Here is my episode on the Ford Falcon FGX - part of the Falcon history series. Please enjoy, Hit that Like Button and Subscribe. 👍

Don't know why I am emotional after watching this. Thanks Mark.

It still hurts r.i.p FALCON. Thanks for the trips down memory lane Mark. 🙏🏻👍🏻

Dad worked at GM for 25 years but ended up driving a Ford FG xr6 because he enjoyed it the most. It's funny how life turns out. Thanks Mark. I've enjoyed every video.

The end of the Ford Falcon was a greater loss to both me and Australia, in my mind, than the loss of the GMH vehicles. They continue to hold a special place in my heart.

You only realise what you have when it is gone! Thank you for making this series, have really enjoyed!

I’m glad to have grown up during the era of Australian motor manufacturing, our family still owns a Falcon to this day. The mighty AU of course 😅

Sexy looking car in my opinion a step up from the FG in body style and looks.. they still catch my eye every time I see one that is of the xr variety

Ive owned my Fgx Xr6 for 6 years as my daily and i can say its been the best ford ive ever owned it just ticks along with no issues always flys through its warrant of fitness every year thanks mark great video history as per usual

Ford Australia's marketing used to leave me shaking my head. I remember the ad for the dedicated LPG Falcon. Instead of highlighting the performance and economical running costs, they made a point of showing that you lost some boot space! I couldn't frigging believe my eyes! I mean were they trying to sell Falcons or Camrys?

Thank you Mark for such detailed history series of the Aussie Falcon! I still remember when Dad bought a brand new XL Falcon wagon to cart us five kids around through highways, dirt roads and creeks. Bullet proof!!!

Sadly, we as a family were to blame for the downfall of Australian vehicle manufacturing. I remember we bought a brand new G6E in 2008, which unfortunately had a few quirks, such as the boot constantly opening at random and the ICC having a few hiccups. My parents made the poor decision to let it go in favour for a BMW, which we had for many years, only to return to Australian vehicles last year (with a minor exception being a HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer E3 in 2012), starting with an FG X XR8. I’ve already travelled 20,000 km in it and it is quite possibly the best car I’ve driven. Australia lost something special when we stopped manufacturing in 2017, but at least we have our cars to look back and reminisce on all the good times we had. We truly didn’t know how good we had it here

Parks did a great job with what must have been a tiny budget to make a tired car look desirable. I remember having an FGX XR6 rental in Brisbane and thinking it was a sharp looking vehicle, which given my personal car was an Audi S3 at the time was a compliment. I was also a little sad, as in a couple of months it was the end of the line.

Love your work Mark. We might be the lucky country but we are also the dumb country for selling out our manufacturing industries. An economy needs diversification. All of the items we consume will not be manufactured cheaply in China for ever. It will surely go the way of Taiwan which is now a first world country where nothing is cheap anymore. The closing of Ford Australia was very sad indeed and this county’s only got worse since!

Dad worked at Ford for 37 years. He still tells so many stories about all the areas he worked in and about how he and his team built so many great cars. He worked across Geelong and Broadmeadows and managed many teams to deliver many parts.

An enjoyable look down memory lane. It's often said that Ford Aus didn't market the Falcon enough but I'm not sure if that really mattered by the end. Other than the odd Falcon enthusiast, no one wanted them. I understand that V8 Commodores made up a large portion of private purchases and I suspect those were people who already knew about it. Everyone else realised they didn't need such a large car so they bought a Corolla or 3. And if they did need a big car, they bought a SUV. If it wasn't for big government fleet sales, I suspect that the Falcon/Commodore/Camry/Magna/380 would have died much earlier. The other issue is the poor reputation Ford dealers have. I've since converted to another brand but prior to that I purchased new FG-X XR8s and a Focus (I realised that I didn't need such a big car for just myself) and both dealer experiences weren't great.

It was a sad day when all Aussie car manufacturing closed, especially Ford and Holden, I miss these Aussie icons.

I've never owned a Holden or Ford but have driven a lot of them. Just when both manufacturers actually nailed it with great cars they both died off. Cars are one thing but the fact stuff like this is going away is a part of a huge problem with who's running our country into the ground.

