The $1.15m Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III – and its owners

When Glen and Patricia Jahnke purchased their new Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III from Ipswich Ford on July 17, 1971, they weren’t interested in its investment potential or performance benchmarks.

Never mind the GTHO Phase III was considered the world’s fastest four-door production car at the time, or that it dominated the Australian Touring Car Championship.

The Jahnkes’ new ‘Electric Blue’ sedan, bought for the princely sum of $5400, was purely a family car.

“In those days it was just the top-of-the-line Ford,” explains Glen, a farmer and carpenter who today resides with Patricia in Toowoomba.

“We used it as an everyday family hack. Patricia drove it more than I did. Later on when we had kids, we drove them to school and to the shops in it. It was a bit too good for that but that’s just the way it was.”

In their 12 years of ownership, the Jahnkes amassed nearly 100,000 miles in the distinctive family chariot.

In that time, the GTHO bore witness to the kind of adventures any family runabout might, while also facilitating some unique memories – like the time someone tried to steal it from Willowbank Raceway car park, or when police pulled Glen over simply “for a look” while on his way to pick up his wedding suit.

Occasionally, Glen would dress the Phase III up as a bridal car for other couples’ weddings, and he fondly recalls comments from myriad passers-by. Yet the true significance of the Phase III only became apparent in the years after the Jahnkes’ ownership.

“It was about 15 years later that I realised how much of an icon it really was,” Glen reflects.

“I had it for 12 years and they did say it would be a good car, but it was starting to get a little long in the tooth when I sold it – a 12-year-old car with nearly 100,000 miles on the clock.

“We did put an air-conditioner in it, but it wasn’t the sort of car to be taking to shopping centres and car parks.

“The dealer said at the time it was a little bit special, but no-one predicted this.”

Today, the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III’s provenance is well known. Just 300 examples were built between May and November of 1971, serving as homologation specials for one of Ford’s most dominant periods in motorsport. Namely, with Allan Moffat at Bathurst.

Based on the 1969 XW GT, the GTHO (Handling Option) Phase III boasted a beefy rear anti-sway bar, larger Holley carburettor, lumpier camshaft and freer flowing intake manifold, plus different lifters and valves.

All told, the changes augmented the Phase III 351 cubic-inch (5.8-litre) V8’s power figures to 224kW, or 300hp in the old money. The story goes the real figure was closer to 284kW, however, and was legendarily understated for insurance purposes.

The GTHO dispatched the all-important 0-100km/h dash in about 6.5 seconds, and the quarter mile in 14.4 seconds, superlative numbers for the time.

The Jahnkes’ old family car is said to be one of only seven examples produced in Electric Blue with black trim. In its early years, it also went without the GT’s iconic stripes, out of Glen’s fear of the trend ageing quickly.

After trading hands a couple of times, the XY Phase III was restored in 1998 by then-owner Mark Lamb, and went on to win the GT Nationals in 1999 and 2003. It was also used by Ford Australia in its advertising campaign for the BA FPV GT.

In February 2021, the meticulously restored muscle car set a new record price for an Australian production car sold at auction – a staggering $1.15 million.

Fittingly, the vehicle’s new owner, well-known philanthropist and supporter of the arts, Judith Neilson, isn’t interested in the GTHO’s investment potential or performance attributes.

Ferrying the family around is the furthest thing from the 74-year-old billionaire’s mind, too; instead, she views it as a work of art.

Asked why the Phase III resonates so highly, Neilson says: “The design and the ingredients that Ford put into that design to make it so good.

“I was not interested in how well it ran or what it did,” she adds. “I just liked the presence of it. It fits in exactly with what I love.”

Neilson bought the Phase III as an “iconic Australian” item for her Dangrove art education facility, located in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria. It will reside there as part of a broader collection of predominantly Chinese contemporary art.

Neilson says that, just like her art and property portfolios, she hasn’t bought the GTHO as an investment. Nothing she does is about making money but, rather, to share her passion with others.

You could say the same philosophy was instilled in the White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale, a celebrated and permanent collection of Neilson’s own personal art – nothing is for sale and it is open and free to the public.

Ditto, the same reason why Neilson’s philanthropic work and contribution to the arts resulted in her being recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and an Honorary Doctorate by the University of NSW.

“I never got any fun from hiding things. If I get good news or see exciting things, it gets rammed down everyone’s throat,” she jokes.

“You look at the Phase III as a single object, it is one beautiful piece. I was watching the news and I saw it come up and thought, ‘That’s exactly what I need because it’s something Australian, it’s something unique and it’s something I didn’t know about.’

“I thought to myself, ‘More people should know about it.’”

Neilson’s interest in cars is not well known. However, she says cars have been a big part of her family ever since her father began work as an apprentice car mechanic in Rhodesia at nine years of age.

“Nothing was very smart or shiny,” she says of her upbringing in Africa. “We never had a car as nice as this. But it sits the way cars used to sit back then.”

Earlier this month, Neilson, the Jahnkes and Mark Lamb met at the Dangrove facility in Alexandria to celebrate the Phase III’s new residence.

Understandably, the Jahnkes and Mark Lamb, who owned the vehicle himself for 25 years, had mixed emotions upon seeing the vivid muscle car once again.

“It gives you a bit of a heart palpitation seeing it again,” says Lamb, a Queensland plumber who sold the Phase III in 2016 to help fund the purchase of a property.

“You couldn’t get a better owner really. Having it in an air-conditioned and climate-controlled environment, it will last forever.”

Even in the spectacularly grand Dangrove gallery, the GTHO occupies a special place visually. It is unmistakably eye-catching nestled among pieces of art, rather than sitting in a field of like-minded cars – as it was under the previous ownership of Perth businessman Chris Marco’s collection.

Neilson’s plans for the Phase III bring some comfort to the Jahnkes and to Lamb. She says everything she does is to last for 100 years.

“I see myself as a caretaker of these things to be shared with others, and not hidden away,” she says. “The GTHO is part of that.

“I’m absolutely delighted that it has a home here; people will know where it is. I’m not sure who will want to know about it, but it will be quite easy to find here. Please ask about it, and we can make a plan if they want to see it.”

Watching on as the GTHO Phase III’s custodians past and present pore over its details and share their stories of ownership is awe-inspiring, and plays into Neilson’s interpretation of the GTHO as a work of art.

Even better, however, is when Neilson asks for the GTHO’s battery to be reinstalled, before she, the Jahnkes and Lamb each take turns firing up the spectacular Broadmeadows brute.

Watching on as each party sits in and experiences the 5.8-litre V8 awaken, bringing back a stream of memories and nostalgia, is special.

Just like the rest of Neilson’s extensive collection, the GTHO clearly means different things to each person present.

“It’s a little bit emotional to see it again now. But in a way it’s good to know it’s been restored and this might be a good retirement home for it here,” says Glen Jahnke.

“It would be sad to see it wrecked on some road or around a tree. It’s good to know it will last for a while yet.

“I’m happy people can see it as well. It’s a good retirement home for it. There’s not too many 50-year-old cars that can stay in this condition.”

The GTHO will assist in Dangrove’s mission of education in art and culture, Neilson says.

It is available to view by appointment at the Dangrove art facility in Alexandria, Sydney.