Holden vs Ford: witches-hats - TV commercials

[BAwithBALLS]

LMFAO every car was thrown into those hats and the holden was feathered through the course

[Antifaith29]

Now with push button raidio!

[oscarfish38]

Ok.. Ad mans hat on... Ford won that.



[mozaks80]

So glad technology has improved at the pace it has!

[spinnner51]

Looking at the footage with that unique bridge....is it on the F19 (Doncaster Freeway) in Melbourne, before it opened?

[mastifiorulamitongla]

ford always did overstate everything... ;p

[richardjaxon]

Looks like Mr Holden had been a bit naughty with his advert!

[joh2]

@sports380 Well, the Valiant's 6 was bigger than the rest...

[hebneh]

"Witches' hats"? Did they really call traffic cones that in Australia in 1978?

Do they still call them that?

[Conniptions886]

@hebneh - They've pretty much always been called that in Australia...

[kotanikus]

@hebneh - Witches hat is probably too 'politically incorrect' these days

[BAwithBALLS]

@hebneh Yes mate they have always been called witches hats,makes sense doesnt it?traffic cones?not always used JUST for traffic so withces hats would be the more universal name in my opinion

[Endorser80]

All cars I want, ford, holden, valiant :)

Who care the facts, they are all the same

[SthnSon]

Now comes with push button radio. Geez look how far we've come.

[BENDOON23]

the kingswood was one of the worst handling cars ever made that's why they never raced them at bathurst they chose the european torana instead

[joh2]

@BENDOON23 I recall that was due to a former Holden engineer, at the time the HQ was released, preferring the cars to have a 'soft' suspension. Holden brought in chassis engineers from Opel in 1976 - the HZ was seen to handle a lot better than the HX.

[baxr6GT]

an escort would have killed it through there.thats y they didnt put one in it.was too good

[albie67]

all the other cars went faster though the cones than the holden

[Boobdepot1977]

What's wrong with a little slipping? Gives a car some "pizzaz"...

[thatrowl]

the camera angles on the ford add as well as organising the drivers by height makes the ford look nippy, the kingswood doing the same would fuck shit up

[RedOct74LH]

I had a 1973 TC Cortina with a 250 and I also raced her @ QLD Raceway and going through turns 1,2 and 3 I aways thought she was on a fair lean till both mates watching from the side and fellow racers travelling behind me said she was sitting reasonbly flat considering I was doing 190 through T1, 170 in T2 and 110-20 in T3, so that TE was really being pushed like in the Vid for the tires to be folded like that and the back LH rear to be coming nearly off the ground

[sessy1987]

your right speedwaysedan12 the driver is much smoother with the Holden and he throws the other cars around,also scrubbing off speed in the process.I have worked for Holden now for 7 yrs in new car sales and i love them, but its fabricated by the driver to show an unfair advantage.Got to be up front although it hurts, But......... "go better Holden" Commodore number 1 seller in 12 yrs straight!!!!!!

[sutherlandA1]

On paper, Kingswood wins over Falcon which was still on rear leaf springs where Holden has coils which should give a huge advantage. Falcon did well but rear end tended to lose grip and slide out along with Valiant. Others were just nose heavy and wanted to understeer, Cortina wobbled horribly but did have big heavy Falcon six in place where a four cylinder would usually go

[jet2067]

Haha awesome, so cheeky. Ford won that one.

[richardjaxon]

Hang on a minute, the Cortina has an independent rear end, Holden at this time didn't have such a set up, unless the Southern Hemisphere Cortinas didn't have this feature.

[Mechknight73]

@richardjaxon No they didn't. They had a standard rigid axle coil rear end; a five link Watts linkage

[joh2]

@richardjaxon Cortinas never had IRS, regardless where they were from. Its replacement Sierra did though...

[JBofBrisbane]

@joh2 - Maybe, but Ford never sold the Sierra in Australia. We were busy falling in love with the Laser (Mazda 323) and Telstar (Mazda 626) at the time.

[bobba84]

THERE IS NO WAY I'D EVER STAND ON THE WAY OF AN XA

[ieatpeas24]

john goss .. .. now thats a race car driver

[Seattlecarnut]

Which is better? I've never driven either a Holden or a Ford.