Tragic story for Australian manufacturing falcons have been in my family since the ef and have grown around them with my dad owning many throughout his time in Australia his last one was a BF before he switched to European. He tells me how reliable and good his cars did and treated his everyday travels to and from work and pushed me to buy an Falcon for a first car. I am proud to continue to drive a FG xr6 and have the feel of driving a car that was designed for our country and roads farewell Ford Australia manufacturing gone but not forgotten.

Thanks Mark for this series on the Falcon. I still have my aero blue FGX XR6 with luxury pack bought new in 2015 and thoroughly enjoy driving it. I don’t think I’ll ever sell it 😂. It’s such a shame that Ford didn’t market these cars.

I think Holden buyers were prepared to overlook the Commodores Opel styling connections as long as they were made in Australia and used large Aussie sixes and V8's. Once this changed with the ZB, buyers and fans just gave up. With the entire range now fully imported and mostly four cylinders, there was nothing left to defend or admire.

I think the FG-X was to ahead of its time for the styling. Now days they have become very popular in my neighbourhood.

It’s a sad end to the Falcon and to importantly the Australian car industry Thanks for your commentary Mark

I really liked the styling of the FGX, its hard to believe the sales were so flat. Here's hoping that Australian manufacturing comes back in the future!

I'm glad there was never a Ford equivalent to the ZB Commodore. Falcon meant LOCAL. I'm guessing the FGX wasn't heavily promoted because Ford knew they were doomed. They instead promoted the models they had to rely on for sales in the future. They were just being strategic I'm guessing.

An excellent car , very poorly supported. they still look current on the road. Keep the episodes coming.

Fabulous series Mark! Well the FGX was certainly a fabulous way to bow out . Will always be a shame we all got affluenza and moved to our posh European cars. Puts a smile on my face when I see great Australian design - FGX, and VE commodores - they were great days .

not only did Ford Australia not market the FG-X, they did very little development work on it other than a facelift over the FG, the difference between a Falcon FG-X and a Commodore VF was the latest safety features installed in the VF.

Love the content

I love the fgx xr8 it really had personality

The falcon almost caught up to the commodore, in the end.

Hey Mark ‼️. How about a video on the demise of FPV? We here in the USA do not have the common knowledge of that decision.

I was hoping to hear you confirm that the FGX XR8 had the same running gear as the GT R-Spec. I assumed that maybe it wasn’t advertised out of respect for the GT owners.

I only got the chance to drive an FGX xr6 between Cairns and port Douglas in 2016 wowsers what a gorgeous falcon great power in auto form and handling was superior compared to my ba v8 I still don't see any around here up for sale or on the road such a rare car now for a young car

Certainly a nice looking Falcon would have loved seeing a Fairlane version GMH were stupid they said the Commodore was finished then slap same badge on pure rubbish 👎 Great video 👍✌️🤠🐨🦘

Great series, Mark; what a pity local manufacturing all came to an end. Having from 1972 worked for Ford, AMI, Nissan and GMH here in Oz, the loss of the industry - largely due to various governments and their policies - is an indictment of the their shortsightedness. I'm still running a 2014 Territory (my second Terri) as my daily drive, after having had a string of various Falcons that commenced with an XP. Had an excellent P76 V8, plus a Commodore, a Gemini and a Camira (briefly; everyone's entitled to make one mistake!) and raced an HQ, so it's not like I was one-eyed! 😉

I will probably never own one unless i hit the lottery. Personally i feel they are the best looking and a nice way to send off, even though it sucks Ford AUS is done.

Australia use to make good cars. My first job was in a repetition engineering company employing 1300 people making engine valves, axles, king pins, bushes, bolts, etc. I was a trainee engineer. I lost my job when Leyland went bust which was of course many years before Ford shut down manufacturing in Australia. Those factories were the greatest place to work. A wonderful melting pot of people from all around the world that got on with with each other and could communicate even if you didn't understand each other's language.

