Barn find
https://www.drive.com.au/news/barn-find-ford-falcon-xa-gt-rpo-83-chicken-coupe-could-sell-at-auction-for-200-000-123950.htmlA nominal starting bid of $9 has already been entered by organisers, but a representative for Grays Online said they have already received estimates of $200,000.
Muscle Car Sales expert Harry Christian estimates the vehicle could sell for $150,000 “as is”, and could be worth more than $250,000 once restored.
The car is expected to fetch top dollar – despite its run-down condition – because it is part of a batch of special limited edition models known by car enthusiasts as “the one that got away”.
Its official name is the Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83, and is even more rare the mighty Ford Falcon GTs of the 1970s.
The Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83 edition was created almost by accident. Ford had planned to build a Ford Falcon GT Phase IV – a successor to the race-winning Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III models.
However, plans to produce the Ford Falcon GT Phase IV were dropped after the car made front-page news following a public and political backlash.
Back in the day, race cars had to be based on road cars, so Ford and Holden tried to outdo each other with special showroom editions.
The car up for auction this weekend was recovered from the Darling Downs – a regional area between Brisbane and Toowoomba.
The original owner bought the vehicle new in 1973 and used it as his wedding car in 1974.
After 15 years – and 46,386 miles (74,651km) – the car became too costly to insure, so the owner parked the vehicle in a shed surrounded by chicken wire “to keep the pigeons out”.