Of the new, 1960-vintage American "compact" cars, the most successful in terms of early sales was the
Ford Falcon. I wrote about first-generation Ford Falcons
here and
here. The present post sketches how Falcon styling changed over its 11 model year run. (Falcons first appeared in the 1960 model year, were drastically facelifted for 1964, redesigned for 1966 and production ceased in 1970.)
Given that Falcons were Ford's entry-level cars, their styling was blandly competent, but not memorable. Potential buyers with thicker wallets and a desire for more exciting appearance were expected to shop for standard-size Fords or Mercurys.
Unless otherwise noted, images below are factory publicity photos or picture of cars listed for sale.
Gallery
Factory image of the new 1960 Ford Falcon four-door sedan. Wraparound windshields and tail fits were now passé.
Rear quarter view of a two-door sedan. Over the years, all Falcons retained those classic, round Ford tail lights. Mecum auction photo.
Side view. Compare to the photo below.
The first link above calls 1964 Falcons "Second generation." Indeed their appearance was altered, but this actually was a major facelift. No change in wheelbase. Note that the door cuts are essentially the same as for 1960, as are the windshield and the wheel openings.
To a casual observer, 1964 Falcons probably did seem to be totally new.
Two views of a 1964 Falcon hardtop coupe.
Model year 1966 saw the appearance of a larger, redesigned Falcon.
Falcons never had those awful quad-headlights. Barrett-Jackson auction photo.
Again, those nice, round tail lights. I miss them, and like to hope that they reappear on Fords sometime soon, as they are a useful brand visual identification feature.
The 1964 facelift also included a going over of the whole car. Different seats, sound proofing (I think), altered suspension bits, etc. The result was a noticeably better driving/riding experience.
ReplyDeleteThe original design was very good, and like you wrote in a previous post, kind of the successor to the '49 Ford. Falcon, Corvair, and the original compact '63 Dodge Dart all had flat to convex front end/grilles which were replaced with convex versions in their second years, to all their benefits.
Also retrims of the Falcon (original and facelift versions) and Dart switched from obvious highlighting of sculpture lines with chrome on deluxe versions to chrome trim that did something else, all improvements.
The Falcon also got a minor facelift with a new front clip for '62-'63. This lowered the forward point of the front end to about mid level instead of higher, recalling the 1961 Thunderbird style. Plus a wider, chrome fronted fake hood scoop, and on deluxe versions two fender top hood type ornaments. Not the pure original design but kind of cuter.