Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 4 test drive

The Falcon GTHO Phase 4 is one of the rarest muscle cars ever built by Ford. Only 4 were ever made and 3 are beleived to still exist. 3 were purpose built for production car racing and only one made it through the production line before the program was cancelled due to the "muscle car scare" in Australia.
It is to Australia, what the Mustang Boss 429 is to the USA - The ultimate muscle car.

[@jasonlarnach6770]

"Piece of art " was an insult. It's an engineering masterpiece.

[@Dave.S.TT600]

no it was not an insult. quite obviously

[@NoBody-ht1oh]

Engineering masterpiece thats hilarious. You don't know much about engineering do you?

[@jasonlarnach6770]

@@NoBody-ht1oh For it's day it was. And I was just showing love. So stick your opinion where it fits.

[@paspax]

Only 3 of the 4 Phase 4's were red. They were being prepped for racing. The fourth one was green with a cream interior & aircon. (may also have been auto with a sunroof, can't remember) It went down the line like any other production car. A lot of the excess phase 4 parts left over after the RPO 83's were built, found their way into Fairlanes.

[@idak12]

This car must be worth more than 1 mil if a p3 is worth 1 mil. The XA Falcon is the best looking falcon ever and 351 is such a gorgeous sound.

[@fulborejetsparrowrover]

The best Australian sports car of the time. Had a GT Special years ago, didn't know what I had. Oh well... Such is life.

[@steeltrap3800]

My brother had a GT-XA in the 80s. Hilarious thing to drive around Sydney. Heavy steering, very heavy clutch, tiny gear shift. Glorious sound. Played around with the idea of rebuilding it to some monster specs, but didn't. Wish we'd kept it.

[@caratcranker5874]

XA GT's had MONSTER ports, anybody remember these?

[@timothylanders3189]

@@caratcranker5874 My 74' Landau had the closed chamber 4V heads & all the GT stock gear, as was standard 290bhp on paper. Not the same as these track monsters but, facts are slim these days...

[@markjones464]

You made the commet wished I still Had it , Two problem with that , I had XUI , and a Beautiful V8 COMMODORE Both were stolen , yes I got them back But Damaged and thrashed , Sold them Both and went to Standard looking cars After that , My Mark 2 Capri sold that to a Mate , he up North working Hard locked up in shed and some Jealous Tosser Torched it , I had Said to me you should put in shed and Brought it out now 20 to 30 Years later It was your Every day drive car as well And when you look back , you say I wish I done this , but nothing Changed Which one of us bought the last GT Ford and put away for twenty years , We Don't have the money it worth lots In the Future Ps If we have Petrol ⛽️

[@MRHORNET]

Very nice. I like the xc cobra that was behind it on the track too. Ford Power

[@beagle7622]

Sort of agree but the problem was more in the Rules for Series Production. The 1st car I ever drove was the Monaro GTS. there were about 14 built of this model which used the 307 Chev engine Muncie close ratio gearbox. Cross ply tyres remember with the red lines. Solid Disc brakes. It was a beast and it was under braked. Stopping it in a hurry was an adventure, people who drove the car all said the same thing. It is a shame that these cars never hit the roads but I know who and why the decision was made to stop the XU-2. It made sense even to me a real motor racing fan at the time. They do acknowledge that too many people were being involved in car accidents. The best result would have been to build the basic HO and XU-1 for the road and allow them to fit wider wheels, better brakes, engine mods etc for the track, similar to the rules around today except those cars now bear no resemblance to road cars.

[@MrZiggywatson]

This car wood be the ultimate car for any ford fan! if not any car fan!

[@timothylanders3189]

As with all GT's @ least from XY on. They incorporated a restrictor plate (I believe it was similar to a decomp plate) that sat with head gasket to reduce comp ratio. The ratio was 12:1, once removed! I know this as when I owned my 71' R/T E38 trackpack Charger back in 86'. My best mate worked as a TA mechanic for a guy who had owned a British racing green XY GT. He would regularly race a Ducati up to 140mph where they'd peter out. This was a street GT, not HO! He told my mate the story concerning the car.

