Legendary Australian muscle car sets auction record

Iconic Ford and Holden machines attracted strong bidding at the sale of a muscle car collection owned by a failed businessman.

Ford’s Falcon GT-HO attracted record bidding at Slattery Auctions.

A blue-blooded Ford fan has set an Australian auction record for a production car by paying $1.15 million for a rare muscle car.

The 1971 Ford Falcon GT-HO attracted top billing at a Western Australia auction of muscle cars formerly owned by Perth businessman Chris Marco.

Ford Falcon GT-HO at Slattery Auctions.

The $1.15 million figure eclipses a $1.05 million sum paid for a rare HSV Maloo GTSR W1 in January, and $1.03 million for a similar Falcon once owned by Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson.

Enormous interest in the muscle car collection crashed the Slattery Auctions website on Monday.

Privately extended bidding saw the blue Falcon set a new record for an Australian road car at auction.

Ford Falcon GT-HO at Slattery's Auctions.

But it fell short of the $2.1 million paid for a Holden Commodore race car used by Peter Brock to win the Bathurst 1000 in 1982 and 1983.

Other models at the WA auction attracted strong bidding.

A red 2017 HSV GTSR W1 sedan with 50 kilometres on the dash fetched $365,000 – almost $200,000 more than its new price, but well below the $500,000 to $600,000 owners are asking for in classifieds listings.

HSV GTSR W1 at Slattery's Auctions.

A black Holden GTSR Maloo with the interior still wrapped in delivery plastic sold for $230,500, more than double its new price.

Holden fans also snapped up a HQ Monaro GTS and Torana GTR XU-1 for $171,500 and $210,500.

Nissan fans will note that a pristine 260Z coupe sold for $116,000.

Originally published as Legendary Australian muscle car sets auction record