(first posted 3/7/2013) Despite a massive snowstorm on Tuesday, last week was most excellent for me. Long story short, I had been out of work for approximately a month, but through a mutual friend I was able to interview for a full-time accounting position at a local company. Last Thursday morning I arrived in my one-and-only suit, and a few hours later they called and offered me the job. I was very happy, to say the least! Just after I left a message accepting the job, I started the car and prepared to drive away from the mall, where I’d been browsing at a bookstore–and what did I see? This rather clean mid-size 1970 Ford, parked at a restaurant–in February, in the Midwest! Highly unlikely. But is this really a Torino?
Despite the lack of Falcon scripts on the rear quarters, I believe it to be a 1970½ Falcon, of which 30,445 sedans were built. To my surprise, the Falcon sedan actually outsold the mid-line Fairlane 500, which sold 25,780 copies, as well as the Torino sedan, which sold 30,117.
The ’70½ was a bargain-basement Torino whose function was filling the gap left when the 1966-70 Falcon ended production on January 1, 1970. As noted in the recent Maverick post, Federal regulations requiring a steering column-mounted ignition switch were taking effect, and so the compact 1970 Falcon, with its dash-mounted switch, had to be discontinued after December 31, 1969.
The Torino-based unit was ushered in to finish out the year but did not return for ’71. So, why do I think it’s a Falcon? For starters, it appears that the next-lowest variant, the Fairlane 500 sedan, got chrome-trimmed door frames that are conspicuously absent from our red example.
Also, please note that in the brochure shot further up that while the Falcon had no grille ornament, the 500 wore a red, black and chrome Ford shield. Unfortunately, our CC is missing its grille; I’m wondering if it’s in the trunk, as it appears the owner might have removed it in order to block off the radiator with cardboard.
Whoever ordered this one must have wanted a sharp ride on a budget, as the red paint, black vinyl top and Ford’s ultra-cool dog-dish hubcaps all make for an attractive four-door. I really thought this was a Torino the first time I saw it.
As a U.S. example, this one has “FORD MOTOR COMPANY” emblazoned on its hubcaps, unlike the “FORD FORD FORD” on our recent Brazilian Maverick GT. Also note the lack of wheel-opening moldings, standard on the Fairlane 500.
Furthermore, the basic black interior looks like a match to the ‘70.5 brochure picture. Unfortunately, the sole interior picture I took was slightly out of focus, so I can’t read the series badge above the glove box. Curses!
If that isn’t enough for you, here is a Fairlane 500 I spotted at a car show last year. As you can see, the upholstery is much nicer, and the Fairlane 500 plaques on this blue one are absent from our featured vehicle.
The 500 also got two chrome accents on each front fender. It is easier for me to believe that someone removed all the Falcon badges from this car (probably during a repaint) than wonder why, if it was indeed a Fairlane 500, someone would put in a taxicab interior and remove the Fairlane 500 scripts from the doors?
So, my educated guess is that this is a Falcon. While I can imagine many Falcon two-doors being saved over the years, I can also imagine that most sedans were unceremoniously driven into the ground (also true of 1968-72 Novas), which makes this find all the more remarkable. A new job, a good old-fashioned Midwestern snowstorm and a rare CC. What a week!
I worked at a Sunoco station, after school, during the early ’70s. A middle aged customer of ours came in with a plain blue 19701/2 Falcon frequently. It was the only one I ever saw in “real life”.
Plain Jane through and through BUT it was such an honest and straight forward and almost “proud” car. No excuses, just a decent, respectable American sedan.
I like this model.
I was living in Huntington WV 9/69-4/71 & still in high school. The Ford dealer there had two 1970 1/2 Falcon 2 dr sedans which means Falcon had a B pillar and steel window frame while the Fairlane & Torino 2dr is a true hardtop. As previously mentioned the Falcon was bare bones simplicity no frills version.
Both at Huntington dealer had ‘taxi’ vinyl bench seat, rubber floor mat, gray plastic grille, no trim between taillamps. But still attractive with the sleek 1970 B body styling. What made the two in Huntington nothing less than amazing to me was both were equipped with the (429?) CJ ram air ‘drag pack’ option. Big Block w/shaker hood scoop, Hurst 4 spd in floor, L/S or Detroit locker rear end. IIRC drag pack also had oil cooler, high capacity radiator and maybe bigger brakes?
White letter tires, small center caps and trim rings. Hang on to your socks, sticker price was around $3500. One was grabber orange the other was baby blue. Orange hollering ‘look at me!’ (give me a ticket!) while light blue lot more subtle & unassuming. That was a period where insurance companies had the opinion teen male drivers and performance cars didn’t mix. From looking at the drag packers I figured all that needed to be done was black out the grille, t/l panel and window frames. So I spec’d out a 2 dr w/302 and C-4 auto, PS,PB and it was about $2400 iirc. Which makes the difference for the drag pack upgrade even more amazing.
I think the window sticker also specified No Warranty on Drag Pack cars.
My father had a 1970 Fairlane 500 wagon with a 302 and 3 speed manual that he drove into the ground with almost 250,000 miles. I remember at the age of 5 1/2 going to the Ford dealer with him in December 1969 to pick the car up. When I was 17, he traded it for a 1981 Ford Escort wagon. The 1970 mid size Fords – Falcon, Fairlane 500, Torino, Torino Brougham always intrigue me.
