Ford Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV sets auction record
Tuesday, 31 August 2021
A clean Ford Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV has sold over in Australia for just shy of AU$2 million ($NZ2.08m), which is the highest single price ever paid for an Australian-produced road car.
The car is one of only four built to help Ford win at Bathurst in 1972, comprising three prototype road cars and one race car, which were all in various stages through development before the infamous ‘supercar scare’ halted all work on the Phase IV.
According to specialist car broker, Australian Muscle Car Sales, it was approached several months ago by a “discreet but determined collector and asked to obtain what is considered to be one of the most prized motor cars ever made in Australia.”
It went into discussions with the now-former owner of the Phase IV, Paul Carthew of Sydney, and confirmed the car changed hands for “just under $2 million”.
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**
As for the other road cars, “one is now a prominent showpiece in the Bowden Collection, one known as the rally car was ultimately destroyed in an accident, and this gem you see here remains in time-warp unrestored condition – perhaps the most amazing Day One Australian muscle car in existence.”
It has only covered 4698 miles from new and is the only unrestored Phase IV remaining, with the original paint, interior, Bathurst Globe wheels and even the original tyres. There’s even magnetic signage included, which gives it a proper race car look, along with the standard-issue rollcage.
The sale price eclipses the previous record-holder for Australian road cars by some margin too, which was held by a 1985 HDT Holden Commodore VK Group A SS once owned by racing legend Peter Brock. It sold at auction for a remarkable AU$1,057,509 (NZ$1,102,278), just beating the AU$1,050,000 record set by a rare HSV Maloo GTSR W1.
Prices for vintage Holden and Ford muscle cars have leapt in recent years, particularly since Holden closed its doors early last year. Someone paid more than half a million for a Falcon with no engine in 2020, although to be fair, it was a genuine GTHO Phase III.
The first car HDT (Holden Dealer Team, the precursor to HSV) raced, a 1969 Monaro GTS350 built and raced by Harry Firth, was set to sell for more than $1 million but a last-minute call from Australia's Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications dampened spirits.
It said the Monaro could be an 'Australian Protected Object' and not be allowed to leave the country, and as a result, the racer went for AU$750k (NZ$781,751).
While they aren’t pushing the million-dollar mark, other classic Holdens are creeping up in price.
Lloyds Auctions currently has a one-of-four HSV GTSR W1 Maloo with just 19km on the clock sitting at AU$495,000 at the time of writing. Considering it’s basically brand new, there’s a good chance it will sell for big money.
It also has a “highly customised” 2017 Holden HSV GTSR, which was given a Walkinshaw Power Pack W557, bumping outputs to 557kW/930Nm, the ‘XU3 Yellah’ paint to match the 1996 GTSR and a genuine V8 Supercars rear spoiler supplied by 888 Race Engineering.