[@paspax]

@Harakudoshi904 The "phase 1' or "Windsor HO" & the Phase II were both XW's. Phase III was XY.

[@falcon0351]

I hear ya buddy...the xa is a beautiful motor car..especially in PHASE 4 format...awesome...

[@darronmecak5720]

I have a very early 302 cleveland engine and when it was rebuilt i noticed the block had been relieved for the bigger 4v valves from the factory,possibly the same blocks used in 2 bolt phase 4,s

[@ajv802]

I think you had the one and only known Phase 5 experimental blocks in your car. Detuned obviously, some say the Phase 5 was designed to produce well over 650hp and thats before the factory restrictor plate was removed. You should have hung onto it, that engine is worth over $428 million to collectors and thats in boat anchor condition.

[@MickH60]

@@ajv802 Rubbish

[@perpetualgrin5804]

I still like the Charger more , great times in Australia.

[@reeceracing123]

@2009bfs yeah there was 1 3 issue article about it in the Street Fords mag.

[@ozimage]

Some one in South Africa bought a shed, and I think it was at the back of a Pub. It was filled with 38 GT's and 6 Monaro's I haven't been able to find out where in South Africa the Photos were taken.

[@JBofBrisbane]

@davembanks - Mate, back in those days we pressed all our body panels from locally produced steel. And we designed the XA Falcon here, unlike all the Falcons that went before.

[@churdude]

An insight to where motor racing was heading. The closest thing to these would of been the Police pursuit cars made for chase power. Even the old Mustang would of strangled to pace these, even Moffat switched to the GTHO, so as for it being a four door who cares. If you love the sound of V8's these are up there!!

[@seamsy289]

i've met Bruce Hodgson who was the only person to race one ford australia gave it to him and rallyed it in the southern cross rallys

[@avatarrestorations890]

it was stated capable of 170mph in race trim according to Marsden back in the road car 160mph..that's nuts!

[@7071t6]

with wobberling all over the road, think about it, also the road surfaces at bathurst is not like it is today ? Also Need to get it on a dyno, so we can see the difference if any, lol :) Think about it, what FORD said ie: around 280Kw for the thase 3, now phase 4 XA gt ho, would be around the 300+ kw at the engine, not the rear wheels, till they do that, its just a old car, no matter what history it has, ford or holden ?

[@MickH60]

@@7071t6 You have no idea what you're talking about....

[@RedOct74LH]

i remember reading a few years ago, that there was the 4 Phase IV's but also a Phase IV and 1/2 Hardtop, that was being built for a Sydney Ford dealer at the time, as prototype for the '73 season, while the sedans was for the '72 season. The Hardtop that Alan Moffit won Bathurst in in '73 was a IV in every respect bar name(RPO83), same with the XA Hardtop the John Goss won with the following year.

[@fugawiaus]

I know it is 8yrs late but the sedan was the phase 4 and the hardtop was pencilled in as the phase 5

[@timothylanders3189]

Have you anything to share as proof? Not for me! But, so I can share ;)

[@timothylanders3189]

@@fugawiaus Have you anything to share as proof? Not for me! But, so I can share ;)

[@fugawiaus]

@@timothylanders3189 I can’t remember where I saw it. It was about the design of the xa in the us by Aussie designers alongside the Torino. Ford were late with releasing the xa and hadn’t fully tooled up for the hardtop. The hardtop was supposed to be the racing car not the sedan. This was why the sedan was the phase 4. When they released the hardtop it would be the phase 5 in the same way as the xw had the phase 2 update. With the v8 scare, ford dropped the “phase” and “gtho” titles and used all the phase 3 parts as an option on the plate “RPO 83” to use up all the parts.