These are intriguing oddities.
As recently as two to three years ago, I did see a canary yellow 70 1/2 Falcon still on the road around Hannibal, MO – when I was still living there. It was a two-door sedan, just like the one in the second Falcon ad.
Congratulations on a good catch and a great week.
The car is most likely a Falcon 70.5 the dog dish caps and interior are the biggest clues. The vinyl roof would have been rare, even on a Torino which that body style didn’t lend itself to vinyl easily. The interior came in I believe only 3-4 colors. The outside has been repainted and very likely not an original color especially since the pinstripes look aftermarket. The Falcons only had limited options but you could get any engine. My neighbor had a 70.5 blue sedan his mother in law bought new blue blue he had it repainted but retained the Falcon name plates. His had the upgraded full wheel covers. 302 with automatic. Nothing real special other than being a very unusual Falcon. Most people when they looked for parts they just said 1970 Torino as to not confuse the conversation. The Falcon was dropped for 1971 but the very popular Maverick got a 4 door. The Falcon, being on the intermediate platform, was the largest Falcon model. Larger than the old Falcon and the new Maverick sedan. So for about 8 months Ford did not really offer a small 4 door. Congrats on the job!
I agree with the Falcon ID. That seat material (taxi vinyl with those embossed stripes) squares with my memory of what was used in the early 70 (real) Falcon that a buddy drove during high school. Hard to tell from the picture, but that looks like textured rubber flooring instead of carpet, also in my buddy’s early 70.
This car is all the more amazing because these were almost water soluble. About 1973 or 74 I had an English teacher with a Fairlane version. The thing (no older than 4 years) had fist-sized rust holes in it. He proudly told me of all the work he put into body lead (which i didnt think was still in use) to fill them. Within a year rusty outlines appeared around his patches.
I always figured that this car’s sole reason to live was to offer a cheap 4 door until the Maverick sedan was ready. Fabulous find.
“I always figured that this car’s sole reason to live was to offer a cheap 4 door until the Maverick sedan was ready. ”
I think that’s pretty much right. Introduced in April 1969 as an early 1970 model, the Maverick was originally intended as a bottom-end import fighter, so it came only in a 2-door body style (which was relatively small for the compact class), and only with the 170 and 200 CID straight sixes. As successful as the ’70 Maverick was, it had probably become apparent even before it was introduced that Ford was going to need a smaller 4-cylinder car to compete effectively in that space over the long haul. Meanwhile, the Falcon needed to be replaced. For ’71 the Maverick added a 4-door sedan on a longer wheelbase, as well as the 250 and 302 engines, and was respositioned as more of a “normal” compact (the space previously occupied by the Falcon), while the Pinto took over as the bottom end import fighter. This made the intermediate-based Falcon unneccesary.
The Pinto was already done when the Maverick launched in late 69, the Pinto rolled out a year after the Maverick, Sept 1970, the 11th, believe it or not.
The Maverick wasn’t introduced in late 1969 at the start of the 1970 model year, but as an “early 1970”, in the spring of 1969. IINM, the introduction was timed to fall on the five-year anniversary of the introduction of the original Mustang.
I don’t doubt that the Pinto’s development had to be well under way, maybe even basically done, at the time the Maverick first hit showroom floors. I’m curious as to what the relationship was between the two. Was the Pinto proposed first, but it would take time to develop a smaller 4-cylinder car, and Ford felt they needed a short-term solution in the meantime, so the Maverick was quickly thrown together using the existing parts bin as much as possible? Or was the Maverick proposed first, but before it had even been rolled out to the public, it became apparent that an entirely new car would be needed to compete in this space with the imports (and GM’s Vega) for the long haul, so the Pinto was then proposed and put on the fast track?
Whenever an Australian car is featured on the CC site many people refer to a “parallel universe” which I can see very clearly. However in the case of the 70 and a half Falcon the exact same thing happens to me,
Having owned and driven countless 1971 XY Falcons I struggle to comprehend that both cars are vaguely related yet entirely different.
Interestingly the XY was only sold for 11 months but sold 96 000 units, impressive numbers for such a small market.
I was certain at first this had to be an Aussie Ford and that Tom was playing a trick on us. But that steering wheel is clearly on the left side. I never knew these existed, but then we were a GM family in those days.
It sold well in Godzone too. Bloody good cars as far as durability goes the XY had a MUCH stronger front end compared to the previous XW which was based on the US model. The XY also saw the release of the lats GTHO model which went like hell 141mph at the limiter unfortunately they handle like a bag of shit and only really succeeded on race tracks in OZ. Allan Moffat brought his much vaunted race car to NZ and got beaten by a locally prepped Valiant on the fast flowing NZ circuits Yep the Torino is the alternate universe car, I must get some more shots of real Falcons for you.
You could really confuse people by importing one of these and taking it to shows. I’m thinking of the annual Geelong All Ford Day.
It looks like a Ford, and shows links to the XA styling, yet it’s not any Ford we ever had Down Under. Aussies might know about our Falcon Hardtop looking like a 7/8 scale Torino, and might’ve seen pics of the Torino Sportsroof, or be familiar with the Revell model (pic), but this sedan would be a new one for sure – especially if it still had the Falcon badges!
