What went wrong

The key facts surrounding Ford’s challenge at Bathurst in 1979 don’t make for happy reading for blue bloods. The first Falcon home was the Jim Keogh/John Mann XC hardtop in 14th, a full 25 laps behind the race winners. That black #12 machine was one of a dozen big coupes to come under starter’s orders, yet was the sole example classified as a finisher!

With the Cleveland 351-powered hardtops having had six previous Bathurst starts, conventional motorsport wisdom would suggest these cars would at least be reliable by 1979, especially with dry-sump engines permitted that final year. No. One finisher from 12 starters! Houston we have a problem... make that two: reliability and speed.

Yes, the hardtops were long in the tooth, having debuted in ’73, and the all-conquering A9X Toranas had long since surpassed them for pace. But it defies logic that the Falcons posted significantly slower lap times in ’79 than they had been the previous year in similar conditions.