XE Falcon 1982-4

With the XE Falcon, Ford was the only remaining company with an Australian designed and built car. Holden had the Opel designed Commodore and Chrysler’s Valiant was discontinued. Other big news was that Ford Falcon finally became Australia’s top selling car.

Before then, the Falcon could only manage to take the lead from Holden for a few months at a time.Part of the reason Falcon made number one was a sudden glut in the middle of the oil crisis, and the prices started to fall. Holden experienced sudden demand for V8 models, but its plans were all centred around the small Camira!However, despite the oil glut, Ford had already made the decision to discontinue the mighty V8. The last V8 Falcon rolled out in November 1982, ending 50 years of V8 Fords in Australia. It would be almost 10 years before there was another V8 Falcon.To fill the gap left by the V8s, electronic fuel injection became available in February 1983. It was optional on the 4.1 and power and torque was boosted by 13kW and 20Nm.The sixes also enjoyed more power and torque due to the new Weber carburettor. Power of the 3.3 was up to 90kW at 4100rpm, the 4.1 was up to 105kW at 3800rpm. The new carburettor also added better fuel economy, and a five speed manual was now available with the 3.3.The XE was the first with all round coil springs and a Watts link rear suspension, replacing the leaf springs that had been on the Falcon since 1960. As a result the car handled much better, although the wagon and ute missed out.This Falcon was quieter, smoother and more relaxing than ever before because the engineers paid a lot of attention to noise, vibration and harshness. Power steering was still optional on most models, so drivers were stuck with 5.2 turns lock-to-lock.Falcon’s bonnet now wrapped over to meet the smaller grille, and the tail lights got more flutes.