Here is my latest episode in the Falcon history series - the EB. Please enjoy and Subscribe if you’d like to see more old car videos. Thanks for watching. 👍👍
It had a Windsor 351 in it, supposedly not put into production as engine was too tight a fit. Imagine if they had seen the fit on the quad cam 5.4 for BA onwards.
In 94, I bought a 93 EBII Fairmont 5.0 in Cardinal Red. Even put the Tickford wheels like those shown on the Ghia at Tickford in your vid and a few other things to get a bit more out of it. Had it for 9 years, and it was a beautiful car, even drove across the Nullarbor and back with no fuss. I only sold it because I got a company car. To this day, I say it was the most complete and perfect size Falcon. It didn't have the power of later models but definitely matched them on comfort, handling, and looks. Your comments on body rigidity were spot on. One of my mates had a VN 5.0 drive mine one day, and he couldn't believe how tight it was. No flex, no creaks, just a solid ride.
You are gonna get sick of me but I have a story about the EB. I bought a VN SV5000. Was a cool car except that it fell apart around me. Getting stuff fixed under warranty at Hunter Holden, they gave me a loaner EB XR-6. It was way more comfortable and had enough power. Also the power down out of James Ruse to the M4 was damn awesome. So I bought one.
I won’t get sick of you at all! 😀. I was at Holden when we had the SV5000. I liked the Malachite Green. Hunter Holden was one of my dealers when I was an Area Sales Manager for Holden. Long time ago now. The XR6 was excellent and great value so I can see why you bought one. 👍👍
@@markbehr88 must have been after august 91, given they didn't make the EB til then. Fun fact: my parents owned an 89 EA GL station wagon when I was growing up (3.9Lcfi, 3 speed column auto, six seater). It was our family car and we covered 350,000+kms in it - as a family of six it worked out pretty well. I got the car when I was a P plater and was amazed by just how much fuel such a slow car could use. The introduction of the 4 speed BTR really made a HUGE difference performance/economy wise.
Yep.love my EB. I’ve had it for pretty close to 19 years now and I’m still proud of it. It started of its life (when new) as a hospital vehicle from Sydney.Mine is a may 1992 GLI series two sedan. The colour is marine blue. mine though had just missed out on the smart lock. I believe it was pretty much the last of the EBs that had the smart lock. It has the 4.0 litre (244 cubic inch) six cylinder with the 4spd auto. The motor is quite lively for what it is. And throughout the time I’ve had the car it’s been very reliable and I had nothing major go wrong with it.
In my opinion especially in the xR8 wich are now very rare. But straight 4.0 ltr was much better increase of power in the 4 litre. In my opinion the suspension was a tad sloppy. But a car I’d proudly drive around today. 👍👍❤ Ohhh year the dreaded head gaskets, the fuel pump. And the heater hose was an absolute pain in the bum to sort unless you took of the manifold. And they needed a round tool like key to help move the callipers to change the breaks.
Another fantastic video Mark. The right length to cover all the good info, without being too long. And great clips from the era, and media pics to illustrate the points. The EB SS was certainly an anomaly. The VP SS V6 had 150 examples made to get it homologated for Group E. The VP S only had 15x6” wheels, whilst the EB S had 15x7, allowing for more rubber. The V6 SS was basically a “legal” way to get the 15x7” SS wheel onto them for parity. But just like the 70s tit-for-tat, Ford counteracted it with the EB SS to get the upgraded swaybars that Holden also snuck into the V6 SS from the V8. I’ve never understood why they were “allowed” to get away with only 10 cars though…..
I had a 1994 ED GLi got it for free , it was a bench seat with auto column shifter , it was immaculately pristine outside but inside the former owner dear George used to carry oil to take it to the dump at end of shift at his coffee shop / fish and chips ! Car was absolutely awesome , lots of low bottom end torque , I went to the U-Pull it and I bought all the luxury items from the Fairmont the digital clock the dash with full tachos and oil pressure gauges ! I put heavy duty springs and shocks absorbers OMG that car handles like no other. I used to race anything on corners I would flat my foot on the floor and it would corner like a Porsche , those cars as KILLA cars I had it for 14 years , every time I need a part I would go to wreckers back then they had by the stucks lines and lines of them at U-pull it ! But I had to let it go and move over I gave it to a falcon collector, they have all round disc brakes , all around sway bars , 4.O straight inline 6 OHC and Borg&Warner car is basically bulletproof, I read that 1994 was a clean of bugs model that 2.500 upgrades up to that year, and that they wiring loom was so perfectly done that the 97 newer novel EF falcon had to go back to the ED wiring loom ! Car is a KILLA. Here in Adelaide there is some KILLA ones one especially with a Barra Turbo engine and convo pros wheels the ultimate sleeper 4 door 6 banger !
@@markbehr88 yep I barely see one , they by the dozens at the wrecking yards in 2010-16 I had a big Mobil oil drum full of parts dashes , electric mirrors , door skins I had a lot spare when I gave it away I gave with everything, it was a six seater my woman always sat by side that was gold , I used to service car every 6 moth’s religiously put nylon anti wear in the engine , I never driven it cold I always waited until it was warm my engine was like new even Ford dealership couldn’t believe how new the engine was , I got the car with 146.000 kms the odometer wasn’t working for years already as George told me , I always thought the car was alive or extra natural like she was alive , I absolutely loved her and I used to talk to her , two people told me the car didn’t like them drive them my boss drove it while I was sleeping on the way to nsw wales my boss wake me up saying man I am freaking out this car doesn’t like me she’s running rough as guts , I can feel it doesn’t like me , so I grab the steering wheel and the Falcon was smooth like a kitten , then I again went overseas left the key to my then nurse Chinese girlfriend to drive the falcon to work at night but she told me the falcon wouldn’t start she called everyone nobody could start the falcon , when I came Back I kiss her as I used to do and I said daddy is back I put the key inside ignition barrel fired her everything was fine nobody believed they eyes after that I knew there was something spooky with that falcon , I really loved her , but I had bought a 79 F100 that I still got it with 351 C and C6 auto and I couldn’t afford to resto both as I was going to put big 10 inches wide steel wheels on the back with 295-50-15 and Galaxie Center hubcaps but one day this young mechanic at my truck company saw it and he couldn’t believe the 6 seater bench seater so he was in love he asked me if would sell it , I said I got it for free I could never sell it so take it’s yours , you should’ve seen his face ! I was happier than him as I didn’t want that car to go to the wreckers yard as it was a true classic one of the last of the 6 seater Column auto you just don’t see it anymore in any newer car !
@@chocodiledundee1 Great story. Sounds like a friendly Christine vibe going on with that car. Nice you gave it to the young bloke. Hopefully she is still running strong? 👍
Great video Mark. It always seemed strange to me (from a naming perspective) how similar the EB2 and ED were to one another, and how different the EB1 and EB2 were from each other. I always figured it would have made more sense to call the EB1 simply an EB, call the EB2 an ED, and call the ED an ED2.
Thanks. Glad you liked it. I think,when they make actual styling changes, rather than wheels or spec updates, they issue a new model series. They kind of ruined that at AU, when AU2 should have really been AV and AU 3 could have been AW. Then for BA, BF all good but the last iteration with the different headlights and last wagon, should have been BG. Then go FF (rather than repeat FG and they didn’t use FA for obvious reasons and FB-FE were Holdens. Then use FG instead of FG-X (which should have had a new model series given they went with FG for that new body update) - could have been FH. 🤔👍
The EB GT low horsepower figure as described by a motoring magazines was due to a press car having an over tightened hose clamp post airflow meter. This would cause unmetered air ,thus reduce injector duration thus reduced power. I am lead to believe the XR6 and XR8 were built as a GLI and then Tickford would remove all the bits and fit their parts. All Tickford parts have a TVE prefix on the part number . The XR’s was the restart of the performance falcons again. As usual the XR6 was quicker than the XR8 but people were doing the stroker kits on the V8 from 302 to 347. ABS was Bosch 3 channel and the ECU was mounted under the dash The 4 speed now had intergrated pcm-tcm for the 6cyl but the V8 still had a standalone tcm. Both the 6’s and 8’s run a TFI module As mentioned about the key, it was called the Tibbe locking system. I won’t mention how but you could easily open the car without a key. Even Ford didn’t believe me until I showed them . The worst brake caliper carried over and unfortunately for falcon this carried over until the AU2, where the AU2 finally got a Collette caliper again. The GT’s featured a mono steering wheel with integrated cruise control button and a mono gear stick which was held on by all things 3 grub screws. It would always vibrate loose and not even threadlocker would stop them coming loose. Interesting enough the XR’s manual boxes would run a 75-85 oil but when cold would balk on the gear changes. The only way to cure it was to run DII and G90 friction modifier . The head gasket issue were somewhat sorted in the 4.0 L and timing cover oil leak remained . The XR ‘s had nolathane components in rear trailing arms and sway bar links and they had a double diaphragm brake booster instead on single diaphragm booster Tickford did a brilliant job on the 4.0L but there was more to come . With an aggressive cam, header ,3” exhaust modified throttle body and some porting , tuned with a J3 chip on a EL EECV, you can make 240rwkw and because they weigh only 1550kgs they went like stink and stuck to the road like shit to a blanket.
