Ford Falcon (XH)

Ford Falcon (XH)
Ford Falcon (XH) Longreach GLi utility
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford Australia
Production	April 1996 – June 1999
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door coupe utility 2-door panel van
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine	4.0 L Ford I6 (petrol) 5.0 L Windsor V8 (petrol)
Transmission	4-speed M93LE automatic (I6) 4-speed M97LE automatic (V8) 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,957 mm (116.4 in)
Length	4,923 mm (193.8 in)
Width	1,862 mm (73.3 in)
Height	1,370 mm (53.9 in)
Curb weight	1,520 kg (3,351 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor	Ford Falcon (XG)
Successor	Ford Falcon (AU)

The Ford Falcon (XH) is a commercial range of vehicles that was manufactured by Ford Australia from 1996 to 1999, as an upgrade to the XG series that was itself derived from the same-named fourth-generation full-size car.

The Ford XH Falcon was introduced in April 1996 as a facelift of the Ford XG Falcon, which it replaced. Like the XG series, it was offered only in coupe utility and panel van body styles. The XH series was sold alongside the EF Falcon sedan and wagon models until October 1996, and with the facelifted EL Falcon sedan and wagons from that point as well as early in the AU Falcon production run.

Ford grafted the nose of its EF Falcon sedan/wagon on to the existing XG Falcon, giving it the appearance of a new model. A new bonnet with a raised centre section was also fitted. Improvements included revised front suspension and steering, revised rear suspension, upgraded engines, revised seats, a new instrumentation pod and upgraded interior trim.

The XH range was offered in 2-door coupe utility and 2-door panel van models, marketed as follows.

GLi utility and vans were available with a "1 Tonne" option pack that included heavier rear leaf springs, uprated tyres and an automatic transmission oil cooler.

There were also several limited edition XH models:

Ford Falcon (XH) Longreach S utility

Ford Falcon (XH) Longreach GLi panel van

An upgraded XH Series II range was introduced in October 1997, A 5.0 litre V8 engine was added as an option for the Automatic S Ute and was fitted as standard equipment in the newly introduced XR8 model, 624 XR8 utes were produced during the production run with 212 being manual. Both the new XR8 and the revised XR6 featured the nosecone design from the EL series Falcon XR8 Sedan.