poor condition, it’s life of neglect continued until it was acquired in 1997, with the new owner embarking on a complete and seemingly no expense spared restoration that wasn’t completed until sixteen years later.
There is a detailed description of the work carried out in the auctioneers’ lot description, which you can see here. It included complete dismantling, sandblasting, refabricating parts that were otherwise unavailable, as well as a rebuild of the 2.8-litre engine and much else besides. Invoices totalling some £30,000 are included in the comprehensive history file, and these costs are thought to exclude many other parts and labour. In fact, it’s believed that as much as £100,000 has been spent on this car in total, and it has to be said that from the photos we have borrowed from the auctioneers’ website, it looks it.
The baffling aspect to this tremendous rebuild is why spend so much time and effort on a car worth maybe 20% of the expenditure? There’s little question that this is an immaculate restoration, and the car has only covered 1,000 miles in the years since it was completed, out of a total 62,500 on the odometer. Everything is period correct and the car looks fantastic – I wouldn’t have thought there is a better Falcon anywhere. With an estimate range of just £14,000 to £18,000, one lucky bidder is surely going to pick up a bargain, and if you are tempted by this outstanding compact classic American, we recommend you arrange an inspection ahead of raising your bidding paddle if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk