The 405 Aired June 22nd, 2026

It's Monday. And that means it's Jay & Joe's Motor Monday. Today, we're gonna notice the Ford Falcon.

What is The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg?

Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg

New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.

I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.

OK Solberg: 00:00

I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Guys, new week. Still cool out there. Feels good. I love it. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.

OK Solberg: 00:10

Spring wheat $5.58 a bushel. Not doing much, but a 550lb steer calf $5.60 a pound on the top end. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings are going up $3.35 a pound. But guys, there's more much more.

OK Solberg: 00:32

Well, well, well, now. Did you enjoy the longest day of the year as far as daylight goes? It happened yesterday, June 21. And I want you to know the sun rose at 05:08AM, and it set yesterday at 09:18PM, which equates to 16 hours and 10 minutes of actual daylight. But but you know about twilight in Montana. It lingers like none other.

OK Solberg: 01:05

You know, guys go south and after the sunset, it gets dark just like that. Here in Montana, we experienced twilight. And so that means yesterday, we had 17 1/2 hours of I can see you there without a flashlight. 17 and a half hours.

OK Solberg: 01:24

But if you missed it, if you didn't pay attention, fear not for today 06/22/2026 is only 1 second less than yesterday. Really? Isn't that interesting? Yet by June 30, 8 days from now, we will have lost 12 minutes. Still not bad. Summer's here, so enjoy it.

OK Solberg: 01:51

I have a bible verse before I get into the main segment of this program. Listen. From 1st Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. Again, 1st Corinthians one eighteen.

OK Solberg: 02:15

Think about that verse. I thought about it. I wanna say this. That verse is believed by everyone in the whole wide world. Really. Everyone agrees with that verse. Ford lovers agree. Chevy lovers agree. That's just interesting to find a bible verse that everyone agrees on.

OK Solberg: 02:34

Okay. Guess what? It's Monday. And that means it's Jay & Joe's Motor Monday. And I have an interesting one here. While the muscle cars get the headlines often, there are some regular cars that need notice from time to time.

OK Solberg: 02:52

And today, we're gonna notice the Ford Falcon. It's one of those cars in automotive history that often gets overlooked because it was never as flashy as the cars that followed. Yet without the Falcon, there likely would never have been a Ford Mustang. Someone once said the Mustang got all the posters on bedroom walls, but the Falcon. The Falcon quietly paid the bills.

OK Solberg: 03:24

When Ford Motor Company introduced the Falcon for the 1960 model year, America was beginning to embrace smaller, more economical cars. The Falcon was intentionally designed as a practical family vehicle rather than a sporty or luxurious automobile. It featured a simple 6 cylinder engine, room for 6 passengers, and a reputation for economy and reliability.

OK Solberg: 03:54

Realize there were more than 400,000 Falcons sold in the 1st model year. Then nearly 1,000,000 Falcons were built during the 1st two years of production. The Falcon wasn't purchased because teenagers dreamed about it.

OK Solberg: 04:12

Families bought Falcons because, well, it seated 6 adults. It delivered excellent fuel economy for its era. It was inexpensive to purchase, and and it could be serviced locally through your Ford's nationwide dealer network. In many ways, it was the ideal bread and butter car for the middle class Americans.

OK Solberg: 04:37

But here's perhaps the most important Falcon fact of all. The original 1965 Mustang was built on a modified Falcon platform. Much of the Mustang's underlying engineering came directly from the Falcon. The Falcon had already paid for the development costs and proven the market for a smaller Ford automobile. The legwork was done so the Falcon helped the Mustang get into the saddle.

OK Solberg: 05:09

Introduced September 1959 as a 1960 model, the Ford Falcon had an initial engine. Listen now, muscle car lovers. The cubic inches will blow your mind. The original Ford Falcon had a 144 cubic inch inline 6 cylinder engine. Now if you walk through a high school parking lot in 1966, the students would gather around the Mustang.

OK Solberg: 05:41

But if you walk through the neighborhoods of America, you'd find falcons in the driveways. They carried children to school, fathers to work, mothers to the grocery store, and families on vacation. They weren't glamorous. They weren't fast. They weren't the cars on the posters, but they were the cars that made payroll for Ford.

OK Solberg: 06:07

Now GM lovers, I don't want you to feel slighted. So Chevy's answer to the Ford Falcon was the Chevy two, and it came out in 1962 and also was a predecessor to a well known name. Later, General Motors dropped the Chevy two name and simply called it, say it out loud, Joe. Say it out loud, Jay. The Nova. Oh, that too was a nice car.

OK Solberg: 06:36

So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.