1986 Ford Falcon GL XF: Regular Car Reviews

[@GarbageTime420]

My brother had one of these in this EXACT colour... it was a TANK. In both build quality and fuel consumption! They sure love snapping their door handles, my XF Panel Van went through 3-4 in only 2 years. I also love that low revving lump eventually turned into the Barra 6. Bummed I couldn't meet you when you crossed the pond, I sent a couple of emails but everything is flagged as spam now days! Will have to catch you next time you visit Oz!

[@darcybowyer5743]

It would be good to see you two with nuggets!

[@Low760]

Need to email Nick Roman, he responds quickly in my experience as the guy with the 122.

[@Omeggaomelet]

We need an RCR video on the Nugget Crew.

[@ethangee96]

Hey Wade! Nice to see you here!

[@nimaforoughi7266]

Wouldn't you think that the best way of describing this colour is "Eggnog (with rum)"?

[@udenszirnis1644]

33 liters to 100 km is insane, about 7mpg.

[@Bigcountry_littlelegs]

@udenszirnis1644 yeah that's terrible even for these, when 2nd gear works and sorta maintained they will do 15ish mpg town and 20 or so highway, or 15 to 20L per 100 around town and 10 to 13L per 100 highway

[@SLYDIT]

That figure isnt right. I had an XF and it was way better than that..prob mid 20s

[@afrog2666]

@@SLYDIT That XF isn`t right lol

[@argentinevol6720]

@@SLYDIT Well he says second gear is not working, so first is being pushed hard then just jumpts to third. That'd screw efficiency pretty bad.

[@selenelacaze9883]

@@Bigcountry_littlelegs Even 15 to 20 L per 100 km is huge for this car. I' m doing average 13 with a mix of city, small, road, and some highway, with my 1975 Plymouth Fury 4 doors 225ci manual 3 speed

[@alejandrooceguera4656]

This video summoned all the Australians, bless the mad lads

[@shoobydoo]

The most impressive thing about this car is how its simultaneously a 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne and a 1986 XF Falcon

[@knitterscheidt]

58 Biscayne? oh I remember that car! as a kid my 5' tall aunt had one, with a pillow bolster she could see over the dash, sometimes the accelerator pedal stuck and she'd jump out at a stoplight, pop the hood and unstuck it before the light turned green. when riding in the front seat i'd think, wow what a tank.

[@DrewLSsix]

I was going to say 1960 Falcon, because it's literally a development of the 1st gen Falcon, mustang etc.

[@RegularCars]

Whoops, just fixed it. I guess you know what next week's car is!

[@BananaPhoPhilly]

@@RegularCars hyped

[@pleepler]

@@RegularCars Is it Matt Farah's Million Mile Lexus?

[@DrClaw77]

"Hot Yellow" with "Cold Brown" interior

[@Hadgerz]

BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN

[@infidelmat]

Better than the "Hot Brown" interior...

[@michaelkeogh7722]

1986 was the year Australia switched to unleaded fuel. Ford dropped the old Cleveland V8 and put their money into the I6. Holden kept their V8 and outsourced the I6 to Nissan, and later switched to the V6 Buick. For a while we were a two Falcon family. Dad had a XF sedan as a company car. Eventually we sold Mum’s old ‘74 XB sedan for a later EA sedan. Column shift autos with bench front seats, all of them. I get nostalgic for all three. The Falcon I6 sound and feel is burned into my memory. I even had an AU for a while, man it felt familiar…

[@JBM802]

Y’all were licking lead off the streets until 1986?

[@sonofagroove]

@@JBM802 IIRC (and I turned 7 that year so I might not) some chains had rolled out unleaded at certain stations prior to then but "Super"/leaded was still the standard, especially in rural areas.The switch that took place in '86 was that all new cars for the Australian market had to run on unleaded, but they also had to keep selling Super because it was hit or miss for anything older. Aussies also tended in large part to be one-car households so the idea of replacing a vehicle just to put different petrol in it was a non-starter (NPI). As you can imagine that took ages to phase out... wasn't until 2002 that they stopped selling leaded petrol altogether.

[@TheDavo10001]

@@JBM802later than 86. New cars sold in 86 had to run on unleaded but leaded petrol could still be sold here until January 2002. My first car (bought in 96) was a 1984 Mitsubishi Sigma and I had to buy leaded petrol while I had it.