[Conniptions886]

@Seattlecarnut - Both were pretty much as good as each other...

[07benc]

@Conniptions886 dont you mean as bad as each other????haha

[pogly100]

Great post, thanks for putting this up.

As others (and Ford) have said, it's pretty obvious who was paying the driver's salary in the Holden ad. I've owned old everything they put through the cones except for the Cressida, and there's nothing too wonderful about how RTS Kingswoods handle. I reckon the 240K was the best in real life actually, but they all sucked. And Cortina 6s are the ULTIMATE drift car with some tweaking. :)

[EXXTAXXI]

this gets good at 2 minutes

[im1hecticwog]

"the point we're making, is that no matter how a car looks when driven around witches hats, its how a car performs when your life is a stake that really counts" - Now thats wat really matters

[del885]

That cortina looked very dangerous on the road

[andcom05]

@del885 Yes Del, because they are dangerous on the road!

[del885]

@andcom05 I was just stating the obvious

[Ibanezman7]

the title is ford vs holden and the second car is a chrysler

[Conniptions886]

@Ibanezman7 - Holden ad vs Ford ad - try reading the description...

[OzClawhammer]

Ahhh the good 'ole days...Thanx for posting conniptions. It's nice to see tham as new cars...none of the 20yr old Kingswoods or xa-ac falcons I've driven ever handled that well! :)

[tasmanndog]

Should have put a Torana thru the witches hats ala A9X

[Conniptions886]

@tasmanndog - they did, there was a similar commercial featuring the Torana...

[FGalaxie]

Why are you people arguing?

Both are australian arms of American multinationals, case closed.

Both have great history in Aus, with many fine muscle cars.

Argue against the ricers instead.

[NicksBurnouts]

haha thats the way FORD! going ford is the going thing :)

[KeeepinItReal]

There's only one way to go through a corner and thats in the val.

[slekekeh]

Did you hear holden now have "active fuel management" where the v8s shut down 4 cylinders to save fuel? Another initiative the'ye copied ( from Chrysler ) !!!!. In the states, GM, holdens bankrupt/corrupt parent company are nick named " Me too moters". I wonder why !

[V8SilverFox]

AFM has been available on the GM V8 for a long time, Holden has only just enabled this function recently.

[SuperTamponBandit]

@slekekeh GM owns holden.... why wouldnt holden use technology from the PARENT company??

[chargin48]

Not to mention copy cats, then claim to be their own design

[000jonesy000]

Lmao, did everyone see that crazy cortina go around the corners!!!! - They didn't defend the old corti!

[speedwaysedan12]

thats why i race a corty as my speedway car lol

[speedwaysedan12]

watch his hands, he feathers the holden, whereas the others are like smashed into the corners, go the FALCON

[chargin48]

Yeah i must say looked dodgy to me, back in them days they could bull shit and do all they wanted, there is no way a car that lacks everything could out perform a ford or chrysler, just look at modern shitboxadoors and falcon, falcon still has the handling over commonwhores

[speedwaysedan12]

yeah, but really thinking about it, no car back then could do that at over 70km lol, fuck the dunnydore, falcon is more experienced in their car, 45years, holden commodore 30 years?

[chargin48]

They would hard pressed to do that now. You can make any car look bad while presenting it the same, you can make your cars go sideways one day by a slight slip of the clutch while keeping it in a straight line the next. Holden were always a dirty company, just look at peter brock

[Mechknight73]

@speedwaysedan12 Oh really? Ford Australia only JUST started building their own Falcons in 1960, which were really RHD Canadian Falcons. The first XK Falcons had to be recalled for strut braces. Holden started building their own in 1948, a full 12 years earlier

[speedwaysedan12]

@Mechknight73 i said commodore...not holden

[sanatatic]

@Mechknight73 Except they were hardly Australian...

[mraussieguy]

this ad ( holden one) is filmed on the unopened at the time .....eastern freeway in Melb.( Bulleen) ...the over pass you see in the ad is goes to the Golf course (bedford road)....its filmed in the outbound lanes as the inbound lanes where not build yet .....there is no way you could do the same today !!!!!

