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The news about Ford Australia closing manufacturing in Australia was not unexpected.
That does not make it any more palatable.
On Thursday Ford Australia president and chief executive Bob Graziano announced manufacturing cars in Australia is ''no longer viable for Ford in the long-term".
The last Falcon or Territory will roll off the production line in October 2016.
What will inevitably follow is political finger pointing, further speculation about the future of auto manufacturing (indeed ALL manufacturing) in Australia and childish demands that Ford pay back government handouts that they have already paid back many times over in terms of direct and indirect taxes.
At present I'm not interested in thinking about those things.
As a car enthusiast I am very sad - and as an Australian I am very sad.
Sad because 1200 manufacturing jobs will disappear at a time when it seems few jobs outside of a few industries like mining are being created - and sad because one of the country's most iconic products will come to end.
Falcon can claim to be the world's single oldest nameplate. It has been in continuous production since 1960. Corolla, by comparison, began in 1966. The original Volkswagen Beetle was killed off in 2003.
My grandfather had a Falcon (an XP), my grandmother a Falcon (an XA). My father alternated between Holden Kingswoods and Falcons.
One of my first memories in motorsport was watching Allan Moffat and Colin Bond finish one-two in two mighty Ford Falcon XC Coupes at Bathurst in 1977. The image of the two big Fords side by side during the final laps at Mount Panorama remains the probably the most iconic image from Australia's most iconic car race.
My first car was an Australian assembled Ford, a Laser. I've owned Falcons, bad (EA) and brilliant (BA) since. My friends virtually all drove Falcons or Commodores.
As a motoring journalist one of the first launches was for Falcon BA in 2003. It was a stunningly good car. A world-class one. Several months during that year Falcon was number one, only knocked off by another Australian icon, Holden Commodore.
Few would have predicted back then the Australian industry would reach this point.
There is another tragedy about this tale. Even as great sections of the car buying public turn their backs on Australian-made cars, the machines themselves rolling out of factories in Broadmeadows have never been better.
The current FG Falcon is five star ANCAP safety rated, robust, economical (especially the LPG-fueled EcoLPI and four-cylinder EcoBoost models) and handle better than most machines arriving in Australian ports. I have driven many cars over the past 10 years to compare them with.
They represent extraordinary value compared with anything of a similar size.
That size matter might be the ultimate issue. Many carbuyers have downsized.
Those that haven't have moved towards SUVs that may lack the ride and road-holding of a rear-wheel-drive sedan but offer convenience, versatility and the rarely used option of going off-road.
The Territory, close to the best driving SUV available under $60,000, has only partially stemmed the bleeding.
Ultimately the jury is the Australian carbuyer, and the verdict has been passed.
Ford Falcon sales are a quarter what they were 10 years ago and Ford Australia has lost $600 million over the past few years.
Personally, I think the verdict is wrong.
In 20 years we will say, remember those Falcons? Gee they were great cars. Whatever happened to them?
