The beginnings of the Ford Falcon saga

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Ford Motors launched the Falcon model in 1962 and for almost 30 years it was successfully manufactured in Argentina and even today they are still running in the streets. Lately, a new version of the model was launched, but I prefer the original design.

This very unusual commercial (better than anything from the Super Bowl) introduced the model for the first time to Argentine people and since there is no dialog, just an excellent music score, any audience can enjoy:

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They still make them today in Melbourne/Australia and go back to those same days after the old Fords, Customlines etc. My late father had a Ford back in the 1950s briefly and was an expert on Ford starter motors from c1950-Sept 1957 we lived near the Downtown and on one of the arterial roads in. Our house was at a busy corner with a large Danger sign sufficed for no traffic lights then. Many a crash and many a car break down. My dad repaired many a starter motor on Fords and go the people going. They were notorious for this problem as was the British-origin Morris' & later Mini Minors. We also had a Bavarian-made DKW(they also made motor bikes) and they were a lot of trouble but dad used to stripe them down & go from there. But then we got into Peugeots for many years from the 203s on. I had 26 years of a Mercedes diesel 240D until about 1999. Only car I have ever actually owned. Today I drive a Ford Falcon wagon with only LPG as the source fuel. Originally registered sometime early 2007 we got it a good price in Oct 2011 and it replaces an August 1987 model we got in March 2003. Did me well but they have a head casket problem which we had to attend to twice and when it looked like it was starting again we went for the later model from our mechanic. Although the spare tire is now inside the back and not under the car because of the twin LPG tanks, it is a little bigger in the back than the previous model. And all the improvements we never had before. My mother actually owns the car. The cost to us was A$11350 plus a brake repair and ownership papers transfers & a slightly higher premium full insurance(we paid the difference with our older premium rolled over to the newer car). The usual market value in a used car lot is about A$16,000 and new around A$30,000. Unfortunately, we do have to have a car even with all the public transport around us these days. Whilst the cost of LPG is better than gas it is high at present with all the usual world problems excuses(to think they used to burn this gas by-product off at the refinery when I was a kid) to keep it high with the promises of 5c a litre to be added by the government as an increasing tax in July.

The one thing that got me was the Ford in-built radio. I had bought myself a Christmas present about 5 years or so ago an American-branded MP3 player/radio for CD discs. I used the radio a lot them started making mp3s of radio shows, Dinman interviews and all sorts of music and gave the radio listening away. I had a vast store of files to use for this purpose. But this radio at such a late stage in the evolution of car radio/players only has a CD player and no mp3 capability. Quite a surprise, I thought. I took the the device out of the older car so one day I see about having it fitted in the current car. I sure miss not playing the material I have accumulated in audio form and the only way for me to listen without too much interruption is in the car.

Ford have been here many years(1920s?) and made war vehicles etc during the war from the same local plants. They also sponsored radio shows in the 1950s and a famous around the country was The Ford Show which was a musical variety show.The announcer/compere used to introduce himself as David Low at the Wheel. David was a New Zealander who also was one of the narrators of local newsreels. Movietone, I think.

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1970

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1978 (in color and widescreen because this is the way it was shown in movie theaters since TV broadcasts were still in black and white)

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1985

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1978 (original widescreen presentation in color)

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1984

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1982

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1986

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1962

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1963

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1983

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1963 (partially reedited in order to remove logos from the original poster)

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1982 (I fully repaired the soundtrack and reedited the opening and ending in order to restore footage)

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1990 (One of the last appearance of the Falcon in a commercial since it was discontinued the following year; that model is featured along with other contemporary one and a special one in this institutional commercial from Ford):

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1972 (a new repair of this commercial, now with an improved soundtrack)

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1970 (from a series of incomplete ads that are available in terrible shape; I reconstructed the ending and to complete it I also dubbed the authentic sound of a Ford Falcon motor)

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This is going to be the final posting about the Falcon (at least for a long while). I have found a two hour documentary from a cable TV show (with lots of J. Walter Thompson commercials) about this Ford model, which was the most popular car ever sold in Argentina. The sound quality is awful but I will later repair all of the commercials.

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Although I said in my previous post that it was going to be the final one about the Ford Falcon, I manage to overcome tiredness (I'm still quite tired) and restored two commercials due to their importance. In the compilation there some black and white versions of ads that J. Walter Thompson produced in color but those version are available in terrible shape. But some versions are better than what has been available until now.

First is this one from 1972 that I didn't know that it was originally filmed color since the available versions were until now available only black and white (that version came from TV prints of ads from the monochromatic days in Argentina). The ad works much better in color:



And then there is this masterpiece from 1982 that had been circulating in a bad version that I had tried to repair before. The pleasant thing about this commercial is that the composer, Adolfo Adámoli, was happy to see it repaired and wrote the following to me in Fafcebook (in Spanish): "Jorge: Sorpresa inimaginable me llevé al ver/oir esa publicidad.- En esos tiempos trabajabamos muchiísimo con J.W. Thompson Arg.Esa música la compusimos junto a Luis Donati de Sol producciones Musicales Publicitarias y la idea era pasar del tango tipo tradicional (Falcon 72) a una más moderna y actualizada.- HAbía tambien una versión que creo que también salió al aire en la que en alguna parte de la música se cantaba el slogan de la campaña que era "Todo Mejor" En las viejas cintas- que aún conservo- debo tener el original.-Como nota de color el bandoneón lo tocó el genio de Daniel Binelli en los estudios donde se grabó en los esttudios de Sol en la calle Las Heras.- Impecable tu trabajo y te agradezco en nombre de Luis Donati ,Roberto Alejandro y el mío . Abrazo fuerte y gracias de nuevo".