Manufacturer Ford Australia Class Muscle car Layout FR layout | Production 1970–1972 Body style 4-door sedan | |
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Assembly Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia | ||
The Ford Motor Company Falcon XY GT is a muscle car based on the Ford Falcon XY. Released in 1970 by Ford Australia, with the GTHO Phase III released in 1971. Some 1,557 units were produced from September 1970 to December 1971 with 300 GTHO Phase IIIs produced from May 1971 to November 1971. It was the fourth in the initial series of Ford Falcon GT muscle cars. A limited number were exported to South Africa, wearing Fairmont GT badging. The Fairmont GT model is starting to increase in value as Falcon GTs become harder to find and buyers being to appreciate the Fairmont as a genuine GT.
Contents
With the rev limiter disabled it is capable of 228 kilometres per hour (142 mph) and can exceed 7,500rpm (at high risk of engine failure) in fourth gear. The rev limiter is set to 6,150rpm. The engine type was a 351 Cleveland (carried over from the XW GT/GT-HO Phase II).
Technical details
Type: 9-inch LSD traction lock is standard with 28 spline axles or 31 spline optional
Front: independent ball joint, coil springs, shock absorbers, wishbones and anti-roll bar Upper control arm to accept the three-pin ball joint used, as opposed to the four-point ball joint used in the normal GTs and earlier GTHOs
Front: 286mm (11.25in) servo assisted discs Rear: 254mm (10in) servo assisted drums
Type: re-circulating ball power assistance (optional)
7.0 x 15 alloy - "five-spoke' Bathurst Globe (optional) from 1972
Standing 1/4 mile (400m) - 14.4 seconds ( manual )
GTHO Phase III
The Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III was built for homologation, looked almost identical to the GT and was a modified version of the Falcon GT built in 1971 with a heavily upgraded engine, a four-speed top-loader gearbox and Detroit locker nine inch differential. It was also equipped with special brakes and handling package, plus a 36 imperial gallons (164 litres) fuel tank.
Winner of the 1971 Bathurst 500, driven by Allan Moffat, the Phase III has been described as "...simply one of the best cars in the world, a true GT that could take on Ferraris and Astons on their own terms..." by Sports Car World.
The GTHO's 351 Cleveland engine output was understated as 300 bhp (224 kW) to satisfy insurers. It is generally accepted to produce in the region of 350-380 bhp (265 kW -283 kW). Initial cars were equipped with an electrical rev limiter which came into effect at 6,150 rpm. With the rev limiter disabled, the engine was reputed to pull in excess of 7,000 rpm, even in fourth gear. At that time the Phase III GTHO was the worlds fastest four-door production car.
Performance:
Top speed: 228 km/h (142 mph) @ 6150rpm 0 - 60 mph - 8.4 seconds 0 – 100 km - 8.9 seconds Standing 1/4 mile (400m) - 14.4 seconds
Bathurst (6.172 km - 1938-1986) (6.213 km - 1987-present) fastest lap time: 2:36.5 by Allan Moffat (1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 - Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III)
Value
The Phase III GTHO is in incredibly high demand with collectors and investors. Good examples have been sold for prices in excess of A$ 1,000,000. This demand is, in part, due to a small production run, and 'fewer than 100 remaining' examples of the GTHO.
A Falcon XY GTHO Phase III was sold at by Bonhams & Goodmans at auction for A$683,650 in March 2007. The car had only 40,000 km on the clock. The buyer of the car said it will be garaged, and that it will not be driven, but that he will be "keeping it as an investment". The sale price set a new auction record for Australian muscle cars. Whilst in June 2007 another Phase III sold for A$750,000.
Race record
Of greatest significance, the Falcon GTHO Phase III succeeded in an outright win at Bathurst in the 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500 and also secured the 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) title; in both instances the cars were driven by Allan Moffat.
Ian "Pete" Geoghegan and Moffat had great success with the Phase III in Australian production touring car racing where it scored many race wins from the latter half of 1971 through to 1973. One of the Phase IIIs driven by Moffat is now owned by Bowden's Own, an Australian car care products company. This particular example was a replacement vehicle fettled in September 1972, the original 1971 Bathurst winning car having been badly damaged at Adelaide International Raceway in the opening round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers Championship; this particular GTHO was subsequently driven to a number of victories by Moffat and enabled him to secure the overall 1973 ATCC honours.
In 1970, the Ford Works Team under the direction of team manager Al Turner, built two "Super Falcons" using the XW GTHO Phase II as the basis for the cars. Ford looked to translate the work that had gone into the Ford Mustang Boss 302 into the local Falcon model with the car using a fuel injected and much higher developed 5.8 L (351 cu in) Cleveland V8 engine. According to those who drove the cars (Alan Moffat, Ian Geoghegan and John French), the Super Falcon's biggest problem was that the 600 bhp (447 kW; 608 PS) the engine produced was simply too much for the light weight chassis to handle and power oversteer was the order of the day. Turner initially did not believe Moffat when he told him this, believing that they were simply driving the car wrong. At the Mallala Circuit in South Australia, Moffat took Turner for a lap of the circuit in his Falcon in a successful bid to show the team boss what the car was really like to drive.
Moffat virtually abandoned the Super Falcon in the 1971 and 1972 ATCCs (which by this time had been upgraded with XY bodywork) in favour of his better handling Boss 302 Mustang. In 1972, Geoghegan went the opposite way and abandoned his own well developed Ford Mustang GTA and to drive his Falcon. After fixing the problem with the chassis, Geoghegan was able to get the best out of the car and won a memorable third round of the 1972 ATCC at the Mount Panorama Circuit after a race long dice with the Mustang of Moffat. The race is often seen as the best race in the ATCC's history.
Successor to the GTHO Phase III
In 1972, the XY series Falcon was replaced by the XA Falcon range. Production of approximately 200 XA-based Falcon GT-HO Phase IV cars was originally scheduled to take place in June and July 1972, but this was terminated at 'the eleventh hour' due to what became known as "the supercar scare". The Sun-Herald newspaper had run this as a front page lead article (with banner headline in large capital letters) on Sunday 25 June 1972: "160mph 'super cars' soon". A copy of that front page is shown at the start of a Phase IV documentary.
Only one road vehicle had been completed when production was cancelled. Three standard GTs were being converted into GT-HOs by the Ford factory race team for the Sandown 500 in September and Bathurst 500 in October 1972. Only one of these racers was ever completed and the other two were finished after being sold or given to specific individuals or dealers by Ford Australia. The Phase IV was never officially released.