[@sonofagroove]

One of the most enjoyable RCR episodes in years. Live in LA these days but I grew up in Sydney and had a white '87 XF sedan that I bought when I was 19 and it remains my favourite car I've ever owned. This entire video was fabulous, showing all the badges and handles and little details that become second nature to you when you're driving it to work, TAFE, the girlfriend's house, or doing sick doughies in the gravel car park at the local surf club at 2 in the morning... even the outro had me a bit misty. I miss my Falcon. I miss my country. Great stuff, boys.

[@giggiddy]

Sick doughies? Yeah you're from LA alright

[@sonofagroove]

@@giggiddy Yeah when I say "grew up" in Sydney it was more like "was born, raised, finished school, developed an entire identity and then took a gap year in the US and never went home".

[@giggiddy]

@@sonofagroove Very cool. Cheers brother!

[@jimmy_jab]

Cheers for the local-ish pronunciation of Melbourne mate! It makes me happy to know that's a conversation you had to have had at some point.

[@adibden1943]

As an Aussie living abroad, it's been so nice to be taken down a highway of nostalgia by RCR. Thanks man!

[@timh6845]

A proud Aussie lineage that leads to the AU Falcon

[@milamber319]

There is a lot inbetween this and that. The xf is great on its own frankly. People have forgotten.

[@DragonArcadia]

“The accelerator pedal doesn’t travel very far, so it’s more like an on/off switch. Either you’re accelerating, or you’re retreating.” One of my favorite quotes from RCR. It was in the Honda Acty video. The statement of two-barreled carburetors made me think of it.

[@Sam-go3mb]

I don't even understand that comment, so in 1st gear, in traffic, you're just ripping every time? That's not how any sort of fuel delivery system works at all 😂

[@DragonArcadia]

@@Sam-go3mbI don’t know either, it’s just how he described it, probably just to be funny. It worked, because I laugh every time he says it when I go back and watch it again.

[@Sam-go3mb]

@@DragonArcadia yeah it is funny, some stuff he says as a matter of fact that is actually somewhat questionable though. One time he was ripping on shifter cable feel as opposed to rods, but Ferrari's and Lamborghini's have cables

[@Low760]

It is a beast of a car. Ford and holden designed cars for the Australian outback unlike today. Right up to the end of the Falcon and Australian commodore, they were durable. The love for xf was fleets. Mark Behr does a good summary of Falcons.

[@paulsz6194]

that's why they were #1 for Taxi's , it had bucketloads of torque , a durable inline six and cheap to run-especially when converted to LP Gas...

[@john_barnett]

@@paulsz6194 the wagon is basically melbourne taxi yellow

[@paulsz6194]

@ For me it’s more akin to the VK/VL Commodore BT1 that the Victorian Police force used to use…The last Falcon FG Taxi’s had a slightly lighter shade of yellow…not as intense as this one

[@StC-j5k]

Beast of a car??? I had one, and it was just a snot bucket that you couldn't kill ... it got you from A to B, but thats all that could be said about it

[@paulsz6194]

@ so you must drive a a 7 series or a S class now?..

[@ImmortalInflames]

"Thank you Australia, I'm comming back!" I couldn't help but smile when I heard you say that! I hope you're able to stay longer next time, we really do have alot of our own cars considering our small 26million population! 4 big cars made down under! - Mitsubishi 380 - Ford XR6 Turbo - Holden Statesman 3.8 Supercharged - Toyota Avalon

[@berniepfitzner487]

Mitsubishi 380*

[@ImmortalInflames]

@@berniepfitzner487 fixed 👍😊

[@berniepfitzner487]

@@ImmortalInflames good job. I loved Australian Mitsubishi's - just the paint faded worse than any other make.

[@tylerherrman9569]

We have the Toyota Avalon in the states

[@ImmortalInflames]

@@tylerherrman9569 oh wow!? Were they aussie imports??

[@Catfish4000]

The EFI version of the 4.1 (250) put out 120kW (160hp) and had great midrange torque. The EFI system was initially Bosch L-Jetronic on the XE, then went with EEC-4 in the XF. The intake was pretty much a copy of the BMW one with wrap-over runners like a bunch of bananas, and a plenum that sat on top of the engine. My dad had an 85 pre-unleaded EFI Fairmont with a rare 4-speed manual. That was a brilliant car. You could sit on 150 ks all day without it breaking a sweat. Great handling, excellent touring car for eating up the km in comfort and with confidence. You could say that it was as good if not better than the equivalent Holden 5.0 V8 of the time (not the HDTs of course).

[@lukestocks4370]

100% spot on.. I still have a XF ghia 4speed EFI

[@Catfish4000]

@lukestocks4370 any rust coming through? It gets them all in the end.

