Ford gave the compact Falcon real muscle with the Sprint package and its 289 V8, only to watch its own Mustang, built on the same platform, make the Falcon obsolete almost overnight. Just 300 Sprint convertibles and 2,806 Sprint hardtops were sold in the model’s final year. Here is the story of the compact that lost to its own sibling.
The Ford Falcon was a very successful model for the Ford Motor Company, although introduction of the sporty Mustang in late ’64, on the same compact frame, are a major reason for a decline in sales of the more traditional Falcon. Many of the mechanical parts for the Mustang will fit into the Falcon without any modification. There was a “Sprint”package available for the ’64 model year which would put the 260 cu in V8 under the hood, although later in the year a 289 became the power option. The Sprint package also included an upgraded suspension for improved handling and a louder exhaust sound for aesthetics. Front seat belts were included, but there was also a full range of models and a large number of creature comfort goodies on the table.
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The Falcon should have been Ford’s compact success story all the way through the 1960s, and for a while it was, right up until Ford built its own replacement. When the Mustang launched in 1964 on the exact same compact platform, it didn’t just compete with the Falcon Sprint, it cannibalized it from the inside, sharing so many mechanical parts that a Falcon and an early Mustang could practically swap components without modification. This black Sprint carries the last real muscle Ford gave the Falcon before that happened. What made this final Sprint package special, and why did it get bulldozed by its own sibling?
The Compact That Fought Above Its Weight Class
Ford introduced the Sprint package for the 1964 model year, dropping the Fairlane’s 260 cubic inch V8 into the compact Falcon along with a stiffer suspension and a louder exhaust note built for buyers who wanted attitude, not just economy. By 1965, Ford bumped the standard Sprint engine up to the 289 cubic inch V8, good for 200 horsepower, paired with the option of a Cruise-O-Matic automatic for buyers who wanted the extra muscle without a clutch pedal. Front seat belts came standard and Ford loaded the Sprint with genuine creature comforts, this wasn’t a stripped-down econobox with a big engine bolted in, it was a legitimately well-rounded compact performer.
Beaten by the Car It Helped Create
The cruel irony is that the same compact platform underneath the Falcon Sprint became the foundation for the Mustang, and Ford’s new pony car made the Sprint look instantly outdated by comparison. Buyers who wanted a sporty Ford compact simply walked past the Falcon and bought a Mustang instead, and the numbers tell the story bluntly: Ford sold just 300 Sprint convertibles and 2,806 Sprint hardtops in 1965, its final year on the market before Ford quietly discontinued it. A handful of Canadian-market Falcons, roughly seven by most estimates, even received the rare 271-horsepower High Performance 289, making those cars nearly mythical today. A genuine survivor like this one, with real Gateway Classic Cars provenance, is a rare look at the Falcon’s last real stand before the Mustang took over completely.
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