The Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 is one of the rarest of the Australian-production Fords, with just 432 examples made. It was developed as a potential vehicle for Australia’s military, but when this fell through a small batch of production versions were made for civilian use.
Today the Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 remains one of the most sought after Australian Fords from this time period, with fear fewer than the original 432 production number thought to remain. The example you see here is currently for sale, and it benefits from a recent restoration.
Fast Facts – The Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4
- The Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 is an exceedingly rare Australian-produced vehicle, with only 432 examples originally made. It was initially developed as a potential military vehicle for the Australian forces in the late 1960s, utilizing Jeep’s rugged drivetrain components. However, when the military contract fell through, Ford decided to produce a small civilian batch.
- To create the 4X4 version, Ford had to significantly reinforce the Falcon’s body, adding a leaf-sprung front axle and other heavy-duty parts. The inline-six engine was canted to clear the front differential, and power was sent through a 3-speed manual and 2-speed transfer case to all four wheels.
- Despite its popularity, Ford discontinued the XY 4X4 program after just the initial 432 vehicles, a decision that in hindsight seems shortsighted given the subsequent rise of the 4X4 utility vehicle market segment. Today, relatively few of the original 432 are thought to remain.
- The example featured here is a 1972 model that has undergone a thorough restoration, including an engine rebuild, repaint in the original colors, and fitting of correct period wheels/tires. It retains its original right-hand drive configuration and simple but rugged vinyl interior trim.
A New 4×4 For Australia’s Military. Almost.
In the late 1960s the Australian military was looking to acquire new four-wheel drive vehicles that would be a little more powerful than the four-cylinder Land Rovers they then had in service.
The design of the Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 was a stark departure for Ford Australia, who had largely only made rear-wheel drive “utes” in the country rather than 4x4s. Image courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.
Ford Australia got wind of this potentially lucrative new military contract and set to work developing a four-wheel drive version of their model XY ute, ute being a shortened form of “utility” which is used to describe single or double cab vehicles with a pickup or cargo tray rear in Australia and New Zealand.
As it happened, Ford was working closely with Willys at the time, the local importer of Jeeps, supplying them with engines and other parts from their Falcon model line to ensure that spare parts availability for Australian Jeep owners would be straight forward.
As a result of this connection Ford had access to Jeep’s highly respected drivetrain hardware – and they opted to use it on their prototype rather than develop a new system from scratch.
Sadly the XY 4×4 was never even tested by the military, they decided to stay with the rugged body-on-chassis Land Rover, but opted for the more powerful six-cylinder engine rather than the more common four-cylinder unit.
The Ford Falcon XY 4X4 Ute
Despite the significant setback of missing out on the military contract Ford executives decided to stay the course and develop a production version of the car – based largely on the fact that spy shots of a prototype had been published in the media and the public reaction had been overwhelmingly positive.
The specifications of the Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 were highly respectable for the time, with higher production numbers there’s every chance it could have been a sales success. Image courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.
The biggest challenge faced by the engineering team was getting a leaf sprung front axle assembly under the front of the XY Falcon, a car that had been designed with independent front suspension on coil springs.
Significant strengthening and reinforcement was necessary front and back, particularly in the front where a new steel frames were added from the firewall forwards to better cope with the weight and loads of the live axle.
The inline-six cylinder engine needed to be tilted to one side to allow clearance between the sump and the front differential, this also required an angled adapter be fitted to the intake to keep the carburetor level.
Power was provided by the venerable Ford Falcon six-cylinder 4.1 liter overhead valve engine, it produced 155 bhp at 4,000 rpm and 240 ft lbs of torque at just 1,600 rpm making it ideal for off-road use.
Power was sent back to a Borg Warner AS5 T15A three-speed synchromesh manual gearbox, and from there to a Spicer Model 20 two-speed transfer case. As was common in the era the brakes were drums front and back along with 16″ steel wheels and relatively slim 6.00 x 16″ all-terrain tires.
A production run of 432 vehicles was planned, no one is quite sure why this specific number was chosen, but production was delayed significantly due to the Dana front axles needing to be shipped across the Pacific from the USA.
Inside the Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 you’ll find seating for three on a bench seat, it’s right-hand drive and it has a 3-speed manual transmission.
Ford developed a series of three options for the XY 4×4 which are now exceedingly rare, they included an 8,000 lb PTO winch (Power Take-Off, shaft-driven from the centrally-mounted transfer case), a heavy duty tow bar, and a steel-framed high canvas canopy for over the rear cargo area.
Due to the labor intensive nature of the build process of the Falcon XY 4×4 they were all essentially hand-built, with assembly needing to take place on weekends in order to avoid slowing down the main production line during the week.
Despite the incredible popularity of the XY 4×4 Ford opted to discontinue the program after the first 432 were built. In hindsight is seems like an off choice given the incredible popularity of the vehicle and the fact that it was potentially the beginning of a whole new market genre.
Looking forward four decades and Ford has now all but discontinued its regular car sales in Australia with just the small Puma left in production – the rest of the model range consists of SUVs, 4×4 pickup trucks, and commercial vehicles.
The Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 Shown Here
The Ford Falcon 500 XY 4X4 you see here is a 1972 model that benefits from a recent restoration that included a full repaint and an engine rebuild. It’s powered by the correct naturally aspirated inline-six which sends power back through a 3-speed Borg-Warner manual transmission.
There’s a chrome bumper up front and the vehicle rides on 15 inch black powdercoated steel wheels which are fitted with Falken Wildpeak tires. There is also a single spare in the cargo bed in the rear, just in front of the drop-down tailgate.
This vehicle benefits from a full restoration, it’s finished in white over a brown interior, and it’s powered by the correct naturally aspirated 4.0 liter inline-six.
Inside you’ll find a brown vinyl-trimmed interior with matching brown carpets, door cards, and a brown dashboard. It’s a right-hand drive vehicle as you would expect given its Australian origins, and it has a heater, ventilation, a Super Fringe radio, and manual windows left and right.
The vehicle is now being offered for sale on Collecting Cars out of Newcastle in New South Wales, about two hours north of Sydney. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