1-baker-11…
Though that was a ’70 Mercury Montego…
Congrats on the new gig, Tom! Take that first check and order up some whitewalls for the Volvo.
+1
Way to go Tom! I don’t know which is more rare, a 70.5 Falcon or a decent job. Glad you found both 🙂
Plus 2!
+3! Also, thank you for having integrity in your writing and being completely honest about your assessment of this vehicle. We all know what happens when someone puts the horse before the cart in regards to spotting classic cars…
I’ll add my congrats on the new gig too. You must remember to buy a lottery ticket on your way back home!
Falcon, Fairlane, or poor man’s Torino, there can’t be many of these left. Great find.
+4
congratulations are definitely in order. Good news, Tom!
I’ll add my congrats on the job too. Even though I’m retired, there were days when I was out of work, and looking for work was never my idea of a fun job.
Congratulations, Tom! Hope the new job works out, and that it doesn’t take away too much time from your real job here at CC!
P.S., how many billions of yards of that black vinyl seating fabric do you think Ford used over the years?
That model in the 1st brochure pic looks like Hillary Clinton! BTW, just how big is your stash of old car brochures?
I have quite a few, but most of the images I use on CC are from oldcarbrochures.com. The brochure pics for the ’94 Century wagon were from my “archives.”
These Fairlane based Falcon which were actually eventually replaced both by the Torino later Gran Torino name looks a bit similar to its chief rival of its era the 1970-72 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. The original Fairlane based Falcon was in its actuality was based on a stretched unitized body and chassis construction of the compact Falcon which was around since 1960. It never ceases to amaze me that the original compact Falcon chassis were adaptable in other applications to later Ford models of similar sizes until 1980 in which it was replaced by a totally different but similarly sized Ford Fairmont based long lived Fox Platform. These were the following Ford cars which used that archaic Falcon platform: 1964-73 Mustang, 1970-77 (through 1979 in Brazil) Maverick and the 1975-80 Ford Granada. In 1972, the Ford Torino switched to a much heavier large car separate perimeter ladder type body and frame construction similar to its larger brethren Thunderbird, LTD and its expensive luxurious Lincoln cousins.
Everyone thinks Chrysler was the one to squeeze the most life out of a platform (and indeed the K-car in variations produced nearly 90% of their passenger car sales for a while). But think of it, the Falcon, Fox, and Panther chassis averaged like 25+ years of continuous build…
That’s why I like Ford. Infinitely available, affordable and interchangeable service components to keep anything (that hasn’t disintegrated) driving like new.
Though, I always thought the actual platform (which I always considered encompasses the cowl area, floor pans and frame rails) was unique to the Fairlane starting in 1966(the 66 Falcon too was a shortened version of the Fairlane), even though the basic layout was essentially the same. The Mustangs, Cougars, Mavericks and Granadas, as I recall, were the ones that all seemed to be directly based on the 1960 Falcon stampings through the years.
Its still in production have a look under the bonnet of a late Auswegian Falcon it has shock towers that brittle poorly designed horrible & good looking little bomb lives on
A mildly facelifted but still very recognizable first generation Falcon was built in Argentina all the way to 1991.
Now you know why I’m not much of a Ford fan! That thing is plug ugly. All the proportions are awful.
It’s no worse than its contemporaries, in my opinion.
In those days, with their intermediate lines, GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC lavished the lion’s share of attention on the two-door versions. They were more popular than the four-door sedans in the intermediate lines, if I recall correctly (particularly at GM).
The coupe versions were probably designed first, and then the basic design was adapted to “fit” the sedan and wagon versions. The Torino hardtop coupes are much more attractive than the sedans.
The biggest gap was between the coupes and sedans of the Mopar intermediates during the late 1960s and early 1970s. They coupes were handsome and sleek through 1972, but the sedans look like taxicabs.
This is certainly true of the ’68-’72 GM A-bodies. The coupes (even the shorter-wheelbase ones) were drop-dead sexy. The sedans (like the ’69 Cutlass our family had) were lumpy and ungainly.
However, both the GM A body (at least from 1970-72 and maybe 68-69 as well) and this car offered a 4 door hardtop that was pretty attractive.
Ford only offered the style in 1970-71, but I don’t think they were too common. Find us one of these, now, Tom. 🙂
Congratulations on the new job, Tom!
GM offered a four-door hardtop in its intermediate lines from 1966 through 1972. There was a surprisingly clean, all-original 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu hardtop sedan for sale at one of the Carlisle shows last year. It was a well-optioned survivor from Arizona.
Interesting that Ford went to the trouble to tool up for an intermediate hardtop sedan for 1970, only to abandon the body style when its all-new 1972 intermediates debuted. GM, of course, abandoned all true hardtops in its intermediate lines for 1973, much to zackman’s everlasting ire.
@Geeber: I wonder if Ford was worried about meeting the federal roof crush standards (effective 1/1/74) with the pillarless four-door. Some big four-door hardtops did clearly pass those standards, since they continued through ’74 and beyond, but perhaps it was a case of “better safe than sorry.”
I’ve always thought it was strange that they bothered tooling up a 2-door sedan for this series.
I am restoring one now I need parts for . its a 701/2 falcon but has idk what body?
