Hard to top

Without the Monaro it might not have existed, but Ford’s belated answer to Holden’s big muscle coupe certainly hit the mark. The XA model range consolidated Ford’s growing market share, and on the track the Hardtop delivered with consecutive Bathurst wins.

Story: Stewart Wilson

It’s hard to believe for those of us who were around at the time, but 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Ford XA Falcon, following the successful XR, XT, XW and XY series of 1967-’71. These were the Falcons that first began to properly challenge Holden’s market dominance, and so it was crucial that their successor build on that.

Against serious opposition from Holden’s HQ and its successors, Chrysler with its VH/VJ Valiants and rapidly developing from Japanese manufacturers, the XA Falcon did the job, consolidating Ford’s market share until finally, in 1982, ‘Australia’s Own’ was overtaken when the all-new XD/XE/XF Falcon families outsold the Holden Commodore in the ‘family car’ category. Ford would remain on top for the next six years.

But it was the XA Falcon that seriously started the upward trend for Ford Australia.