Shannons Club: Ford XK-XL Falcons: From East African Safari to Ford’s first ‘Great Race’ win

Harry Firth and Bob Jane’s Ford Falcon XK in the 1962 Bathurst Six-Hour race, thanks to the Shannons Club and www.autopics.com.au

Ford’s motor racing heritage may be best known in the form of its fierce V8 muscle cars, but it got its start with a much more humble machine – the original six-cylinder Ford Falcon XL.

Cars like the Ford Falcon GT and GT-HO earned themselves rightful spots in the history of Australian motorsport. Their efforts around the country, and particularly the hallowed twists and turns of Bathurst, made for some of the greatest motorsport in the last century and solidified Ford’s place in the pantheon of Australian motorsport history.

However, it was the six-cylinder Ford Falcon XL that opened Ford’s ledger in the books of The Great Race and pulled them out of some serious market troubles.

It was this car that won Ford their first ‘Great Race’, back in 1962 in the Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island, and which made an impressive impact upon the epic East African Safari. Head over to our friends at the Shannons Club and enjoy the story in Ford XK-XL Falcons: From East African Safari to Ford’s first ‘Great Race’ win.

Image thanks to the Shannons Club and www.autopics.com.au