√Ford Falcon with last Australian-made V8 goes unsold at auction

The last Ford Falcon to be built with an Australian-built V8 did not sell at its most recent auction, despite the seller lowering the reserve price.

The final Ford Falcon powered by an Australian-made V8 engine was passed-in at its most recent auction after topping out within $5000 of its previous sale price before bidding closed.

As reported last week, the 1982 Ford Falcon XE ESP V8 was listed by Collecting Cars after selling in a Grays Online auction in May 2021 for a hammer price of $354,759 – not including the 7.5 per cent auction fee.

The historic Ford Falcon – a Ford Fairmont Ghia ESP by its formal name – was the last to be built with an Australian-made ‘Cleveland’ V8 engine, and was fitted with a gold plaque on its dashboard documenting its significance.

Since rolling off Ford’s Broadmeadows production line on 25 November 1982, its odometer has recorded just 67km.

According to the listing, the historic Ford Falcon attracted 52 bids in the most recent auction, with the Collecting Cars website showing its reserve price had been lowered in the final hours – although it did not disclose the reserve price.

The V8-powered icon was unable to match its previous sale price, with the last recorded bid of $350,000 disappearing when the auction ended.

Between November 1971 and December 1981, Ford Australia produced the ‘Cleveland’ V8 engine at its engine factory in Geelong, having imported its initial batch from the US town of the same name in 1970.

The ‘Cleveland’ was produced in two sizes – a 4.9-litre (302 cubic inches) and a 5.8-litre (351 cubic inches).

This example was fitted with the 4.9-litre V8, paired to a four-speed manual transmission which sent power to the rear wheels.

Ford Australia did not sell another V8 Falcon until 1991 when the ‘EB’ was launched, with the North American-built 5.0-litre ‘Windsor’ becoming an option on certain grades.

The ‘Windsor’ continued to power V8 Falcons until 2002, with a new 5.4-litre ‘Boss’ engine powering the ‘BA’, ‘BF’ and ‘FG’ generations.

The ‘Boss’ V8 was superseded by the ‘Coyote’ in 2010, lasting until the Falcon’s – and Ford Australia’s – end of local production in 2016.

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