Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III for sale

It's not every day an example of Australia's most revered muscle car, the Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III, pops up for sale.

However, it's always an interesting barometer of the Australian muscle car market when one does, as it tends to set the ceiling for what collectors are prepared to pay for an Aussie classic - with a few exceptions such as the HRT 427 Monaro.

During the pre-GFC muscle car boom, GT-HO Phase IIIs were offered at anything up to $750,000 (there were rumours of one or two at $1million), but after that the world economy went into meltdown and prices contracted accordingly, with around $400K now seemingly the going rate for Phase III ownership.

Ford supposedly built 300 Phase IIIs and the example offered by NSW dealer Muscle Car Stables is one of 23 built in Monza Green; trainspotters will be keen to know the rarest colours were Onyx Black and Vintage Burgundy metallic with a single example each.

Under the bonnet is what made the Phase III famous, the 224kW/515Nm (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) 5.8-litre Cleveland V8 that powered it to 60mph (97km/h) in 6.4sec, past 100mph in 15.2sec (quarter mile 14.2sec) and on to 141.5mph, famously captured in sister mag Wheels' 'HO down the Hume' story.

According to Muscle Car Stables, this HO was originally purchased by the late Bib Stillwell, a Melbourne racing driver and car and aviation dealer, and shows 88,000 miles.

It underwent a nut-and-bolt restoration in the late 1980s and was then mothballed for the next 20 years before the current owner returned it to service.

For more information on the car's spec and history check out the ad here.