Another great video Mark, I agree with you about how little effort Ford Australia put into marketing the FGX series. When they first started to appear on the roads, I confused them for the Mondeo due to the family resemblance and the very little marketing advising me otherwise. I'm sure that it was well known internally at its release that the FGX would be the last Falcon so perhaps Fords marketing department saw little sense in pushing a dead horse (or should I say dead bird with respect to Falcon) so maybe it was a case of "why bother". Who knows!

They really were very well done apart from the very old dash Such a shame they are gone I always said they should have put the territory diesel in the falcon commercials

very Sad to see Falcon go. Ty Mark for this Series!.

Thank you for another in-depth video, Mark, and this time for the last of the Falcons. Its obvious how much effort you put in these. Looks are subjective, but I think the FG-X is very handsome. The FG was inoffensive but was just a car. The FG-X is still eye-catching and really catapulted Falcon's styling into the modern era and was a great response to Holden's VF. I wish my March 2014 build FG was several months newer, as it looks bland and dowdy, especially in grey. Thanks for explaining the "FG-X" designation. I always wondered why it had three letters versus the rest of the Falcon series.

FPV most enjoyed thru the sunny hills with 600hpw , remember don't play around, play uneven

Great series mark.very well done. Can’t wait for the next one

Hi Mark, When i was 12, 49 now. I remember (like it was yesterday) after much debate the decision to buy the 4 door xc over the 2 door xc being made by mum saying it will be a pain getting him (me) in and out of a 2 door. The price of the 2 door in century motors car yard was $1750 😢 We went with a white 200 crossflow 4 door xc. I often think of buying one for the memories, but with mum ederly and dad gone now driving in an xc with memories that would probably come back would probably only upset me 😢 Its funny how a car has such an important part in peoples lives like one of the family.

Well done mark another great episode thanks .

Loving the content mate ....I own an au fairmont and I definitely have a soft spot for the falcon's , definitely sad to see them no longer being made 😕

Thanks mate for the Falcon serious, even though I left the trade in 1994, I still had feelings of sadness in October 2016 remembering my 15 years with Ford. I am a Holden nut even though I do not own one right now. It will be great to video's on the Cortina's and Escorts and some of the other smaller cars.

It was a great time as a kid waiting and then seeing the new model Falcon or commodore for the first time, now there is nothing to look forward to except electric space cars.

Such a good looker, although I always thought the FG mid body looked a bit too bulbous for the revised front and rear design. Shame the 4cyl didn’t catch on, if they had have marketed its quicker 0-100 time, who knows.

Sad to see the Falcon go.I owned several of them over the years and still have my current vehicle a BF XR8 ute.

Loved the series mate! Even though I’m a ford man I’m keen to see the holden and Chrysler related videos

Love my Ford Cars, from Warwick Qld 🦘

I’m definitely looking hard to find the funds for one of these GT spec Falcons. I’ve had the pleasure of driving one 3 years ago. Boy she was loose. But the supercharger wow if only there was mooooore. ❤❤❤

Ford and Holden sadly an end of an era.

Thanks Mark, another great ep, do you follow what is happening in the US with Ford, they seem they are on a hiding to nowhere. cheers from all of us that follow you.

Good video Mark , albeit a sad one , looking forward to your next one.

I really enjoyed the series on the Falcon. I learnt a lot that I didn’t know before. I read your comment about what falcons you own and you have a really nice collection. We’ve got 3 Falcons. A 2008 Falcon BF XR6 Sedan, 2009 FPV GS 302 Sedan and a 2015 Falcon FGX XR6 Sedan. Looking at buying a FGX Turbo and FGX XR8 eventually. Looking forward to your next lot of reviews.

Wow Only few cars were sold in last model range!! I still sometimes forget that Australia doesn't produce cars anymore as we do have our unique needs...

If the Aussie gov was serious about pollution and Aussie manufacturing without using tariffs they could have mandated all cars run on lpg. We’ve got plenty of gas, the infrastructure and the simple win that lpg is far better for the environment. We are the stupid lucky country.

Ripper series mark you’ve definitely left your mark on ford

Great series Mark

I am more curious on your car collection as you have large selection and do like your more "quirky" or overlooked cars which you have, as well as some more "popular" cars too!

