FORD FALCON EB-EL XR6
THESE SPECIAL FORDS WERE UNDER-APPRECIATED FOR YEARS BUT NOW THEY'RE FINDING AN AUDIENCE
After throwing good sense out the window in 1983 and ignoring customers who for decades had bought V8 Falcons, Ford finally came to its senses in 1992 with the XR8 and EB S-XR6.
The EBs, it must be said, were little more than marketing exercises to combat Holden’s Commodore S and SS but the performance was good and pricing right. Just how many – or few – of the original S-XR6 were sold is hard to discover but they have become more difficult than the V8 version to find.
A year later the ED XR6 added a very distinctive four-light nose which would be lengthened and made more aerodynamic for the EF. The engine was tweaked a little more to deliver 164kW, with an improved exhaust and lots of low-end torque. Accompanying the ED was a bold new colour range and features such as a trip computer and cruise control.
The seats were durable cloth and an XR6 with serious wear to its side bolsters may have done more distance than the odometer is indicating. Rear legroom and boot space are generous, so these cars really do deliver in the role of ‘classic family cruiser’.
The EF in 1995 brought that longer, more aero-friendly nose and new colour-keyed bumper inserts. Adding $2100 to the purchase price was a body kit but very few surviving cars have them.
The four-light front was so distinctive that Ford was loath to admit it had favoured presence over practicality. However, the little beady lights were appallingly weak – especially on low beam – and higher wattage bulbs would get so hot they failed every few months.
The EF and later EL benefit from tweaked suspension settings that improved ride, reduced harshness and helped the standard Falcon power steering deliver more detailed information from the tyres to the driver’s hands.
Basic wheel/tyre packages were 15-inch alloys teamed with 205/65 rubber but for a further $2000 contribution this could be ungraded to 16 inches with 225/50 Michelins.
We don’t have exact figures, but informed estimates suggest that more than 25,000 of the six-cylinder ED-EL XR models, including scarce utes and wagons, were made. Where they have all gone is a mystery.
Market apathy has certainly played a role, with myopic enthusiasts happy to pay $25-30,000 for slow and basic 1970s models while pristine XR6s sat unsold at less than half that money.
Outstanding ED-EL manual sedans were for years impossible to sell at $8000 and decent automatics were hitting the wall at $5500. Today you can spend up to $18,000 on a car in outstanding condition.
If you need more space than the sedan provides, track down one of the very scarce XR6 wagons. Only 198 EFs were made and they now bring considerably more money than a sedan in comparable condition.