1963 FORD FALCON FUTURA

SWEET RAGTOP FORD SAVED FROM OBLIVION

This car belonged to a friend of mine. He swapped out the six for a 289 and converted it to right-hand-drive. After that, he barely drove it, and it sat under a tree for nearly eight years. He’s got about twenty cars, so it’s little wonder.

I nagged him persistently to sell it to me, and finally he did. It was stuffed when I got it, the first time I put the roof down the back window broke, and it was chock-a-block with rust.

After finally finishing the body and fixing up things here and there, I took it to get a roadworthy. The mechanic couldn’t tell that it was originally left-hand-drive, that’s how good the conversion was. The engine was sweet too, so once I fixed the exterior she was pretty tidy.

Its uses ZA Fairlane running gear, with an eight and three-quarter inch diff, and it’s been lowered about an inch and a half.

I’ve always had a thing for early Falcons. I was reading an American magazine years ago, and they had one of these with the red interior, and I instantly thought, ‘Gotta have one.’

I’m the vice president of the Early Falcon Club. We have about 70 members, and we meet at least once a month. We have our national event coming up in October in New South Wales, which we expect to draw a big crowd.

In terms of the future of the car, I’ve got another roof to go on, and I’d like to refresh the interior, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with how she sits.