XA, XB, XC What's the difference????

[Geez Louise]

This is going to seem like a really silly question but I have trouble telling an XA, XB and XC apart.

What are the main differences? I know they all have different grilles, bonnets, tail lights but can someone explain which is which please??

Also what's this about different door handles??

Thanks

[FlipXW]

The front guards are different also. And with sedans XA/B slope up the back door, XC is flat most the way the kicks up at the end.

This is the only way i can explain without pics:
Front;
XA- Middle of grill comes to a point & bonnet has a hump down the middle.
XB- Middle of grill has a bar down it.
XC- Middle of grill is a petruded flat bit. Also some come with rectangle lights.
Back;
XA- Has 3 separate lights all with there own surround.
XB- Has 3 seperate lights but all straight next to eachother.
XC- Has 2 horizontal bars.
Guards;
XA- Has vents.
XB- Is smooth
XC- Has blinkers.

Hope some of that helps.

[Geez Louise]

Thanks Phil. What about the headlights? Is there anyway to tell which one is which from the lights? Don't the XC's have square headlights??

[FlipXW]

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

Thanks Phil. What about the headlights? Is there anyway to tell which one is which from the lights? Don't the XC's have square headlights??

Yep, Some XC's do have the rectangle headlights, GXL's do. The rallypac XC's have quad lights like ur Av. And the rest just have 1 round light on each side (minus the inner lights).

XA's have 1 Round headlight on each side unless it a GT in which case it has quads.

XB's have 1 on each side also except they have their own separate surround. The GT's have quads and it was an option on the GS.

An XA grill has the outer (around the lights) like an XY but the middle is like an XW, And an XB has the outer like an XW but the middle is like an XY (reffering to the vertical bar bit).

Probably makes no sence to anyone else but it does to me :.

As for the rear of coupes im not exactly sure on the differences.

[OZQUAD44]

I'm sure you know. but XA was about 1972-1974, XB 1974-1976, and XC 1976-1979.

Early XC came out with round lights and later ones with square lights. both with a big flatish grill ALA your avitar.

The XC was designed with the XD in mind so it got a few more straighter edges designed into it and a bigger flatter grill. Take the rear doors on XC the sedan for example. Flat along the window sill then it curves up at the end to meet the body work.

XA and XB sedan door shapes are the same as each other. The rear door window sills slope upwards along the whole length and it gives the side of the car that coke bottle look.

XB front end is broken into two big resessed grill areas that are seperated by a vane that runs vertical down the middle

XB and XC falcons share front fender pressings. The XA front fenders are different as they have the indicator space molded into the shape at the front and the whole XA font end is more pointy than both the XB and XC.

XC falcons have a big wide bumper, the XB and XA bumpers are both thin (but still different).

XA sedan tail lights are like six jet openings at the back (three per side) and it looks really effective at night. Both the XB and XC tail lights wrap around the sides of the rear. The XB tail light plastic is still seperated into three comartments, IE; brake, Tail light, and indicators but not as dramatic as the XA. XC sedan tail lights are basically one flat piece of plastic that wraps around with a horisontal divider.

XA coupe tail lights are resessed into the rear of the coupes. XB and XC coupe tail lights are the same.

"XA" period Landau/LTD was the first aussie car with four wheel disc brakes. XB GT was the first GT with four wheel disc brakes. XB GT had radius rods mounted on the diff to reduce axle tramp.

XC falcon was the most restricted in the engine department due to emission regulations of the day and suffered the most in the performance stakes straight out of the factory.

XA and XB falcons have a wrap around dash which was designed to invoke the feeling that the driver was sitting in a cockpit. The XC dash is flat.

The XA series falcon was the first aussie car to have high back bucket seats to protect the head and neck in the event of an accident.

I could waffle on for hours... Miss-spent youth. Ice wasn't invented back then :-)

[Geez Louise]

Wow...my head hurts! Thanks for the explainations...I am sure once I get my head around it all I will be able to tell the cars apart. Today, someone sent me a pic of an XA with an XB bonnet and asked me what model it was...That was fun! Hence why I asked the differences...

I am confused about the whole lights thing though.

