Book review: 50 years of the 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III

Ross Vasse is not a household name, but to a certain type of car enthusiast, Vasse is no doubt a hero.

Wearing with pride the official title of ‘GTHO Historian’, Vasse is the standard bearer for fans of the Blue Oval brand’s most iconic car in Australia, the Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III – the car that launched a million auction bids.

Armed with licensing approval from Ford Australia, Vasse has published the 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III register, a compendious book that provides the lowdown on practically every aspect of the flying Falcon.

And Vasse has the full, documented backing of Ford Australia, making this book – the ‘Blue Edition’ successor to the previous ‘Black Edition’ – an invaluable item to have in any enthusiast’s library, and particularly those enthusiasts who are massive GTHO Phase III fans.

As the name suggests, the book is a register of the 300 examples of GTHO Phase III Falcons built by Ford at its Campbellfield plant in Victoria at the peak of the local power race between Ford and GM Holden.

But it’s more than just a hard-copy database.

The register gets off to a suitably partisan start with a preface from Falcon enthusiast Rick Perceval, who appears to overlook the existence of the E49 Valiant Charger.

Still, most readers won’t care, and no-one is buying the register for its wholehearted objectivity and balance!

Perceval’s preface is entertaining and does come with a mock stamp: “WARNING Contains strong opinions”

That’s followed by Allan Moffat’s foreword, which recounts the champion Ford driver’s personal history with this variant of Falcon and his relationship with the fans.

Vasse’s introduction reveals the author’s great passion for the car, with so much information laboriously compiled from original documentation and first-hand testimony from Ford employees and owners. It truly is a ‘labour of love, fuelled by passion’, as Vasse explains.

And after dispensing with the dry methodology of researching a book like this, Vasse spends the remaining two thirds of the introduction explaining to the reader how he came to be such a fan of the Bathurst-winning Falcon.

Then it’s into the nitty-gritty. And the sheer volume of facts and reproduced sales material, colours, trims, chassis numbers, etc is beyond astonishing.

Vasse also provides some interesting (but depressing) background to theft of the XY GTHO Phase III over the years.

Only 54 per cent (162) of the 300 cars built are known to remain in the hands of legal owners. Of the rest, 27 per cent (81) could be described as ‘whereabouts unknown’ and 19 per cent (57) have been stolen or the engine has been stolen.

In the case of the 81 ‘unknown’ cars, some have been written off or rebodied.

A list details by vehicle build number those cars that were stolen. A distressingly high number were never recovered.

The register also analyses that most controversial aspect of Phase III ownership – speculating.

Vasse has compared the average market value of the GTHO Phase III against median house prices in the major capital cities. Spoiler alert, the Falcon is a better investment than a home in Melbourne, but not a Sydney residence.

In chapter three Vasse rolls out a barrage of facts and figures for each of the ‘first batch’ of 300 cars built by Ford.

Chapter four features ‘Bathurst homologation’ vehicles and chapter five covers off the ‘Drag pack’ models, including 11 ‘phantoms’ that were built, but were never documented properly, due to a clerical error.

And in the best traditions of soap-opera script writers, Vasse leaves the reader hanging on for more information concerning build #31, the famous ‘65E’ car that Moffat drove to victory at Bathurst in 1971.

The author insists that all will be revealed about this car’s history after 1972 in a companion publication to the register.

In short, this is a fantastic book: well made, lovingly presented and printed on quality stock by a local company.

And some of the proceeds have gone to the Good Friday appeal for the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Unfortunately, the entire production run has already sold out, despite a purchase price of $275.

Fingers crossed that Vasse will set the wheels in motion for a third edition.