What parts are you looking for?
I have some. I’ll help if I’m able.
amann_c at hotmail
It always surprised me Chrysler didn’t take the opportunity to at least offer a 4 door hardtop B-Body in 1965 when they introduced the Belvedere and Coronet. They already had one tooled. Although I shudder to think what a similar version on the boxy ’66s and ’67s would have looked like.
Congrats on the job, Tom! These days any job is a blessing, but even more so if it pays well and is even remotely close to what you’re used to doing for a living. Awesome CC as well, too bad these Falcons were a one year wonder, I prefer the stripped down look of them to any other Torino model. Nice one!
Our first new car when I was a kid was, what I think I remember being, an early 70’s Ford Fairlane 500 station wagon – is that a possible combination?
I can’t find any info/pictures anywhere – and yet I remember sitting in the front passenger seat as a kid tracing my finger on the “fairlane” script on the inside of the passenger door.
It was gold exterior – black interior.
Not too long after we got it – maybe a year? – my father was in a bad accident on the Major Deacon expressway in NYC – totalled the car. I distinctly remember him coming home from the hospital using a cane – because his right knee went into the open ashtray – and his head hit the rear view mirror – plenty scary seeing your dad like that as a young kid.
Anyway – that Fairlane was replaced with a Torino wagon – ugly school bus yellow – with a black interior.
I think the last year the Fairlane 500 name was used was 1970 (the trim level that it represented lived on, but was absorbed into the Torino name). Without any reference source in front of me, I’m guessing that the ’70 Fairlane 500 probably came as a station wagon.
IIRC, in the late ’60s Ford’s intermediate lineup was Fairlane/Fairlane 500/Torino, while Chevrolet’s was Chevelle 300/Chevelle 300 Deluxe/Chevelle Malibu. I believe that the base Fairlane and base Chevelle 300 were both dropped after 1969, leaving only the two upper levels. For 1971, the two remaining Ford levels became Torino/Torino 500, then in 1972 Torino/Gran Torino. Chevy’s two remaining levels became Chevelle/Chevelle Malibu in 1970, Chevelle Deluxe/Chevelle Malibu in 1973, and Chevelle Malibu/Chevelle Malibu Classic in 1974.
In 1970 GM decided to shed a bunch of the low end nameplates too, Tempest, F85, Special, etc, were purged from the roster.
The F-85 actually lasted through 1972.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Oldsmobile/1972%20Oldsmobile/album/1972%20Oldsmobile-25.html
I believe the last year for the Special was 1969, and the last year for the Tempest was 1970, although the 1971 LeMans T-37 was essentially a LeMans-badged replacement for the Tempest that lasted for only one year.
With all four GM divisions that sold A-bodies, there were originally three basic trim levels, all sold under the same model name, with a “special” subseries name applied to the top trim level only (Malibu, LeMans, Cutlass, Skylark). At the three B-O-P divisions, over the course of the late ’60s and early ’70s, the “special” model came to marketed as an entirely separate model from the standard model (e.g., “Cutlass”, not “F-85 Cutlass”), the special model took over the middle trim level (e.g., what had been the F-85 Deluxe became the Cutlass, and what had been the Cutlass became the Cutlass Supreme), and the bottom trim level was dropped (e.g., the F-85 being dropped after 1972). The only deviation from that that I can think of off the top of my head was the LeMans briefly absorbing the bottom trim level for a year before it was dropped, as described above.
Chevrolet followed a similar pattern, but it took longer for the special model to absorb the middle level (not until 1974, by which time the original lowest level was long gone), and the special model did not shed the original standard model’s name until at least a decade after that happened at the B-O-P brands (it was still the “Chevelle Malibu” until the 1978 downsizing, even though by 1977 there were no remaining Chevelles that weren’t also badged as Malibus).
But they did a brief return, the F-85 for a low-price X-body Omega for 1976-77. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenoonz/7302318282/ Special for a low-budget Century for 1975-76. Tempest revived as a Pontiac counterpart of the Chevrolet Corsica in the late 1980s as a Canada only model. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmbrown/6018920587/
There was a brief slowdown in sales for the 1970 model year. Chevy, Ford, and Pontiac had dropped their lowest intermediate trims in the US for 1970, then reinstated lower trims at mid year. The Torino based Falcon was simply a handy abandoned nameplate.
Don’t forget the 1973 Laguna as a top trim level Chevelle, then the coupe only Laguna S-3 for 74-76.
Thanks for the info.
It might have been around 1970 that we had the first wagon – then maybe around 73 for the Torino wagon.
As a kid I thought Ford Fairlane 500 sounded pretty cool!
Found this on the old can brochures website.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Ford/1970_Ford/1970%20Ford%20Torino%20Brochure/1970%20Ford%20Torino-21.jpg
A 1970 Ford Fairlane 500 wagon – with Torino script on it.
Pretty confusing.
Good write-up. Makes me wonder how many I might have glanced and quickly dismissed as a Torino.
I was vaguely aware of these but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Or perhaps just assumed it was a Torino. Great find and congrats on the job.
All the badging is gone from a repaint. Was the tag on the passenget side dash stating model name?
