I wonder sometimes what happens to the cars provided to motoring journalists to test?
One press car that I’d like to get my hands on now is the 1968 XT Falcon 500 that Ford built with a three-speed manual and 302 V8.
Yep, a V8 three-speeder!
It also had disc brakes, radio and a heater.
No power steering, though.
The Falcon was road tested by Motor Manual (March, 1968 edition).
The magazine quoted a price of $3024, about $1000 less than an XT GT.
The test recorded a top speed of almost 106 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 11.3 seconds.
It would reach 70 mph in second gear.
I’d be fascinated to know what became of it down through the years?
If it is still around it would be an exceptionally rare classic, because it was rare in 1968.
In December 1971, Modern Motor tested what they called “Fred Average’s Holden” — an HQ Kingswood with a 202 and drum brakes.
It was red with a white interior.
After it had done its duty, was it sold cheap to a Holden employee, or passed off as a “demo” to a dealer?
And what about the “leaping” cars that graced our local magazine covers every now and then?
I can only guess at the torture inflicted on these press vehicles.
Who got them second or third-hand?!!
What problems did they encounter?
You don’t see this sort of spectacular cover image these days.
Ah, the good old days.
David Burrell is the editor of retroautos
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