Over at Holden fins were still the rage with the FB model and even a year later with the EK, Holden's still had a mid-1950s Chevrolet shape. The mid-size Ford hit our streets with some fanfare.

It was sleek and modern and had a shape like nothing else on our roads. I recall when I saw my first Falcon and my impressions were of a good looking car, but it's wheels seemed tiny. Ah, the thoughts of 12 year old.

In the 1960s of course young Australian petrol-heads were 'hotting' up their cars which meant twin carburettors, exhaust extractors, lowering the body by two or three inches, and the obligatory set of wide wheels.

When I say wide, I mean six inches.  Pizza cutters by today's standards.

And this first Falcon's boots seemed narrower and smaller than most.

Those doing up their cars and with a few more shillings and pounds to spare might balance the engine, shave the head and add a 'hot' cam. Inside it was obligatory to add a dash-mounted tachometer, as only a few cars in that era sported a tacho.

Cars that came with a standard tacho were well beyond the reach of the average Aussie kid.  At a recent car show I came across this well-preserved example of the early Falcon Futura Coupe, an XP model. The XP was the last of the original style Falcons, and many would say the best.

While the early models found Australian roads hard on the steering and suspension, by the time the XP came along those problems had been to some extent sorted out.

Falcon was, of course, a right hand drive version of the American car of the same name. Their roads were obviously better than ours in the 1960s. The XP came out in February 1965 and production went through to September 1966. The history of these early Falcon's is one of evolution. Improving the basics of the car, both in the sheetmetal and mechanically.

While the XK was a fairly austere car with most of the chromework confined to the rear and front, by the time the XP came out it made the XK look quite spartan.

In fact the XP, a facelifted XM, had a number of firsts. The Futura model sedan and the Squire wagon were dumped in favour of the more upmarket Fairmont. And, for the first time an Australian-built car had power-assisted brakes with front discs. You could recline the front bucket seats for the first time, which no doubt came in handy at the drive-in theatre.

Also, Ford now had a model to take on Holden's top of the line Premier and Chrysler's Valiant Regal. There were three engine options: the 144 cubic inch (2.36 litre) six which had its debut in 1960 in the XK, but now had 72 kW of power compared the the earlier model's 67 kW; the 170 (2.78 litre) Pursuit Six with 83 kW; and the 200 (3.28 litre) Super Pursuit Six with 90 kW.

There were three transmission options: a three speed manual, two speed Fordomatic auto and a three speed Borg-Warner Auto.

The 144 came with manual only, the 170 with manual and two speed auto and the 200 with three speed auto only. For an extra $30 you could order your Falcon with a laminated windscreen.

Despite the fact the body shape changed little over the life of this model, the XP was a much sharper, cleaner looking car.

The chrome work was not overdone, but now there was a chrome strip going the length of the side, breaking up the paintwork and marrying the head lamps and tail lights that had been lifted higher in the XM upgrade.

One option was two tone paint which further enhanced the XP's appearance.

While the Futura and Squire were dropped for the Fairmont, Ford continued with the pillarless coupe, easily the best looking model in these early Falcons. Our photograph testifies to that. By September 1966 the early Falcons had run their race. They were pitched against Holden's HR, also being readied to step aside for the HK range in 1968.

Both companies were about to introduce major changes in the appearance of their cars, and bring in V8 engines as an option. Ford won this race by a country mile introducing the XR range in September 1966 including the 289 cubic inch V8. Holden did not join the V8 club until January 1968 with the HK range with two Chevrolet engines, the 307 and the 327.