Pictures from Outback Oz

[oigle]

If anyone is interested, I have culled our photos and posted 130 of them to the following web address. They are all from our recent Outback trip and have been suitably captioned. Click on the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/iananddesley/OutbackAustraliaTripJune2007

 

[G-a-r-y]

Nice quality pictures.

 

[television]

Thanks for posting those, I had no idea what it was like, very nice, must be hard to keep the car clean

 

[oigle]

Afraid keeping a car clean was just impossible, particularly when we busted the rear window glass. Tried to seal it up with a sheet of perspex and heavyish plastic and it worked reasonably. The ML is only single sealed on the doors and boot lid too which doesn't do a top job in the fine dust. However, as insurance covered the window breakage, I managed to get them to pay for an entire interior detailing as I said a lot of the dust came in through the broken rear window - nice to get a win with insurance occasionally. They even agreed to a repaint of the rear tailgate which was chipped badly with stones that bounced back from the camper trailer and hit the rear of the car. Nice assessor!!
Car is now in the hands of the repairers getting a new window, a repaint of the rear and a full exterior and interior detail - told them I didn't want it back until it looked like new again!! Must be getting lazy I think.
ML did a good job apart from the lack of ground clearance on high centred roads - kind of dragged its bum a bit here and there. Hope there isn't any damage underneath - haven't looked yet!! Was an interesting trip though. Only saw one other Euro 4WD out there and it was an X5 towing an outback caravan. The poor van would have been a dusty mess afterwards. They aren't made for that sort of country. Everything else was pretty much Japanese 4WD or Land Rover.
One good thing - we expected tyre troubles on the rocky country but escaped without damage. Dropping the pressures to 28psi probably helped - the old soft/hard balloon trick. 4WD tour people that take tag-a-long tours insist on even lower pressures in tyre damaging country. Seems to work but speeds must be kept reasonable - up to 100kph. Soft pressure helps with sand too of course.

 

[3146bj]

A great collection of photos to look back on and wish you were there again. Looks a bit greener than the last time I was out that way about 12 years ago and the roads seem about the same. Did you try the the best pies in Oz in Quilpie? They are worth the trip! And the Coongie Lakes are just a fantastic contrast to the rest of the country around there.

Your problems with the back window and the stone chips are common when towing a van or trailer on dirt roads. Not many insurance companies will even look at a claim for a back window if you are towing on dirt. You must have got 'em on a good day. Good luck to you!

Your ML scraping its belly on high crowned roads is one reason I still have the old Discovery.

 

[oigle]

The photos were just a small sample - took about 650!!! Thought that might overload the website and no-one would want to wade through that many anyway.
Quilpie was quite a surprise actually. Quite a nice little town. Coongie and the Cooper at Innamincka were quite a contrast to the rest of the area.
Knew about the trailer inflicted damage potential and installed a perspex shield over the glass. Unfortunately, the exposed edges of the glass on the ML were just too sensitive - Jap 4WD's don't have exposed edges and are seated in rubber. Seems a wayward rock found an unprotected area. Bummer.
Good trip anyway.

 

[falconho]

Pictures From OZ

Hi i have got 2 of your oz Fords over here in the UK, 1971 XW GT Falcon with the optional 35 gallon tank and a XB GT Falcon Coupe, both running 351 Clevelands the XW has a four-speed, the Coupe is auto. Great cars would never part with them, their value has gone through the roof recently, just wondered am I right in saying some XWs and XYs were four-wheel drive over there? I seem to remember I had heard of some. Regards Ken

 

[RGubbioli]

Looks like a great trip. I may be wrong, but the scenery is at times reminiscent of the USA, in particular it reminded me of the death valley and nearby surrounding areas, even though its much less remote overe there!

PS: Land Rovers are euro!

 

[oigle]

Looks like a great trip. I may be wrong, but the scenery is at times reminiscent of the USA, in particular it reminded me of the death valley and nearby surrounding areas, even though its much less remote overe there!

