Thread: Holden v's Ford

I have owned all sorts, but driven most road versions and have most of the history books on Holdens, Fords and Valiants. We grew up withmost of the cars that are rare now in the early 80's. Days when GTs were not that expensive. The GT Falcons were a cross breed of the Mustang and the North American Ford Falcon. Actually all the bodies for the XR Falcons came directly from the US. Ford Australia in those days had a large contingent of Americans working here. The head of Ford at the time was also an American and had a 2 door GT built. I am by no means condeming the early Falcons etc but they were by no means original. Look at the US Ford inventory and you will see lots of similarities from the XM right through to the XC. Some of the variants not well known and not as refined as the GTs but definately their forebearer.
Can not say I have seen anything that resembles the forebearer of a Holden Monaro or LH LX Torana (but may be wrong). The only thing close would be a Chevy Nova, but when you put them side by side they have little resemblance.
Neither of these brands is totally Aussie and never will be but Holden have had much more genuine local input than Ford ever has.
My grandfather used to work for Holden Motor Body Builders in Adelaide in the 40,s and 50,s when they were practically hand made.

Originally Posted by Tank

Did you own either, are you speaking from experience or just what you have heard, how's about a list of the Fords based on USA or Mexican models, at least Ford had a Design studio in Australia staffed by Australians, so holden Australia designed the Vauxhalls and Opels running around in Europe and UK, good one, Regards Frank.

No I do not believe that, but in those days at least they resembled one. The late model Nissans and Sierras were not even close. At least the GTHO, GTS, A9X, L34s, Brock Commodores etc were close to what you could get out of the showroom. And exactly that happened many race drivers in those days bought cars off the showroom floor and went racing.
A friend of mine actually imported a UK Sierra Cosworth some years ago with the belief and information it was similar to the race versions in Australia. What a croc, the thing was a POS.

Originally Posted by Tank

Do you honestly believe that the only cars that were bog stock showroom cars were holdens, best joke I ever heard, Regards Frank.

love it and very true. LOL.
Same as little 202 Torana beating the mighty XYGTHO.
Ford supporters will come up with every excuse as to why though. That was a real David and Goliath battle.
Cubes do not count for everything, but they are damn nice to have.

Originally Posted by wannalandy

And yet again ford fans forget about the A9X winning by six laps and busting the lap record on the last lap . Can't say i've seen or heard of a ford doing that ?????

FAOFLOL. That is gold and most Ford supporters wont acknowledge that history lesson.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Ah, yes. The "Mighty Falcon GT" myth. Won at Bathurst in 67 with 289 cubes against 1275cc minis. Lost in 68 to Holden GTS 327's. Lost in 1969 to Holden GTS 350's. In fact I seem to recall the GTS 350's filled 7 of the first 10 places that year. won in 70 & 71 with 351 cubes against 186 Toranas. Lost again in 72 with 351 cubes against 202 Toranas. Looks like they could win only against cars with engines half the size or less of the Falcon's, and even then, not all the time.

Ho Hum. It seems as though we've got caught in a Toymota/Nitsin discussion.

More like the old Protestant/Catholic divide - it all depends whether your father was a Ford driver or a Holden driver. My brother is a Ford man through-and-through because of the cars Dad owned when he was a little tyke. Funny thing is Dad has owned more Holdens then Fords, and given an unlimited budget would probably have a Fiat in preference to either (due to the front engined Fiat 500 that was his first car).

having owned holdens ,valiants & fords currently a ba futura {which so far has been brilliant} you cant go past fords for reliability. i used to work in a wrecking yard and 98% of fords still had engines in them as against o for holden

and why is it that the most valuable aussie muscle car is the xygtho the monaro's toranas commodores & valiants dont even get close ?