Thanks for that

Great episode👌

I'm Holden at heart but I've always loved my many Falcons I've owned over the years. Still the two equal favourite cars I've owned was the XR and XA. And I'm the odd one who actually likes the look of the AU Forte, although admittedly the one I owned started falling apart until one morning the entire wheel still attached to the hub and other bits went one way and me and the car went the other way. Just left it there and walked away.

The 4 cyl eco boost came out in the FG2 and the 5.0 is referred to as the Miami due to it being supercharged not NA

Lucky enough to own a FGX XR6 Turbo in victory gold. Was completely stock and owned by Ford when I bought her , Currently has 600whp & 810nm on E85

It wasn't the lack of marketing responsible for low sales. Everybody who might have bought one knew what a Falcon is. The car was old by then, demand was non-existent. It was also really expensive. People want SUVs. Did chose to ditch Australia.

G'day Mark, What a great series on all the Falcon's over the years thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them. The FGX would be the one I would buy for sure, & as a semi driver local in Melbourne up & down the Monash Fwy you don't see many of them in any form these days. I remember my very rich neighbour in Port Melbourne bought a white with black strip's XR 6 Turbo Sprint which was gorgeous & he mentioned it was a limited edition. What was limited edition & how many of these were made ? Looking forward to the Aussie Mopar's series. BTW a very good friend mine too old to press the clutch in & out is selling his VH Charger 4 speed fully restored in Vitamin C. If you know anyone happy to connect the dots. Cheers Louis Kats 👍

Great content Mark!

That’s depressing.😭😭😭

I remember it

We're the government and we're here to help

Another excellent installment Mark! Always super informative and entertaining :)

if we get a government who work for the people, we may get factories back in Australia.

Short n sad part to long history of Ford Falcon, i was surprised with no V8 in the ute talk about wounded dog. Ford should done another 6 months or year with special tribute paying homage to successful models like Mad Max, ESP, racing legend DJ/Bowe, Geelong edition, Sandfire or Outback club?

My big brother Rohan owned a RS2000 Ford Escort

The exterior styling has held up well (in my eyes), interior? ok'ish but yeah dated to 2008 from FG ok SYNC 2 saves it, thankfully its easy to update to SYNC 3 or install a aftermarket head unit as Ford opened the propriety code to the aftermarket to access all the controllers like air con, GPS, DAB/AM/FM/Bluetooth and voice controllers. The people I worked for back in the day specifically told me we want 4cyl sedans (re: Camry), so as fleet manager I managed to sneak in at least 20 FG X Ecoboost Falcon in both G6 and G6E spec for the sales reps, who then all complained about the seating position and steering wheel position lol but loved the power from the turbo 4, loved them over the Camry 4cyl sedan. I know several owners of the EcoLpi and yes they still rip (go hard) even after 8 years, some have done turbo conversions but they are limited with top end power due to higher comp (which turbo's do not like) and the smaller pistons and conrods and the liquid phase injection is finicky to work on. GMH screwed up with the ZB calling it Commodore and for GMH to pay the "automotive news / review sites" to stop criticism (looking at you Motoring, Carsguide and WhichCar) from general public by removing or censoring posts about the use of Commodore name and then calling us "keyboard warriors" shame on them and GMH for such atrocious attutides. Nos that the "Falcon" history lessons are over, looking forward to the Territory and future GMH lessons, would love to hear your thoughts on the Magna Ralliart and Aurion TRD which went head to head with your FPV's in that era. Great work Mark.

Exited for some Chrysler videos. Love you work! Cheers Mark

Will be 10 years before we know it 😢

Just when Ford Australia made a world class car....trace this disaster back to senator John Button.

The Ford Falcon would've been a great Muscle sedan to compete with the Dodge Charger in the states.

Great work mark ! 👍🏿

Mark, loved the Falcon video series but, a little disappointed with the FGX episode. I think you should have given a lot for information on the XR6 and XR8 Sprints, like how they were built and what was behind Ford’s thinking with the two great cars.👌

Thanks again for top-quality content, Mark! I can't believe the Falcon series has come to an end. What's the plan for the next series?