@@markbehr88 central door locking mechanism as they aged broke the plastic gear resulting in the lock , unlock . Tibbes keys hated weight on them , they often wore out ignition barrels and keys resulting in any key would start it. . But least you could repairs the barrels with a repair kit. Ford Europe loved the tibbes that much it continued past 2010 with the European transits, focus and fiestas. But they went keyless and push button.
Great video, I love the E series falcons the EF is my favourite. Another styling change for the EB was new door mirrors as the EA had XF style mirrors.
The EB Ghia series 2 also had BBS 'styled' wheels. although the very late production ones got the ED Ghia wheels. I guess they run out during production.
Hi Tim. I would have to check my brochures but my recollection is that the wheels on my car are correct for Series 2. The machined alloys and the BBS style as Series 1. There is a 2/3rds front image of the EB Ghia with those wheels. The Motor Company wouldn’t normally change wheels mid model and would save that up for limited editions, series 2 or new ala ED etc. 👍
I had the great honour of doing the alignment and part of the PD process for an EB GT. I had on the tags the PO1 ID no.. I was told it was prototype no. 1. I knew at the time I needed to remember this event. Range Ford. WA. You have no idea how much I enjoyed the road test.
Very cool. You are correct. Any Ford with the P01, P02 etc on the ID tag is a pilot build car - so the first built before official cars come down the line. I drove many variations of those when I was at FPV. Definitely a memorable moment for you regarding the EB GT. Hopefully that car is still around (I would think so). 👍
Excellent vid. Had a work wagon. Best dirt road car ever. Many quality issues...wrong valve timing, resprayed door peeling, alternator gone after a year . EF was the best
Every-time I watch your videos the water flows from my eye😭💔watched these cars get developed from xf I was the spy guy that sold the prototype pics to wheels and motor magazines great videos mark……..that poor red VF2.
@@markbehr88 yea too true the sad thing about ford was the nobbling of their car developing not many people know they were far ahead of Holden they were prototyping duel cab and awd xf falcon utes in the late 80 early 90 then sadly I was walking on the old skid pan and here were three duel cab utes crushed flat was a sign it never got the go ahead.
I’m really enjoying this channel I remember these cars well even if I did not own any of the “E’ series Falcons in the early 90’s I had a couple of VL group A’s (not at the same time) and ended up with a HDT VL Calais. I did admire the EB/ED XR8’s… still do. It must of been exciting to work at FPV/Tickford back then?
I'd been in the police force for a few years by this stage. We found the EB miles better than the EA. It wasn't perfect by any means but it got the job done. We still clambered for the Holden VP when we could get them. Thanks for another great video Mark.
@@1969Risky Thanks very much. I had a BT1 VP 5 litre Commodore company car when I worked for Holden. Cancelled order as it did not have the IRS. I loved driving it though. 👍
@@markbehr88 The VP BT1's were a brilliant update to the VN & were much better. I don't know how the taxi industry survived with the EA's reliability problems. Back in the day I always went for the BT1's when going out on the road.
My first car was an EA Fairmont Ghia, manual swapped with ED ghia interior. Beautiful car with the MPI 3.9 I’ve since owned many fords and now I own a 98 EL Fairmont Ghia, which I’ve owned for 5 years now. I absolutely love it. Fully tickford optioned and rare Oxford green. She’s a beaut
@@markbehr88 out of all the e series I’ve never owned an EB though. I also had an ED XR6 wagon in cobalt blue (amazing colour, I really miss that car) and an EF XR8, manual with EL front end I really adore the E series. To me they are beautiful vehicles inside and out. Drive great, handle great, quite reliable with the right maintenance and are also relatively easy to work on for amateur driveway mechanics like myself :-) Great video mate, I look forward to you covering the EF/EL 😉
OM GOSH Mark, I love Australian Fords, mine is all Falcons, no matter the year, thank you for this incredible UA-cam channel, producing these insanely informative details on the Falcons, I have to come to Australia this year 2024, and hope I can meet you, I would love to purchase a few/couple cars to take back to the Caribbean or Canada. I totally enjoy this fantastic video today wow, absolutely beautiful info.
I bought a 93 eb2 sxr6 for $1800 when I was 18 (2010). It had the full momo interior and the previous owner had also lowered the car, fitted pacemakers and a catback exhaust with good mufflers and had an aftermarket CD player/speakers added. From memory, it had approx 235,000kms on it when I bought it. It was an amazing car. The exhaust note was awesome and it went very well for an I6... sadly I totalled it in 2013 but will get another one someday. I still have the tickford engine from the sxr6 in my driveway - I can't seem to give it away. I currently have a 2003 BA Fairmont with Pacemaker PH4495s, high flow cat, 2.5" exhaust with a hotdog centre muffler and straight through rear. It sounds great but falls short of my memories of the EB2 - the 4.0 sohc sounds better imo.
Another great video Mark! So many cool facts about one of my fave eras of Aussie Fords. And I agree, the earlier S1 Ghia BBS Style wheels are way better.
Thanks. Glad you liked it. Yes, I love those BBS style wheels and the open headrests front and rear on the Ghia. I have always liked them since new so had to add one to the collection albeit one that needs some work. 👍
Yes, that is true. I guess, when you have such a major programme as EA, it is very hard to have every bug ironed out at launch. Even the EA 2 was a lot better and, as you say, the EB is the car that ideally the EA should have been. 👍
I have had to unlearn what George Reid from SA CarTechBooks said; New Zealander D Hamlin got the details right. The 5.0 Australia Engines were sourced via Canada, and come from St Thomas, Cleveland Ohio Plant 1 ( called Dearborn AP on the code), or one of two Mexican plants, but normally CAP in Mexican Cuautitlán Izcalli. The engine code differed from the VIN code for many years. Development Assemblies could come through via Watson's Ohio ( EBGT), and there is a stamped code on the block pad that verifies. Ford had year to year issues as NAFTA kicked in, so the accessory drives were mixed and matched from the F150 truck and MN12 Thunderbird lines, so Ford changed the supply source to suit Ford Australia's year by year requirements. Some had forged pistons in the first year with an imperial low tension ring pack, then reverted to hypereutectic pistons with metric ring packs. Stock cam sources varied. 🥝✔️
Thanks. Great additional info. I knew there was a Mexican connection there. At the end of the day, the Mexican engines are fine, so I wouldn’t mind where they sourced them from. The Canadian plant and the Ohio plants are two different plants too. 👍
Another great Saturday morning listen over the 1st coffee Mark. With all these interesting insights into our great Aussie cars you’ve motivated me to bring my dad’s old beige ‘89 XF 4.1 sedan back into service within the foreseeable future after 22 years. They put it on gas at purchase which to me when it was my turn played havoc with the steering especially on rough country corners. That tank will be 1st on the list. Hopefully low to no valve damage at 187k. I may just be able to love it. Central Vic.
Thanks James. I am glad you are enjoying the series and very happy that the episodes may play a small part in motivating you to get another Aussie classic back on the road. 👍👍
Thank you Mark. Looking at these photos you can see the Taurus influence in the front end styling. From the side this car looks like the 1988 Ford Tempo in the United States. I think out Tempo was influence by the Australian Falcon. The alloy wheels on the Fairmont Ghia were used on Lincolns in the United States. Thank you for mentioning Holden and sharing images. That was interesting looking at the photos of the GT. I did not know Ford had a SS trim level. I always that that was a GM/Chevrolet trim.
