Topic

The Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III was a modified version the Falcon GT built in 1971 with a heavily modified engine, a 4 speed top-loader gearbox and Detroit locker 9" differential. It was also equipped with special brakes and handling package, plus a 36 US gal (136 L; 30 imp gal) fuel tank.



Winner of the 1971 Bathurst 500, driven by Allan Moffat, the Phase III has been described as "...simply one of the best cars in the world, a true GT that could take on Ferraris and Astons on their own terms..." by Sports Car World.



The GTHO's 351 Cleveland engine produced over 380 hp (283 kW) which, back in 1971, was grossly underrated to 300 hp (224 kW). Initial cars were equipped with an electrical rev limiter which came into effect at 6,150 rpm. With the rev limiter disabled, the engine was reputed to pull in excess of 7,000+ rpm, even in 4th gear. The "HO" portion of the name stood for "Handling Option", these options included bigger brakes, stiffer suspension, a front spoiler, a choice of 3 differentials and an optional close-ratio gearbox making the production GTHO very similar to the race version.



The Phase III was Australia's fastest four door production car for many years and in 1971 it won the Bathurst 500 motor race in the hands of Allan Moffat.

But, is it cool?

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All the cars are now in the new Cool Wall section in the T-Bar

A brute of a car!
But cool?

bacchus wrote: wrote:

.... been described as "...simply one of the best cars in the world, a true GT that could take on Ferraris and Astons on their own terms..." by Sports Car World.

err .... No what had the guys at Sports Car World been drinking / sniffing / injecting ?

A car cannot be cool if you have to explain a long list of technical data

For me, to be cool a car must look special, make you look twice, for the right reasons.

This has the looks only a mother could love.

Oh guys, come on. The GTHO is an Aussie icon. Some examples have sold for more than $600,000AUD

Wait I'll take a second look .....


err .... No

Sorry bacchus, I can appreciate this as a muscle car, but cool, comparing it to a Ferrari or an Aston Martin .... sorry it has no chance of being considered cool.

Putting a big engine in a saloon doesn't make it cool.... what did the designers though? eerr maybe the thing didn't had any designers

its cool cause it has a big engine

Squeaks wrote: wrote:

its cool cause it has a big engine

So does the 147 Bus to the High Street, but that ain't cool either

I meant it was a proper mans engine

OK I'm digging up this old thread, but with some justification.
Dad had one of these back in the day!
The only way you could realistically compare it with stuff like Astons and Fazzas is in acceleration times.
You needed a bloody whip and a chair to get 'em to negotiate a corner!
But they were a whole lotta fun.
Dad used it as his every day driver, but it got pressed into service as a racecar when the Holden Torana XU1 didn't turn up, which was to be our new racecar, and we were already entered for a race series.
A roll cage, fire extinguisher, and some racing slicks were fitted. Slap some numbers on the side and a racing it did go! Still had the bloody towbar fitted!
Much to the annoyance of the Ford works team our car was faster than theirs on the straights, but we hadn't done any work on the handling so they would pass again under brakes and on the corners.
On one memorable occasion we were behind in preparation for a race meeting so while the MG Midget was getting worked on we decided to save time and bolt a new set of slicks to the GTHO so as they could bed in on the way to the track whilst towing the Midget. (Slicks were a new fangled idea back then and they needed to be bed in. They had much harder compounds then and would be expected to last quite a few races) Anyway no one thought to keep an eye on the weather and of course it rained heavily on the way on the track.
That was one entertaining ride, pressing on in a hurry, in a car with a surplus of power over traction, on slicks in the rain with a trailer carrying another car!

Looks a bit like a mk 3 cortina to me

helsbyman wrote: wrote:

Looks a bit like a mk 3 cortina to me

The basic body shape dates back to @1967 and was itself derived from the US Falcon @1965/1966 so it predates the Mk3 Corty.
Maybe you could say the Corty looks like it.
But when you see the two in the flesh they look completely different, though the Ford corporate styling themes of the time shoe through the Mk3 Corty has quite a distinct "Coke Bottle" profile at the hip line, the Falcon has only the beginings of this styling feature and because it is a much bigger car the overall scale, changes the perspective.