PS: Land Rovers are euro!

The ones I saw weren't Euro!! Older versions. Haven't seen too many of the later brigade in the outback

 

[oigle]

Hi i have got 2 of your oz Fords over here in the UK, 1971 XW GT Falcon with the optional 35 gallon tank and a XB GT Falcon Coupe, both running 351 Clevelands the XW has a four-speed, the Coupe is auto. Great cars would never part with them, their value has gone through the roof recently, just wondered am I right in saying some XWs and XYs were four-wheel drive over there? I seem to remember I had heard of some. Regards Ken

Some of the really hot XY Phase 3 Falcons have sold for astronomical prices recently. Racing heritage etc. I am pretty sure that Ford never built either of these in 4WD. There were some aftermarket modifications to Utes and Wagons but they were few and far between. Ford now sell a "Territory" 4WD which is an very capable vehicle with carlike ride and handling - selling very well and priced well. It is based on Falcon underpinnings with an ML like body shape and size.
GM has made 4WD versions of the Holden Commodore wagon and ute in recent years. Didn't sell many and is now discontinued.
There will be a new Vauxhall large sedan released over in your country shortly which is actually a rebadged Aussie Holden VE Commodore V8. It is a very good car, and you will be getting it cheaply. Keep your eye open for it. It may be called the VXR8. Seems there is a website called www.VXRonline.co.uk that has been rumouring it. Looks like it will be fact. There have been a bunch of Brit journos over here recntly test driving it and are very impressed. You may have seen something in the press over there.

 

[M6AJJ]

Really enjoyed the photos, thanks.

 

[3146bj]

Hi i have got 2 of your oz Fords over here in the UK, 1971 XW GT Falcon with the optional 35 gallon tank and a XB GT Falcon Coupe, both running 351 Clevelands the XW has a four-speed, the Coupe is auto. Great cars would never part with them, their value has gone through the roof recently, just wondered am I right in saying some XWs and XYs were four-wheel drive over there? I seem to remember I had heard of some. Regards Ken

They built a hundred or so 4WD XY utes around 1970 as a "test the water" trial for possible use on the North West mine sites. There are still a few around. From memory they basically dropped the ute body on a Jeep drive train with a 250 c.i. 6 cyl. engine. I think it even kept the Jeep cart springs. I do know it had good ground clearance, a bit of power compared with the old 'Cruisers, and handled like a pig! Got a lift in one at Mt Tom Price in the early '70's - once was enough!

Don't think they ever tried 4WD in a XW or XY sedan.

 

[falconho]

Thanks Oz members

Hi, Thanks for the replies, not many people over here to talk Oz Fords. Incredible how the value of these has gone through the roof especially the Phase 3s/4s. One of the better investments I have made. About time the Aus muscle cars were recognised for what they are. Regarding the 4-wheel drive Falcons thanks for confirming this, I was pretty sure I had seen some of these in Ute form. Regards Ken

 

[oigle]

They built a hundred or so 4WD XY utes around 1970 as a "test the water" trial for possible use on the North West mine sites. There are still a few around. From memory they basically dropped the ute body on a Jeep drive train with a 250 c.i. 6 cyl. engine. I think it even kept the Jeep cart springs. I do know it had good ground clearance, a bit of power compared with the old 'Cruisers, and handled like a pig! Got a lift in one at Mt Tom Price in the early '70's - once was enough!

Don't think they ever tried 4WD in a XW or XY sedan.

Good one!! Didn't know that. So few around, I thought they had to be aftermarket. Learn something every day!!

 

[oigle]

For those who enjoyed the photos, I have now place the entire collection on the web with lots of descriptive text. They are in 2 parts and the web addresses are :-

http://picasaweb.google.com/iananddesley/17aOutbackJune2007Part1 and
http://picasaweb.google.com/iananddesley/17bOutbackJune2007Part2

be warned - there are LOTS of photos.

Enjoy.