One of my favorite finds of recent years was a stunningly original 1961 Ford Falcon sedan outside of a local restaurant three years ago. I had not seen the car in quite awhile but in running an errand last week, there it was!
This location – an older neighborhood in what Indianapolis residents would call “midtown” – makes this Falcon look right at home.
If not for the modern cars nearby this could pass for a picture from the early 1960s when these were found almost everywhere and were nothing even the least bit special.
There – that’s better. If we ignore the modern signage and the reflections in the windows.
But in 2019 it is special indeed as its sixtieth birthday starts to appear off in the distance. I was pressed for time and did not go back for a close-up. I was saddened to see the small but deep horizontal crease in the rear door where some dunderhead in a parking lot failed to notice the gorgeous classic in the next parking space as he flung the edge of his door into its side. Some people.
Thanks for the update–which got me to go back and read the original post again. I’ll hope it’s “still in the family”; sure seems to be being treated decently. Long may it live!
+1
Cent’anni!
It’s more than halfway there.
Next time we see a gen-I Mustang, just think:
Underneath lies a perky Falcon.
Excellent find!
It’s even more amazing to realize when we see a Lincoln Versailles that there’s a Falcon underneath all that leather, chrome, and fake wood….
The huge aftermarket support for vintage Mustangs undoubtedly makes it easier to keep a Falcon going too given the parts interchangability and familiarity. I wonder if the first-gen Falcon being built into the ’90s in Argentina helps parts availibility too, or did too many things change?
La673: I have taken a lot of internet heat for describing the Lincoln Versailles as “the ultimate, updated 1960 Ford Falcon” by oh-too-many (co called) automotive experts who must remain sitting behind their laptops and not out looking at and driving actual automobiles.
Pleased that we agree on this!
Nice!
When I was a kid I had a friend down the street whose family got a brand-new 1966 Buick Riviera. I’d never had a chance to hang out in such a fancy car, so that was cool. But then the neighbor’s parents got divorced and his mom ended up with a 1961 Falcon similar to the one pictured (except that it was metallic brown).
Brock Yates once described the Falcon as a “mediocre economy sedan” that appealed to Robert McNamara’s “humorless, somewhat Spartan personal predilections.” That strikes me as a little harsh. The Falcon was certainly a simple and utilitarian car, but it wasn’t unduly so compared to entry-level compacts such as the Chevy II and Rambler American. The Chrysler compacts were better road cars but too weird looking until they were restyled in 1963. And the Corvair? That was more a sporty coupe than an economy car.
I wonder whether import sales wouldn’t have soared quite so much in the late-60s if Ford had kept the Falcon a true compact rather than putting it on the company’s mid-sized platform. That undercut the whole point of the car, which from 1966 onward was only a small step down in price, size and weight from a base Fairlane.
In the 70’s, friends from Pennsylvania visited my family, driving their early 60’s Falcon, pulling a small tent trailer. They told us that the car had been inherited from a family member, and that they’d had a newer 6 put in it (backed, I believe, by a 3-speed manual).
Theirs was blue, but this sedan reminds me a great deal of that car.
Great post. And it’s not ‘some people’, but 99% of the people. To them, their car is an appliance; then there’s us. That really makes me sick. You just can’t have nice (or old and nice) stuff.
Enjoy reading old car articles, but for me:
I really enjoy admiring vintage cars from afar,
I enjoy admiring them from up close too if they are in presentable condition,
I could be persuaded to take a ride in one if it doesn’t smell too bad,
I have zero interest in owning one.
After years of electric, I developed sensitivity towards gas fume, hate that smell. The smell turns me off, therefore I only enjoy admiring old cars from afar. Then there’s instant torque, once used to those torque, there’s no going back.
The humble ’61 still at work. Roaming the streets doin’ stuff. Taking its owner where he or she wants to go. Nice.
Falcons want to work hard for you . . . it’s just that they do it in the most minimalistic way possible! 😀