One-of-one Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III for sale for $1.2 million | Daily News Byte

For sale is one of Australia’s rarest and most desirable muscle cars.

This is strange Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III was the 196th example built – of a 300-car production run – and was sold new by Slater Ford in 1971 for around $5000.

Luxury dealership Lorbek now offers a one-of-one GTHO for $1.2 million – being the only Phase III to be optioned with Monza green, saddle brown trim interior, and factory-fitted sunroof – and showing just 36,268 kilometers on the odometer.

A full bare-metal restoration was completed by Ford GT specialist Frank Portelli using original factory parts, and it comes complete with Victorian number plates ‘HO-196’, denoting the car’s build number.

The Phase III was the fastest production sedan in the world when it was new, with its 5.8-litre ‘Cleveland’ V8 reported to produce between 261 and 283kW, despite the car being advertised as having 224kW only (or 300bhp in old money).

With the help of all the upgrades fitted to the car, Ford racing legend Allan Moffat took the GTHO Phase III to victory in the iconic Bathurst race in 1971.

All this led to the model being one of the most important four-door production cars in history.

The highest recorded price paid for an Australian-built car was set by the ‘Yellow Glo’ 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III in September 2021, changing hands at auction for $1.3 million.

In February of the same year, a blue Falcon GTHO Phase III was sold at auction for $1.15 million.

However, while unverified, Drive understands a one-of-four 1972 Ford Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV sold privately for $1.75 million in August 2021, surpassing publicly available auction records.

You can view the ad for the 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III offered by Lorbek by clicking here.