[@dml601]

Motor racing in Australia at the time was based on production models. The car you raced had to have had at least 500 sold openly to the public to qualify it as a "production" model

[@tony.benfield8499]

Paul C, a champion bloke.

[@eddie100]

I am a novice, but when I was young in the '60's and '70's, Bathurst was a race for production cars ie more than 500 had to be built and sold to the public, with the same specs as the race car. What has happened to that ideal? Considering what powerful cars kid's can drive around in today (they have the rights and responsibilities to do that), I reckon a production car race (stock standard), would be winner.

[@scottbrown8333]

High compression Cleveland's there's no beating them with the right accessories I'm ford thrust n thru American muscle cars 63 onwards

[@560287144602817]

@davembanks xa falcon was the first all australian falcon body everything before that were built from american designs.

[@PeterBrennan-oz8jq]

Most of the extracors from product engineering were cut and buried at Corio tip ,and a very large box of engine components went the same way

[@Mik-ly9sp]

Very nice

[@rob56-c5s]

i worked on one of those cars while doing my apprenticeship.

[@williamselems9904]

Best car ever imagine if it went to full production The falcons would prolly look like ferraries nowadays

[@54spiritedwill54]

freakin awesome! that is all.

[@reeceracing123]

This is the most awesome car EVER!!!

[@kjsh987]

one of the most gratest cars of the world

[@Mustang00007]

So what happened to the XD's or XE they were turbocharged only a few of them built?

[@sugarnads]

That was a dick johnson racing thing. Wasnt a factory effort.

[@kerrykelaher2607]

" ian luff kid in a candy store !" Laugh 😃 😀 😄 😁 🤣 😂 😃 😀 😄

[@robertjames1324]

Lets get this right. The phase 4 was a 4 bolt bottom end. Nothing like phase 3 in the block other 4inch bore

[@wargasmnz]

@eddie100 Back in the 70s all they did was release the likes of the GTHO. and GTS350. Make the race car and then sell enough of them to the public to get the car in the series. The HO and GTS options even included road legal race tyres. So all you would do is force it back to the old days where they produce race cars for the public and then enter them in the race and end up back at square 1 pretty quick.

[@jas072]

Yeh Yeh what a weapon.What were they thinking baning the phase 4 falcon

[@racer6583]

Funny thing about goverments here in the state we have nascar and they killed our version of the super v8's along with our gov,Insurence company's. It seems to me that to many People are telling everyone what they should do, what a shame good looking car keep your auto history alive

[@leeenfieldsmle]

The late Greg Hansford had one of these.It was Kawasaki green and was modded for him. I was a friend of Gregs and remember him thrashing it over Settlement rd at the Gap in Brisbane.Before that he had a Gold Phase 3 which he sold to the late Rodney Murdoch who put it into a dentist's surgery opposite the Newmarket Hotel in the wet....very expensive. Don't know what happened to the Phase 4.

[@JBofBrisbane]

Wasn't the homologation number 250 for Series Production and Group C? Group A needed 5000 of a particular car and engine, then 500 "sporting evolution" examples to homologate all the go-faster bits and body kit. Great to see one of these running, though.

[@BruceLee-sw4ms]

200 cars in 1972 and previously.

[@akvette]

Only 4 GTHO Phase 4's were ever built. With a couple of XY GTHO Phase 3's recently selling for over half a million dollars, it makes you wonder what one of these legendary Phase 4 cars is worth.

[@thethirdman225]

This one sold for $2 million in 2018.

[@3800TURBO]

This the one that just sold for 2M.

[@bradlez996]

If i won 1st division on Powerball, i'd probably try to buy 1 of these, or Bill Bourke's old XW-GT. The 1 with the factory fitted 428 Cobra Jet engine. I wonder which 1 would more expensive?