[@lukestocks4370]

@Gergatron4000 little bit at the back window. If u keep them dry they are fine. I've owned about 17 / 18 of them. I've had every sedan/ wagon possible other than a Fairmont Ghia wagon. That's next on my list.

[@Skidracer21]

Hey Regular or Roman, might wanna change that description.

[@RedNoise-hz5nh]

funny looking 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne

[@TestTGBDonor]

Lol

[@RegularCars]

Fixed, thank you!

[@jovanturnip]

what was it before?

[@TestTGBDonor]

@@jovanturnip 58' Chevy Biscayne

[@victorrand8811]

The Inline 6 is criminally underused in the states.

[@Neojhun]

Turbo Inline 6 even just a 3.0L is the perfect engine to paired with Hybrid low speed assist. It should of been a popular modern engine.

[@TwoDollarGararge]

Americans don't care if does not have 8 cylinders from the 50s or some japanese motors.

[@mankind8088]

Unless it's a BMW

[@JBM802]

The Americans don’t understand inline 6’s because it’s not what NASCAR uses!

[@TwoDollarGararge]

@@JBM802 No, NASCAR is a shell of what it used to be. At least in the US If you want something reliable, it may speak power that doesn't blow up. It's a V8.

[@hillbilly8621]

Core childhood memory of any Gen X or Millenial kid. Your parents had one of these, or the equivalent Commodore. All holidays were road trips, with the car packed to the gunnels.

[@Neojhun]

My Aunt who took care of me most had a VP Commodore Wagon with the Rear Facing 3rd row seats. My 3 cousins and me always meant the 3rd row was very much needed. One memorable road trip i'm guessing 1996 was to Apollo Bay from their old home in Mt Waverly, along the sea side route.

[@JackStavris]

My Dad had both at one stage, our family car was an '84 XF wagon S-pack, and his work car was a 1980 VB Commodore wagon. The Holden was cool, I liked it's Opel-like design, but the Falcon was always the better car.

[@Steph-pn2kq]

Nailed it! We had an XB sedan that rusted away, then an HZ Kingswood, that... also rusted away.

[@andycochrane4131]

Yours had cannons? That explains the fuel economy

[@je2338]

Yup. I'm a 1989 model and my parents had a VC, VR, VT and VE. I had a VZ Calais and my sister still drives a VF. Not a falcon family, but I still love them too.

[@MaleficRacing]

Finishing high school in the mid- late-90s, this was the P plater car for almost all my friends. Lots of memories rolling around late at night with nothing to do in my town of 10,000 people. Too bad you didn’t get to see the S Pack trim with a dash that rivals an 80s C4 Corvette. (Also, thank you for your pronunciation of Melbourne)

[@wytreeey3645]

There's also the Fairlane dash which was all digital. The plug straight into the Falcon, but oil pressure will be inaccurate until the sender unit is replaced with one from a Fairlane.

[@lachlanbrown409]

Always enjoy seeing an Australian car on your channel whether that be a GM or Ford model. Please come back soon - I'm sure plenty of Aussies would be happy for you to experience their car.

[@axelfoley133]

I appreciate the correct pronunciation of Melbourne. This is my dad's first car that i remember as a child. We regularly did Brisbane to Mackay, 1000km in a day. A good bit of nostalgia with this vid.

[@bengehrmann2397]

As an Australian & regular RCR viewer, I loved this! I’m just finishing up getting my 1988 XF Falcon Panel Van ready for the road. It’s a bench seat with a column shift BW40 (with all the gears 😂) and the freshly rebuilt 4.1 Crossflow are reliable fun. My current daily is a 2005 BA Falcon Sedan known as Multi. Anyway, great video & hope you’re back soon!

[@CafeEnergy]

I have a very explicit memory from my childhood of sitting in the middle back seat of a standard XF sedan with manual transmission watching the needle bounce off ‘180 km\h’ at the end of the speedo. 20+ years later I still remember the feeling of the ride as if the car remained at a seemingly unchanged attitude and the ground oscillated below us. It was also impressively good at turning tyres into clouds of smoke.

[@Robert-qi6mb]

Thanks for the memories i had a sky blue wagon running on lpg a great car.

[@BlackPill-pu4vi]

Mr. Regular loves the Ford Falcon wagon because it has a BRROWN interior! BRROWN makes him happy.

[@AussieTVMusic]

They made the XF panel van up until 1993. I was driving a new van in 1993 in my job. They were quite zippy by then and tough as old boots. All bugs were well and truly gone by then.

