This week marks the end of an era– the last Ford made in Australia was, fittingly, a blue Ford Falcon XR6, according to CarScoops. Ford is auctioning off its four last saleable cars to fund student robotics programs, so they may do epic burnouts for good.
Ford had been producing models in Australia for 91 years, and the Falcon was part of that for over 50 of those years. Ford announced that it would quit producing cars in Australia back in 2013, and this Falcon was the last off the line at its Broadmeadows Car Assembly Plant.
The Falcon and local production may be going the way of tread at a burnout competition, but CarScoops notes that Ford will be keeping approximately 1,500 Australians employed in engineering and design.
While Ford is keeping its last-Aussie-produced models of the Falcon, Falcon Ute and Territory in their own collection per a Ford Australia press release, the last four saleable models of these cars will be auctioned off here to benefit student robotics programs in Broadmeadows and Geelong, where Ford’s two plants were in Australia.
It’s still sadly fitting timing, given that this weekend is the last V8-powered Bathurst 1000 for the soon-to-be-V8-optional Australian Supercars series. For years, Ford Falcon vs. Holden Commodore was the defining V8 Supercar rivalry. The only thing that would have been more fitting as a Ford Australia production swan song would have been to roll a V8-powered Falcon XR8 off the line last.