[@firstname9502]

The 4

[@krashdown102]

where they all sedans or was there a coupe version. i want some gtho parts for my xb

[@INSINR8R]

you don't have to like fords to appreciate this car. I love my holdens, but this is an awesome car

[@natskrypka4332]

They made four of them.

[@user-qm4oj3ok5q]

Blood Great Year 1972...Com'on Now!

[@eddie100]

Square #1 is a good place to start. As I said, the race was for production cars. I can by buy one, my niece can buy one. If you had the insurance, you could've driven from Melbourne, in your race car, and then raced. Did you need insurance about the ** then?

[@450hp202turbo]

i know were 1 of the the 3 black 427 factory coups is hiding . with rear wiper .

[@Holden308]

Luffy should do more TV. The guy know's his stuff.

[@antiwonggalonggalo]

plenty of RPO's around that are almost full spec minus the factory race fitouts (ie: rollcage etc) and plus the options like air con etc... they sell for a good 70k+ now but 3 years ago you could still pick up a loaded one for 20k!.... fckn bs car prices.

[@russellmoore1533]

Oran Park, now covered with houses...

[@1darryloflife]

What they do not tell you is that the car had an engineering mistake built in. In order to better understand the MISTAKE one needs to look at the Phase Three Falcon which had been set up via Head Mod Engineering in Doncaster. The man responsible was John Bennett who established a proper tune spec for that car via proper installation engineering of the Cleveland engine into a Falcon. That engine dictated that there be a specific design of radiator, being the top bottom tank radiator. The package worked. In the XA model Ford chose to eliminate the top bottom tank radiator in favor of a crossflow radiator which was against the instructions from the US mother company. The crossflow radiator does not have the expansion room built in to cater for the clevelands thermostat design and unique coolant passage design. As such the XA, XB, XC, XD and XE falcons fitted with that engine suffered head gasket problems. The problem can be rectified but the current mind set in the industry needs to accept that there ego needs to be pacified.

[@robertjames1324]

Head gasket problems?

[@davembanks]

@gpartrt Chrysler Corporation in the US had been working since 1966 on an inline 6-cylinder engine, called the D-engine, to replace the Slant 6 (G-engine) in Dodge trucks, but abandoned the effort. Chrysler Australia wanted a new six-cylinder engine for use in the Australian Chrysler Valiant, and so Chrysler USA sent engineers to work with Chrysler Australia's engineers to continue developing the D-engine. Do some reasearch clown

[@Taranau]

Wasn't Mad Max's car a modified xc cobra?It's got the right look...

[@gogogeedus]

@natroy2245 The green HO still exists it was owned by a collector in Sydney.I worked at a place that used to tune that car for its previous owner in Qld.

[@666gunna]

There are some real goose's out there people! For those of you knocking these Fantastic Cars you should pull your heads out of your arse's. These's Cars are a piece of Australian & World History. They Deserve Respect! If you don't like them then keep it to your self. No one wants to hear your Dribble.

[@Hitman-ds1ei]

Most the phase4 motor stuff ended up in F100,s so it turns out as heavy duty truck engines

[@avatarrestorations890]

right bank blows smoke but that could be because the left turn? maybe??

[@boss302gorie8]

yep,the PCV valve is in the RH rocker cover and pushes the oil towards it,i put 2 breathers on my XW to stop it doing that

[@fjbutch]

nice...

[@Gassed250]

The cylpso green one was never raced or crashed, it was the only one to have gt-ho on the compliance plate The first owner was a gentleman form Bowral NSW who drove it to Sydney and back daily, this fellow had the car repainted in zircon green as he didnt like the factory colour , The current owner is a dentist from Sydney and has had the car fully restored

[@stevo351]

yeah i reckon i have an xa sedan that im gonna do up as a gt in calypso green. some yanks import the XY GT's.

[@user-tb2gm7dw3q]

Did you get it done? Haha

[@MrZeddy100]

Where are the others?

[@BatMan-oe2gh]

One got wrecked being rallied, and apart from this one, the other 2 are in private collections.