Thanks Olds98. A lot of shared styling themes and components for sure and many people are not aware there was ever a Falcon SS. Especially with only 10 built! 👍
@@OLDS98 Thanks. Re the model series , you do get the hang of it. Generally alphabetical in the respective series but they do miss letters if another manufacturer has used them. Like no EH Falcon as there is an EH Holden (1964). Or no EK or EJ for the same reason. 👍
@@markbehr88 I understand now. I still cannot remember them. It is so easy to remember by the model year as it is in the United States. I do understand the Australian way of doing things.
I've never even been a passenger in a BMW, Audi or Mercedes (except for the bus, lol) but have had many rides in the passenger or back seat of a Falcon, so many Taxi rides, even in the back of Police cars as a naughty teenager, lol. I'm fond of these old primitive and rugged lumps of iron, they really were the people's car.
I lived here EB Fairmont Ghia with is BBS mags. They look awesome in black pearl. But I think the most awesome colour was the cobalt blue. Cardinal red , Black pearl and cobalt blue were the other GT colours.
I would love a Black Pearl Ghia. They look good in any colour really, even white but a black one would look great. I quite like the blue also a d the metallic red I have is also a nice colour. 👍
Love the videos Mark I still only own multiple Holdens and Fords. I can understand why the 200kw claim was challenged with those earlier Windsors! The heads they were terrible.
Thanks Mark. Yep, remember the WA-based anti-theft stuff clearly. But the A pillar [etc] reinforcing part was most interesting to me. Surely that 'safety bonus hack' was commonly known to engineers of the day? It looks like car manufacturers had to be absolutely forced to do both things. Looking back, the anti-theft stuff was seen as more important. Now, not so much lol. Cheers.
Definitely a better car than the EA & better looking slightly. the EB2 was where it was at with that 4.0l engine & the return of the V8 in 1991 EB series 1 was DEFINITELY a great thing. How good does an EB XR8 look still!! And the XR6 from late 1992 in the series 2. My Dad bought one in Nov '92, manual in Everglade Green. Sensational. Yes 161 kw in the XR6, that figure is firmly planted in my brain. In '94, Dad upgraded to a Polynesian Green XR8 Sprint manual, which was brilliant.
Excellent video again, Mark. Can't seem to recall what Ford Aus was doing about Ute's and Vans at the time. Seem to recall the Ute wasn't available again until the AU? Probably Couriers and Econovans at a guess? Did any of the E-series wagons have a V8 option?
Thanks. The XF ute was made to 1988 so EA. Then there were updates like XG from 93 to 96 (XF with different grille) and later XH to coincide with EF. Yes, the 5 litre was available in all model wagons at EB. 👍
Hi Mark, At last the return of the 5.0 V8 in the Falcon and Fairmont, this is what Ford customers wanted. I do like the GT conversion from Tickford an excellent tuning company. was there a 5 speed manual with the 5.0 V8 or were they all automatic transmission. How is your Fairmont project getting on. Tickford did convert the UK Ford Capri 2.8 Injction V6 and fitted a turbo not to sure what the output was but it was very impressive for 1982/83 the car became the Capri 2.8T. As always great video Take care👍
Thanks Shaun. Yes, you could get the 5 speed manual still in the sixes and V8s. Even a small number of 5 litre Fairmont Ghia V8s were made. Same with the bench seats and six cylinders for the wagons and sedans with the column shift. 👍
They really got their model naming a bit off. The initial EB was a lot like the EA with the obvious changes noted, but when they went to the EB2, it was such a changed vehicle, new engines, new windscreen & cowl, smartlock etc, it really should have been the ED, with the very minor updates in 93, what we know as the ED should have been the ED2.
There was a lot to cover with this model. It was the first facelift to the this generation and delivered with much improved build quality and and finally a V8 in the lineup albeit a rather grandpa spec off the shelf lump. They had to alter the pulley direction to enable it to fit into a RHD car! It was Canadian not Mexican, unless you're talking about the block being cast there before being shipped for completion in Windsor? I imagine the ED won't be a very long feature. It's really an EBIII in essence. The EB series 1 Fairmont was the only one to feature the digital dash before they dropped it on both the Fairmont and Fairmont Ghia for the EB2, only continuing it in the Fairlane Ghia and LTD.
Thanks. I know the Windsor is originally a Canadian engine, made in Windsor Ontario, however, I am pretty sure the ones we received were made in Mexico? That’s what ai recall back in the day. The ED will be interesting. I am sure I can tease out some cool info. 👍
@@markbehr88 first I heard of it. There must be credence to it coming from you. I'm a bit disappointed TBDH. At least they didn't have problems as a result. The EB and EBII have more differences than EBII and ED!
@@jamesfrench7299 I’m happy to be proven wrong but I am pretty sure they were made in Mexico. Doesn’t make a lot pf difference as they are still Windsor V8s and a great little engine. 👍
I can recall walking into a local Holden dealer as a 20 year old with the arse out of my pants, I was looking at a then new VL Group A SS... the salesman promised that he could get me into that car.... there was no chance... I could hardly have afforded a tank of fuel for it at the time... They were desperate to sell them at the time.. that car was there for a long time...
Yes, when I first joined Holden in 1989 there were still a few VL Walkinshaws on dealer floors. I remember John Young Holden had one at St Marys. They were hard to shift. 👍
Another great vid Mark, love seeing the pics & old ads. Just wondering after you do all the Falcon's will you also do vids on the Fairlane & LTD's too?
Love your videos Mark. A general question - as someone who worked at both Ford and Holden, what (in your opinion) had a better general build quality out of the Falcon/Fairmon/Fairlane range and the Commidore/Caprice/Stateman range? Thank you.
Thanks. That’s a very hard question to answer. From a build quality perspective both had ups and downs depending upon who was the MD. During VN I saw some poor quality and then Bill Hamel really started to jump on it. Peter Hanenberger was a real stickler for quality. Some design aspects on both cars sometimes makes you shake your head re design access for serviceability. Durability of engine and transmissions in the six cylinders I would give to Ford (which was backed up by taxi operator use). I think, overall, they are very close. Build quality wise Mitsubishi Australia (who I worked for approx 5 years) was better than both. 👍
@@craigbartrop9343 Thanks. In those high series cars I think they were all very close. Maybe VIP and Statesman given lower volumes but all pretty close. 👍👍
True that Mark. The V6 Magna had an incredible standard of finish, extremely reliable, massive boot and handling that was much better than the Commodore or Falcon. I think the Ford's still presented a level of refinement that the Commodore got nowhere near approaching. Mate thanks for posting, I am loving this series.@@markbehr88
G’day Mark, Great video as per usual what was the XR8 Sprint I remember seeing them with dual headlight. Also XR6 Sprint were they something Ford did apparently you don’t see them these days but sort after. Can you please shine some light on them. Cheers Louis Kats 👍
Sure. That would be determined by Product Planning where there would be a sub committee that seek endorsement from the various parts of the company. Namely Engineering and Marketing. However, Marketing would have the ultimate say so. 👍
Maybe you'll get fed up with me Mark for after the EAII which dad sold together with the caravan he bought a EB GLi. At the time I only had a small Suzuki GLX sedan and I took them down to Victoria for a holiday in the EB. Mum always loved Victoria and disliked living in NSW. They went all over Victoria, NSW and Queensland in that EB and it lasted until their last Falcon. There's a young bloke on YT who uses an EB Gli as a paddock basher and his friend uses a later model Fairlane Ghia for the same purpose, not exactly what Ford Australia built them for.
No. I won’t get fed up with you. I like to hear the stories of how people used these cars. Not a fan of paddock basher content though. Terrible shame to see the cars abused like that. 👍
@@markbehr88Yes well looking at the car in the video having the guts flogged out of it with loads of axle tramp it was definitely near the end of it's life and the Fairlane will soon join it. I thought at the time what a terrible thing to do to two car that may have been someone's pride and joy at some stage.
