Here is a cool old TV ad for the Ford Falcon XM wagon. Please enjoy it and give this classic a 👍Like and Subscribe for more old car videos. Plus, check out the Old Car TV ads on the Playlist. 👍
Whenever I see old Australian ads or film footage of cars of the day towing Boats and Caravans I can't help thinking what a monumental effort and unpleasantly slow struggle it must have been. Being stuck behind that combo today would have tempers rising. People certainly were more tolerant and in less of a hurry in those days.
Hi as a kid born in the mid 1950's most of my mate's dads and my dad too had been involved in 2nd world war. My dad was in the air force, most of my other mates' dads had been in the army and had driven all kinds of vehicles from tanks to halftracks, to old trucks and the odd occasional Jeep. MAIN point is ALL of them had HORRIBLE, difficult often unique gearbox shift mechanisms, and near all needed careful double declutching on the way up and down the gears, they drove on horrible roads in horrible conditions. THESE NEW 1960'S CARS SEEMED LIKE THE MOST POWERFUL SPORTS CARS IN THESE GUYS, (our dads) RETURNED SERVICEMANS HANDS. They used to seriously push them hard. When they bought new cars back then all the dads thought their new cars were terrific and such an improvement on the "antique" they had before, there were a reasonable amount of tar sealed roads and most of those cars had decent torque for their size, it was only when a car was packed full of folks and hauling something big like a boat or a caravan and you hit a really really steep hill where there was a problem. BUT hey, guess what, most people were driving a similar powered car so nobody really saw a major issue AND most dads were happy having a car & being with their family and that they'd survived the war & were pretty happy. A fair few had vacuum power boosted brakes ex-factory, or PBR advertised cheap DIY kits for all the car brands to add this feature, most dads were really good with their hands and spanners and were masters of DIY projects of any kind. OUR CARS when I was a kid. When I was born/very small my dad had a 1934 Morris 8 sports tourer reg PR-909, my mum had a 1934 Morris 8 ute with a steamed marine ply curve topped canopy rego WZ-279. By default she bought a new 1959 Morris Minor 1,000 rego BXE-109 as she missed buying a second hand 49/50 Hudson Commodore eight (cylinder) with a Derham Bodies limousine kit on it, prior it belonged to Mr Meggitt, who had owned Meggitt's an Aussie soap and cleaning products company bought out by Reckitt & Colemanns' / Unilever. It had been a local Mosman (sydney) car. Someone had bid higher than her at an auction by phone, she was always suspicious that she had been duped. Mum HATED her new Morris Minor a couple of years later she bought a new giant Jaguar mk10, or as the 3rd update was called the 420G rego ARL-029 and after those plates nicked HDJ-448. My dads trusty '34 Morry got rearended by a drunk taxi driver in a Willys on the Sydney Harbour Bridge one night in later 1962 so he used a car from his family's business vehicle fleet and ordered himself a brand new 1962 EJ Holden Premier from Inders Motors Holdens at Balgowlah near Manly in Sydney rego CUS-417. He said I could help him order it and look through all the stuff (options) you could get. Basically, he ticked EVERYTHING, 8 track tape player/radio and 6 speakers he even ordered FACTORY AIR CONDITIONING (the most rare option) plus power brakes, he wanted it as a manual not automatic, he wanted it painted in a Chevrolet color "maize" which wasn't yellow, but it wasn't fawny/beige either. Dad described it as "muck" color already so you wouldn't need to wash it all the time as it wouldn't show dust on it easily. He drove it like a demon in a sports car, as a pilot he had no sense of fear being already on the ground, he was ALWAYS changing gear and double de clutching to get sports car like performance out of it, he had ordered it with police suspension on it and wider by inch police car thicker steel rims and it was always shod with German Veith EIGHT PLY Radials (why 8 ply, well they were mega stiff like new 30 profile 2 ply wall radials) and the tread went an inch or so up the side walls. He HAMMERED that car every day like it was an extension of himself extracting every last bit of horsepower out of it and one of his wartime mates that serviced airplane engines had enhanced its performance. He used it until they stopped making Kingswood's and bought a 1980 HZ Kingswood that was the last dealer owned one left from Sundell's Holdens at Chatswood rego JOU-487 and drove it until he was 90 when he passed away. My sister & I still own it as has mere 129,000ks on it in 2025. My first car, and the main one I learned to drive on in 1973 was a 1958 FC Holden, as a hand me down from a deceased elderly great aunt, its engine was pretty old & tired when I got it. My mums' dad an engineer helped extract the last life out of it, after Pa did this I got a few years out of it & I must add I pushed it pretty hard, BUT, did maintain it perfectly to the letter. One of Pa's mates gave him an engine out of a rusted after being smashed 1948 Holden, a really early engine just 380 engines in from the start of Holden engines. As an industrial engineer, Pa pulled this early donk apart, made new pistons for it, & his own rings and other internal components, bearings etc. When bench tested, stripped, inspected, and re-put back together it was fitted to my car, outcome was fantastic, it had more grunt than a mates HT with a 202 in it. My FC had well more power than it was born with, hills were a dream, effortless I sold it in July 1986 to a young guy that worked for me who was a uni student, now near 40 years later and he still owns it and 4 more too. However, Rick told me your Pa's engine is still running fine burns no oil and has well more power than his others with the "grey" motor in them, as one has a GM3800 supercharged V6 engine in it with an automatic.