[RAREV8]

Just a couple of corrections- all XC's had round lights- basic models only had a pair (one either side obviously!)Rally pack and GS models had quad lights if optioned and only Fairmonts and Fairmont GXL's had square front lights whether sedan or coupe. No Fairmonts utes were made.
XB's again had a pair of front lights unless they were a GT. Not all GS's had quad lights- this was a further option, not part of the standard GS pack.
There are a lot of fundamental differences between the XA-XB and the XC's....completely different interiors, dashes, gauges and wiring. XC's were revised in 1977 (XC and a half) which offered radial tuned suspension but outward appearence remained the same other that the revival of the blue oval ford badge on the grille....this badge had not been used for quite some time- someone may remember waht the last Aussie model was that sported this!
Coupe rear lights were different too- I'll let someone more knowledgeable than i explain this!

Cheers, Jamie

[HEMI POWER]

Originally Posted by RAREV8

Just a couple of corrections- all XC's had round lights- basic models only had a pair (one either side obviously!)Rally pack and GS models had quad lights if optioned and only Fairmonts and Fairmont GXL's had square front lights whether sedan or coupe. No Fairmonts utes were made.
XB's again had a pair of front lights unless they were a GT. Not all GS's had quad lights- this was a further option, not part of the standard GS pack.
There are a lot of fundamental differences between the XA-XB and the XC's....completely different interiors, dashes, gauges and wiring. XC's were revised in 1977 (XC and a half) which offered radial tuned suspension but outward appearence remained the same other that the revival of the blue oval ford badge on the grille....this badge had not been used for quite some time- someone may remember waht the last Aussie model was that sported this!
Coupe rear lights were different too- I'll let someone more knowledgeable than i explain this!

Cheers, Jamie

The other spin out thing with the XC was that it had the same floor pan as the XD's.The XA and XB shared the same but the XC was different.

[Geez Louise]

Thanks Jamie. I want to be able to look at a coupe...and actually know what model it is with any luck! Seems there is alot of variations and things to look out for. How do you guys do it so easily??

[Tha Jack]

Originally Posted by HEMI POWER

The other spin out thing with the XC was that it had the same floor pan as the XD's.The XA and XB shared the same but the XC was different.

I thought they all had the same floorpan from XA to XD.
What are the differences?, Got any Pics?

Originally Posted by RAREV8

XC's were revised in 1977 (XC and a half) which offered radial tuned suspension but outward appearence remained the same other that the revival of the blue oval ford badge on the grille

What was the radial tuned suspension and how did it differ from the XA, XB suspension?
Cheers Jack

[Tony xa]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet but they all have different adr,s as well which makes some more sort after than others for modifing .

[cob115]

Originally Posted by Tony xa

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet but they all have different adr,s as well which makes some more sort after than others for modifing .

mmm iv herd that to!!!
witch ones are you thinking of Tony? what can be done to them that cant be done to others
,iv got a very early xa coupe,and a fellow told me years ago because its got the single compliance plate it can be modifyed a lot more
cheers pat

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by cob115

what can be done to them that cant be done to others

the emissions for starters. an xa with an xa engine needs zero pollution gear wheras an xc is starting to get stangled by it, simply because they came out of the factory like that
i had always thought that cars built before 1974 had more freedoms, but do not know for sure

[XC_Lizzard]

The headlights in the XC were Square for Fairmonts, Round for Falcons, Round with driving lights (twin round) for Falcons with GS option.

[Uncle Raggy]

As far as the lights on coupes being different, theside 'repeater' lights on XA's and early XB's were vertical, later XB's and XC's had them horizontal. As has been stated the XA coupe lights are recessed into the back (slope inward), the XB lights were a flat panel with a chrome surround and the XC's had the same but the surround was black. Someone may be able to correct me on this, but I don't know of any XC's with the chrome unless they were bought after market.

The floor pan stampings are different. They changed during the XB range. The strengthening ribs are in different locations.

Window wipers had a different mounting system. Xa and early XB had large spline and clip, late XB and XC had smaller spline and retaining nut. I found this out the hard way buying a pair on Ebay, ended up with early XB when I needed later ones.

Points above relate to coupes, but it's possible pans and wipers could have similar differences on sedans

I'd suggest looking at project threads for clarification.