[@bryanmccall8488]

I think journalist Evan Green was the culprit behind it's demise

[@thethirdman225]

Bryan McCall No he wasn’t.

[@JBofBrisbane]

The real culprit was NSW Minister Milton Morris.

[@robertjames1324]

Ron Rodson had one he rallied

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks Just for you one more time bro, like the whole time i have been trying to explain something to you and you do not understand, over and out means just that but you come back asking a question if i am giving up, over and out again for you (but i bet my right and left one you will reply)

[@jakefrep]

The heads found their way into the Last Of The V8's.

[@krashdown102]

i'll never buy the herald again.

[@berserka]

can they be stroked to 7.0? ive herd of a XW Gt ONLY 2-3 made. that was a 7.0 some big name guy had one. 4got his name

[@peterchown1552]

The man you speak of is Bill Bourke, boss of Ford Australia at the time, the 7.0 liter engine was not a stroked 351 it was a ford 428 cid taken from the us fords ie mustang / Torino etc.

[@MickH60]

@@peterchown1552 100% correct...

[@7071t6]

the mustang BOSS 429, needs to be the shelby Cobra jet, not your standard Mustang as well, and in fact if any of the hertz rental GT350's from the 1960's are around they are worth 3 times what the australian car is worth and Bill Bourke XW Boss Cobra jet would be worth just as much as the hertz rental cobra jets now, its the most expensive australian built XW GT HO full stop? It was in the unique cars book for sale back in 1988 and the phase 4 and also the Race XA gt 65E no i think and also the last XE ESP 4.9lt that left the ford factory as the last V8 produced in australia, cost for the silver XE was 50K, the RED XA 65E race car was 120K and bill bourke Black XW GT was 80K back in 1988, now any of these cars are worth more than winning the lotto ?7

[@Gassed250]

@likemenooneis thats ok it gives me an excuse to go for a cruise

[@7071t6]

so he drove it and now owns it, lol:)

[@davembanks]

@Gavin84w 3 over and outs so far

[@fugawiaus]

bob ahhh bob if you only had a clue about anything you are talking about..... May, 1968, Australians jack telnack, Brian Rossi and Alan Jackson went to Dearborn with their designs for the XA falcon. The Torino was being designed to replace the US falcon and was too big for Aussies. Went against the fairlaine. They designed the XA alongside the Torino. The yanks were impressed. They designed the sedan, station wagon and the fairlaine using the US design studio. 'Bunkie' Knudsen (ford bigwig) told them to go home and build yourselves a new design studio where they designed the hardtop (using design cues from the Torino), the ute and the panel van. The hardtop clays were finished in 1969. All tooling was designed and built in australia and they commenced production in dec 1971. This is from the official ford history in Australia. XA was fords first wholly designed and built car with no yank parts including engines.

[@satriagti94]

fuckin' awesome! that is all.

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks Already got it!! see below in brackets where i said i bet the left and right one you will reply and you did and i will go double or nothing!!

[@Gavin84w]

Keen Interest Without Intelligence

[@JBofBrisbane]

@davembanks - Ford started local design of the Falcon from the XA model in 1972, retaining only the floorpan from the previous American-designed package. Okay, Project Blackwood resorted to Euro-sourced panels, but EA26 was completely local. Holden borrowed styling cues for its cars for years, until the VB Commodore. Valiants were all-Australian (except the basest origins of its engine) since the VH in '71. To my knowledge, the only "local" Kiwi car was a licence-built Sigma.

[@brendanutd]

COOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks Yor replies are getting shorter so it is encouraging to understand that by that you may, just may be understanding what i am saying, frankly i don,t give a rats about the topic i just hate seeing BS put on things like forums etc and if i chosse to reply to a comment topic related or not it will be with valid information as to why and just to humour you the only good thing in that phase 4 would be the 9 inch and toploader.