[@pgilb70]

Brilliant man! We all grew up with these in Oz. They were taxis, rep cars, our brothers had them, our schools towed stuff with them Bulletproof and amazing on dirt and highways! Shite build quality came standard tho

[@Dayman87]

Our family car for years in New Zealand was a 80's Falcon Wagon (I can't remember the make but it had a front bench seat so it sat 6) So it fit the 5 of us quite comfortably. I remember doing the Christchurch to Auckland drive quite a few times in that car, packed into the back with my brother and a pile of pillows between us, the boot loaded with gear.

[@JooshyBoiPlayz]

That's actually so awesome, I own a pristine XF in Olympic gold! Mine's a 4 door however and has a little more bite to it (A mild 302), but those wagons are awesome! Side rant though.. The whole "An old car can start to feel like home" is so true. I've grown incredibly attached to mine ever since I got it from my grandfather soon before his passing, and I treat it as a friend at this point. It's with me to stay that's for sure!

[@boingkster]

Love it mate! I just sold my XF ute, the trayback version of this. Brown vinyl interior, rubber floor, no aircon or working ehater, just an alloyhead six and three-speed manual column shift. Man, it was a workhorse. On a good day on the freeway doing 65mph you'd get 21mpg or so. If you want to see some Aussie country and stuff on a future trip get in touch. Cheers mate!

[@JackStavris]

This is my childhood car, until around 2005 or so we had a dark green 1984 XF S-Pack wagon, which was basically the same as a GL but with red badging and red exterior trim, and a tachometer in the gauge cluster. No extra performance, no other sportier options, it was just an appearance package. Ours had the EFI version of the 4.1L I6, which I believe came out in 1982 and weren't all that rare as two of my uncles and grandfather had multiples of the XE/XF era Falcons with the EFI motor in them. Only one of those cars my uncle had (a white XF GL sedan) had the carby motor. We called our wagon the "rat hotel on wheels" because it was rat infested and had a leaky sunroof that caused mold to grow in the car lol. The engine and trans though were bulletproof and even after the wagon went off to the junkyard, we kept the motor and trans to put into a 1983 Ford ZK Fairlane, the luxo-barge longer wheelbase version of the XE Falcon, when it's original motor gave up the ghost.

[@orincat10]

now _that_ is a regular car

[@stephenravenscroft3636]

Loved this! I had a red XF sedan as my second car, and whilst i don't remember it handling well, it was definitely a comfy place to hang out in a Maccas car park. Thanks RCR

[@HandDEngineering]

Our family had one of these from 1990 to sometime in the mid 2000s, cream with brown interior. That was used for family road trips, commutes, formally towing a boat, work bus and used to get firewood in the bush. They really could do it all, without any fuss. And i remember thinking the front seats were huge and plush when i was a kid, driving a lounge is right! Eventually the auto trans started to break down, and with how thirsty it was, it was time to move it on. Used to think they were ugly, but they really have grown on me! It is great to see them get some love from a wider audience!

[@stephenbachman132]

my Family had a XF falcon with extractors. was a really good car for burnouts. one of the best i have seen. heavy steering.

[@CaolanSuibhne]

One of the first cars I drove was a white ex police XF Panel van, column auto with the classic 12 slot chrom mags. I wish I still had that car today. Now I own an XG ute, EL Fairmont Ghia and sadly just sold my NL Fairlane limousine. Gotta love AUSDM whether its Holden or Ford, Australia will never be the same again without them.

[@CaffeineSlipstream]

The beautiful XF, what a car. Solid, large, reliable family car. We had a brown series 1 XF sedan. I have distinct memories of my dad taking me up into the hills and powersliding through the Dandenong Ranges on gravel roads, Victoria. I miss it

[@s.h.v.c2865]

Very weird seeing streets I'm familiar with on RCR. Miss station wagons, our family car was a 1991 Camry Twin Cam station wagon. Looking forward to you coming back, would be cool if you caught up with Wade from Garbage Time.

[@jurassicchrist]

Double rear windscreen wipers!!! Love my Camry Wagon

[@davidkeetz]

oh man....that made me remember when all the gas stations in the U.S. went from how it used to be where you could just start pumping and pay after to the pre-pay only system we have now. In my city, it started at night where you had to prepay to start fueling to some stations putting up "prepay only" and it was all day every day at that station and then after a couple of weeks all stations were pre-pay only. I remember it happening pretty fast.

[@cherrypepsi2815]

I haven't seen a prepaid-only gas station here in the midwest at all

[@Mattyew]

The way you love this car makes me love it too. So excited to see all these new cars we're not accustomed to!