I completely lost faith in Ford from the EA on through the whole E series. I didn't go back to Falcons until the AU, which was actually a very good car. I had a friend who bought an EA brand new and the fuel injection used to play up constantly, and stall in the middle of intersections etc.
The main problem with Holden’s v8 was its oil pressure was crap on both 308 and 304 aka the soft block fords little Windsor engine was a way better engine just needed better heads holdens 308 304 didn’t get it’s oil pressure problems sorted until the later VT 304 roller cam engine come out holden put a better oil pump on better alternator and belt drive system the vt 304 roller block could also fit the chev crank which would bolt straight in so basically a cast iron LS engine if you knew what you were doing with that vt engine
@@markbehr88 I understand the absence of V8. Dynamically I'm sure the later models were better. You're right re interior and that was my point too. Velour everywhere (where is that today?)
With hybrids now around, LPG really has no market, outside heritage. Taxis [& many Ubers] are hybrids now. Guess putting an LPG onto a modern Camry 2.4 is an issue too. Cheers.
Another shit box from ford. Blown head gaskets galore collapsing ball joints which they STILL hadn’t fixed in the territory rite up to FG. Another FAIL.
Mm but the holdens have all been stripped for parts to keep them on the road for decades while the AUs EB Ls Fs BAs sit there rotting with no one to be seen. All 3 wreckers in my location are FULL of those turds. Lots with cylinder heads missing or complete engines sitting in the bay because they expired. We’ve had 6 FGs come into work from a roofing company ALL with blown head gaskets in the last 6 months Built ford tough 😂😂😂😂😂💩💩💩💩
@@ToranaA9X308 I was at the wreckers yesterday. Plenty of Ford people getting parts. If nobody gets the parts, the wreckers just crush them, so there must be a market. Anyways, I don’t think I am going to change your mind. So, enjoy those Holdens and I will tell all the taxi operators those million km Falcons were just a figment of their imagination or the hire car drivers who still talk about wishing Fairlanes were available should re-think their approach and maybe they weren’t as good as they remembered (even though they were on the road 24/7). 👍👍
Here is my latest episode in the Falcon history series - the EB. Please enjoy and Subscribe if you’d like to see more old car videos. Thanks for watching. 👍👍
I remember at the Ford discovery centre in 2007 they had a prototype EA GT which obviously became the EB GT. I miss that place.
Yes, it was excellent. 👍
It had a Windsor 351 in it, supposedly not put into production as engine was too tight a fit. Imagine if they had seen the fit on the quad cam 5.4 for BA onwards.
@@bunky8077 That would be cool. A bit of weight in the front end though as the EB was much lighter than the BA. 👍
My first Ford was an EB Fairmont they were a fantastic car my Dad had a station wagon from brand new.
Yes, I love my EB Ghia V8. 👍
One of my all time favourites :)
I had an EB Fairmont Ghia, and an EB "S" XR6 manual. Loved them both!!!!
Both sound like nice cars. What colours? 👍
...and if you still had both of them, you could swap them for a small apartment here on GC lol.
@@UncleJoeLITE Maybe GT Falcons? 👍😀
In 94, I bought a 93 EBII Fairmont 5.0 in Cardinal Red. Even put the Tickford wheels like those shown on the Ghia at Tickford in your vid and a few other things to get a bit more out of it.
Had it for 9 years, and it was a beautiful car, even drove across the Nullarbor and back with no fuss. I only sold it because I got a company car.
To this day, I say it was the most complete and perfect size Falcon. It didn't have the power of later models but definitely matched them on comfort, handling, and looks.
Your comments on body rigidity were spot on. One of my mates had a VN 5.0 drive mine one day, and he couldn't believe how tight it was. No flex, no creaks, just a solid ride.
Thanks. Your car sounds excellent. Would be good to have it today. Yes, they are very solid cars. My EB is as tight as a drum. 👍
You are gonna get sick of me but I have a story about the EB. I bought a VN SV5000. Was a cool car except that it fell apart around me. Getting stuff fixed under warranty at Hunter Holden, they gave me a loaner EB XR-6. It was way more comfortable and had enough power. Also the power down out of James Ruse to the M4 was damn awesome. So I bought one.
I won’t get sick of you at all! 😀. I was at Holden when we had the SV5000. I liked the Malachite Green. Hunter Holden was one of my dealers when I was an Area Sales Manager for Holden. Long time ago now. The XR6 was excellent and great value so I can see why you bought one. 👍👍
I know the ramp you're talking about 😎👍
What year/era was this?
@@RustyShackleford 1989 to 1998.
@@markbehr88 must have been after august 91, given they didn't make the EB til then.
Fun fact: my parents owned an 89 EA GL station wagon when I was growing up (3.9Lcfi, 3 speed column auto, six seater). It was our family car and we covered 350,000+kms in it - as a family of six it worked out pretty well.
I got the car when I was a P plater and was amazed by just how much fuel such a slow car could use.
The introduction of the 4 speed BTR really made a HUGE difference performance/economy wise.
Yep.love my EB. I’ve had it for pretty close to 19 years now and I’m still proud of it. It started of its life (when new) as a hospital vehicle from Sydney.Mine is a may 1992 GLI series two sedan. The colour is marine blue. mine though had just missed out on the smart lock. I believe it was pretty much the last of the EBs that had the smart lock. It has the 4.0 litre (244 cubic inch) six cylinder with the 4spd auto. The motor is quite lively for what it is. And throughout the time I’ve had the car it’s been very reliable and I had nothing major go wrong with it.
That’s a great endorsement. Captain Chaos (another viewer) please note 👍👍
In my opinion especially in the xR8 wich are now very rare. But straight 4.0 ltr was much better increase of power in the 4 litre. In my opinion the suspension was a tad sloppy. But a car I’d proudly drive around today. 👍👍❤ Ohhh year the dreaded head gaskets, the fuel pump. And the heater hose was an absolute pain in the bum to sort unless you took of the manifold. And they needed a round tool like key to help move the callipers to change the breaks.
I’m not sure about the ED but my EB V8 Ghia (eps on the channel) has really nice steering. I was surprised how good it was? 👍
Another fantastic video Mark. The right length to cover all the good info, without being too long. And great clips from the era, and media pics to illustrate the points. The EB SS was certainly an anomaly. The VP SS V6 had 150 examples made to get it homologated for Group E. The VP S only had 15x6” wheels, whilst the EB S had 15x7, allowing for more rubber. The V6 SS was basically a “legal” way to get the 15x7” SS wheel onto them for parity. But just like the 70s tit-for-tat, Ford counteracted it with the EB SS to get the upgraded swaybars that Holden also snuck into the V6 SS from the V8. I’ve never understood why they were “allowed” to get away with only 10 cars though…..
Thanks. Glad you liked it. Good additional info on the Commodore too. Yes, 10 examples seemed way low but that is what they built. 👍
Loving the videos mate keep up the good work.
Thanks very much. Please Subscribe if you haven’t already. 👍
My first car was a EBII GLi
Had it for 9 years and put an EB GT body kit and EBGT rims on it.
Loved that car!
Sounds like a cool car 👍
I had a 1994 ED GLi got it for free , it was a bench seat with auto column shifter , it was immaculately pristine outside but inside the former owner dear George used to carry oil to take it to the dump at end of shift at his coffee shop / fish and chips ! Car was absolutely awesome , lots of low bottom end torque , I went to the U-Pull it and I bought all the luxury items from the Fairmont the digital clock the dash with full tachos and oil pressure gauges ! I put heavy duty springs and shocks absorbers OMG that car handles like no other. I used to race anything on corners I would flat my foot on the floor and it would corner like a Porsche , those cars as KILLA cars I had it for 14 years , every time I need a part I would go to wreckers back then they had by the stucks lines and lines of them at U-pull it ! But I had to let it go and move over I gave it to a falcon collector, they have all round disc brakes , all around sway bars , 4.O straight inline 6 OHC and Borg&Warner car is basically bulletproof, I read that 1994 was a clean of bugs model that 2.500 upgrades up to that year, and that they wiring loom was so perfectly done that the 97 newer novel EF falcon had to go back to the ED wiring loom ! Car is a KILLA. Here in Adelaide there is some KILLA ones one especially with a Barra Turbo engine and convo pros wheels the ultimate sleeper 4 door 6 banger !