I’m betting it’s a 1970 and a half Falcon. I saw a few on the streets of Chicago area in the early 70’s
These were introduced at 1970 Chicago Auto Show. I was 8 and wondered what the big deal was since they looked like Torinos. Possibly was meant to get Falcon owners into mid size cars, but pulled after a few months.
Ah ha, so this is the CC Clue car.
Tricky one!
Somehow my mothers 73 Thunderbird was derived from this Falcon. Talk about gussied up! I alway thought the 70 Torino line was crisply styled. Seems most got taken out by rust.
i’d like a grabber green torino 500 convertible
The 73 thunderbird was based on a stretched 72 intermediate chassis IIRC. The 70/71 Torino/Fairlane/Falcons were still unibodies, 72s moved to body on frame with running gear more similar to the full size.
I’d love to have seen a Falcon next to a stripper Torino. I’ve been in some Torinos that were as basic as seems conceivable and still probably had an options list longer than one on a new Camry with everything. What was left to take away from a base Torino? Was a heater standard yet? Two speed fan? Windshield washers? It isn’t like you got a split bench seat, power steering or brakes, carpet, cloth anything, full wheel covers, white walls, a remote mirror, a map light, an automatic transmission, or many of the other things that pretty much every car actually was built with unless you paid extra. How could there have been room left below the Torino to slot in a Falcon?
There was a blue two door 1970-1/2 Falcon on my route to high school when I was a junior/senior. It was pretty ragged but there were signs that it was getting restored as the rotted wheel opening was cut open into a giant square by the time I graduated. It went into the garage soon after, I still haven’t seen it since.
I always thought it was pretty cool to see the Falcon script on an intermediate shell. At the time I remember having a real lust for the Aussie XA/XB/XC coupes and this, to me, was the closest I could think of to one.
Here is a “deluxe” version Torino taken at the Dearborn swap meet a few years ago.
Front view
Nice car. I’d be coveting if it had hidden headlamps. Those wheelcovers are very heavy, attractive, and hard-to-find (one of my favorite designs).
Love the color on that one. I also found this 71 Torino Brougham for sale on Hemmings awhile back.
Lots of styling cues on this car were carried over onto the 72 XA australian Falcon if you saw the two rogether youd all see it Id even bet the two were compared by FoMoCo before production.
That’s a remarkably stark dashboard design, even represented in the blue Fairlane 500, considering these cars appeared on the doorstep of the Brougham Era.
Does anyone know if, with these Falcons, there was any corollary to GM’s practice of continuing to offer the base model in Canada after it had been discontinued in the US?
I believe the Canadian mid-size Ford lineup was always the same as in the US. The Chevelle line did vary in 1970 though – when the model year started, the 300 Deluxe had been dropped in the US (where the Malibu became the base model) but continued in Canada. Mid-year 1970, a stripped base Chevelle series was introduced the US. 1970 was a recession year, but I wonder if this was at least partly in reaction to the 1970.5 Falcon. The 300 Deluxe continued in Canada in 1971-72 as a trim option on the base Chevelle.
Model creep has been a hallmark of domestic production since after WWII. Virtually every car has seen its popularity fulcrum shift with each introduction of a new (usually nicer) trim level.
This was one of those cars that puzzled me as a kid in the pre-internet era, I knew what a Falcon was and I knew what a Falcon was supposed to look like, but every once in while I would catch a ratty 701/2 Falcon coupe in traffic near my house, and it just didn’t compute, here was a Torino, it looked like a Torino, but there was a Falcon badge on the rear quarter.
Congrats on the new job and the neat find, Tom. I can relate, as I recently started with a new publishing company and ran across an Avanti I had never seen before (in my neighborhood).
Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to get a shot of the Avanti….
Regardless, congratulations!
Never knew these existed. Maybe not in Canada?
Congrats on the job and the incredible find.
My family owned a 1970 1/2 Falcon stationwagon for ten years. It was assembled in Canada where my Dad bought it new in Montreal in 1970. We took it over the border to Baltimore before returning to New Zealand with it in 1971. All New Zealand new Falcons were (and are) Australian models so our US Falcon was the odd man out. There were a few Torinos around but not many. It’s only recently that I figured out the connections between American Falcons, Aussie Falcons, American Torinos and our Falcon 1970 1/2. We sold it in 1980 to some guy that had a head-on in it. We saw it parked on the side of the road for a few weeks after that, then it disappeared. Maybe it is still sitting in a scrapyard somewhere in New Zealand?
Its probably rebar by now that wouldve been a rare car in NZ. Falcons for some reason were sourced from both Canada and Australia in the early days in NZ. We did get the very fragile American/Canadian version with 4 stud rims alongside the Aussie car neither was up to the task Ford was lucky here as the very robust English Zephyr was still being assembled so while the new Falcons fell to pieces and rusted out they still had something to sell, Falcons only really got any traction with the 65 XP which was thouroughly redesigned not to disintegrate and used Compact Fairlane front ball joints the same as the Mustang not the feeble falcon parts. I know you guys love them but pretty as they are they are very poorly made or designed cars.
“Mid-year 1970, a stripped base Chevelle series was introduced the US. 1970 was a recession year, but I wonder if this was at least partly in reaction to the 1970.5 Falcon. ”
Was a short recession and lots of news about inflation and price freezes by Nixon.
