Falcon Friday: Ford R&D 1960s-style

Ford closes the door on 91 years of Australian car manufacturing and 56 years of Falcon production today, marking the retirement of Australia's longest-running automotive nameplate and the Ford world's oldest surviving passenger car name.

So what better way to celebrate then by taking the finest two Fords ever made in Australia – the Falcon XR6 Sprint and Territory Titanium – back to the place it all began?

That place is the rough gravel roads of Cape Catastrophe at the bottom of South Australia's remote Eyre Peninsula, where Ford engineers tested the 1500 new components fitted to the 1964 XM Falcon and invited media to drive it.

Developed at a cost of a million pounds before the You Yangs proving ground existed, the XM was the very first Australian-engineered Falcon.

You can read the full story about reuniting the final, finest Falcon with the XM at its birthplace here , but here are some fascinating facts we couldn't find room for elsewhere.

Cape Catastrophe facts:

Testing of the XM began in Port Lincoln in the late winter of 1963.

It was conducted by the Ford Product Engineering Experimental and Testing Section.

Six engineers and mechanics were involved; Ron Lunn, Arnold Watson, Murray Coster, Lester Rodgers, Jack Wright and Barry Wembridge (brother of Allan quoted in the main feature).

Working two shifts a day, the six men drove two XM prototypes 1000 miles a day on a 500-mile circuit.

The 1000 miles comprised 138 miles of bitumen, 420 miles of gravel corrugation, 408 miles of extremely rough pothole surfaces and 34 miles of limestone rock and cobblestones.

Speeds of up to 100mph were required to achieve the daily speed average of 65mph.

Temperatures reached 112 degrees, bushfires and dust storms were other hazards encountered.

Each test vehicle was inspected twice daily every day.

At 2500 miles a more thorough inspection was made; wear rates, compression ratios, ride heights, body rigidity and brake wear measurements were checked and recorded in a log book. Extremely fine dust accelerated the wear rate of many components.

After completing 10,000 miles the prototypes were returned to the product development centre in Geelong and new prototypes continued the testing.

Average fuel consumption for the 170ci Pursuit engine over the course of 10,000 miles testing was 22.5-24.2mpg.

The maximum amount of oil used in any one engine was half a pint in 10,000 miles.

Prototypes were also tested in the Mallee region of north-western Victoria, south-western NSW and in the Australian Alps.

Some of the 1500 changes included:
New heavy-duty suspension
Improved shock absorbers
More powerful engines
Smoother, more durable three-speed manual transmissions
Stronger clutch
Heavy-duty, increased diameter axle shaft
Electric two-speed wipers
Self-adjusting brakes
Extended service intervals
Extra body and engine insulation – reduced noise level
Toughened windscreen
More powerful headlights
Extended anti-corrosion treatment
Smaller-diameter steering wheel
Reinforced springing in seats
Power operated rear window in station wagon