Sounds like you had a great one. They are certainly a bit thin in the wreckers these days. Now it is AUs, BA, BF and Territorys. How times change. 👍
@@markbehr88 yep I barely see one , they by the dozens at the wrecking yards in 2010-16 I had a big Mobil oil drum full of parts dashes , electric mirrors , door skins I had a lot spare when I gave it away I gave with everything, it was a six seater my woman always sat by side that was gold , I used to service car every 6 moth’s religiously put nylon anti wear in the engine , I never driven it cold I always waited until it was warm my engine was like new even Ford dealership couldn’t believe how new the engine was , I got the car with 146.000 kms the odometer wasn’t working for years already as George told me , I always thought the car was alive or extra natural like she was alive , I absolutely loved her and I used to talk to her , two people told me the car didn’t like them drive them my boss drove it while I was sleeping on the way to nsw wales my boss wake me up saying man I am freaking out this car doesn’t like me she’s running rough as guts , I can feel it doesn’t like me , so I grab the steering wheel and the Falcon was smooth like a kitten , then I again went overseas left the key to my then nurse Chinese girlfriend to drive the falcon to work at night but she told me the falcon wouldn’t start she called everyone nobody could start the falcon , when I came Back I kiss her as I used to do and I said daddy is back I put the key inside ignition barrel fired her everything was fine nobody believed they eyes after that I knew there was something spooky with that falcon , I really loved her , but I had bought a 79 F100 that I still got it with 351 C and C6 auto and I couldn’t afford to resto both as I was going to put big 10 inches wide steel wheels on the back with 295-50-15 and Galaxie Center hubcaps but one day this young mechanic at my truck company saw it and he couldn’t believe the 6 seater bench seater so he was in love he asked me if would sell it , I said I got it for free I could never sell it so take it’s yours , you should’ve seen his face ! I was happier than him as I didn’t want that car to go to the wreckers yard as it was a true classic one of the last of the 6 seater Column auto you just don’t see it anymore in any newer car !
@@chocodiledundee1 Great story. Sounds like a friendly Christine vibe going on with that car. Nice you gave it to the young bloke. Hopefully she is still running strong? 👍
My first car was a 92 EB. Had a lot of fun with her!
@@theg2661 👍
G'day Mark. Another awesome video. IMHO, the EB Falcon series is the best looking car since the XA-XC Falcon series.
Thanks Jason. Yes, the EB really had all the right elements to make a great car. I’m very glad I have my V8 Ghia. 👍
Great video Mark.
It always seemed strange to me (from a naming perspective) how similar the EB2 and ED were to one another, and how different the EB1 and EB2 were from each other.
I always figured it would have made more sense to call the EB1 simply an EB, call the EB2 an ED, and call the ED an ED2.
Thanks. Glad you liked it. I think,when they make actual styling changes, rather than wheels or spec updates, they issue a new model series. They kind of ruined that at AU, when AU2 should have really been AV and AU 3 could have been AW. Then for BA, BF all good but the last iteration with the different headlights and last wagon, should have been BG. Then go FF (rather than repeat FG and they didn’t use FA for obvious reasons and FB-FE were Holdens. Then use FG instead of FG-X (which should have had a new model series given they went with FG for that new body update) - could have been FH. 🤔👍
The EB GT low horsepower figure as described by a motoring magazines was due to a press car having an over tightened hose clamp post airflow meter. This would cause unmetered air ,thus reduce injector duration thus reduced power.
I am lead to believe the XR6 and XR8 were built as a GLI and then Tickford would remove all the bits and fit their parts. All Tickford parts have a TVE prefix on the part number .
The XR’s was the restart of the performance falcons again.
As usual the XR6 was quicker than the XR8 but people were doing the stroker kits on the V8 from 302 to 347.
ABS was Bosch 3 channel and the ECU was mounted under the dash
The 4 speed now had intergrated pcm-tcm for the 6cyl but the V8 still had a standalone tcm.
Both the 6’s and 8’s run a TFI module
As mentioned about the key, it was called the Tibbe locking system. I won’t mention how but you could easily open the car without a key. Even Ford didn’t believe me until I showed them .
The worst brake caliper carried over and unfortunately for falcon this carried over until the AU2, where the AU2 finally got a Collette caliper again.
The GT’s featured a mono steering wheel with integrated cruise control button and a mono gear stick which was held on by all things 3 grub screws. It would always vibrate loose and not even threadlocker would stop them coming loose.
Interesting enough the XR’s manual boxes would run a 75-85 oil but when cold would balk on the gear changes. The only way to cure it was to run DII and G90 friction modifier .
The head gasket issue were somewhat sorted in the 4.0 L and timing cover oil leak remained .
The XR ‘s had nolathane components in rear trailing arms and sway bar links and they had a double diaphragm brake booster instead on single diaphragm booster
Tickford did a brilliant job on the 4.0L but there was more to come . With an aggressive cam, header ,3” exhaust modified throttle body and some porting , tuned with a J3 chip on a EL EECV, you can make 240rwkw and because they weigh only 1550kgs they went like stink and stuck to the road like shit to a blanket.
Thanks. Great info there. Yes, the Tibbe locks. When the central locking actuated it sounded like an electronic cow mooing. Very strange noise. 👍
@@markbehr88 central door locking mechanism as they aged broke the plastic gear resulting in the lock , unlock . Tibbes keys hated weight on them , they often wore out ignition barrels and keys resulting in any key would start it. . But least you could repairs the barrels with a repair kit. Ford Europe loved the tibbes that much it continued past 2010 with the European transits, focus and fiestas. But they went keyless and push button.
@@tba3900 very interesting. My locks are still functioning luckily. 👍
Great video, I love the E series falcons the EF is my favourite.
Another styling change for the EB was new door mirrors as the EA had XF style mirrors.
Thanks. Good pick up. I didn’t notice that. 👍
It was a nice surprise to see my wagon at 6:56! That SS dealer letter was very interesting to see, too. Great video as always.
Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it and that your wagon made a cameo too. 👍
The EB Ghia series 2 also had BBS 'styled' wheels. although the very late production ones got the ED Ghia wheels. I guess they run out during production.
Hi Tim. I would have to check my brochures but my recollection is that the wheels on my car are correct for Series 2. The machined alloys and the BBS style as Series 1. There is a 2/3rds front image of the EB Ghia with those wheels. The Motor Company wouldn’t normally change wheels mid model and would save that up for limited editions, series 2 or new ala ED etc. 👍
I had the great honour of doing the alignment and part of the PD process for an EB GT. I had on the tags the PO1 ID no.. I was told it was prototype no. 1. I knew at the time I needed to remember this event. Range Ford. WA. You have no idea how much I enjoyed the road test.
Very cool. You are correct. Any Ford with the P01, P02 etc on the ID tag is a pilot build car - so the first built before official cars come down the line. I drove many variations of those when I was at FPV. Definitely a memorable moment for you regarding the EB GT. Hopefully that car is still around (I would think so). 👍
Excellent vid. Had a work wagon. Best dirt road car ever. Many quality issues...wrong valve timing, resprayed door peeling, alternator gone after a year . EF was the best
Thanks. I do like the EF and looking forward to doing that episode after ED.👍
Every-time I watch your videos the water flows from my eye😭💔watched these cars get developed from xf I was the spy guy that sold the prototype pics to wheels and motor magazines great videos mark……..that poor red VF2.
@@bobdown6055 Thanks very much. Glad you enjoy the videos. Still plenty more to do so that we capture our wonderful automotive history. 👍
@@markbehr88 yea too true the sad thing about ford was the nobbling of their car developing not many people know they were far ahead of Holden they were prototyping duel cab and awd xf falcon utes in the late 80 early 90 then sadly I was walking on the old skid pan and here were three duel cab utes crushed flat was a sign it never got the go ahead.
@@bobdown6055 what a shame. 😢
Love it!!! The GT Falcon in the EB series was a nice machine!!!
Thanks. Yes, I agree. A great looking car indeed. 👍
I’m really enjoying this channel I remember these cars well even if I did not own any of the “E’ series Falcons in the early 90’s I had a couple of VL group A’s (not at the same time) and ended up with a HDT VL Calais. I did admire the EB/ED XR8’s… still do. It must of been exciting to work at FPV/Tickford back then?
