IF the Australian-built Ford Falcon is to be replaced by an American-built car, it won't be through lack of trying to prevent the move by a group of diehard Far Northern Falcon fans.

About 40 cars, mostly Falcons ranging from a 1965 XP through to the current FG XR8 ute, took part in a Save the Falcon rally from Cairns to Port Douglas yesterday.

Organised by the North Queensland Performance Ford Club, the rally was designed to send a strong message to Ford Australia and try to convince the company to keep the Falcon.

Reports from Detroit earlier this month suggested the 50-year-old icon of Australian motoring would be replaced by an American car, possibly the front-wheel-drive Ford Taurus or one based on the Mustang’s rear-wheel-drive platform.

But rally organiser Neil Newcombe said he was confident Ford would get the message about the opposition to the move.

"We hold a run every month but we decided to link this one to the Save the Falcon rally to send a message to Ford to keep the Falcon Australian and keep it rear-wheel-drive," he said.

"We are pretty confident this will get the message through.

"They are doing their market research at the moment and this is a way of showing them the support the Falcon has up here."

Mr Newcombe said photos and other supporting documents from the rally would be sent to Ford to further push their point of view.

He said as well as Ford Falcons, a couple of Hot Rods also took part in yesterday's rally to show their support.

Mr Newcombe said he was also aware of a similar rally being held in Melbourne and petitions being signed across the country to try to stop the move.

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