[omgturbovl]

xc falcon 500 is simply a good car u just cant go past it

[jackylegs1717]

oh i forgot the ford xb a year befor this holden had the stuped pushbuten radio to

[OneWayTrip1]

the XY falcon my uncle had has a push-button radio! and they where made in 1970!

[jackylegs1717]

ya and the XB gt was made in 1974!! and holden just got it!!! oh and is your uncles xy a ho or just a gt. my dad has ha ford xb gt

[OneWayTrip1]

HO was made in 1971, a family friend has one of those!

My uncle has owned his XY GT since 1979, he's the second owner!

[chargin48]

Every car company done it, valiants had electronic ignition in 1972 and rts for a hundred years, They were the first to have crumble zones, and were seen as weak cars. They were advanced in almost every way, and yet 10 years later holden and ford come up with it its all hoo haa.

[jackylegs1717]

with the xc ford falcon 500 they mest with the serspention it was to high and to soft also they drove the holden a a slower speed and all the others alot farster. holen are just trying to look good befor the car rusts over. ^^

[Minordian]

that's brilliant! i never thought i'd see that again. someone needs to get hold of Gossy doing the Smiths Industries ad.

[antmark1960]

dick johnson looks about 12

[laurence265]

this video is a bit of a con. you hear the in the holden the guy lets off the accelerator just a tad as he goes around the cones, doing his best to keep it stable. in the ford and chrysler he is just gunning it and whipping the steering wheel.

[cwegers1]

Dad used to laugh and say it looks like Allan Moffat has shat his pants as he is walking back towards the group.

[andcom05]

That's Fred Gibson not Moffat, i saw Fred walking at Winton during the 91 ATCC and he does walk a bit funny. Probably due to a race accident.

[beammeup75]

@cwegers1 ahhh yes, your dad must of been a champion...... how funny is that. It does look exactly like whoever it is has shit themselves, I can't stop laughing........

[cwegers1]

@beammeup75 Still is. : )

[smurftums]

The "Naked Vicar show" did a very good send up of this ad. They also did a number of send ups of varoius car ads...

[rodderscherries]

could u imagine that these days, the carthey make now don't have any body role at all.lol

[jacenkel]

As if those drivers standing there wern't cardboard cut outs when the good 'ol Falc 500 went through. They wouldn't really risk their lifes like that !!!!

[GreendragonDMX1]

typical holden in this ad has any one else noticed before the FG GT came out the GTS was at 307kw..then the GT was released with 315kw then ALL of a sudden the GTS now has 317kw.. would suck to own the 307kw paying all that money just to be a geuine pig in holdens eyes to see what ford does next

[ToGoRightGoHolden]

your a bit slow the 307 was in 06 and the updated 317 ls3 was always on the cards as a update nothing new there conspiracy theory dead hahahaha

[GreendragonDMX1]

mate its still a rip off u wouldnt pay that sort of money for 307kw then have holden release a 317kw id be asking for a free upgrade its a joke its not a theory its the truth holden rip people off

[ToGoRightGoHolden]

same price pretty much with some added goodies and a new 6 speed manual its typical of what ford had done with the ba bf series cars why pay over $50k for a 6 speed xr8 when bf series 10 had it for $5k cheaper only months later?

[GreendragonDMX1]

thats gearboxes..ford never made the engine more powerful unlike the GTS.. ive spoken to alot of people who actually prefer the BA over the BF and actually rather the BA over the FG..altho u couldnt find some1 that would honestly say they rather there 307kw GTS over the 317kw GTS why didnt holden have the 307kw model 5k less then the 317kw if the LS3 was always going to be released???

[ToGoRightGoHolden]

no but they offered the same car at a lessor price think of the person who paid $55k and next month same car is worth 44k its going to leave a bad taste in your mouth and pocket

ls2 was released in the vz and moved into ve ls3 was always on the cards with the new gearbox

[dogonthebox]

the reason holdens handling was so bad,was because the yanks always thought they knew better.they gave those hq-hx,s soft spongy handling.they called it 'boulevard ride'because thats what yank drivers want their cars to handle.they always thought what,s good for the us is good for the world.gmh got it,s act together.they got peter hangenburger from opel to fix it.and he did a bloody good job.the man should have been knighted.