[@bigdude101ohyeah]

The best part of the XF is that they offered a 3-on-the-tree manual (basic ute and panel van, which lasted until 1993) at the same time as oscillating vents (Fairmont Ghia, along with the ZL Fairlane and FE LTD). You'll never believe who was contracted to design the Alloy Head.

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

The crossy head was basically a Cleveland head which had two extra cylinders cast on, it even used the Clevo 2v valves and Cleveland rocker gear.

[@teraris]

Shame I missed you. I could've introduced you guys to a 2-cylinder Fiat Panda.

[@danmcdonald9117]

32L/100km is not normal! Looking forward to your outing in a Commodore VN

[@GuntanksInSpace]

This episode was very cozy feeling. Does feel like home, like how you described that Wagon. Also lol I've seen mentions of it since the NBox video!

[@realjohnboxall]

Did you have a bag of spare door handles? :) Only kidding. Thanks for coming all this way to Australia and filming, it's an outstanding effort.

[@SaulGreatorixMusic]

Haha, I made a comment about reviewing this car when you did the Berlina Wagon vid. Good to see you followed through! My Grandfather in law had an XE Wagon. It was a floaty boat without power steering but man it was a joy to drive.

[@Oosh21]

Best mate's XF was the first car in our circle of friends. Pass down from his Grandpa, Dad, him, then younger brother. It was a legend.

[@Emily1963eh]

I had one of these as my first car. I had the "S Pak" 4.1 fuel injected with a 4 speed on the floor, gold with "12 Slotters". The injected motor was a huge improvement over the carby. Drove like a dream and only moved on from it when my mum needed a car. I slept in it on long trips with a mattress in the back, had gold skulls on the door locks and a larger one as the shifter knob. The car was then handed to a mate of mine who then crashed into some trees, never to be seen again :(.

[@stevevisscher1350]

Loved the XF. My dad had an '88 model and I learned to drive in it as a teenager.

[@dodgyharo2]

When the family moved to QLD Australia in the late 80s, this was the same exact car Dad bought (yellow XF stationwagon). What a nice surprise to see it featured here on RCR! Brings back lots of memories going to school in the back of one of these ... :)

[@nullc0ntext]

Melbun sounds like a blast! Enjoy the wandering spiders!

[@tomadamo3226]

10:30 blutooth speaker in the cupholder? Been there brother 😂

[@mattjacomos2795]

Drove one as a Taxi while i went to uni back in the 80's. Even less power with LP Gas...

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

Can Definitely confirm that after buying a ex taxi with 950,000klm on the clock, gutless but reliable.

[@SLYDIT]

I had an XF wagon. It was a white sport pack. Great car. Such a great cruiser

[@alexanderlee2086]

I remember my parents had one exactly like this, ex-taxi in yellow with this like interior mesh screen separating the luggage space from the seats. My dad bought it in the mid 2000s and sold it for a few hundred bucks or so in the early 2010s as a sort of more family orientated (and reliable) version of his Peugeot 505 GTI wagons. As a man coming from RS1600 and Twin Cam Ford Escorts I remember he told me he immediately swapped in bilistein suspension all round which I believe he still has somewhere in the garage. My mum also helped swap the engine while she was 7 months pregnant with one of my older sisters as it was damaged in some way when they bought it. I remember for the last few months we had it, it absolutely reeked of fuel. That car is and always will be especially nostalgic and close to my heart as when they sold it, it sort of marked the beginning of the end for their marriage which turned into a rather messy divorce by the mid 2010s. Always have had the intention of buying an XF for myself at some stage.

[@EngMadison]

Peak hour parking restrictions lanes are pretty common here in Madison. It gives us capacity when we need it, and parking when we dont need the capacity.

[@craig2733]

I had a 1987 XF. I was 19 and had a great time driving it.

[@kadnhart6661]

I am SO happy to see a video on this beaut, you have no idea

[@thedownunderverse]

44 year old here. I had an ‘87 XF wagon in crimson as my first car here in Melbourne in ‘99. Complete with MetallicA decal on the back window and we used to have to put “P Plates” (a little red sign indicating probationary driver) on the front and rear. The cool thing to do was cut up some red stickers in the shape of blood drops trailing down to the plates. Because 90’s.

[@icascone]

Thanks for reviewing this!

[@thomasrachon560]

Brother, this is literally a few KM away from where I live!! Hell yeah

[@threeparots1]

32L/100km = 8.8MPGUK. About the same mileage of a greyhound bus . Definitely a fuel leak, bad burn, and the lack of a second gear…torque of this engine will help to pull anything

[@GTSW1FT]

Theirs something about cars from this era, where they have this charm about them. Like its the same warmth i get from driving a volvo 244 gl, its like that holsome old dude who isnt as mobile as they once where. But they will always be welcoming to you no matter what.