@@Ballterra Great. Thanks very much. I hope you enjoy the Commodore series too. 👍
I'd been in the police force for a few years by this stage. We found the EB miles better than the EA. It wasn't perfect by any means but it got the job done. We still clambered for the Holden VP when we could get them.
Thanks for another great video Mark.
@@1969Risky Thanks very much. I had a BT1 VP 5 litre Commodore company car when I worked for Holden. Cancelled order as it did not have the IRS. I loved driving it though. 👍
@@markbehr88 The VP BT1's were a brilliant update to the VN & were much better. I don't know how the taxi industry survived with the EA's reliability problems. Back in the day I always went for the BT1's when going out on the road.
@@1969Risky I think Ford was very reactive to deal with any issues the taxis had to ensure they kept the business. 👍
I enjoyed the video, thanks! This brought back great memories. My brother's first car was a green EB Gl.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. 👍
Thank you Mark. Nice story.
Thanks Michael 👍
Always loved the look of the EA / EB still think they where the best looking falcons.
Yes, definitely good looking cars. 👍
My first car was an EA Fairmont Ghia, manual swapped with ED ghia interior. Beautiful car with the MPI 3.9
I’ve since owned many fords and now I own a 98 EL Fairmont Ghia, which I’ve owned for 5 years now. I absolutely love it. Fully tickford optioned and rare Oxford green. She’s a beaut
They both sound like nice cars. 👍
@@markbehr88 out of all the e series I’ve never owned an EB though. I also had an ED XR6 wagon in cobalt blue (amazing colour, I really miss that car) and an EF XR8, manual with EL front end
I really adore the E series. To me they are beautiful vehicles inside and out. Drive great, handle great, quite reliable with the right maintenance and are also relatively easy to work on for amateur driveway mechanics like myself :-)
Great video mate, I look forward to you covering the EF/EL 😉
@@Tiilhouse I agree. They are terrific cars. 👍
Absolutely i want as many old car videos you cab post/share , it's what i love 3000% -CARS.
Thanks. I’ll do my best. There are about 260 plus videos on the channel too. 👍
they were good cars.
I agree 👍
Another great video! Thanks and well done …great viewing!
Thanks very much. 👍
OM GOSH Mark, I love Australian Fords, mine is all Falcons, no matter the year, thank you for this incredible UA-cam channel, producing these insanely informative details on the Falcons, I have to come to Australia this year 2024, and hope I can meet you, I would love to purchase a few/couple cars to take back to the Caribbean or Canada. I totally enjoy this fantastic video today wow, absolutely beautiful info.
Thanks very much. I am glad you are enjoying the series and I appreciate the great comments. More episodes to come! 👍
Loved the EB GT rims. Such a great looking wheel.
@@davodrums I love the Series 1 Ghia BBS style wheels. 👍
Thank you sir, can't wait for the ed
Thanks very much. ED coming up next! 👍
@@markbehr88 yeah I'm 62 & the ED has definitely arrived.......😨
@@lancecooper4646 Ha. I see where you are coming from there. (See what I did there?). 😀👍
I bought a 93 eb2 sxr6 for $1800 when I was 18 (2010). It had the full momo interior and the previous owner had also lowered the car, fitted pacemakers and a catback exhaust with good mufflers and had an aftermarket CD player/speakers added. From memory, it had approx 235,000kms on it when I bought it.
It was an amazing car. The exhaust note was awesome and it went very well for an I6... sadly I totalled it in 2013 but will get another one someday. I still have the tickford engine from the sxr6 in my driveway - I can't seem to give it away.
I currently have a 2003 BA Fairmont with Pacemaker PH4495s, high flow cat, 2.5" exhaust with a hotdog centre muffler and straight through rear. It sounds great but falls short of my memories of the EB2 - the 4.0 sohc sounds better imo.
Also, I've subscribed to your channel. It's always nice to find people that are similarly knowledgeable/passionate about E-series cars.
Cool. I just picked up a V8 Ghia. Episodes on the channel. 👍
@@markbehr88 thanks for the heads up. I didn't notice the ghia video but will watch now!
Another great video Mark! So many cool facts about one of my fave eras of Aussie Fords. And I agree, the earlier S1 Ghia BBS Style wheels are way better.
Thanks. Glad you liked it. Yes, I love those BBS style wheels and the open headrests front and rear on the Ghia. I have always liked them since new so had to add one to the collection albeit one that needs some work. 👍
The EB is what the EA should have been from the start. Better build quality, and they had ironed out most of the faults.
Yes, that is true. I guess, when you have such a major programme as EA, it is very hard to have every bug ironed out at launch. Even the EA 2 was a lot better and, as you say, the EB is the car that ideally the EA should have been. 👍
I have had to unlearn what George Reid from SA CarTechBooks said; New Zealander D Hamlin got the details right. The 5.0 Australia Engines were sourced via Canada, and come from St Thomas, Cleveland Ohio Plant 1 ( called Dearborn AP on the code), or one of two Mexican plants, but normally CAP in Mexican Cuautitlán Izcalli. The engine code differed from the VIN code for many years. Development Assemblies could come through via Watson's Ohio ( EBGT), and there is a stamped code on the block pad that verifies. Ford had year to year issues as NAFTA kicked in, so the accessory drives were mixed and matched from the F150 truck and MN12 Thunderbird lines, so Ford changed the supply source to suit Ford Australia's year by year requirements. Some had forged pistons in the first year with an imperial low tension ring pack, then reverted to hypereutectic pistons with metric ring packs. Stock cam sources varied. 🥝✔️
Thanks. Great additional info. I knew there was a Mexican connection there. At the end of the day, the Mexican engines are fine, so I wouldn’t mind where they sourced them from. The Canadian plant and the Ohio plants are two different plants too. 👍
That was cool Jay. The Diamond T is cool. Have you featured one of them yet ? Cheers from New Zealand
Another great Saturday morning listen over the 1st coffee Mark. With all these interesting insights into our great Aussie cars you’ve motivated me to bring my dad’s old beige ‘89 XF 4.1 sedan back into service within the foreseeable future after 22 years. They put it on gas at purchase which to me when it was my turn played havoc with the steering especially on rough country corners. That tank will be 1st on the list. Hopefully low to no valve damage at 187k. I may just be able to love it.
Central Vic.
Thanks James. I am glad you are enjoying the series and very happy that the episodes may play a small part in motivating you to get another Aussie classic back on the road. 👍👍
Thank you Mark. Looking at these photos you can see the Taurus influence in the front end styling. From the side this car looks like the 1988 Ford Tempo in the United States. I think out Tempo was influence by the Australian Falcon. The alloy wheels on the Fairmont Ghia were used on Lincolns in the United States. Thank you for mentioning Holden and sharing images. That was interesting looking at the photos of the GT. I did not know Ford had a SS trim level. I always that that was a GM/Chevrolet trim.
Thanks Olds98. A lot of shared styling themes and components for sure and many people are not aware there was ever a Falcon SS. Especially with only 10 built! 👍
@@markbehr88 That SS version is indeed rare. The series has been quite good. I still have not learned those names year for each generation.
@@OLDS98 Thanks. Re the model series , you do get the hang of it. Generally alphabetical in the respective series but they do miss letters if another manufacturer has used them. Like no EH Falcon as there is an EH Holden (1964). Or no EK or EJ for the same reason. 👍
@@markbehr88 I understand now. I still cannot remember them. It is so easy to remember by the model year as it is in the United States. I do understand the Australian way of doing things.
@@OLDS98 Yes because our cars often spanned a few years rather than just one. 👍
I've never even been a passenger in a BMW, Audi or Mercedes (except for the bus, lol) but have had many rides in the passenger or back seat of a Falcon, so many Taxi rides, even in the back of Police cars as a naughty teenager, lol.
I'm fond of these old primitive and rugged lumps of iron, they really were the people's car.
@@lundsweden They were great. 👍
I lived here EB Fairmont Ghia with is BBS mags. They look awesome in black pearl. But I think the most awesome colour was the cobalt blue. Cardinal red , Black pearl and cobalt blue were the other GT colours.
