FORD FALCON WAGGON

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31238, 9 December 1966, Page 15

FORD FALCON WAGGON

JsJIX-CYLINDER ears have been popular in New Zealand for many years, and the latest entrant into this competitive class, where New Zea-land-assembled vehicles are concerned, is the latest Ford Falcon, which is also a strong competitor in Australia. This week we have been testing a Falcon station waggon with the Super Pursuit 200 engine, which produces 121 b.h.p. compared with the 111 b.h.p. of the Pursuit 170 engine. We found the Falcon a comfortable, roomy, good- : looking and well-behaved vehicle that seems good ; value at £1259 for the version tested. The Falcon waggon is a big vehicle, and it has plenty of room for six passengers and a huge amount of luggage. When the rear seat is folded flat the load space is even greater, and there is sufficient floor-length for even tall persons to sleep in comfort. To open the one-piece tailgate, one first winds down the window by using the external handle, then reaches in and unlocks the tailgate itself. Underneath the rubber-cov-ered floor of the luggage area is a large spare wheel well, which has plenty of room for tools and other oddments as well as the spare. Under the bonnet all service points are accessible. There is a moderately-sized glovebox on the left side of the dash panel. The instrument panel in front of the driver has two large, wellmarked dials, one containing speedometer and mileage recorder, and the other gauges for fuel and water temperature and warning lights for oil pressure and alternator charge. Controls for choke, wipers, lights, and so on comprise a line of identical knobs along the lower edge of the dash panel. These are sufficiently similar to be confusing, and

although the driver becomes use to their relative positions after a while, he may still occasionally have to glance down to find the control he wants. The knobs project from the dash, and could damage knees in an accident As in many Fords, the steering wheel seems a little close to the driver when the seat is adjusted to give good reach to the pedals. The wheel carries a half horn-ring which, on the test car, had many dead spots. Visability is good all round and the seats, both front and rear, are very comfortable. Road and engine noise are reasonably subdued, and wind noise is low. An excellent feature is the windscreen washer system: pressing a pedal just above the clutch operates both the wipers and the washers, allowing the driver to clean the screen without taking his hands off the wheel. A very useful idea for hot weather is the provision of fresh air vents under the dash, which blow a generous stream of cool ata* against the front-seat occupants. The heater is efficient and has a quiet two-speed fan, but unfortunately there is no adjustment that will permit the driver to have warm air on his feet and cool air on his face at the same time. PERFORMANCE The engine and the gearbox should be considered together, for it seemed the engine characteristics and the gearing did not match as well as might have been hoped, and although high speeds are maintained with ease, top-gear acceleration was not all we had expected from the 121 b.h.p. power unit. The gearbox of the test car was the three-speed columnchange unit—an automatic transmission is available at extra cost. The lack of synchromesh on first gear did not endear the box to us in town and steep-hill driving, and this lack was made even more noticeable by the obvious unhappiness of the engine when asked to pull away from less than 10 m.p.h. in second gear. The column lever’s movements are light and smooth, I but fairly long. We feel most customers would be willing to pay a few pounds more, if necessary, for a more modern gearbox with a synchronised first gear. On the open road there seemed to be marginal topgear torque when overtaking 45-50 rnp.h. traffic. The car was not happy in second gear at much more than 45 m.p.h., so most overtaking had to be done in top. The car was not happy at less than 20 m.p.h. in top.

Good acceleration is essential when overtaking, and it seemed the vehicle would benefit either from more power, a four-speed gearbox, or both. The Falcon waggon is a large vehicle that is likely to be called on to carry heavy loads, and for this reason in particular we felt more acceleration in the 40-60

m.p.h. range would be an advantage, although other Falcons might well return better times than the test car, which had covered about 2200 miles since new.

The clutch was comparatively light, and the brakes were light with reasonable “feel” in most circumstances. At the end of the fade test they smelled, but operated well. Two minutes later they pulled to one side and showed other signs of fade, but they returned to normal five minutes after the test. They can best be described as adequate, and hard drivers might well consider the optional extra of disc brakes. The handbrake was virtually useless, and barely slowed the car when applied at 20 m.p.h. When stopping on hills it was necessary to leave the car in gear if the footbrake was to be released.

The wipers swept a good area of the screen, but the faster of the two speeds was too slow.

The handling and roadholding was very good for a large live-axle car, although the very light steering has five turns from lock to lock and should be more direct, as it could be without becoming too heavy for women drivers. On wet and dry sealed roads and on shingle, the handling was predictable and safe. The initial gentle understeer changes to a progressive oversteer at high cornering values, and there is no hint that one is driving a station waggon rather than a saloon. The roll angle is very reasonable and twisting roads can be negotiated rapidly without disturbing passengers. The car’s general stability is one of its best features.

The station waggon as tested costs £1259 (£473 sterling) and is available with the lesspowerful 170 engine for £1239 (£462). The 170-engined saloon cost £1173 (£442) and the more powerful model costs £1193 (£453). Australianassembled models are availabe with a V 8 engine of 4.7litre capacity, which costs £ll5 extra and must be fitted

with automatic transmission, which is £132 extra. TECHNICAL ■nglno: Pursuit 170: *lx cylinder*, overhead valve*. 2.7 litre* (170 cub. in.). Compression ratio 8.2 to 1. 11l b.h.p. at 4400 r.pjn. torque, 158 at 2400 r.p.m. Super Pursuit 200: six cylinder overhead valves, 3.3 litres (200 cub. in.): compression ratio 0.2 to 1. 121 b.h.p. at 4400 r.p.m. torque, 100 at 2400 Engine features: Up to 8000 mile oil changes; 36,000 mile fuel filter; 12-volt electrical system; 54 plate 40 amp/hour battery; 35 amp heavy duty alternator; corrosion resistant muffler. Manual transmission. Three forward speeds, 1 reverse. Steering column change. Synchromesh 2nd and 3rd gears. Fordomatic 3S automatic transmission optional. Three forward gear ratios, one reverse. Rear axle ratios: Manual transmission and Pursuit 170 or Super Pursuit 200—3:50:1. Automatic transmission and Super Pursuit 200 —3.23:1. Front suspension: Anglepoised ball-joint type. Heavy duty coll springs with internally mounted hydraulic shock absorbers. Rear suspension: Semi-elliptic asymmetrical variable rate leaf springs. Four leaves on saloons, six on waggons. Staarlng: Recirculating ball type. Steering gear ratio 20:1. Steering wheel 16in diameter. Turning circle 36.6 ft. Brakes: Self-adjusting hydraulic. Solid cast front drums. Fuel tank capacities: Saloons 16.4 imperial gallons. Station waggons 13 Imperial gallons. Dfmanslons: Overall length, saloons 184.6 in, waggons 190.3 in. Overall width, saloons and waggons 73.8 in. Overall height, saloons 54.71 n, waggons 55.2 in. Wheelbase, saloons and waggons Ulin. Track front and rear, saloon and waggon 58in. Ground clearance 71n.