[@mimelio]

32 liters per 100 km is 7.35046 MPG

[@TheFunkybert]

7 mpg?!???

[@TheFunkyWhiteBoyShow]

Thats is insane, even my AMC 258 gets 15-17L per 100km. I started getting 32L once the EGR failed and the headgasket blew lol.

[@dforrest4503]

You’re allowed to round.

[@TheFunkybert]

@@TheFunkyWhiteBoyShow meets TheFunkybert?!?!

[@Loveitdownunder]

Had a red S pack on Lpg when LPG was 16 cents a litre....Thanks for a very balanced and down to earth review. Done a trip from Melbourne to Darwin...

[@comfortablynumb9861]

My mum had a blue one, we got it in about 1993.. it already needed a new motor, but once we got a new engine in it, it was a very solid hauler with enough room in the back to transport any thing you freaking wanted to all while towing a horse float. When I got my licence I pulled out in front of something and we repaired it with rip off chinese panels including spray job for about $300

[@Flargenyargen]

That thing is a beast. I have an immense respect for it!

[@dcanmore]

that shape was a copy of the European Ford Granada MkII (although the Falcon is a couple of inches bigger either way) and made its debut in 1977.

[@Low760]

Yes. But ford won't admit

[@JackStavris]

Both Holden and Ford were going for Euro-inspired design in the late 70s/early 80s. Holden took the Opel Rekord and toughened it for the AU market to make the first Commodore, and Ford styled the XD Falcon to look like the Granada, though I believe the only shared part between the two was the front indicator lenses. Both GM & Ford stuck with the European design for future models of Falcon and Commodore until their ends in the mid-2010s.

[@andrewg2618]

@@Low760 what's to admit? Not one body panel is exchangeable with the Granada. Totally different drivelines. The only thing they share are the head lights.

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

The XDs headlights and indicators ARE MK2 Granadas. Ford Australia wanted to export to LHD markets like mainland Europe ect, hence the use of the international parts bin.

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

​@@Low760ummm yes they admit this as being European inspired, so much so they WANTED to get into that market.

[@jimbojon2]

Thanks R.C.R for the great vid, I learned to drive in my father's XF wagon with Armstrong (no power assist) steering so I can relate. Having said that they did have better road feel once you were moving while the power steering versions, while better for parking and slow speed driving, were somewhat vague and lacking any road feel once you were up to speed so that was the trade-off. This particular wagon is in the extreme with regards to poor fuel economy (dying auto transmission, fuel leak issues & that it is nearly 40 years old and probably very tired are all contributors) in the day they would average around 15 litres/100km's in everyday driving and could be coaxed up to 12-13 litres/100km if you had a light right foot.

[@Devastator0]

I fucking love the XF Falcon and seeing this video makes me extremely happy! I learned to drive in an ‘87 XF GL Sedan (Fuel Injected one though), great, great car haha. Have been sad to this day that my Dad sold it (for $500!!! 🤦‍♂️) as I wanted to buy it off him and do a Barra swap into it.

[@MotionMcAnixx]

My family were Holden people - but I did like the feel and comfiness of a Falcon whenever I got in one.

[@Mrsquiggley]

I grew up on the 3rd row of one of these. You could buy a backwards seat to go in the boot that looked backwards for them.

[@hollenhammer]

32l/100km is huge wtf

[@hollenhammer]

my car averages 9 to 11l/100km. Lower is better

[@andrewsherwin966]

That's what I was thinking .. Jesus. My 25 year old Sierra 1500 gets like 19L/100kms. Which is bad... But 30 something? Wow

[@jamesrichardson645]

7mpg

[@wytreeey3645]

I drove a 5 speed XF Falcon and usually got on average 14l/100km. The engine had done over 400,000 kms

[@tcbgarage2845]

I drive a sedan version daily and easily get 12l /100. This XF looks a bit neglected.

[@JayMcK-yj8ht]

I had a XF Fairmont Ghia sedan , a lot of velours died for its brown interior , loved it .

[@hillby]

Melbin

[@RegularCars]

am I pronouncing it right?

[@GTSW1FT]

​@@RegularCarsYes? Heck im Australian and im not even sure at times

[@bushturkey1019]

​@RegularCars yeah pretty much right, it's usually pronounced horribly wrong (Mel-born) so you're doing a pretty good job of not massacring it 😂

[@Orion2349]

@@RegularCars You are. Most Americans pronounce it Mel-bourne so I was surprised to hear it pronounced right.

