Ford XY Falcon GT

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: 286 mm (11.3 in) servo assisted discs Rear: 254 mm (10.0 in) 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 (400 m) - 14.4 seconds (manual )[1] 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.

[3] However, the Phase III GTHO, in full street trim, was only ever clocked at 142mph by Wheels magazine in October 1971, and this yellow example was running the 3.25:1 rear axle with the QC motor.

The 1969 Dodge Polara Pursuit four-door, in full street trim, running the optional 440ci/375hp V8 automatic was officially clocked at 147mph by Michigan State Police at Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds.

[4] Although this latter vehicle was specified by the California Highway Patrol and supplied by Chrysler, the general public could option the very same car (sans the lights and sirens) from their local dealer.

[11] 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.

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.

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.

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 long race with the Mustang of Moffat.

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".

[13] Recently one of three Phase 4 protypes manufactured by Ford Special vehicles to compete at Bathurst 1972 was sold for $1,750,000 a world record price after spending over 20 years with its previous collector owner Paul Carthew