Hi Mark, love the add and the XM Wagon not many left. I didn’t realise the seats fold dead flat to slide in the odd swordfish. Not sure the front seat was swordfish proof, could have been an option. 😂😂Thanks for sharing. My mistake it’s a Tuna.
My 1st car was an XM Deluxe Wagon. 170 with 3 on the tree. It was traded in on a brand new XE Falcon Wagon in 1983 at the Ford dealer I was working at back then. It was a super tidy 1 owner car with a recently rebuilt engine. They gave him $500 for it as a trade and let me purchase it for the same amount. Great car but I never needed to carry any tuna luckily. I did sleep in it once, though, so the flat-folding seats came in handy 😊
When I was young I always thought the front looked ugly 😮 yes the coupe 👌but I liked there trim and the Tail lights . Like the next model way better . Mark . Great clip 👌🇦🇺✌️.
I learned to drive at 13 in dad’s XM wagon, handy being in the bush incase something happened. My 8 year old sister and I laying in the back sliding around every corner on the way home with it from the dealer, McGrath Ford at Parramatta. 😂
@@waynegreene6405 Yes, I learned on an old blue XL wagon. Manual column shift. Used to drive it around the farm. Great fun. Gave it away. Should have kept it. 🫣
Cool ad . I love the cars of that era , and an XM hardtop in particular would be welcomed at my place. But , to be blunt , the chap with that big boat hadn't done his homework, choosing ( I'm assuming) a 200 ci six cylinder with 120HP @4400 RPM ,and 190 foot pounds of torque. When he could have bought a Valiant with a 225 ci six cylinder engine with 145HP @ 4000 RPM , and 215 foot pounds of torque. But maybe he was taken with the looks of the Falcon , and that's ok I suppose , if there aren't many hills .
@robertmorris6529 I think they were generally a bit more expensive than Falcon and Holden , not by much , but for a lot of people its understandable them wanting to spend less. As for promoting them as being a superior product, I think they all claimed that.
Hi Mark, How car ads were back in the day, Straight talk commentary just like old British car ads I was watching on on the Morris Oxford ( Austin Cambridge ) on you tube, the car ads are not like this today, catch you soon take care
I actually knew a part time commercial fisherman in the early eighties that that towed his aluminium boat with his XP Falcon wagon , but, from his house to where he launched it was all pretty much flat road .
@@kriordan25 Well, clearly it was, just as the Valiant was. Every Falcon or Valiant sale was a potential Holden sale. Despite Holden being the N01 seller, they were most definitely competition. The following two models won Car of the Year twice in a row. 👍
Love the advertisement but I’m struggling to conceive of how a 1960’s Falcon with drum-brakes all around and a 170 ci (2.8l) ancient carbureted engine could tow a twin-motored bondwood boat, which must’ve been really heavy. Also, no stop lights or indicators on the trailer. Otherwise I love your work Mark. Please keep going and like all Fords; don’t stop!
Thanks. I guess they had different standards then. Keep in mind a Model T Ford had only finished production 35 or so years before, so that is like an EA Falcon to us now. 👍
My XM wagon could never have towed that boat. With its 144 cubic inch ‘power’ plant it gave up while towing a 1967 Toyota Crown on a trailer up a slight hill, (Canterbury road, Montrose)! 😂
Notice that car ads back then were actually about.....the CAR? Modern ads seem to be about styling or how 'green' they are. By the way, green coloured cars are quite rare now!
Ahh , those were the days of great motoring in Australia when cars not only looked great , but they drove great too! ; none of that "crappy" rounded look garbage where Headlights & Taillights go half way along the side of a car like these new ones do.
Have you driven a Ford, lately? At least you can drive a new Ford today, unlike Holden (she’s a beauty) that turned their back on Australia after years of misplaced loyalty.
