Ford has always been one of the major automotive players of the Australian market, hence this lavish brochure from February 1979, published to promote the entire car and recreational vehicle range.
The latter section comprised Sundowner custom versions of the Escort, Transit and Falcon vans, each one adorned with extra equipment, sporty graphics, bright colours and rather more power than normal.
Take the Transit Sundowner, shown in the centre of this photograph. Anyone expecting a bog standard Kent or Pinto engine under the bonnet was in for a shock, as the Transit Sundowner came as standard with a 4.1-litre straight-six powerplant.
Amazing, eh? It’s just a pity Ford of Britain didn’t decide to follow suit…