Look at Dean, Recoil and Daveman threads for XA's.
Danthefordman, Turbocoupe, Tippy and mine for XB's
Buggerlugs for XC

Or if you want to be confused, Peachey has an XA with the XC front on it :

Hope this helps!

[paul351xb]

There were so many differences between the 3 models it would take up volumes listing them all. To the average person getting used to telling them apart the easiest way is to look at the tail lights, bumpers and grills with the exteriors and also looking at the interiors. XC have the BIG bumpers. XB front bumper looks like a Mach2 Mustang. XA front bumper comes to a slight point at the front to match the extended point on the bonnet. XB and XC have the same exterior door handles. XA and XB have the same interior door handles. Man this is just getting confusing. Get some photos of the different models and start comparing. It's a lot easier that way. You'll be spotting a XB GS Continental at 200 yards in no time.

[OZQUAD44]

Wasn't radial tuned suspension a Holden thing, IE: RTS. Ford countered with their own avertising thing at the time but I'm pretty sure it wasn't called RTS, It included an advertisement with a falcon doing zig zags around witches hats. I believe that one of the witches hats was no other than Colin Bond.

Could someone please post up some pictures to put this guy out of his misery.

[MR.BA.GT.332]

how about showing us a pic of that model with the XB bonnet on an XA too.... just curious on what that would look like.

just my 2c worth too XA's had different door handles compared to XB/XC's.... and its a cause cant buy new repo XA handles :( i could be wrong tho???

[paul351xb]

Your right, nobody makes repo XA door handles.

[paul351xb]

Originally Posted by OZQUAD44

Wasn't radial tuned suspension a Holden thing, IE: RTS. Ford countered with their own avertising thing at the time but I'm pretty sure it wasn't called RTS, It included an advertisement with a falcon doing zig zags around witches hats. I believe that one of the witches hats was no other than Colin Bond.

Could someone please post up some pictures to put this guy out of his misery.

The last of the XCs were known as the XC Updates. Yes Colin Bond was a witches hat. From memory so was Allan Moffat along with a couple of well known race drivers from that time. The gist of the add was to show how safe the XC handled with the car zigging and zagging around the drivers as they stood in line in the middle of a road.

[Geez Louise]

Ok, so what happens with something like this. XB Shell but it is going to have all XA parts. So technically it is an XB because of the compliance plates but really it will look like an XA.

http://www.aussiexport.com/dragcar.htm

I will post up the pic I was sent later (Photobucket is not playing nice atm)

[Pinkbits]

You are correct.
XB/C front panels can be fitted to XA with some alteration and vice versa.

[xalent]

Some piccies to make the mud clearer

XA Falcon


XA GS


XA GT


XA Fairmont Coupe Rear


XA Four Door Rear


XB Standard Grille


XB GS and GT Grille (With badge change)


XB Falcon Front


XB GT Font


XB GT Coupe Rear


XB 4 Door Rear


XC Standar Grille


XC Twin Headlight


XC Square Headlight


XC Rear

[gtxb67]

i cannot find any photos that will clearly show the difference, but xb coupe tail lights have a chrome surround and are not tinted. xc coupe tail lights have black surround and have a slight tint
however alot of xb's i have seen including ours have xa lights - some xb's including geez louise/tha jack's and our old xb lights have been painted black, so the front of the car or rego sticker is the easiest way to tell which car is which

[Geez Louise]

xalent - Thanks for posting up the differences. Pictures definately help.

[paul351xb]

OK, from Factory XA coupes had the XA tail lights with the slanted lenses. XB coupes had chrome tail lights with a blackout inside the chrome. XC had black painted surrounds for the Cobras but the rest of the XC coupes used the same tail lights as the XB coupes with the chrome surround, black painted insert. There might have abeen a few other XC coupes with the black tail light finish but I'm not real sure on that.

[brut33]

Here you go one of each

[MEANXBCOUPE]

I thought all xc coupes ran with black surrounds, cobra or not.

[brut33]

Originally Posted by MEANXBCOUPE

I thought all xc coupes ran with black surrounds, cobra or not.

Yes that's right, XB's had the chrome surround and XC had black surrounds

[Geez Louise]

Originally Posted by brut33

Here you go one of each

Thanks Bruce. Are they all yours? Coupe trifecta!