Scalextric Classic Ford Falcons

[HomeRacingWorld]

[dge467]

Nice review !! Great looking cars!!

[F1Fan]

This has been a nostalgic week for me reading two "close to home" reviews here on HRW.

Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa I watched that Gunston Lotus race more than once at Killarney. There was always a great rivalry between Ian Scheckter, Eddie Keizan and Dave Charlton.

The Falcon XW is even closer to home. My dad bought the South African version of this car, called the Fairmont GT circa 1970. It was identical in body shape, and it was assembled in Port Elizabeth from a semi knock down version of the Australian car. It first came with the 351 Cleveland, and later the Windsor 351.

I was in primary school at the time and I remember the kids in class telling me that my mom has showed up for my ride home, the noise from the V8 was a dead giveaway! This in a country that was more accustomed to smaller European and Japanese cars like,Escorts, Opels, Datsun,Alfas and British Leyland products, to name a few.

Our Fairmont GT was white and black, my mates loved the Mustang sticker on the blue air cleaner and the hood clips that secured the "bonnet"! I earned huge street cred just because of those two things....

Interestingly enough the Gunston cigarette salesmen drove this car (Fairmont GT) painted in the famous Gunston orange as their sales car. So, coincidentally there is a connection, albeit a long shot, between the Lotus and the Falcon!

To take it one notch further, when I moved to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1989, I discovered that Allan Moffat was born in Saskatoon and moved with his family to Australia when he was about 17.

My dad sold the Fairmont GT, when the oil crises hit circa 1973, and drove BMWs from there on.

Needless to say I have both the Gunston Lotus and the Allan Moffat Falcon!

Chris

[Junior]

I like the look of that 70's Falcon, just a little too big for our SLC class.
Great review Harry.