From the Classifieds: Million-dollar Ford Falcon GTHO

The 1971 XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III is among the most desirable Aussie performance cars ever built, and there’s one that’s just hit the listings on carsales.com.au for a cool $1 million.

That’s a fair whack more than the $5000 the GTHO cost brand-new, when it was also billed as the world’s fastest four-door production car.

But today’s price tag is not unexpected for the rare classic muscle car, with a Yellow Glo example of the ’71 XY Hoey selling at auction for $1.3 million (plus auction fees) in September this year, and another fetching $1.15 million in February.

From a production run of 1557 XY Falcon GTs built from September 1970 to December 1971, only 300 were GTHO Phase III cars, all produced between May and November 1971.

So when one goes up for sale, it’s definitely a sight to see, particularly when it also happens to cost more than the median house price in Western Australia, where the private seller is based.

Let’s take look at what makes this example, built in August 1971, so special.

The 351-cubic-inch Cleveland V8 has a lot in common with cars that raced around Bathurst, arguably underrated though with official figures circulating at 300hp, with owners having actually reported around 380hp.

This particular example has only four registered owners and carries less than 100,000km on the clock (84,240km), which is incredibly low for a car of this stature and age.

The Phase III’s top speed was said to be 228km/h, choked only by its 6150 rev limiter; still impressive figures given race cars from that era could only rev out to around 7000rpm.

This particular GTHO Phase III has appreciated at more than 20,000 per cent since new and is driven by a four-speed manual gearbox.

There were some significant improvements to take note of in this Phase III over the Phase II which included a better exhaust, larger four-barrel Holley carburettor, improved crankshaft and larger radiator, all in the name of reliability and race-ability.

More than five decades after production of this iconic car ended, the short-lived Aussie muscle car still stands tall. Figuratively speaking.

It seems that whenever one comes to market, especially in this condition and configuration, the rumble is profound. Can you hear it?

After all, you can always sleep in a collector car, but you can never race or drive an old house. Let that simmer if you’re tossing up whether to buy this or invest in property.

Take a closer look at this 1971 XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III for sale on carsales