It’s tempting to have a giggle at some of the marketing moves we’ve seen carmakers use over the years.
I mean, if we tried to convince you that a set of stripes, alloy wheels and a full-length headliner would turn a tradie’s van into one of the most collectible Aussie cars a few decades later, you’d probably think we were taking the mickey.
But take a look at the cars here. Not only does this pair represent a couple of the most sought after (and rarest) Aussie-made Fords ever built, they’re also part of a much larger cultural movement that saw Ford’s main rivals tap into the same rich vein of marketing brilliance. ‘Cos that’s what it was … brilliance.
The Sundowner dream Ford was selling in the ’70s was matched by Holden’s Sandman and Chrysler’s Drifter franchises. And the fact that they came along at the same time as the panel van was king, only makes the argument more compelling. And, like any older Aussie classic, you just know these ones have a story to tell.
1978 Ford Escort MK 2 Sundowner
The owner of this Mark 2 Escort Sundowner, David Vervaat, bought the car in 2012 as a crumpled heap, and immediately started rebuilding it into the vision you see before you.
The car had been driven by its talented previous owner, at high speed, into the back of a hapless Holden one-tonner some years earlier. To be honest, there were probably better cars to start with. But a few things saved this one.
That started with David’s obsession with these little vans with their loud stripes and bright colours. He clearly truly digs the whole Sundowner thing (he also owns a Transit Sundowner) but he also readily admits that the whole small-Ford thing runs very deep in his veins. As in, an Esky Sundowner was a huge part of his earliest petrol-head development.
Plus, Sundowners – and bits of them – somehow seem to keep finding him. Sometimes multiple times. Here’s what I mean: Back when David has just acquired the car on these pages, he was looking for a set of the too-cool rear-door bubble windows. He answered an advert from a bloke in Tassie selling a set, paid for them and waited for the postie. When they arrived, he noticed that they had distinctive orange overspray on the rubbers.
Being an ex-Tassie lad himself, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, these were from a car he had once owned way back when. So he phoned the seller to be told that the windows had been saved from an orange Sundowner with the rego plate `TANGO’.
“That was a car I bought brand new in 1979 and sold in ’83,” he tells us, still barely able to believe it himself.
“Sadly, the bloke didn’t have the rest of the van, but I’ve been trying to find it ever since. I’ve got my Tassie spies still looking for it.”
With the front wiped off the car, what David was starting with would probably have been turned into a trailer or dog kennel a few decades ago. But with his knowledge of the species and the fact that only 666 Mk 2 Sundowners were ever made in Australia, he knew he had to save this one. Mind you, he’s not squeamish about making intelligent changes.
“Luckily, the car came with a replacement front clip, so it was returned to its original shape and new Pine Lime paint laid on. The front (wheel) arches are now Twin Cam Escort spec, there’s a Rally Pack front spoiler, and I specified the orange and red stripes versus the green ones most Pine Lime Sundowners had.”
Mechanically, things are not as they were in 1978, either. The two-litre Pinto (did you know you could also get a Mark 2 Sundowner with the 1.6 engine?) has a ported head, Genie extractors, a Camtech stick, electronic ignition and a pair of downdraft Webers that even Aussie-spec RS2000s didn’t get. There’s a heavy-duty clutch and the four-speed has been retained even though a lot of Eskys now run five-speed ’boxes from a Ford Sierra.
“We also accidentally fitted a 3.7:1 LSD. Standard diff was a 3.5:1 which is what we assumed we were working with, but turns out no. That’s what happens when you forget to count the teeth while it’s all apart.”
Suspension-wise, there are Konis at each corner, adjustable lower front control arms, heavier springs all-round and poly bushes throughout. And inside, there’s a pair of Scheel buckets from an RS2000, a Ghia glovebox and centre-console, period-correct tiller and a so-cool-it-hurts factory accessory called a bed extender which makes for a proper length crib in the back via fold-forward front chairs and the relocation of the spare tyre.
But here’s the best bit; David really drives this thing.
“It’s been everywhere. It’s been to Bathurst and done laps three times, a couple of laps of the Adelaide street circuit, and I’ve even been to Hervey Bay (Qld) in it.
“I reckon I’ve done about 30,000km in it, so it’s no trailer queen. It actually loves the highway more than around town. The cam and Webers in town can be a bit cranky, but out on the open road, it’s just perfect.”
1977 Falcon XC Sundowner
Speaking of cars that love a gallop on the highway, what could be better than a 351 Cleveland, a manual gearbox and ’70s pano with some shouty stripes? That’s right; nothing.
That’s how David Fabinyi sees things, anyway. A long-term panel-van fancier, David has kept the faith, even though he’s jumped ship at the same time. Pardon? Yep, while the panel van layout has been a theme, David has switched camps in the process, moving from Team Holden to the Blue Oval.
“I don’t know whether I should be telling you this, but I had a pretty nice Sandman when I was back in my early 20s. I’m a keen surfer and I loved panel vans when I was a teenager, so the Sandman just made sense. So, it had a tiger-skin mattress, sub-woofers, the works. I thought I was a financial genius when I sold it for 7000 bucks after buying it for 6000. Then we had kids and … you know the story.”
But the idea of a panel van didn’t disappear along with uninterrupted sleep, and once his kids were of a certain age and David was on solid financial ground, the pano bug bit again. But this time, the goal was different.
“I reckon the Fords of this era were better things to drive than the Holdens.”
Okay, personal opinion, but I don’t reckon he’s wrong.
Drive a HX Holden with its wheezy, ADR-choked engine and steering that redefines understeer, then slip behind the wheel of an XC Falc and see if you can spot the difference. If you can’t, it might be time to hang up the boots and catch the train.
Sure, both brands’ products can be improved upon with a few well-chosen tweaks, but David is more of a leave-it-stock kind of guy, so the XC makes good sense. Especially since it also happens to be the specification: A genuine Sundowner with a 351 and four-speed manual.
But exactly what is a Sundowner as opposed to a normal XC Falcon pano?
Well, the stripes, obviously (which were a delete option) but you also got standard powered front discs, an LSD, bonnet scoops, specific rims (12-slotters, of course) and that lift-up tailgate instead of the barn doors of the paddy-wagon version of the XC van. Beyond that, the Sundowner was based on the Falcon 500 trim level with GS options including full instrumentation, sports steering wheel and the four-headlight set-up.
Cooler than heck in the ’70s.
After plenty of searching, David found this car way up in Queensland where it had been for about two decades, during which time it had been fully restored by the previous owner. Ironically, though, it started life not far from David’s own stomping ground
“It was sold new in Essendon, then moved to Kyabram (central Victoria) then spent 20 years in Queensland and now it’s back home in Geelong. It was just the right car for me. I was keen on a 351 and a windowless van and this one seemed perfect. It had spent five years being restored and then it just sat. So I jumped on it.”
“I don’t think it’s a matching-numbers car – the engine has been changed but it’s from the right era. The only thing that’s not stock is the Edelbrock carburettor. I bought the van about 18 months ago, and the first thing to do was tackle a few little bits-and-pieces jobs like replacing hoses and things like that. And now that those things have been done, it’s starting to get used for longer drives.”
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