If I recall it was GM that killed off Holden and it was Ford who killed off Australian Fords and it was a result of the Australian people who turned their backs on Australian cars causing both of these outcomes.
@@famousamoss Good luck buying a factory fresh Australian Ford. If your talking imports then your Holden v Ford argument falls down like the pants on a demented old man.
Here is a cool old TV ad for the Ford Falcon XM wagon. Please enjoy it and give this classic a 👍Like and Subscribe for more old car videos. Plus, check out the Old Car TV ads on the Playlist. 👍
One of my favourite models especially in Hardtop form
Yes, the XM hardtop is very nice. I like the XM best of the early Falcons. 👍
@@markbehr88 i prefer the xp
@ Fair enough. Mechanically it was the better car. 👍
Whenever I see old Australian ads or film footage of cars of the day towing Boats and Caravans I can't help thinking what a monumental effort and unpleasantly slow struggle it must have been. Being stuck behind that combo today would have tempers rising. People certainly were more tolerant and in less of a hurry in those days.
Hi as a kid born in the mid 1950's most of my mate's dads and my dad too had been involved in 2nd world war. My dad was in the air force, most of my other mates' dads had been in the army and had driven all kinds of vehicles from tanks to halftracks, to old trucks and the odd occasional Jeep. MAIN point is ALL of them had HORRIBLE, difficult often unique gearbox shift mechanisms, and near all needed careful double declutching on the way up and down the gears, they drove on horrible roads in horrible conditions. THESE NEW 1960'S CARS SEEMED LIKE THE MOST POWERFUL SPORTS CARS IN THESE GUYS, (our dads) RETURNED SERVICEMANS HANDS. They used to seriously push them hard.
When they bought new cars back then all the dads thought their new cars were terrific and such an improvement on the "antique" they had before, there were a reasonable amount of tar sealed roads and most of those cars had decent torque for their size, it was only when a car was packed full of folks and hauling something big like a boat or a caravan and you hit a really really steep hill where there was a problem. BUT hey, guess what, most people were driving a similar powered car so nobody really saw a major issue AND most dads were happy having a car & being with their family and that they'd survived the war & were pretty happy. A fair few had vacuum power boosted brakes ex-factory, or PBR advertised cheap DIY kits for all the car brands to add this feature, most dads were really good with their hands and spanners and were masters of DIY projects of any kind.
OUR CARS when I was a kid.
When I was born/very small my dad had a 1934 Morris 8 sports tourer reg PR-909, my mum had a 1934 Morris 8 ute with a steamed marine ply curve topped canopy rego WZ-279. By default she bought a new 1959 Morris Minor 1,000 rego BXE-109 as she missed buying a second hand 49/50 Hudson Commodore eight (cylinder) with a Derham Bodies limousine kit on it, prior it belonged to Mr Meggitt, who had owned Meggitt's an Aussie soap and cleaning products company bought out by Reckitt & Colemanns' / Unilever. It had been a local Mosman (sydney) car. Someone had bid higher than her at an auction by phone, she was always suspicious that she had been duped. Mum HATED her new Morris Minor a couple of years later she bought a new giant Jaguar mk10, or as the 3rd update was called the 420G rego ARL-029 and after those plates nicked HDJ-448. My dads trusty '34 Morry got rearended by a drunk taxi driver in a Willys on the Sydney Harbour Bridge one night in later 1962 so he used a car from his family's business vehicle fleet and ordered himself a brand new 1962 EJ Holden Premier from Inders Motors Holdens at Balgowlah near Manly in Sydney rego CUS-417. He said I could help him order it and look through all the stuff (options) you could get. Basically, he ticked EVERYTHING, 8 track tape player/radio and 6 speakers he even ordered FACTORY AIR CONDITIONING (the most rare option) plus power brakes, he wanted it as a manual not automatic, he wanted it painted in a Chevrolet color "maize" which wasn't yellow, but it wasn't fawny/beige either. Dad described it as "muck" color already so you wouldn't need to wash it all the time as it wouldn't show dust on it easily. He drove it like a demon in a sports car, as a pilot he had no sense of fear being already on the ground, he was ALWAYS changing gear and double de clutching to get sports car like performance out of it, he had ordered it with police suspension on it and wider by inch police car thicker steel rims and it was always shod with German Veith EIGHT PLY Radials (why 8 ply, well they were mega stiff like new 30 profile 2 ply wall radials) and the tread went an inch or so up the side walls. He HAMMERED that car every day like it was an extension of himself extracting every last bit of horsepower out of it and one of his wartime mates that serviced airplane engines had enhanced its performance. He used it until they stopped making Kingswood's and bought a 1980 HZ Kingswood that was the last dealer owned one left from Sundell's Holdens at Chatswood rego JOU-487 and drove it until he was 90 when he passed away. My sister & I still own it as has mere 129,000ks on it in 2025.
