Farewell Falcon - the owners: Andrew Cooke

By: Unique Cars magazine

Date: 06.10.2016

Meet Andrew Cooke, a serial Falcon owner who decries the loss of local manufacturing.

As part of our massive tribute to the Australian-built Falcon series in issue 393 of Unique Cars magazine, we interviewed owners on their connection to the brand and their thoughts on the shut-down.

Here's what Andrew Cooke had to say:

My automotive history started when I was a one year old. My parents took me to Sandown Raceway in Victoria, so I sat in my pram and watched the cars fly past. That’s where my motoring addiction started, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

The reason I got into Fords was because my dad had an XW Falcon and my brothers had Escort rally cars. When I was old enough to buy a car of my own, I got a 1978 Ford Escort Rally Pack, two-door, 2-litre engine, racing stripes, hamburger with the lot kinda job. I loved that car.

In 1998 I had an EF XR Falcon wish I swapped for an AU before jumping up to the BA in 2003. I bought my BA Turbo sight-unseen, drove it out of the showroom and it scared the living daylights out of me. I’ve still got that car, and it still scares me today.

I bought the Sprint because I was determined to have the last ever Falcon. I had it on order for a year and I just recently took delivery of it. I used to  be a six man, I love my XR6 Turbo, but this XR8 has converted me. I’m really happy to have here a piece of automotive history, and Australian automotive history at that.

My first reaction when I found out about Ford’s departure from Australia was not really shock — because I knew that the car industry was changing so much — but I was nevertheless disappointed when I heard the news.

I’m sure that we will continue to influence the way vehicles are built across the world, even though we’ll no longer build our own — I just worry about the jobs that will be lost. Most first-world countries have a car industry, and it really bothers me that Australia will no  longer have one, despite all the great cars we’ve built.

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