CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Ford Motor Co. ended 91 years of car manufacturing in Australia on Friday, with the remaining two Australian car makers due to close their doors next year.
Ford Australia said it built the world’s last six-cylinder, rear-wheel drive Falcon XR6 at its Broadmeadows plant in Melbourne and 600 employees lost their jobs.
About 3.5 million Falcons, once Australians’ most popular car, have been built since 1960, although few have been exported.
Perhaps the most famous was a black 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe that became the Interceptor driven by Mel Gibson’s character in the 1981 movie “The Road Warrior.”
The last Falcon will be exhibited in the Ford Australia museum, the Australian subsidiary’s chief executive officer, Graeme Whickman, told reporters outside the plant.