I would love a Black Pearl Ghia. They look good in any colour really, even white but a black one would look great. I quite like the blue also a d the metallic red I have is also a nice colour. 👍
Black Pearl ED Ghia is what I have! Haha
@@callumandrews4342 Very nice combination. 👍
@@callumandrews4342 I have a LeMan red one but the colour doesn’t suit it one bit. But the cobalt blue ones look awesome.
Love the videos Mark I still only own multiple Holdens and Fords. I can understand why the 200kw claim was challenged with those earlier Windsors! The heads they were terrible.
Thanks. Great investments too these days. Yes, there were doubts about the 200 kW output. 🤔👍
How many killerwasps were they making?
@@lachlanbrown409 I am not sure but I would estimate 180-195. 👍
@@markbehr88 180 is very ordinary. The 4 speed auto would have made it slow. A manual XR6 would probably have matched that...
@@lachlanbrown409 Although keep in mind 185 kW was the output of HSV Clubsports for quite a few years back then. 👍
Loved my eb series 2 falcon,great car with standard abs and plenty of power
They were and are a great model. 👍
@@markbehr88 mine was 20 years old and perfect,sold it and went to Melbourne and got written off in 1 week,sad
@@rickford4550 What a shame 😢
Another bloody top video! I wish Aussie content of this quality was more abundant
Thanks very much. I hope to make a lot more on many different cars that we grew up with. 👍
Thanks Mark. Yep, remember the WA-based anti-theft stuff clearly. But the A pillar [etc] reinforcing part was most interesting to me. Surely that 'safety bonus hack' was commonly known to engineers of the day? It looks like car manufacturers had to be absolutely forced to do both things. Looking back, the anti-theft stuff was seen as more important. Now, not so much lol. Cheers.
The reason was the WA Govt made it a mandatory to sell the cars there. 👍
@@markbehr88 yeah, it was huge. But safety wasn't.
@@UncleJoeLITE Not until later. More 1990’s. 👍
I love this series on the falcon-Mark when its done you should do one on the long wheelbase fords.
I will be doing those next plus I want to do Valiant and Holden too. 👍
Definitely a better car than the EA & better looking slightly. the EB2 was where it was at with that 4.0l engine & the return of the V8 in 1991 EB series 1 was DEFINITELY a great thing. How good does an EB XR8 look still!! And the XR6 from late 1992 in the series 2. My Dad bought one in Nov '92, manual in Everglade Green. Sensational. Yes 161 kw in the XR6, that figure is firmly planted in my brain. In '94, Dad upgraded to a Polynesian Green XR8 Sprint manual, which was brilliant.
Agree. I love my V8 Ghia (on the channel). 👍
Excellent video again, Mark. Can't seem to recall what Ford Aus was doing about Ute's and Vans at the time. Seem to recall the Ute wasn't available again until the AU? Probably Couriers and Econovans at a guess? Did any of the E-series wagons have a V8 option?
XF style utes and vans carried over until AU ute came out, selling alongside E serious Falcon sedans, with some facelifts to keep them 'fresh'.
@@noelgibson5956 XG and XH utes and vans to coincide with the later EF. 👍
Thanks. The XF ute was made to 1988 so EA. Then there were updates like XG from 93 to 96 (XF with different grille) and later XH to coincide with EF. Yes, the 5 litre was available in all model wagons at EB. 👍
@@markbehr88 Can tell I just had a nanna nap I had an XH van (EF front end and the 4.0)lol.....wish I still had it.
@@coalfacechris1336 They were a good looking unit. Everyone needs a nap! 👍
Mate I love these EB TO ED.
I have 1 EB, 2 ED.
These are great on Club reg.
Bullet proof...
Excellent. I’ll be doing the ED episode next. 👍
Hi Mark, At last the return of the 5.0 V8 in the Falcon and Fairmont, this is what Ford customers wanted. I do like the GT conversion from Tickford an excellent tuning company. was there a 5 speed manual with the 5.0 V8 or were they all automatic transmission. How is your Fairmont project getting on. Tickford did convert the UK Ford Capri 2.8 Injction V6 and fitted a turbo not to sure what the output was but it was very impressive for 1982/83 the car became the Capri 2.8T. As always great video Take care👍
Thanks Shaun. Yes, you could get the 5 speed manual still in the sixes and V8s. Even a small number of 5 litre Fairmont Ghia V8s were made. Same with the bench seats and six cylinders for the wagons and sedans with the column shift. 👍
They really got their model naming a bit off. The initial EB was a lot like the EA with the obvious changes noted, but when they went to the EB2, it was such a changed vehicle, new engines, new windscreen & cowl, smartlock etc, it really should have been the ED, with the very minor updates in 93, what we know as the ED should have been the ED2.
Yes, there is a thread in the comments about all of that. 👍
There was a lot to cover with this model. It was the first facelift to the this generation and delivered with much improved build quality and and finally a V8 in the lineup albeit a rather grandpa spec off the shelf lump. They had to alter the pulley direction to enable it to fit into a RHD car! It was Canadian not Mexican, unless you're talking about the block being cast there before being shipped for completion in Windsor?
I imagine the ED won't be a very long feature. It's really an EBIII in essence.
The EB series 1 Fairmont was the only one to feature the digital dash before they dropped it on both the Fairmont and Fairmont Ghia for the EB2, only continuing it in the Fairlane Ghia and LTD.
Thanks. I know the Windsor is originally a Canadian engine, made in Windsor Ontario, however, I am pretty sure the ones we received were made in Mexico? That’s what ai recall back in the day. The ED will be interesting. I am sure I can tease out some cool info. 👍
@@markbehr88 first I heard of it. There must be credence to it coming from you. I'm a bit disappointed TBDH. At least they didn't have problems as a result.
The EB and EBII have more differences than EBII and ED!
@@jamesfrench7299 I’m happy to be proven wrong but I am pretty sure they were made in Mexico. Doesn’t make a lot pf difference as they are still Windsor V8s and a great little engine. 👍
@@markbehr88 from what I've gathered yes it does. They must have been making them for years in this case as they seem fine.
I can recall walking into a local Holden dealer as a 20 year old with the arse out of my pants, I was looking at a then new VL Group A SS... the salesman promised that he could get me into that car.... there was no chance... I could hardly have afforded a tank of fuel for it at the time... They were desperate to sell them at the time.. that car was there for a long time...
Yes, when I first joined Holden in 1989 there were still a few VL Walkinshaws on dealer floors. I remember John Young Holden had one at St Marys. They were hard to shift. 👍
Another great vid Mark, love seeing the pics & old ads.
Just wondering after you do all the Falcon's will you also do vids on the Fairlane & LTD's too?
Thanks. Yes, definitely doing Fairlanes and LTDs plus GMH and Chrysler products too. 👍
@@markbehr88 Awesome!!, can't wait👍
Great now I want some pjs
👍👍
Nice Video Mark i love your how you doing ever Model!
Thanks Costa. 👍👍
As for the V8, the word on the street IIRC was the Tickford XR6 would pound the stock XR8.
Based of power and torque v weight it would be very close I reckon. 👍
@@markbehr88 Don't know if is right but the rear Axle ratio in the Tickford might have been messed with to get it off the line quicker.
@@coalfacechris1336 Quite possibly. 👍
Yea it did. Cylinder heads on the Windsor were the smallest I’d seen. Must’ve been smog issue or something.
@@JayGuitars1 Being a late US engine they would have been heavily smogged for sure. 👍
I found the EBII was the start of the good days with the Falcon.
I like them all but agree that the EB was a very well sorted car. 👍
Love your videos Mark. A general question - as someone who worked at both Ford and Holden, what (in your opinion) had a better general build quality out of the Falcon/Fairmon/Fairlane range and the Commidore/Caprice/Stateman range?
Thank you.