There was also the Pontiac T-37, which replaced the Tempest. Not to be confused with the GT-37, a low cost sport package. This and the base Chevelle were more a reaction to the market.
—————————————————————
Also at Chicago Auto Show, Ford was giving out 70.5 Falcon brochures. They were pushing it as an “all new Falcon”. But it was really replacing the bare bones Fairlane for a half a year.
Hemmings featured a 70 1/2 Falcon with a factory optioned 428 motor and 4 speed on floor. Still with bench seat, but had stripes too.
The ‘70.5 Falcon recieved new “Torino” namplates and not much else in 1971 when the Falcon name went away. The former Falcon became the base Torino, and what had been the base Torino beccame the Torino 500, with the top of the midsize line becoming the Brougham (as illustrated in the pictures above).
My first car, purchased the day before I graduated from high school in 1988, was a base series ’71 Torino sedan. It was the same as our feature car save for being medium metallic green below its black vinyl top. Although it had the same taxi-spec interior with rubber floor mats in lieu of carpet, it was pretty well specced out with a 2-barrel 302, automatic and PS, factory air, and an AM radio.
I got it for $500 from the original owner, an 89 year old man whose children had finally taken the keys away from him after he backed into a light post in a supermarket parking lot. With only about 50K miles from new, it was in great shape mechanically. Although it had been garage kept, it had last been washed sometime around the time Nixon resigned. After a weekend of serious cleaning, it looked pretty good despite the missing rear lower valence panel and kicked-in right rear quarter. As soon as I had the scratch I replaced the rubber mats and cheap, thin upholstery with carpet and better seatcovers. Combined with a $100 no name cassette deck and a pair of speakers from Circuit City, I had a ride that was capable of getting me to work without drama.
The Flying Pickle (as it was christened by a drunken fraternity brother one night on the way home from a Sig Ep party at the University of Pennsylvania) served me well for three years until I decided to go to law school about 120 miles from home. The Pickle (now much the worse for wear-I was a stupid kid then) was sold for $350 to some guy who decided it would be better than a bus pass. I replaced it with a year-old ex-Hertz Mercury Sable.
Although I didn’t appreciate it for much more than cheap transportation at the time, I would dearly love to have one today.
Congrats on the job Tom – long may it last 🙂 Interesting find – in the absolute base trim like this, I can see a lot of similarity in the design detail to the Australian XA Falcon and ZF Fairlane. Particularly in the shape of the front and rear wheel arches, and the indentation in the metal around them; and also in the shape of the metal around the back window and down the sides of the boot – as shown in the photo below of an Australian ZF Fairlane and the US-Falcon. Funny how these details have never stood out to me before!
Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I will be around less on CC during the week, but will still be writing and talking cars here!
That is with out a doubt in my mind a 1970 1/2 Ford Falcon! A few years ago I would not have been able to tell the difference. But I was on the look out for a 1970 or 71 Torino to put back together into a fun 70’s muscle car. I looked and looked and finely found what I was looking for up in Phoenix. I only saw a few pictures and the seller had it listed as a 1970 Torino. I got there gave it a look over and decided to take it, signed the title and drove it home. Got home read over the title and it said the model was a Falcon and I thought I had been taken. After some research I found out I had a very rear car. Mine is missing the grill just like the one in the photo and I have a good idea why the owner has not replaced his because it is almost as hard to find as the car. Cool find bud!!!!
1970 1/2 Ford Falcon Torino……..i know because i own one! pretty neat car even though it’s nothing fancy!
I had a 19701/2 Ford Falcon it was a tan color four door it was my first car. I could change oil and the filter on the straight six 250 cu.in. within 15 minutes!
I own a 70 1/2 Ford Falcon, 302, auto with shaker hood. I’m the 2nd owner, car has 70,000 miles runs and drive great. I have 2 other friends that own 70 1/2 Falcon, one of these car has a 351/ 4 speed car with shaker hood. Most people do not know what they are looking at “think it is a Torino”. Surprise it’s a Falcon. These cars are very hard to find, and not very many 2 doors were built.
Here’s my 701/2 falcon straight six 250cid 25mpg 34,xxx miles now, I’ve been called a liar cheat lol people never saw or remember this car
I too own one of these. Been in my family since early 70s. Been a great car interior looks new and is original and 250 six has been flawless. I learned to drive in this car!
The black 2 door looks like an overgrown Pinto. Look at the roof, and rear window design.
I actually have one of these. Sadly, it’s been in storage for over 10 years now. Still in excellent shape and I’ll be likely giving it a refresh to drive it in the spring. It was a Florida car and saw only limited use during one winter. I’m afraid I have to start thinking about selling it. I don’t get to enjoy it like I think it should be enjoyed. I spend more time with my rebuilt 1979 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser.
Here’s a shot the last summer I had it out, and the FJ40 pre-rebuild.
I had a 70 1/2 blue falcon. had cobra 429/370 hp. that was low. had hurst competition plus 4 speed. 430 Detroit locker rear end. had functional shaker hood. Holly 850 3 brl. . total cost with options 3200.00
good deal huh
We have one with only 5700 miles 420CJ putting it in auction in punta Gorda fl April 8 9 2016
My wife had a 1970 1/2 blue 4 door ford falcon when we got married. As the kids came along we sold it. Now I am looking for one to buy like it.
