EB Series 3????

[Allen]

Ive heard of NC3 fairlanes when i was looking to buy my car... were they the fairlane that was produced along with the ED?
Aparently these early 1994 fairlanes had a full woodgrain interior (around t-bar, radio and instrument cluster) Proberly not an official "series" but just a model update of the NC2...

There's my two cents anyway...

[ilsautomotive]

The NC3 is a known update though I'm not sure if I was officially called that. The NF Fairlane was released a whole year (maybe more) after the EF itself. In the meantime Holden had released its dramatic VR Statesman including an airbag and a unique dash design, so Ford cobbled together something just as they did with the ED in response to the VR SWB range.

The main external difference was a bonnet ornament as far as I remember, beyond that I honestly can't remember the difference. It still had the EA digital dash and all.

[spope]

Originally Posted by Trouty

The 'EL series II' is the best example - show me any EL with series II badges

On that note, where is the series 2 badge on an EA, EB, EF or AU? Only us trainspotters would note the difference, really...
It's one of those things that is used by the public and aftermarket suppliers, not neccesarily by Ford themselves (until AUIII and BA Mk2)
If I hear one more person ask about a "Series 2" Lancer, I'll scream. Mitsubishi has never differentiated the cars like that, but aftermarket suppliers noted a change and have used it.

[CruizinEB]

yeah, mine only says 10/92 EB Ford Falcon??

[ilsautomotive]

Fair point Spope. It was Holden who pushed for the series II badging thing as far back as the VP II, though as far I know the earliest example of an update like this was Ford's famous "XC and a half" Falcon. The fact that there is so much debate amongst enthusiasts show we are basically left in the dark.

I sometimes wonder if we should do as the Americans do and differentiate models by their model year rather than silly abbreviations and gimmicky Series/Mark x badging - preferably without the US system's confusing and annoying tendency to have the model year ahead of the year of the vehicle's release or manufacture.

[spope]

What, you don't like the fact that an 06 model car is released in August 05? :P
Knowing the differences is useful, especially when trawling through a wrecking yard. Although it would be nice if there was a more identifying mark than "4.0L" on the guards or coloured B-pillars to identify mid-life model updates.
I have often thought Ford shot themselves in the foot in many respects, the EB2 was such a massive update, but it looks exactly the same. I know the story, but I often wonder why we don't know it as an EC, given that the EB1 wasn't much of an update of the 30th anniversary EA.

[CruizinEB]

because it mite be confused with XC Maybe

[ilsautomotive]

In some cases you might find 06 models released in early 05. My '94 Eunos is called a '95 model in the US and I am having to constantly 'translate' - in one case I bought the wrong part and was cost a lot of money. This on top of their imperial measurement system, HP/lb-ft instead of kW/NM, dollars per gallon instead of dollars per litre, Miler Per Gallon instead of L/100 km. A few years back there was even a NASA satellite which crashed into Mars because of differences in these measurements... (end rant )

The EC was not called as such because it could stand for Excellent Condition or Earth Closet (aka toilet), plus Ford would have had to do an extra round of crash testing because of internal policy to do with model changes. What they probably should have done was release an EA series 4 with the V8 option in 1991, and release the EB with the 4.0 in 1992.

[XRated]

Sorry I can't help, I have an ED :(

[spope]

Or an EA series 6? Or an EF series -1? :

Cruizin EB: That's right, on the compliance plate they only should build date and model designation. No mention of series.
Even in the workshop manual, they are designated as early and late production, not series.

[Psycho Chicken]

You guys think picking an EB from an EB II is hard. VR from VS is just as hard.

Originally Posted by CRUIZIN EB

because it mite be confused with XC Maybe

But EA, EB, ED and EF won't be confused with XA, XB, XD and XF?

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by Psycho Chicken

You guys think picking an EB from an EB II is hard. VR from VS is just as hard.

thats actually pretty easy.

[mcflux]

Barring wheels, the only exterior visual difference I can think of between the VR and VS (excluding faded reflectors on the rear lights) is the black VR lion badge vs the silver VS lion badge.

Is there much difference in the interior?

The intake manifold (or manifold cover?) looks different on the VS Ecotec vs the VR 3800 too, but that's the only other visual distinction I can think of.

-Dave-

[Psycho Chicken]

Yeah but it's easier to pick an EB from an EBII.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by Psycho Chicken

Yeah but it's easier to pick an EB from an EBII.

Agreed, much easier ;)

(grey vs colour coded) bumpers, matt/gloss door handles, & badging just for starters ;)

Jack, just noticed your post now... Surely an "all-new" engine (the updated Windsor) should be important enough for a new model to be declared, compared to a revised 3.9 (4.0)? As was done by Ford. Not knocking the 4.0 of course!

There would have been more significant engineering and crash testing issues with the 5.0 compared to the 4.0 vs 3.9.

-Dave-