Kon Delesantis and his 'Americanised' coupe are part of the local Early Falcon Club, which mourns the loss of local manufacturing.
A little before Ford closed down its production, we got a chance to interview some dedicated owners. Here’s one of them.
Meet Kon Delasantis and his ’65 Ford XP Falcon coupe:
I’m the third owner of this particular vehicle, the car was originally owned by an older gentleman in Tasmania and was second-owned by another guy who brought it over to Melbourne. It was 15 years ago that I came across it, it had recently been painted but still needed a bit of a restoration which, as you can see, we’ve since done.
The restoration mainly involved re-doing the interior and cleaning up the engine bay. I’ve tried to Americanise the car by adding some wheels from the States and tuning the suspension so it sits at the right stance. There are lots of little touches around the car that make it stand out from the crowd.
I’ve always been into Fords; my dad had an XY Falcon 500 which in hindsight is one of those cars which I wish he kept. He later moved up to an XF, so I always had an appreciation for Ford cars and when my chance came to buy my own, I jumped on the opportunity.
Seeing Ford leave from Australia is really sad. I’ve had a lot to do with Ford in Australia, I’m the secretary of the Early Falcon Car Club and we’ve been fortunate enough to hold events with the guys at Ford. I really feel for those who are working for the company at the moment, the automotive industry is part of our culture, it’ll be sorely missed.
I love the new Mustang and the RS, I think they’re lovely cars. If you look at modern cars and what could carry Ford into the future, I think they’ll be good for the brand. I don’t have the money to buy one but a man can dream right?