[@itsamario1269]

@@RegularCars you nailed it!, its just the rest of Australia likes to refer to it as a 'bin'

[@SerialExperimentsTim]

My Grandpa had the sedan version of this in the S trim with the louvred taillights, which looked cool and futuristic at the time but... aged poorly. Great car that my Mum inherited in the early 2000s, and it was a solid, reliable family car for us up until 2018 or so, when it was replaced with a Mazda CX-5. That car was how I learned to drive manual (it had the 5-speed manual) and it was great to drive.

[@dirtyharry5320]

Matto is definitely Australia personified.

[@alexfazzari5185]

i have got one of these bad boys. same colour (citrus yellow) 4 speed manual, s-pac sedan. bought it off an old lady who bought it new at the local dealership. best car ive ever owned, did a trip last year from Adelaide to Melbourne via the great ocean road, vic high country then went up the coast shot over to Canberra then Sydney and back home to SA. Got 10l/100 and it didn't break a sweat, only thing that was a broke a door handle which i fixed in the car park at rare spares in Sydney.

[@jamesrichardson645]

When you come to Australia next, if you are in Sydney, we have a Column Shift 3 seat in the front AU Falcon Trayback ute 1.1T payload, which was a work ute up until a few years back, and is now a garage queen / spare car. AU Falcons used to be an ugly duckling, but recently, say, post covid, their popularity has skyrocketed as people worked out how unkillable they are. I also have a 2005 BF Fairlane with the F150 5.4l 3v from the f150, and a ZF 6 speed from a BMW, but from factory, in a sports limo, a limo which handles and goes fast yet still rides lovely. Most people are interested in the Ute though.

[@Renaguard]

The first car that I remember as a kid was my dad's white XF Falcon wagon and I used to love that car it was optioned with Air Conditioning and power steering (I believe), we eventually traded it for a beige Toyota Tarago when my sister came along and it was optioned with virtually nothing! I do miss that old XF wagon though.

[@Orion2349]

I used to drive the EFI sedan version of this. Was a tank of a car. You couldn't beat it to death with a stick.

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

I did, well after it went through 4 tree's at 150kph 😂😂😂

[@Orion2349]

@ It sounds like the XF broke the tree 😂

[@harryburleigh8358]

Good looking long roof design - doesn’t appear to have had a single unnecessary swoop inflicted upon the car.

[@jamesrichardson645]

It's one reason I love the fairlanes. Modern enough to be reliable, safe, fast and relatively efficient, yet it looks like an old school sedan with the big boot and bonnet with a flat roof line.

[@carswithed2946]

Important to note that the XF sedan and wagon were made until 88 but the XF ute was made untill 1993! And the car that replaced it was basically a fuel injected xf ute

[@RockSolitude]

My Dad traded a Nissan Bluebird for a silver Ford Falcon XF Wagon in the mid-90s. He did it in a hurry because he quickly wanted a car with space (for us kids) and it turned out to be an absolute lemon. Consequently he was always underneath the hood wrenching on it, and that started my enthusiasm for cars. He ended up converting it to LPG to make it cheap as chips on fuel.

[@somat111]

If you want ultimate '80s luxury, you guys need to find one of the long wheelbase Fairlanes or LTDs when you return to Oz. I had a ZJ Fairlane back in the day and nothing I've sat in since was as comfortable, especially the back seat. Also it was a 4.9L V8 that used LESS fuel than the XF you drove!

[@wobblysauce]

Had the XD and an XE Spac's great cars, the biggest mistake people made was replace the door handles with new ones when they failed, the originals just had a washer that would come loose and fall down all you needed to do was put it back and your door handle would work again, the replacement was a thicker plastic washer that would break and then you were up for a new one every time.

[@markrozenberg7959]

“The Education State.” Try that on a US plate.

[@weirdomonkey]

Put it this way, my father preferred Holden vehicles. But when times were tough and we just needed a big family car, we had a blue sedan for a few years. Everyone had one of these at some point. Much like everyone’s mum had a VR/VS Commodore, which funnily enough was the replacement for the Falcon after a head failure.

[@tcbgarage2845]

What is with the fuel consumption? My 1986 ZL Fairlane with the same engine gets 12L per hundred all day. Also EFI was optional from the previous model XE Falcon and adds quite a bit of power. I dont know if Matto gave you bad info. But you could option the XF from a base model to a Falcon to all the way Fairmont ghia which is top of the range for Ford Australia. There was plenty of options.

