http://http://www.aus-ford-uk.co.uk/html/styling_-_bonnets.html
look at the clay model for the 1968 Ford Maverick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
look at the clay model for the 1968 Ford Maverick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
could it be true?
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Everything is very obvious about that page BUT the piece about the 68 maverick is VERY interesting and is the first I have ever heard of it. I do seem to recall that the first design of the XA falcon was done whilst the aussie designers were in the USA, but from memory that was around 1969(cant be sure). All car manufacturers have always ripped each other off, going with the trends, and very much with fords case, keeping it all in the family. And if this is real so much for the first "All Aussie" Falcon.
Both Ford and GM had world wide styling strategys. The XA Coupe was styled after the 69 Torino. The guy responsible was a Englishman, his surname was Ross. He also played a part in the Mk1 Capri. Just look at the XD Falcon, almost identical to the Mk2 Granada. GM were the same. The HQ looks like a mid 70's Vauxhall Viva on steroids.(Or the Viva is a shrunken HQ).
Fact is though, the XA is the best lookinking car ever :hy:
riest:
Steve
Fact is though, the XA is the best lookinking car ever :hy:
riest: Steve
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Hell yeah! Learn from other peoples mistakes and sell the product bigger and better as your own, thats my motto. At least thats what gets me through life.351cid said:
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Those were the clays made sometime around 1968 for the new Maverick that arrived in late 1969 as the 1970 Maverick. The Aussie engineers were in Detroit at that time working with Ford US on a replacement for the XY. Ford US offered up the 1970 Torino and it was the Aussies that rejected the car as too big. There are some other pics of these Mav clays but it was this set that looked the most like an XA. If any of you have seen a Mav, then you know it looks nothing like an XA so these clays were not chosen for the final design. That was common back then as Ford would have several teams working on different clays. What these pics don't say is who worked on the clays. The Aussies were engineers not designers BUT that doesn't mean they didn't work with a design team to finalize the XA design. For all we know, these may have been XA clays that were worked up by one of the spare Mav teams. I say spare because the 1970 Mav arrived in October of 1969 which means Job 1 would have started sometime in early 1969. If that is the case, the clays would have been approved much earlier than Nov 18, 1968--that is the date on the pics. So, I speculate these were XA clays worked up by a Mav team working with the Aussie engineers and their ideas to come up with a XY replacement. Do I have proof, heck no but it makes for a plausible explanation.master_jawa said:
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From the doors forward, the Mav coupe profile is very similar to the XB. The profile of the mav 4-door is almost identical to the XB sedan except that the Mav's arse doesn't slope down quite so much.Ohio XB said:
The 71-77 Comet used tailights that mimic the XA sedan tailights.
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I doubt they used a rejected Mav design. It's more like they worked with one of the Mav design teams and the company photos got thrown into the same Mav files as all the other development photos. Again, I have no proof but it is a very believable theory.lukeh said:
I would like to think that Ford Australia came up with the XA design,but unless someone can can up with actual definate evidence to support a claim...I will stay open minded and look forward to more information on this subject...thanx,Lukeh!!XAFALCONGS said:
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4Vman said:
By Australians, but whilst in the state dosn't the story go. So there would have no doubt been other input, definately design Q's from all over the place.
From the Ford Australia web site:
"In 1971, with the launch of the XA, the Falcon became a uniquely Australian car. There was no longer a US equivalent, the car was designed specifically for the local market.
Three years earlier, local Ford designers traveled to the US and spent most of the summer of 1968 working on the Falcon clay model. The design impressed Detroit, which soon after gave the go-ahead for a design centre at Broadmeadows, Victoria."
So the clay model was done in the states. Maybe after being designed it was considered as an option for the US market - comet etc...
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The Aussies who went over to the states included designers because there weren't the clay modelling facilities in Australia. I would have to look up my book (History of Ford in Australia by Geoff Easdown) to get the names of the guys who went though.XAFALCONGS said:
The biggest question I have is how do we know these are Maverick clay models apart from the website calling them that? They are clearly the XA Falcon and quite different from the Maverick, and I agree it was too close to the Maverick launch (under a year) for them to be still playing with different proposals.
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I dont know where the thread began, but the folks up on the Falcon GT club of Australia are also discussing this....
http://www.falcongtclub.org/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=52840
http://www.falcongtclub.org/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=52840
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Road runner said:
You've ruffled some feathers on GT Forumn I reckon' Lukeh. It'd be like finding out years down the track that you were adopted to some of those guys (if the XA was to turn out to be a US Maverick reject). However, based on the limited info to date I reckon it was likely to be a specific XA design, with significant Australian input,and possibly touted as an option for a US model as has been suggested. Good work for keeping an open mind and getting an intersting thread/s going. There's more info required still on this one....
At the end of the day, even as an Australian design, it is full of styling influences as shown on Sandy's site.
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