Another great video Mark a wealth of knowledge if you could have 3 falcons in your garage what would they be for me. 1-XYGTHO, way ahead of its time beat everything built in Australia horsepower the shape nothing came close then 2-XTGT, body shape nice 302, chrome trimmings GT dash 3-FGGS got away from the ugly B series taillights super aggressive look with the bonnet hump better grille a special mention to the ZA-ZB Fairlanes for class and comfort in a 302 or 351 and a mention to the XE ESP or XE FAIRMONT GHIA with the unbeatable 351 Cleveland for its era the XE are still a beautiful car today body shape aggressive front and Dick Johnson made one of them howl down conrod straight GREENSTUFF had a shirt with GREENSTUFF and Dicky's XE on it that car was super quick in its era how good were Johnson/Bowe in Fords

Seeing the photos of the beautiful 60's and 70's Falcons, I have to say , modern styling does not appeal to me in in comparison. I had a chance at getting a 302 powered XA coupe in 1986 , I went for a 400 4 speed powered HQ Monaro instead, because of the engine size, it was a good thing but If I could live that over again Id buy the Falcon , and still own it . Just dreaming of what could have been. 🙂

Would you be interested in doing a police version video on the Ford and Holdens?

I thought the FG/X was what the FG should have been, from a styling point of view... Kind of like the AU and BA in that respect.

I remember the old servo with the restaurant sign from when i was a kid but I cant think of which town it was at! Dont know if it was Cooma or Goulburn, but ive stopped in there before. The demise of Ford Australia still kills me today.

Fgx felt flat on the go pedal touring ,fg mk2 for me

Hello Mark I get the Ford USA didn’t really help for Ford Aust and tired to push its own cars down under?

Thank you for the video Mark. This one was sad, but this was still good as it showed the end and what took place. The Taurus rumor was interesting. I do appreciate you sharing the Opel based design that was used by Opel, Buick and Holden. Buick in China still uses it at this time. Buick North America has no sedans any longer. I recall the "One Ford" global plan. Falcon lost out on that. This last generation looked like a Fusion/Mondeo. The Australians got the Mondeo..... That was interesting to know. Today the Taurus/ Mondeo are sold in China and the Middle East. We did not get anything after Taurus left the United States and Fusion was taken out. What was the deal with the non V8 policy? This is bad as some of the other policies there( Australia) about cars. It seems Ford was impacted like Holden( GM) in Australia as well. Europe did not the new Mondeo either. A Taurus does exist in the Middle East: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mrtkhbmZ1bGnf4k.html

You forgot the territory

Just don't see those four cylinder ones around anymore, seen a few minus engine, or 'engine blown' though. Still got two BF2 XR6s in the immediate family.

Hi Mark, hope your well, Sad end of an Australian era, no more Falcon's and no more Ford . A car that meant a lot to Australia as well as Ford Australia. Are parts available still for these cars and are they still being made. It's the same for Holden just re badge Opel's from Europe, it's the same with Vauxhall. No Vauxhall car is made in the UK, the last one was the Astra ended production in 2019 and now made in Europe. The Holden Commodore is the Vauxhall Insigna re badge from Opel. I was the same in the UK when MG and Rover ended all car production in 2005. Ford UK ended car production in 2001 the last car was the Escort Ford van production ended in 2014 end of the UK built Transit and that is being produced in Turkey. Peugeot end it's UK production 2007 were all right had drive cars were built for UK and other RHD markets, all Peugeot's are built in France and a new plant in Poland. Honda have ended Jazz, Civic and Accord production in the UK and now made in Japan. The Falcon FGX a stunning looking car shame it was the last, love the modern styling like an over sized Mondeo and the rear end of a Jaguar XF no estate/wagon that must have been a loss as well as a four cylinder turbo 2.0 engine even it was powerful over 200 bhp. I have enjoyed this Falcon story over the past few months. I would enjoy more of this on other Australian made cars, over the years, Holdens , Fords , Chrysler Roots, Australian built Austins Morris Leyland and other makes that were produced. As always a great video Take care

I remember the day they shut up shop, my old man shead a few tears

It is sad that the Falcon is no longer 😢 Do you have an FGX in your collection?

Put a beat behind Beiden and you got a mumble rap hit