Ford collectors gather in town and show Falcons still popular
The last time the Falcon Fairlane Car Club Nationals were held in Timaru, Ford was still making Falcons.
Dozens of Falcons will be among the 70-80 cars in town over Easter for the event which brings together the four South Island branches of Ford collectors – Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and Timaru – for a biennial gathering that rotates between the four centres.
The nationals were last held in Timaru in 2011, before production of the Falcon ceased in 2016 in Australia.
‘‘There hasn’t been any noticeable effect [for Falcon enthusiasts] yet, but in time they will become collectible,’’ said club member Grant Mehrtens.
‘‘For example, right now it’s impossible to find models from the ’70s lying around.’’
About 120 people have gathered in Timaru for the event, bringing 70-80 cars dating from the 1950s to modern models.
Mehrtens predicts most cars on show will be models from the 1970s onwards.
‘‘The most sought-after models are the XW and XY Falcons from the late 60s/early 70s that are used to make replicas of the Ford Falcon GTHO, a high spec race car that was considered the world’s fastest four-door production car,’’ he said.
The GTHO has been credited as the model that launched Australian touring car racing and in 2018 a mint condition model sold for a record $1.1m at auction in Australia.
The cars will be on display in the Ara Institute car park between 10am and 3pm today and, although only club members can enter their cars, spectators are welcome for a gold coin donation.
Vehicles will be judged by impartial local car experts in a number of categories such as best original vehicle, best interior and best painted panel for the prizegiving tomorrow night.
The clubs will take to the road for a Poker Run, a common game among car collectors, tomorrow. Competitors will drive to various points of interest collecting playing cards; best hand wins.