Godfather Of The Mustang: The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport

The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport would be one of the cars that provided the mechanical underpinnings of the first Ford Mustang. Under the sheet metal the two cars are almost identical, though the Futura Sport remains far less commonly known today.

The car you see here is a lightly-modified Futura Sport that now features a more powerful 289 cubic inch V8 with dual carburetors and an aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold, stainless steel headers, and Lakewood traction bars.

Fast Facts – The Ford Falcon Futura Sport

• The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport and other two-door members of the Falcon family of the time served as the mechanical foundation for the iconic Ford Mustang, sharing nearly identical underpinnings beneath distinct sheet metal designs. Despite its significant role, the Falcon Futura Sport remains relatively obscure compared to the legendary Mustang it helped spawn.
• Introduced in 1963, the Futura Sport represented Ford’s sportiest and fastest Falcon offering at that time, powered by a 260 cubic inch V8 engine and equipped with a four-speed manual transmission. Available in two-door hardtop or convertible body styles, it catered to enthusiasts seeking a reasonably affordable performance car.
• The Ford Falcon itself, launched in 1960, helped pioneer the American compact car segment and was a response to growing consumer demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Its success paved the way for competitors like the Chevrolet Corvair and Plymouth Valiant, shaking up the traditionally large car-dominated U.S. market.
• The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport shows here has undergone a series of modifications, including the installation of a more powerful 289 cubic inch Ford V8 with dual carburetors, an Edelbrock intake manifold, stainless steel headers, and Lakewood traction bars. It is scheduled for auction at an upcoming Mecum event in Florida.

The Importance Of The Ford Falcon

The Ford Falcon Futura Sport debuted in 1963 on the first generation Falcon platform. It was by far the fastest and most sporting Falcon ever made by Ford up until that point, with a 260 cubic inch V8, a 4-speed manual transmission, and a compact two-door body in either hardtop or convertible roof styles.

The Ford Falcon had made its entrance in 1959 as a 1960 model year car. The project to develop the Falcon had been led by Ford General Manager Robert S. McNamara, who put together an engineering team to design a new compact Ford using as many preexisting parts as possible to keep costs down.

The name McNamara may seem vaguely familiar to you, as he would leave Ford shortly after this and take up the role of Secretary of Defense after being appointed by President John F. Kennedy.

McNamara’s salary at Ford had been a reported $3 million per year, and he would earn just $25,000 per year in his new role, where he would become a close adviser to Kennedy, including during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Though McNamara would leave Ford before the debut of the Falcon, his gut instinct on the car had been on the money. Bang on in fact. Ford would sell over 500,000 Falcons in the first year, and over 1,000,000 by the end of the second year of production.

The reason for the wild popularity of the Falcon as a compact car was that relatively few options existed for Americans at that time who wanted a smaller vehicle that was American made. Compact cars from Italy, Britain, Japan, and Germany, like the Volkswagen Beetle, had become increasingly popular as a result.

Many felt that the Big Three automakers in the US had gravitated towards producing cars that were too big, too heavy, too cumbersome, and too thirsty. After the arrival of the Falcon, the other automakers would respond with models like the Chevrolet Corvair, Plymouth Valiant, Dodge Dart, and Studebaker Lark.

Initially, the Ford Falcon was offered with only a six-cylinder engine, the lightweight 95 bhp 144 cubic inch (2.4 liter) “Mileage” Maker straight-six with a single-barrel carburetor on top. This engine was said to be good for 32.5 mpg (US), making it exceedingly fuel efficient by the standards of the time.

The Falcon came in a number of body styles including two and four-door sedans, two and four-door station wagons, and the Ranchero car-based pickup (or coupe utility/ute) which shared a platform with the two-door station wagon.

Underneath its steel skin the Falcon had a steel unibody shell, with independent front suspension on coil springs, a live axle rear and on leaf springs, and four-wheel drum brakes – a relatively standard arrangement for the time.

Larger engines become available as the production run continued, with a 101 bhp straight-six appearing as an option in 1961, and finally the 260 cubic inch Challenger V8 which debuted in 1963. This would be the same engine used in the early Shelby Cobras and the early Ford Mustangs, and it would later be expanded out to 289 cubic inches, then out to 302, and finally out to 351.

The Arrival Of The Futura Sport

The moist desirable of the early Falcons would be the Ford Falcon Futura Sport which appeared for sale in the 1963 with the optional 260 V8 and a 4-speed manual transmission. These models were only offered in two-door form and were intended for drivers seeking a more sensible sports car.

The V8-powered Futura Sport was called the Sprint, it debuted halfway through the year, and so it’s commonly referred to as the 1963½ Ford Falcon Sprint. It would be the Sprint that would provide the exact underpinnings of the first Mustang, the Mustang being specifically developed on the Falcon Sprint platform in order to cut both development time and cost.

In some respects the incredible popularity of the Falcon, and the influence of the Falcon Sprint and Futura Sport, have largely been overshadowed by the Mustang which went on to become one of Ford’s biggest sales hits and undeniably one of the Blue Oval’s most enduring models.

The Falcon does deserve to be better remembered, it was the pioneering American compact car of its era that spawned many similar models from other automakers, it showed that smaller American-made cars would sell well to the American consumer, and due to its lower cost it helped make the idea of a second family car a far more common phenomenon.

The 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport Shown Here

The car you see here is a modified 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Sport that now benefits from the fitment of a later 289 Ford V8 offering more power. This engine is topped with dual carburetors and an aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold, it also has stainless steel headers, an MSD electronic ignition system, and it’s mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.

Power is sent back to the rear axle, which is now more securely located thanks to a pair of Lakewood traction bars. It rides on Crager SS mag wheels with BF Goodrich radial tires and it’s finished in white over a blue interior.

The car is now scheduled to cross the auction block with Mecum in Florida on the 11th of July with no reserve price. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Mecum