Thanks. That’s a very hard question to answer. From a build quality perspective both had ups and downs depending upon who was the MD. During VN I saw some poor quality and then Bill Hamel really started to jump on it. Peter Hanenberger was a real stickler for quality. Some design aspects on both cars sometimes makes you shake your head re design access for serviceability. Durability of engine and transmissions in the six cylinders I would give to Ford (which was backed up by taxi operator use). I think, overall, they are very close. Build quality wise Mitsubishi Australia (who I worked for approx 5 years) was better than both. 👍
Hey Mark - further to that how about Statesman vs Fairlane / LTD vs Chrysler VIP - Love the show
@@craigbartrop9343 Thanks. In those high series cars I think they were all very close. Maybe VIP and Statesman given lower volumes but all pretty close. 👍👍
True that Mark. The V6 Magna had an incredible standard of finish, extremely reliable, massive boot and handling that was much better than the Commodore or Falcon. I think the Ford's still presented a level of refinement that the Commodore got nowhere near approaching. Mate thanks for posting, I am loving this series.@@markbehr88
@@area51isreal71 Thanks. Glad you are enjoying the series. 👍
G’day Mark,
Great video as per usual what was the XR8 Sprint I remember seeing them with dual headlight.
Also XR6 Sprint were they something Ford did apparently you don’t see them these days but sort after.
Can you please shine some light on them.
Cheers
Louis Kats 👍
Thanks Louis. The Sprint will be covered in my ED episode. 👍
@@markbehr88 Rogee That 👍👍
What about the Brock Falcon?
They are in the EA ep. 👍
wasn't there a sprint version of the xr8 that had the gt motor in it , or was that the ed ?
@@Gokizzmass That was ED. There is an ep on it. 👍
Why were cars getting stolen in WA especially?
@@SS-yw7vo I wouldn’t like to say. 🤔
Just a question, not entirely EB related. Who, how, or where, decides/ cerates the model codes?
Eg. EA EB ED EF EL, etc.
Sure. That would be determined by Product Planning where there would be a sub committee that seek endorsement from the various parts of the company. Namely Engineering and Marketing. However, Marketing would have the ultimate say so. 👍
@@markbehr88valiant VC VE ??? VF VG VH VJ VK CH CM 🤣
Maybe you'll get fed up with me Mark for after the EAII which dad sold together with the caravan he bought a EB GLi. At the time I only had a small Suzuki GLX sedan and I took them down to Victoria for a holiday in the EB. Mum always loved Victoria and disliked living in NSW. They went all over Victoria, NSW and Queensland in that EB and it lasted until their last Falcon. There's a young bloke on YT who uses an EB Gli as a paddock basher and his friend uses a later model Fairlane Ghia for the same purpose, not exactly what Ford Australia built them for.
No. I won’t get fed up with you. I like to hear the stories of how people used these cars. Not a fan of paddock basher content though. Terrible shame to see the cars abused like that. 👍
@@markbehr88Yes well looking at the car in the video having the guts flogged out of it with loads of axle tramp it was definitely near the end of it's life and the Fairlane will soon join it. I thought at the time what a terrible thing to do to two car that may have been someone's pride and joy at some stage.
@@AussiePom My thoughts exactly. 🫣
91 GHIA....
THATS MY CAR,I sold it only a couple of years ago..........
@@lukestocks4370 Check out my EB V8 Ghia eps on the channel. 👍
cant go past this era i still have an ed tickford daily driver
@@jimbird4646 Excellent 👍
Back when cars had soul and straight lines.
Yes and SUVs were in the minority or not even thought about apart from a Nimbus. 😀👍
I completely lost faith in Ford from the EA on through the whole E series. I didn't go back to Falcons until the AU, which was actually a very good car.
I had a friend who bought an EA brand new and the fuel injection used to play up constantly, and stall in the middle of intersections etc.
@@bossdog1480 Yes a few people had issues with EA’s. Agree the AU was very reliable. 👍
The main problem with Holden’s v8 was its oil pressure was crap on both 308 and 304 aka the soft block fords little Windsor engine was a way better engine just needed better heads holdens 308 304 didn’t get it’s oil pressure problems sorted until the later VT 304 roller cam engine come out holden put a better oil pump on better alternator and belt drive system the vt 304 roller block could also fit the chev crank which would bolt straight in so basically a cast iron LS engine if you knew what you were doing with that vt engine
I know the earlier Holden V8s around the early to mid 1980’s had some durability issues. I thought the VN injected engine was generally pretty good? 🤔
@@markbehr88 bad oil pressure until VT
you must really love falcons
I do but I love plenty of others too. If you look at all the eps you’ll see other cars too. 👍
@@markbehr88 i will.
@@tom-vx1lp 👍👍
Oh I forgot. It had an open diff. Don't know why they did that.
I am sure one of the subscribers will know? 👍
Yes. Extra Benefits from banning the Nissan GT-R from racing on the mountain, even until this day.
@@vichetkim5533 And the crowds responded accordingly. 👍
The XF was peak Fairmount Ghia I reckon
@@SS-yw7vo It was certainly nicely appointed interior wise plus a wagon version. 👍
@@markbehr88 I understand the absence of V8. Dynamically I'm sure the later models were better. You're right re interior and that was my point too. Velour everywhere (where is that today?)
@@SS-yw7vo Yes. Where has it gone? Shame the XF didn’t have the injected 302 V8. That would have been a nice package. 👍
LPG is being phased out in australia
Yes, it is not as freely available as it once was. 👍
With hybrids now around, LPG really has no market, outside heritage. Taxis [& many Ubers] are hybrids now. Guess putting an LPG onto a modern Camry 2.4 is an issue too. Cheers.
@@UncleJoeLITE Although good for people who can’t afford anew hybrid. 👍
@@markbehr88 if its getting harder to get thats a concern if you want to keep car 10years
@@Eric-kn4yn Yes. I have removed it from my Ghia. 👍
I have the eb motor in my xg😂
Cool. 👍
I thought the V8 had 168kW and 365 Nm vs. the Commodore 165kW and 385 Nm.
No 165. The early EF V8 had 168 before receiving an upgrade. See my EF episode for more. 👍
Falcons fvcken Rule mates ! Cheers from New Zealand
Can’t argue with that! 👍
EB was a much improved car over EA.
Yes, especially EA1. EA2 had many EB improvements. 👍
I’m disappointed at how this guy continuously insists on using the tween Kiler Watts instead of Killer Wasps!
You can only have 200 killer wasps.
A can of Mortein can fix that. 👍😀
I think now you had only the engine and the pile of rust.
But what a great engine! 😀👍
@@markbehr88 Yes it is 😂
I owned the 50th anniversary model for 2 years. My v6 magna veranda was better in every way
The Magnas were good cars too. 👍
GT 200kw 🤣
There were some questioning it. 🤔
Haha, I know. It's a pitiful amount for a Flagship model.
My 50 series Aurion has more power than the Falcon GT.
Approx 200Kw/ 300Hp
@@tonymontana897had aurion for a day powerful and better than same year falcon commodore pity aurion looked so camry indians luv them camry
@@markbehr88you mean it could have been even less than 200kw .
@tonymontana897 that's some Aurion, every figure I found quoted on the internees states 200kw
I wish you would also tell us hp ratings. Freaking Americans
I’ll try to do that in future. I like Americans (most of em anyway). 148 kW in the 4 litre six is 198 HP. 😀👍
Great video for a great car, love the content, looking forward to the ED Falcon video!
Thanks very much. ED will include the very cool Sprint! 👍
Another shit box from ford. Blown head gaskets galore collapsing ball joints which they STILL hadn’t fixed in the territory rite up to FG. Another FAIL.
So, you’re on the look out 👀 for one then? 😀👍
Plenty at the local wreckers where I am. If I need one I know were they are 👍
@@ToranaA9X308 Usually just across from the Holdens. 👍👍
Mm but the holdens have all been stripped for parts to keep them on the road for decades while the AUs EB Ls Fs BAs sit there rotting with no one to be seen. All 3 wreckers in my location are FULL of those turds. Lots with cylinder heads missing or complete engines sitting in the bay because they expired. We’ve had 6 FGs come into work from a roofing company ALL with blown head gaskets in the last 6 months Built ford tough 😂😂😂😂😂💩💩💩💩
@@ToranaA9X308 I was at the wreckers yesterday. Plenty of Ford people getting parts. If nobody gets the parts, the wreckers just crush them, so there must be a market. Anyways, I don’t think I am going to change your mind. So, enjoy those Holdens and I will tell all the taxi operators those million km Falcons were just a figment of their imagination or the hire car drivers who still talk about wishing Fairlanes were available should re-think their approach and maybe they weren’t as good as they remembered (even though they were on the road 24/7). 👍👍