[rodderscherries]

i am a holden fan because holdean are more australian and they have better handling but you try to tell a ford fan that, they won't believe that.

[Exalle]

*epic facepalm*

[NicksBurnouts]

@rodderscherries well they are no more australian than a ford because pretty sure that holden is GM and sum holdens came out with 350 chev and ummm prettyy sure thats american? :D GO FORD!

[SuperTamponBandit]

@NicksBurnouts the 351 ford motor is yank to my friend ford is no more aussie than holden

[joh2]

The race drivers themselves were good "adverts" for Ford, particularly Murray Carter - In the mid 70s, he would often be the ONLY driver doing all rounds of the ATCC in a Falcon (hardtop), after Ford dispensed with its factory team - it was due to this lack of Falcons on circuits that Holden actually wanted to pay him, to keep racing a Ford! In 1980, Carter and a few others had the XD Falcon homologated to race in Group C events, completely behind Ford's (who did not want the XD on track) back!

[MeFrom07]

Ah, so that Falcon ad was actually a response to a Holden ad?

If only Ford's marketing was defensive as it was then today.

[Murphyisacocksucker]

Holdens handling before RTS or Radial Tuned Suspension was nothing short of woeful.

After Holden did the RTS campaign both Chrsler and Ford upgraded their suspension packages. The Holden then became the worst handling of the big three once again.

[joh2]

I recall Chrysler's suspension update was done with the last of line CM range (the also did some 'economy' mods to the engines - though they never put in 'through-flow' interior ventilation that its rivals offered)... - As for Ford, the suspension improvements was during the XC's production run (

[FordFalconXE351]

As if GMH would try and decieve the buying public!

They would be bloody "stuiped" idiots to do that,it wouldn't matter anyway,the braindead sheep would still buy GMH,no matter what,they still do!

[youandholdenrgay]

Fucken spot on mate! Holden could say their cars hover and the sheep would still by em without even seeing if they actually did hover!

[Mack045]

lol look at that bloody stuiped idiot in the falcon driving round like a bloody prancing show pony. the Holden in my opinion was good becasue it was safe reliable and had a good average speed.

no offense to any ford drivers or lovers. peace

[FordFalconXE351]

Your saying Fred Gibson profesional race car driver is a bloody "stuiped" idiot driving like a prancing show pony?

At least Ford didn't need RTS for its XC, Ford handling was already safe and roadworthy!

Kingswoods prior to the HZ had shonky handling that bloody "stuiped" idiots would have brought anyway,no offence (offense) to "stupied" idiots or Mack045.

[Mack045]

mate there is no offense. i didn't have a go or try to pay out any ford drivers i was just saying that IN MY OPINION the Holden was a much better car as it had a good average speed and was reliable.

my mums dad is a ford fan and keeps telling me bout the differences. trust me mate I've heard all of the jokes lol

[FordFalconXE351]

Mack no offence taken,the Holden add,of course attempted make the others look bad,I'll bet the others had cross ply tyres instead of radials like the Holden.Radials

would have been available on the other cars GMH wouldn't have picked them cause it wouldn't have made their car look as good.

LIke Murphyisacocksucker says GMH handling before RTS was woeful,the Val and Ford never handled as badly as the Holden before RTS.

[Mack045]

yeah. Well anyway you like fords and i like holden's and thats just the way we are haha.

[TimmyTickle]

Wow, a very cool piece of Oz motoring history. Although I can't really see any evidence in the first ad that the cars are being driven badly. Thanks!

[Conniptions886]

Watch the Cortina - looks to be travelling much faster than any of the others...

[joh2]

The Aussie Cortina's handling was "interesting" when the Falcon 6-cylinder option was fitted...

[Conniptions886]

Yeah - I used to have a TE Cortina Ghia 6. Absolutely flew in a straight line, didn't like corners much at speed...

[bluecent65]

Yeah, all of the Cortina sixes had very ordinary road holding abilities.

[speedwaysedan12]

@bluecent65 90mm front suspension flex haha