My first car, and the main one I learned to drive on in 1973 was a 1958 FC Holden, as a hand me down from a deceased elderly great aunt, its engine was pretty old & tired when I got it. My mums' dad an engineer helped extract the last life out of it, after Pa did this I got a few years out of it & I must add I pushed it pretty hard, BUT, did maintain it perfectly to the letter. One of Pa's mates gave him an engine out of a rusted after being smashed 1948 Holden, a really early engine just 380 engines in from the start of Holden engines. As an industrial engineer, Pa pulled this early donk apart, made new pistons for it, & his own rings and other internal components, bearings etc. When bench tested, stripped, inspected, and re-put back together it was fitted to my car, outcome was fantastic, it had more grunt than a mates HT with a 202 in it. My FC had well more power than it was born with, hills were a dream, effortless I sold it in July 1986 to a young guy that worked for me who was a uni student, now near 40 years later and he still owns it and 4 more too. However, Rick told me your Pa's engine is still running fine burns no oil and has well more power than his others with the "grey" motor in them, as one has a GM3800 supercharged V6 engine in it with an automatic.
@@gregharvie3896 Wow! that was quite a long, but interesting read. Thanks for the reply.
@@erroneouscode Especially with all the single lane roads back then. Although there was far less traffic. 🤔
@@gregharvie3896 Thanks Greg. Very true what you said about the people coming back from the war. The 1960’s cars would have been dreams to them. 👍👍
@@erroneouscode 👍
How great was Australia in those days 🇦🇺
@@greatpar For sure. 👍
Great to see ads like this keep them coming.
@@GerardDaly-y1n Thanks Gerard. 👍
My dad had a XM wagon I remember as kid's we use to climb on the roof and come down on the front bonnet that car was so strong and a real workhorse.
@@WeveGotBush They were pretty solid old cars. 👍
Amazing job reserecting these australian advertisements reminds me old TV cop shop homicide
Thanks. Great shows. 👍
Hi Mark, love the add and the XM Wagon not many left. I didn’t realise the seats fold dead flat to slide in the odd swordfish. Not sure the front seat was swordfish proof, could have been an option. 😂😂Thanks for sharing. My mistake it’s a Tuna.
@@paulchasteauneuf2098 Yes, a cool ad for a cool car. 👍
Yes, you gotta have a tuna for your engine!! Sorry 😂
@ Are you fishing for compliments for that one? 😀👍
We had a blue/grey wagon from 1964 when I was born. Was a big family car.
@@gertsy2000 Very cool. We had the XL. 👍
I love to look of the XM the extra chrome they added around the grill improves the front end over the XK and XL
@@Black0Luigi Yes. Me too. 👍
My 1st car was an XM Deluxe Wagon. 170 with 3 on the tree. It was traded in on a brand new XE Falcon Wagon in 1983 at the Ford dealer I was working at back then. It was a super tidy 1 owner car with a recently rebuilt engine. They gave him $500 for it as a trade and let me purchase it for the same amount. Great car but I never needed to carry any tuna luckily.
I did sleep in it once, though, so the flat-folding seats came in handy 😊
@@robbiemontgomery3441 What a bargain 👍
When I was young I always thought the front looked ugly 😮 yes the coupe 👌but I liked there trim and the Tail lights . Like the next model way better . Mark . Great clip 👌🇦🇺✌️.
Thanks. It is a bit heavy at the front but it is my very favourite early Falcon. 👍
I learned to drive at 13 in dad’s XM wagon, handy being in the bush incase something happened. My 8 year old sister and I laying in the back sliding around every corner on the way home with it from the dealer, McGrath Ford at Parramatta. 😂
@@waynegreene6405 Yes, I learned on an old blue XL wagon. Manual column shift. Used to drive it around the farm. Great fun. Gave it away. Should have kept it. 🫣
@@markbehr88 Yerp, the old three on the column mate.
That’s the one. I like a column shift. 👍
Cool ad . I love the cars of that era , and an XM hardtop in particular would be welcomed at my place. But , to be blunt , the chap with that big boat hadn't done his homework, choosing ( I'm assuming) a 200 ci six cylinder with 120HP @4400 RPM ,and 190 foot pounds of torque. When he could have bought a Valiant with a 225 ci six cylinder engine with 145HP @ 4000 RPM , and 215 foot pounds of torque. But maybe he was taken with the looks of the Falcon , and that's ok I suppose , if there aren't many hills .