Holy cow! My family immigrated to the US from Australia in September 1969. I was born 7 weeks later. My parents needed two cars since Mum had to cart around us four kids, and Dad was working as a research professor at Ga Tech. They bought a white Ford Country Squire wagon, I think it was a 1969. And, Dad got a 1970 1/2 Ford Falcon 2-door sedan in the mossy green color. That car stayed in the family well into the 1980s, being driven by my brothers after Dad got a Chevrolet Celebrity when I was in (maybe) 9th grade. Our Falcon worked hard and was a well used and loved vehicle. Dad had polio as a teenager and walked on crutches with leg braces. He outfitted the Falcon and the Country Squire with hand controls so he could drive them.
Always knew these were strange beasts. Some older guys I hung out with were gearheads, one bought a brand new triple black 429 70.5 Falcon with 4 speed. He caught a lot of grief about an economy car. He would not street race it for some reason. Beautiful car. I’ve been looking for references to this Falcon for a long time. I bet not many people have seen one. Pulling hard on memory it might have been a Cobra Jet.
All this from my summer before returning to La. For college. I even got the privledge of being an unpaid grease monkey for a great drag racer named Paul Blevins with his wheel pulling 55 Nomad twin 4 bbl 283 G/MP in the summer and fall of ’71. He won Indy nationals that year and built and owned the ’63 Vette 4 link car that won the World Finals in Amarillo. I actually got to meet and mingle with the Modified and Pro Stockers of that era. What a summer for an 18 year old kid!
I have a 1970 1/2 Falcon/Torino 4 door, all original. 302 engine with automatic transmission. Runs and drives. Can anyone tell me a ballpark value? I’m wanting to pursue another project and may be trading/selling this in the near future. Not sure what the value would be.
Would you consider selling it. I promise to take great care of it and not soup it up like a hot rod. If you’re interested. Thanks James McWhorter
Did you buy one?
I was stationed in Kaiserslautern Germany for most of 1970, as a Military Policeman. In addition to left over Jeeps, and an occasional late 60’s Biscayne, my company had several 1970.5 Falcons, 4 door, 6 cylinder, automatics for patrol duty. Slow but reliable, I remember taking soldiers who were returning home to the airport in Frankfurt. With accelerator mashed into the vinyl flooring, you could get up to 90 mph on the Autobahn. Make sure you checked your rearview mirror before pulling into the passing lane, as the Mercedes and BMW’s would fly past as if you were standing still. Time has faded the memory of any trim or logo.
The only one I ever saw in the wild was at Minnesota Dragways. Blue with a 429 in it. I assumed it was a Torino or Fairlane even though the announcer was calling it a Falcon. It was parked close by in the pits and yes, its a Falcon. Owner said it was the cheapest and lightest way to get the 429.
“He caught a lot of grief about an economy car…”
This is why Falcon name died in the USA market. [and many others]
So that’s all it was, the dash-mounted ignition, that killed the old-style Falcon? Interesting. I had always thought it had something to do with side impact protection standards that went into effect for 1970, and that the ’66 era Falcon would not have been able to pass them?
No, the dash-mount ignition didn’t kill the Falcon; see below.
Side impact protection standards: that’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard № 214, which took effect for the 1973 model year. Prior to that, there were no side-impact standards. Plenty of 1973 models were substantially the same as their 1972 counterparts, but with guard beams in the doors.
The Maverick killed the Falcon, but the dash mounted ignition switch set the day of its death.
The Maverick was a bit of a departure from the Falcon and initially only available in the 2dr body style. For whatever reason the 4dr was not going to debut until the 1971 model year.
Ford apparently didn’t want to loose buyers looking for a 4dr compact or who thought the Maverick was too racy, so they soldered on the Falcon to have something in that segment.
At the time the laws were written to follow the calendar year so Ford was free to call it a 1970 and build them until 12/31/69. Had the regulations been model year based as they are now Ford still could have built them as is until 12/31/69 but they would have to be sold as 1969s.
Daniel is correct that the law doesn’t stipulate how the standards are achieved but the practicality of the matter is if you want to lock the steering wheel while preventing the steering wheel from locking unless the car is in park and lock the column mounted automatic transmission shifter the logical, cost effective solution is to locate the lock cylinder in the steering column.
While the steering column ignition lock is the most cost effective way to meet the regulations it doesn’t mean that it would be without a cost. Since the Falcon wasn’t going to see 1971 Ford obviously deemed the investment in the unique pieces needed for a Falcon variant of the locking steering column too great.
As too the 70 1/2 Falcon I wonder how much of it is that they had a ton of Falcon badges lying around with no where to put them, or if they were afraid of loosing someone who was dead set to replace their old Falcon with a new one.
There isn’t (and never was) any federal regulation requiring the ignition switch to be on the steering column. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard № 114 (Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention), which took effect for passenger cars built on or after 1-1-70, required:
• a starting system which, whenever its key is removed, prevents normal activation of the vehicle’s engine or motor and steering and/or forward self-mobility of the vehicle (when and only when the transmission is in Park, if the vehicle is equipped with a transmission with a Park position); and
• an audible warning activated whenever the key is in the starting system and the driver’s door is opened; and
• the starting system must prevent key removal unless the transmission is locked in Park (or becomes locked in Park as the direct result of key removal); and
• The vehicle must be designed such that the transmission or gear selection control cannot move from the Park position, unless the key is in the starting system.
