Ford Falcon XA GT expected to fetch $100,000 at auction

The tyres are flat, it won’t start and it’s riddled with rust but this rare coupe is expected to fetch top dollar because it’s part of Aussie muscle car folklore.

It’s full of rust, it won’t start and the interior is full of rat droppings and cobwebs but auctioneers still expect a rare Ford Falcon to sell for roughly six figures when it goes to auction this Friday.

Known in enthusiast circles as the “Chicken Coupe” because it’s owner parked it in a barn and surrounded it in chicken wire because he couldn’t afford to insure it, the Falcon XA GT is highly sought after thanks to its incredible back story.

The story goes back to the supercar scare of the early 1970s, when Ford, Holden and Chrysler were forced to scrap plans for faster muscle cars to compete at Bathurst after a political uproar caused by a newspaper article.

This rare Ford Falcon is expected to fetch big dollars at auction. Picture: Supplied.

Then NSW transport minister Milton Morris told the newspaper he was horrified at plans for the big three to build sedans capable of 160mph (roughly 260km/h), calling the cars “bullets on wheels”.

Ford had already built four “Phase IV” GT HO Falcons but, fearful of the political backlash, the company scrapped the program in 1972.

The next year, though, it offered a run of 120 RPO (regular production option) 83 hardtop coupes that came with many of the modified parts left over from the Phase IV program.

The company didn’t advertise the cars and some got more go-fast parts than others, but those in the know snapped them up.

The limited edition Falcon was fitted with race parts. Picture: Supplied.

One of them was a Queensland Telecom technician who drove it for 15 years before parking it in a shed surrounded by chicken wire “to keep the pigeons out”. It’s been there for the past 32 years.

Over that time, several collectors tried to buy the car off him, but he held onto it because it had sentimental value, even serving as his official wedding car.

The vehicle was one of only two hardtops painted in a special orange hue called MacRobertson’s Old Gold. The colour was a nod to Australian chocolate maker MacRobertson’s, inventors of the Cherry Ripe and Freddo Frog. It was the same colour as the Old Gold tin.

The interior is covered in rat droppings. Picture: Supplied.

Aaron Lofts from Grays said Ford often produced special colours when they were trying to woo fleet customers.

“They did a Rothmans Blue and a CUB bottle brown as well,” he says.

Grays classic car specialist Rian Gaffy says the car is “as Australian as it gets”.

“From its accidental birth after the supercar ban to its decades in a shed surrounded by chicken wire to its colour scheme that honours a local chocolate company, it’s a uniquely Aussie story surrounded by rumours and legend. We’re very proud and excited to offer it for auction.”

The car is being sold in original condition and will cost thousands to restore. Picture: Supplied.

The car is being offered in its original state, covered in dust, cobwebs and rat droppings.

It was bought in 1973 for $7000 but it is expected to fetch $100,000, despite the fact it would cost another $100,000 to restore it to its original condition.

Originally published as Ford Falcon XA GT expected to fetch $100,000 at auction