Technical 1963.5 Falcon Futura

Also, pay no mind to the fact that Falcon production did not stop until 2016 in Australia, and that, even in the era that they were still sold in the US, had several major distinctions in parts, and differences in bodywork and appearance packages.

Ford was hella nutty back then.

 

Also, and for one year only, Ford decided that it ought to have a separate brand for Canada. That year was 1960.

They chose one model of car to re-trim and re-badge.

It was called Frontenac. The model was the Falcon, and all variants but the Ranchero were available. They were produced in Ontario, Canada.

A whopping 9,536 Frontenacs were made before Ford decided to just sell the Comet. Somewhere around 6 are still on the road.

My 1960 Falcon wears a 1960 Frontenac grille.

 

I remember seeing my first Aussie Falcon in 1983 when our ship docked in Perth. I knew the car's US profile but it took a minute to catch the Comet front fenders and the Galaxie styled taillights.... and the fact that nine out of ten had visors and rain guards. Later on I found out that they were still being built in Argentina up into the '90's....
The Falcon went away here but the platform lived on in the Monarch/Granada until the Fox finally replaced it.

 

When a friend and I were into Falcons in the '90s a local moron had two Frontenacs, and let his kids jump up and down on one of them until it was wrecked. His response, "hey, kids will be kids".
Even then I thought this was pretty bizarre, I could not imagine doing this as a kid or my own kid doing similar.

One article I read said most of the Frontenacs were sold in Quebec, which could account for the abysmal survival rate. But 6 out of 9000+ is surprisingly low.
Then again Quebec is north of Vermont, so similar climate but with even more salt on the roads.

Lots of Falcons were sold in Canada, though. My friend had a 1960.

 

Falcons were cheap, entry-level, disposable, loss-leader cars, intended to build brand-loyalty.

They were never designed to last. The fact that many did in little more that a historical and environmental accident.

As for Frontenacs surviving, they lived in road-salt country. That crap takes everything it touches.

My brother lives in Southern New England, and sees structural through rust in under a decade, on brand new vehicles.

Even so, Frontenacs were a re-badge. You can build one with an eBay account, a drill motor, and a few drill bits, if you really want one. Not too sure anyone does.

I did need to make one little tab for the grille install, but that is because I modified my center support to squeeze an AC condenser behind it.

 

By which time it was several generations removed from the original and as a result a totally different animal. Only the name endured.

 

Just like every other nameplate that continued on.

Cough...electric Mustang...cough.

 

Wow thank you for all that!

I am really into the details about vehicles, about 15 years ago I got into the 1st Gen Cummins and had a good amount of those before they sky rocketed in price. They also have some neat early options.


Aside from that I got the falcon started up and running now!

got the new carb slapped on

It’s idling pretty high right now. Think it might still need to be dialed in on the carb and timing?

im getting closer that’s for sure

 

If you cannot adjust the high idle away. This could be a vacuum leak in the carburetor gasket or the carburetor adapter gasket.
On some Ford manifolds a Pheunetic (I know that's not spelled right) Spacer is required. Basically, a thick Rubber gasket or fiber spacer is required.

 

Phenolic (wood flour, phenolic resin).

 

If you don't have them already, you should have a timing light with a tachometer, and a basic vacuum gauge.

Those are both indispensable for getting most any engine tuned properly.

 

My experience with '60s Ford small blocks is that they always used a 1" aluminum spacer under the carb, 2V or 4V. Later ones are drilled for PCV connection.

 

That's my experience, although nowadays with today's gas, I'd swap it out for a phenolic one.

 

Cool little Falcon Gonna take some tuning to get that Eddy set up well. Forget the headers on a column shift car. Floor shift isn't much better. 289 heads are better but cam upgrade is real iffy w/ the stock pistons. Good luck finding a better piston. I've been down this rabbit hole.

Joe