Ford Falcon Van

      I love vans. The large expansion of the van market in the U.S. has played a part, with the recent additions of the Ford Transit, Ram ProMaster and ProMaster City, and the Chevy City Express. But my fascination also stems from  the flat front vans of the 1960's, such as the Dodge A100. So I was extremely excited to come across a van I'd never heard of, the 1961-1967 Ford Falcon van.
       The van is  based on the Ford Falcon compact car yet it gets its own distinct look. The triangular grilles that house the headlights point inward and are a very quirky and creative way to allow airflow to the engine. The compact font of the word "Ford" cleverly reflects the squat silhouette of the car. (On the side and back the word "Falcon" is written in a stylish script.)
     The flat front, while not uncommon then, sticks out among today's traffic, and adds extra pizzazz. The side features a simple character line just above the door handles, and a funky inverted second window. Around back, the van is fairly basic, with normal barn doors and small circular taillights.
      Despite the van's many simplistic features, such as the taillights and headlight shape, there are enough bizarre and interesting design cues, like the headlight grilles, the badge font, and the second window, to make this van among my favorite designs.

Grade
Front: A
Back: B
Overall: A-