[@FurryWrecker911]

The x-hour-window-parking thing is something the heart of Orlando does as well. I'm a night guy. I drive at night. The ONE TIME I had to drive through Orlando during the daytime I creeped to a stop behind rows of parked cars thinking they were gridlock traffic 3 different times. On one hand, I get it, parking is a limited resource, but on the other hand trying to merge into a constant bumper to bumper 25mph flow of cars while dead-stopped in a crosswalk fuels my distrust for city streets being sensible.

[@Bigcountry_littlelegs]

You need to see one up on a lift, if you do you would be shocked to find all the same suspension under it as your old falcon, wasent untill the ea falcon that the front suspension was updated

[@cj-fh4nx]

It used the same platform from 1966-1970 Falcon in America. This was a facelift of the 3rd bodystyle of that came in 1979. The 2nd was in 1972.

[@Bigcountry_littlelegs]

@cj-fh4nx the platform was never really replaced, it was grampa's axe, it just had sections replaced with newer designs but if you looked at the mid floor pan from a xm to a fg falcon you will see similarities from where they have stretched and moved things but you can see that it's just an update not a redesign. This is why you can fit an au falcon irs backwards down to a xe with very little body work. Also, why you can use bf wagon parts back to the xa wagon. The xy to xa changes are more similar to xf to ea then xc to xd as the xa was made a much larger vechicle its why its easy to do a big block swap on a xa but its a pain in the ass on a xy. Much the same as mk1 vs mk2 mustang. The falcon 6cyl is the same it wasn't until the barra engine that you couldn't fit a points dizzy in it anymore and run them with a carby. He'll they still used the same starter motor, main bearings and bore spacing through its entire run. The first barra destrokers used 231 cranks as they bolt in if you match machine the rear main seal surface. Ironicly the 1st time the 231 cranks was used to alter stroke in something else was in holden 202s as a stroke crank lol.

[@aussieausdeutschland4245]

​​@@Bigcountry_littlelegstheres a video of a Holden 186 with a Barra head conversion, it sounds pretty wild.

[@Bigcountry_littlelegs]

@aussieausdeutschland4245 yeah they have been swapping ford heads onto the Holden 6 since the crossflow came out, fairly simple swap for a crossflow as you turn it 180deg and then match so water and bolt holes, barra would be simmerlar but getting the cams driven would be a pain.

[@DangerAngelous]

“WHAT THE HELL MELBIN” the greatest amalgamation of words I’ve heard in a while because I also know how Melbourne’s roads work 💚💛💚💛 driving around trams is still a little funky for me though

[@ad_fletch]

They have barely visible little stop signs to tell you when you're about to mow down some passengers....

[@adamrichards3174]

17:30 I used to work for a convenience store in WV and we had 2 out of our 8 pumps where you could "post-pay"... meaning you could pump your gas, THEN pay for it inside. When someone would pick up the nozzle and press "pay inside", a beeping tone would sound on the cash registers with a flashing icon showing which pump was wanting gas. Of course, you had to be watchful doing that, especially if the lot was busy, cause then they very well may drive off without paying.

[@girthquake1413]

I had similar at a gas station I worked at over 10 years ago, I thankfully only had one person take off without paying in 9 months- and they still even attempted to, just had money issues.

[@ZombieEaters]

Yarra Bend, and lots of it. We had an XD for our family wagon… sooo good.

[@RedNoise-hz5nh]

awesome review!!

[@davidlogan6139]

My first car. It was red. I loved it. I have no idea how to fix cars, but with an old book and six cans I was able to replace the exhaust manifold myself after (welsh plugs I think) carked it. I would absolutely get another one.

[@RobertKnapp-n6q]

The tailgate is the same one used on 80’s fox body wagons here. (Ltd,fairmont,zephyr)

[@JohnFrumFromAmerica]

An xf was my first car. It was a ghia luxury model. Had a digital dash and a cigarette lighter in every door.

[@MrTilbin]

The way you describe Australian sounds like NYC too.

[@GTFORDMAN]

1984 was the year that Ford abandoned performance cars in favor of Fleet cars! it gave Holden a monopoly on the performance car scene that Ford never really caught up with, but then Holden never invested in making a decent car like Ford did either! Ps; those 4.1 crossflows, if you put in a lumpy AF undrivable cam and a Holly carb, you wont keep the car straight! they'll eat anything that isnt force fed and scare those that are! 😎

[@johnblood3367]

My dad had one exactly like your citrus yellow; a sedan with power steering an Air Con. Went everywhere. All over Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania. An still after 25 plus years it still looked brand new. Dad looked after it well an i did. We had the grey interior . Looks better than the brown.