[@davembanks]

@Gavin84w You will never be cleaver enouh to play mind games that get the sought after result

[@stu22aus]

Well I guess if your average M5, RS6, E55, R8 and XR falcon owners are all Grandparents, where do I sign for Grandchildren?

[@akvette]

Well bowmanation , take your video camera and post up a clip as a reply to this video - just don't disclose the guys details or location.

[@antiwonggalonggalo]

i doubt the owner of the phase 4 is selling it dude......

[@caliberracer]

that sucks i thought it was gonna be an xy when i read the name

[@andgate2000]

Not sure id be driving a rare car on 40year old tyres, tyre have a fixed life even if theyre not driven on. Theres no way that car would stop from 160mph on 1972 brakes.

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks I know the post is about the phake 4 but i will repeat again for the dummy my reply was at atlast 17,s comment (who in your world took it "off topic") by commenting that a 350 chev would blow up if revved to 6000RPM.How you get me comparing the so called legendary phase 4 to a drag racing engine builder out of what i posted in reply to a 350 Chev blowing up i am at a total loss to understand your thinking, take a breath, read it and understand it.

[@VanTerminatorX]

i think i just creamed in me pants

[@chuckselvage3157]

3 to 1 diff they had a top speed of 170mph.

[@Eric-kn4yn]

A coffin on wheels

[@MickH60]

@@Eric-kn4yn only for pussies, all cars are coffins if abused, go wrap yourself in cotton wool so you don't get hurt in the big scary world....FFS

[@thethirdman225]

That car sold for $2 million in 2018.

[@moparmaster8925]

😮😮😮🤐

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks Double or nothing and i got ya, game over pal but i know your type, your one of these types who just has to have the last comment, you just can,t resist. Oh and you might want to read a couple of your last comments and spell check them as you may have the same trouble i did putting a couple of words together, but hey your the genius around here, over and out bro.

[@potaka79]

@davembanks come on mate, the ford territory is aussie designed and built. aussie six.............i can't speak for the red arrmy but ford aussie make there own motors and cars, have done for the last 60 yrs..( our v8 are imported, but they are pulled down and re tooled............

[@TechnikMeister2]

Actually three were built and one was crushed. There is this one and the other two are in secret storage. It would not be hard to build a replica/re-creation/tribute car and maybe run it at Muscle Car Masters. All the bits are available from various suppliers. You just need an XA shell and go from there. Pop a Ford Motorsport 351 or a Nascar Ford 358 in it.

[@davembanks]

@rock2fackie 351 equates to 5.7 litre not 7.0

[@michaelmcnamara1695]

5.8

[@MickH60]

5.8 for the 351... 5.7 for the 350 chev....

[@kpcart]

haha, caught out there!

[@johncunningham4820]

Mobile Art. Brute Force devices for sure . Armstrong Steering . Need more POWER Brakes . Handled like a Boat compared to what's now . First thing a Driver needed was Stainless Steel Bowling Ball testicles .

[@davembanks]

@gpartrt You should do some reasearch before flapping your gums and get the facts right

[@davembanks]

@gpartrt Of course your gonna leave, tail between leggs and scurry off when argument is lost, it's the aussie way. no we don't make cars but neither do you, usa tool and design all aussie assembled fords and holdens and have allways done and allways will. Correct me if I am wrong

[@MickH60]

Dave, there's some stupid comments here but I'll call you out on this one mate, NOT all were designed by Americans, not even close..

[@Gavin84w]

@davembanks Well i thought you might have got it but i am mistaken, it is obvious all that going in circles stuff to find the finish line has messed with your head, you fogot to put moron in the big caps bro? You sure your last name is not Bates and middle name Master? Just like your phase 4 pal, over and out.

[@kerrykelaher2607]

" rare as hens teeth !" " the dentist still has the phase 4 !" Laugh 😃 😀 😄 😁 🤣

[@Gassed250]

people with no friends drive 2 doors