Widely regarded as the most glorious Falcon, the XR-base’s XY swansong built on the XW’s good looks with a revised grille and tail-light design, and engine upgrades.
The GT’s output rose to at least 224kW, with the HO (Handling Option) models giving much more – rumoured to be around 285kW in Phase III form.
That made the Falcon GT the fastest four-door sedan in the world at the time (and all on a live-axle leaf-sprung recirculating-ball sedan built by mostly migrant Australians in Broadmeadows, remember), and arguably Australia’s most collectable car.
It also helped fuel the infamous “supercar scare” of 1972, forcing Ford and Holden to abandon production of vehicles with such power for 25 years.
