Ford Falcon
Gallery 1
Join Wheels as we follow the last Aussie-made Ford Falcon off the line at Broadmeadows.
WHEELS is out at Broadmeadows standing vigil as the last Ford Falcon rolls off the line. Join us as we bring you all the colour and movement as one of Australia’s most iconic brands signs off on 56 years of Falcon and 91 years of local manufacturing.
Want to feast on some Falcon nostalgia? We’ll take you on a year-by-year journey through Ford Falcon history.
11:55AM: Press conference slated to begin at 12:15pm. We will broadcast live to the Wheels Facebook page as soon as it starts.
11:00AM: Ford Australia president Graeme Whickman is expected to make a separate statement in the next few hours.
10:07AM: Tim from Auckland, New Zealand has just turned up to see the Ford factory. He’s here on what he calls “a petrol-head’s trip to Bathurst”.
9:56AM: Security has cleared media from the Barry Road employee entrance because it says a lot of people are about to come through.
9:45AM: A trickle of workers are already coming out of the factory to the employees’ car park. A shout of “goodbye” and that’s it, they start up their cars and leave.
9:42AM: Ford says it is “privately honouring manufacturing employees’ decades of contributions as the final Falcon rolls off the Broadmeadows Assembly Plant line.” It says 600 workers will leave Ford, 160 will be re-employed somewhere else inside the business.
9:39AM: “Today is an emotional day for all of us at Ford. We are saying goodbye to some of our proud and committed manufacturing employees and marking an end to 91 years of manufacturing in Australia,” Ford Australia president Graeme Whickman says.
9:38AM: Ford has just issued an emotion-charged statement; its only communication with the outside world so far today.
9:00AM: We’re now about half an hour away from when the last Falcon is due off the line. All is very quiet outside the factory.
8:17AM: George has been with Ford for seven years in maintenance. He feels OK about today. His mate says today “is all a bit of a show” as the last cars have already been built.
7:56AM: Workers will be about an hour into their final shift. The last cars are still expected to come off the line at 9:30am.
7:54AM: Mick lives nearby and turned up in the GT he’s owned for the last 19 years. “Yeah, it’s a bit sad today,” he says. “I’ve got mates that work in there.”
7:25AM: “We shouldn’t be here today,” says one Ford fan who has turned up outside the Broadmeadows head office. “It’s the government’s fault.”
6:36AM: When asked what they would do after the last car is off the line, one says: “Don’t know. Just go home, I guess.” Another says he expects tears from workers once the last Falcon is off the line. “It’s a pretty emotional day for us.”
6:35AM: Workers meeting outside the factory for coffee together have confirmed the last two cars will be a white Ford Territory followed by a blue Ford Falcon XR6.
6:03AM: The Falcon has been built at Broadmeadows since production of the XK started in June 1960. Today, more than 56 years later, it’s all over.
6:02AM: We’re expecting the last Ford Territory, a Winter White TS featuring the Barra 4.0-litre in-line six-cylinder engine – the only SUV to ever win Wheels Car of the Year – to roll off the line shortly before 9.30am this morning. Soon after we expect a Kinetic Blue XR6 – the most Aussie Falcon there is, to follow it off the line as the last Ford made here.
6.00AM: Wheels is outside Ford’s assembly line at Broadmeadows today as we wait for the last Falcon to roll off the line sometime this morning. Like the last ute’s send-off here a few weeks before, and the Geelong casting plant’s final engines, Ford wants this to be a private affair for its workers. We’ll be on the outside, looking in.