@@barrycuda3769 Yes it was a mighty big boat. 😳
Barry weren't Valiants priced and promoted as premium product ?
@robertmorris6529 I think they were generally a bit more expensive than Falcon and Holden , not by much , but for a lot of people its understandable them wanting to spend less. As for promoting them as being a superior product, I think they all claimed that.
@@robertmorris6529 Yes. 👍
But ,of course, when Chrysler claimed to be superior , they weren't being delusional .
Hi Mark, How car ads were back in the day, Straight talk commentary just like old British car ads I was watching on on the Morris Oxford ( Austin Cambridge ) on you tube, the car ads are not like this today, catch you soon take care
@@shaun30-3-mg9zs Yes. More common sense back in the day. 👍
Golden quality.
@@simonf8902 Certified. 👍
Mark provides some great content.
Thanks. 👍
I actually knew a part time commercial fisherman in the early eighties that that towed his aluminium boat with his XP Falcon wagon , but, from his house to where he launched it was all pretty much flat road .
Interesting! 👍
Catchy song on this ad
I think so too. 👍
@markbehr88 yep
👍
No competition for the EH Holden
@@kriordan25 Well, clearly it was, just as the Valiant was. Every Falcon or Valiant sale was a potential Holden sale. Despite Holden being the N01 seller, they were most definitely competition. The following two models won Car of the Year twice in a row. 👍
Love the advertisement but I’m struggling to conceive of how a 1960’s Falcon with drum-brakes all around and a 170 ci (2.8l) ancient carbureted engine could tow a twin-motored bondwood boat, which must’ve been really heavy. Also, no stop lights or indicators on the trailer. Otherwise I love your work Mark. Please keep going and like all Fords; don’t stop!
Thanks. I guess they had different standards then. Keep in mind a Model T Ford had only finished production 35 or so years before, so that is like an EA Falcon to us now. 👍
This was called the 'whip-lash' special.
@@thepsychologist8159 Why? No headrests? 🤔
@@markbehr88 That's it. They didn't believe in protecting the head back then.
@ 😵💫
I learnt to drive in my old man's gun grey xm station wagon
How cool. 😎👍
Still waiting patiently for the VG Valiant vid...
@@mikevale3620 That is the next one to be released. 👍
My XM wagon could never have towed that boat. With its 144 cubic inch ‘power’ plant it gave up while towing a 1967 Toyota Crown on a trailer up a slight hill, (Canterbury road, Montrose)! 😂
Yes, the ad was optimistic I think.
Notice that car ads back then were actually about.....the CAR? Modern ads seem to be about styling or how 'green' they are. By the way, green coloured cars are quite rare now!
@@every1665 Yes, what a novel idea!
Wow thats a bit fishy😂😂
Great old add.
@@davidstaines5440 How fishy on a SCALE of 1 to 10? 😀
Ahh , those were the days of great motoring in Australia when cars not only looked great , but they drove great too! ; none of that "crappy" rounded look garbage where Headlights & Taillights go half way along the side of a car like these new ones do.
@@Locoman3801 So true. 👍
I never seen one on the road ever, they must be pretty rare.
Really? I guess they are but I have seen the odd one or three. 🤔👍
Oh they around? In blokes sheds like the master garage ornament 😜
@ Yes. A few there too. 👍
AI enhancement on these old clips will be awesome!
@@floggedpeasant3343 For sure. 👍
K
I am a Holden man but ford and mopar just as good all classics now
Agree. 👍
😀
👍
voiceover sounds like kev golsby
@@captain-poppleton Could be? Great voice over man. 👍
Way to stink up the interior. I think a two speed automatic would have struggled with that boat.
@@jamesfrench7299 Quite possibly 🤔
Have you driven a Ford, lately? At least you can drive a new Ford today, unlike Holden (she’s a beauty) that turned their back on Australia after years of misplaced loyalty.
If I recall it was GM that killed off Holden and it was Ford who killed off Australian Fords and it was a result of the Australian people who turned their backs on Australian cars causing both of these outcomes.
@ None-the-less, you could still buy a brand new Ford tomorrow; good luck buying a factory fresh Holden tomorrow morning!
@@AnyoneSeenMikeHuntTrue enough. 🤔
You can drive a new GM today just like a new Ford. Both imported.
@@famousamoss Good luck buying a factory fresh Australian Ford. If your talking imports then your Holden v Ford argument falls down like the pants on a demented old man.
This was actually very gay in its own way. Nice car though.
Can you say that these days or are you talking in the old sense of the word 🤔