None of that requires a column-mounted ignition switch, it just so happens that putting it there cheapens and eases meeting those requirements. Ford could have kept the dash-mount ignition switch if they’d really wanted to, or simply gone to a column-mount ignition switch.
Thanks for this explanation!! I was confused as the 1970s European cars I remember all had dashboard mounted ignition tumblers.
You’re right, but practically speaking, it was the new requirement that killed the Falcon, as it would have been expensive either way to meet it.
How come swapping in an appropriately-configured version of the lock-equipped steering column they would’ve swapped into all other ’70 models would’ve been especially costly on the Falcon? What am I missing?
The fixed cost wouldn’t be necessarily any more costly than the unique pieces needed for the other applications but Ford wasn’t planing on making 1971 Falcons and they were for all the rest of their 1970 cars. They would need two unique sets of unique parts, one for the AT and one for the MT. Those parts would buy them an additional 8 months of production. But Ford’s money was on (in) the Maverick and I’m betting they were predicting that Falcon demand was going to fall rapidly.
Either way the Falcon lines needed to close sooner rather than later, as Kansas City needed to be tooled for those Mavericks and New Jersey for the Pinto.
As I said above the dash mounted switch didn’t kill the Falcon but it did set the date of death.
The 1970 Falcon was just a way to take advantage of the way the regulations were at the time and bang out a few more units and $$ on that tooling since they could.
Thanks—that reckons.
To put a bit more perspective to that: falcon sales were in free fall. 1969 MY sales were down to 95k. And the part year “real” 1970 Falcon sales were a mere 16k, but that may have been because they shut down the plants early. Either way, the Falcon’s death was highly imminent.
PS: The Mustang killed the Falcon. And the Maverick resurrected much of the early Mustang’s sales, at least for the first year.
@Paul and I bet that 16k number was some what goosed by Ford telling their dealers that the Falcon was the only 4dr compact choice for 1970 and the order books closed on XX/XX/1969.
I’d say the Mustang mortally wounded the Falcon and the Maverick put it out of it’s misery.
I’ve never known about this car until now. Thanks. It makes sense that the 4-door Maverick replaced it – that first photo shows how many styling cues were shared with the Mav, including the fender bulges and the awkward C-pillar.
I had a Maverick, and I remember it having very similar upholstery to your interior shot – smooth vinyl at the front of the seat, with a woven pattern a few inches back. A misapplied knee at the juncture of those two textures while leaning on the seat will rip it right through – I learned that the hard way. . .
I have mine, but it’s been neglected for awhile now. I go back and forth whether to sell it. Have had it since 1984.
Wow, what a great find-I’ve seen only one 701/2 in my life-when I was stationed at Davis Monthan AFB early in 1970 I saw one-a 2dr painted a pale yellow. Tom, I would guess this car has been repainted and I wonder if the vinyl roof was a later add on.
I really don’t buy the story that federal regulations requiring a steering column-mounted ignition switch taking effect caused the compact 1970 Falcon, with its dash-mounted switch, to be discontinued after December 31, 1969. With the Falcon sharing so many parts with the mid-sized Fairlane and Torino it should have been fairly easy to use the same steering-column-mounted ignition switch that was used on the Fairlane and Torino for a full model year.
It was also very strange that Ford would go to all the trouble of bringing out a unique bodystyle, the 2-Door pillared coupe for only half a model year (although it certainly did share a lot of its sheet metal and tooling with the 2-door hardtop Fairlane and Torino models. It was just weird.
Yes there is a lot of commonality with the Torino but if you’ve been in a 70-71 Torino and a 69 Falcon you would see that the seating and dash are very different and it would be unlikely that they could use the Torino column as is.
Yes they could have made a few unique pieces to use the corporate column in the Falcon, as well as a new dash harness or adapter/extensions.
But the Falcon was dead to Ford. It had been dying for years and the replacement was already in production. So Ford wasn’t going to spend a penny on it.
But hey the regulations say we call sell it as a 1970’s, make them until 12/31/69 as is. We don’t really need a full year to retool the plants so might as well wring a little more money out of the poor bird.
To this day it is strange to promote price leader 70.5 Falcon, and then drop completely 6 months later.
Maybe new sales manager came in and wanted cleaned up model lineup for ’71?
Went from Falcon, Fairlane, Torino to just Torino in base, 500 and Brougham.
Then for ’72, Gran Torino made another nameplate shuffle.
I had an Australian 74 XB two door Falcon visually the same as Eric Banner’s except I didn’t spend $600,000 on mine and so it was not quite the same…dunno why but it had a Fairmont interior and a 351 with a 4 barrel carby…hear that baby suck air…loved that car but as I lived near the beach and it started to rust I sold it so it might be saved…wish I still had it, they are now worth a freekin fortune.
Here is a vid of Banner’s car, it kills me to see it, looks ID to mine back then in this video…I really did love that car…..
My Dad bought a 70 1/2 Falcon as a beater to drive to work about 1980–it was a 2 door post car. It had a 302 and automatic–I do remember it had rubber floor, no carpets. The top of the fenders were rotting away.