The last two-door falcon

Falcon history

In the 1950s, the Australian-built Holdens (FX, FJ, FE and FC) outsold the imported Fords of the era – primarily due to the cheaper cost of local production vs importing. Seeing the new “Falcon” being developed in Detroit, USA, Ford Australia immediately liked the new car. Ford built a manufacturing plant at Campbellfield in Melbourne, and the first four-door XK Falcon rolled off the assembly line in September 1960. The first two-door coupé version was offered in the XM body in 1964.

Fast forward to 1972 and the introduction of the third series falcon model “XA”. The two-door version of this model bore a strong resemblance to the 1970-1 Ford Torino. The third iteration of this model was the “XC”, introduced in July 1976. This was the first model to comply with new pollution regulations, new suspension and slight visual tweaks such as flatter taillights and a new dashboard.

Preparing for a completely redesigned new model, the “XD”, in 1979, Ford Australia found themselves with around 550 partly assembled two-door hardtop body shells. Expecting only around 100 – 150 orders, they conceived a limited-edition version. Off the back of an impressive 1-2 finish in the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 (The famous Bathurst 1000), the limited-edition took the “Cobra” name and snake emblem from the US Mustang. The car came in “Sno white with Bold Blue twin stripes”. The car also featured front and rear spoilers, new wheels and a dual-vent hood. The interior featured a black and blue upholstery scheduled for the upcoming XD model and a unique production model plaque on the glovebox lid. The car was powered by Ford Australia’s most potent V8, either a 351 Cleveland rated at 217 HP or a 202 HP 302 cubic inch version. Although not as powerful as pre-1972 American muscle cars, with the 1970s oil crisis and new emission standards, the cars were quite impressive for 1978.

Option 97 / PMC

Thirty of the cars were further tailored as “Option 97”, known informally as “the Bathurst Special”. These cars were made for homologation in the “Australian Championship of Makes”.

Despite initial concerns about how popular an “American-style muscle car” would be, all XC Cobras flew off showroom floors as soon as they arrived. They are today highly prized by collectors.

The medallion PMC features one of the Bathurst Special cars – with the distinctive scooped fiberglass hood with centre bulge, as well as wider rear-wheel wells for larger tires. Released in 2018, the PMC commemorates the 40th anniversary of the car.

Medallion

The medallion is 60mm diameter, 4.5mm thick and weighs 67g. It is a Zinc-alloy with a Nickel-plated finish.

The card holding the medallion contains a shot of the car against a fiery orange sky (top of post). The reverse of the PNC envelope contains details of the car itself:

“The XC Falcon Cobra was a limited-edition V8 muscle car, released by Ford Australia 40 years ago, in 1978. In 1977, despite Ford’s success on the racing track, its XC Hardtop Coupe was not a runaway retail success. Plans were made for a new Falcon based on the XC Hardtop but with more curb appeal. The bright blue Cobra, while similar under the bonnet to the XC Hardtop Coupe (with its 5752cc horsepower engine), was emblazoned with distinctive Ford Olympic Blue and Snow White stripes, together with a Cobra emblem on the front and name decal on the rear. Only 400 Cobras were made, making this vibrant model a sell-out at the time and a highly sought-after item among current-day car collectors. A new limited-edition Cobra was produced in 2007, to celebrate 30 years since Ford’s 1977 Bathurst 1000 win by Allan Moffat.

Images: Photographs: Clarence Tang/tangcla photography (cover); Matthew Wylie (inside)”

Stamp and Cancellation

The stamp is worth $1. The cancellation date was 23 October 2018 at Geelong Vic 3220. Geelong is where Ford’s main manufacturing plant was, which opened in 1925.

One final point about the XC which isn’t noted in too many other places: It was the last two-door falcon in Australia. Later Falcons were all four-door saloons, including those which competed in the Australian “V8 Supercars” championship, until the “Gen3 Mustang” introduced in 2023.

The next two-door Ford in Australia was the Escort. Ford’s (arguably) most famous two-door car, the Mustang, was originally available in Australia in 1965-6, and was the only version of the original mustang factory converted by Ford to right-hand drive anywhere in the world. The next batch of Mustangs imported into Australia was the 2001 Mustang Cobra. It wasn’t until the 5th and 6th generation mustangs returned to the “Muscle car” image, that Mustangs really took off in Australia and can now be found more commonly on Australian roads, as well as racing the V8 Supercars championship.