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Last ever Ford Falcon GT rolls off the Broadmeadows production line
Joshua Dowling
9 October 2014
www.news.com.au
THE last ever Ford Falcon GT rolled off the Broadmeadows production line yesterday as more than 600 workers gathered for the emotional send-off.
It was the end of an era and the beginning of the countdown to Ford’s factory closure in October 2016 as production began on the updated Falcon and Territory that will see out Australia’s oldest car maker.
Ford will keep building the Falcon sedan and ute — and Territory SUV — for two more years but this is the last Falcon GT of all time.
Car number 500 from a batch of 500 was sold in a charity auction last month for $236,100 — three times its RRP — to car enthusiast Steven Clarke, from Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, who briefly owned one of the very first Falcon GT sedans, and has regretted selling it ever since.
Ford allowed the winning bidder to select the colour of the final Falcon GT and Mr Clarke chose a one-off “victory gold”, the closest Ford could match to the original 1967 Falcon GT.
In an unprecedented move, Ford also allowed the winning bidder to help build the car from start to finish, including turning the spanners on the supercharged V8 engine in Geelong.
Mr Clarke even stamped his initials on the V8 engine, and fitted some of the parts to the car on the assembly line.
“It’s mixed emotions for me,” said Mr Clarke, who drove the car off the line at Broadmeadows yesterday, but won’t take delivery until next month.
“I’m excited to finally see the car, but I’m sad about the end of manufacturing in Australia. I’ve gotten to know a lot of the workers over the past month … and they’re just a great bunch of people. They really wear their hearts on their sleeves.”
Continue here
Joshua Dowling
9 October 2014
www.news.com.au
THE last ever Ford Falcon GT rolled off the Broadmeadows production line yesterday as more than 600 workers gathered for the emotional send-off.
It was the end of an era and the beginning of the countdown to Ford’s factory closure in October 2016 as production began on the updated Falcon and Territory that will see out Australia’s oldest car maker.
Ford will keep building the Falcon sedan and ute — and Territory SUV — for two more years but this is the last Falcon GT of all time.
Car number 500 from a batch of 500 was sold in a charity auction last month for $236,100 — three times its RRP — to car enthusiast Steven Clarke, from Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, who briefly owned one of the very first Falcon GT sedans, and has regretted selling it ever since.
Ford allowed the winning bidder to select the colour of the final Falcon GT and Mr Clarke chose a one-off “victory gold”, the closest Ford could match to the original 1967 Falcon GT.
In an unprecedented move, Ford also allowed the winning bidder to help build the car from start to finish, including turning the spanners on the supercharged V8 engine in Geelong.
Mr Clarke even stamped his initials on the V8 engine, and fitted some of the parts to the car on the assembly line.
“It’s mixed emotions for me,” said Mr Clarke, who drove the car off the line at Broadmeadows yesterday, but won’t take delivery until next month.
“I’m excited to finally see the car, but I’m sad about the end of manufacturing in Australia. I’ve gotten to know a lot of the workers over the past month … and they’re just a great bunch of people. They really wear their hearts on their sleeves.”
Continue here