View Full Version : Phase 4 XA GT HARDTOP
Nick Short
05-09-2002, 12:11 AM
For anyone who remembers my attempts to find out more about this legendary car, I now have a sort of answer. Mark Oastler tells me that the car definitely WAS built, at the same time as the better-known 3 race cars and single road car. However even he isn't clear on its subsequent history, and is digging further. And no, it definitely ISN'T the same as the RPO 83 production series of a year later.
Glen Alexander
05-09-2002, 02:02 AM
I think I might have seen something about these on TV. Were they four door Falcons? What I saw was, I'm pretty sure a show on muscle cars and they made 4 phase 4 falcons before they were canned. And I beleive they were sold. They had a guy who bought one and it was red with I think a black bonnet. Does this sound about right?
But then again, I could be right off the mark!!!!
mustang1966
05-09-2002, 10:27 AM
From what I have read and also from people in the GT club this is what I have learnt. There were 4 1/2 Phase 4 falcons. 4 were sedans and the 1/2 car was a coupe. The only car which was complienced from Ford and sold at a ford dealer. (Brabham Ford, Sydney I think) was a Calypso green car which was sold to a dentist. From what I have been told and one person has seen the car it is locked away in a large shed and only brought out on rare occasions. This car is currently in Western Sydney somewhere.
The other cars were sold without a complicence plate and thus I think were sold with some kind of waiver, against Ford in case something happened. Of the other 3 cars there is a red peper here in Sydney which I have seen twice this year, once at the all Ford day and also at the Mustang show in western sydney.
The other car is owned by David Bowden in QLD which I saw many years ago at a car show in QLD. Again this is a red car. I also think that David Bowden has owned this car twice and it was also stolen may moons ago and ended up in Darwin.
The last complete car I understand was written off after it went into a tree. This car I understand was used as a rally car, it died kinda doing what it was meant for, racing.
The 1/2 finished coupe I am sure would have ended up as an RPO83, some someone out there might own a 1/2 Phase 4.
That is pretty much what I know about the Phase 4 Legend.
fordfan5
05-09-2002, 11:23 AM
I have the gt legend video at home and remmember somthing about one being in a crash with a commodore towing a caravan which both were distroyed.
it is a good video and covers each of the gt very well
it also mentions the one owend by the dentis and the one that was rallied and finally written of . its been a while since i have watched it so ill have another look and see what else threre is that i may have forgotten.
Glen Alexander
05-09-2002, 11:25 AM
I think that's where I saw the Phase 4. On that video.
brchi17
05-09-2002, 02:37 PM
Saw that exact car on the Ford Rally a couple years ago. It, at the time was driven by Dick Johnson as Moff was driving one of the Phase III's. This car is truely awesome!!!
Try looking at the following website
www.fouronthefloor.com.au
this site is run by the guy in Qld who owns it and the GTHO that Lowndes drove at QLD raceway that was shown on RPM a little while ago.
cheers,
Nick Short
05-09-2002, 10:38 PM
The Phase 4 hardtop was exactly that - a 2 door XA, and wasn't merely "half" a Phase 4 - it had all the Phase 4 parts. Mustang1966, the "half" merely referred to the fact that it was a very unofficial build, as a favour to Bib Stillwell, and not one of the 4 sedans officially built before the whole thing was canned. Thus it was a true Phase 4 and nothing like an RPO 83, which was a slightly modified XA GT built in largish numbers as a series production car over a year after the last Phase 4 was built. Mark Oastler is researching this 5th Phase 4 (together with the others) and no doubt we will all benefit from anything he might discover!
mustang1966
06-09-2002, 09:16 AM
Nick,
Thank you for telling me the difference between a coupe (hardtop, 2 door) and a sedan. I am just relaying things that have been told to me from people within the GT Falcon Club.
As I stated before hand one car was built with a compliance plate, I gather that to mean an official car. From what I understand the other cars were not officially complianced by Ford.
I will tell you what I will do, next time I see the red pepper Phase 4 in Sydney I will ask to look at the car and find out all I can about the car.
As far as the RPO83 build, from what I understand the parts on it were from the other cars, which were to become Phase 4 Falcons. Again I know several people within the GT Falcon Club that own RPO83 Falcons and I will get their input for you. If these parts were not put into the RPO83, I wonder what became of them. Maybe they ended up in the trading post?
Ford did one thing, which was the 400 odd sets of Globe Wheels intended for the Phase 4 were given to owners of the Phase 3 falcon. This was done so that the Phase could run those same wheels for Bathurst.
Please excuse my Ignorance, but I as I said I will speak to friends within the GT Falcon club who own HO's, RPO83's and GT's and see what their input is.
Nick Short
06-09-2002, 11:41 PM
Mustang1966, that comment about the 2 door was to an earlier post, not yours! You clearly know the difference! As for the RPO 83, I've seen owners advertising them as "having all the bits from the Phase 4" but that just perpetuates the myth. The Phase 4 was built under pre-1972 Touring Car regs which allowed manufacturers to race cars that had been produced in sufficient numbers for the road. This meant that the race cars and road cars were essentially the same. The same hand-built engines, with heavily modified internals, same body and suspension mods necessary for racing etc. This of course meant that as the race cars became more competitive, the road cars got faster, leading to the 1972 "Supercar Scare" just as the Phase 4 had begun production. The 3 red race cars were not, as you say, complianced by Ford, and they had only got round to officially building one single green road car. Post 1972 the changed regs meant that the race cars could be heavily modified from a road car base - essential, as the manufacturers were obviously no longer producing the road-going Bathurst Specials. So when the XA GT was first raced it had to be heavily modified, BUT some of the parts were not permitted to be modified under the regs. This meant that the XA race cars were at first very fragile, and many racers went back to XY Phase 3s until the RPO 83 was introduced in 1973. This was Ford's way of addressing those parts which were failing in race conditions, as the fact that they were on the road car allowed them to be fitted on the race car. Other than these few bits (listed on the Ford technical bulletin - it's a short list!) the RPO 83 was a bog standard XA GT, and nowhere near the hand-assembled, race-engined quality of the Phase 4. Exactly the same thing happened with the Option 97 XC Cobra (or RPO 97, if you like). The Cobra came with an asthmatic 5.8 and standard XC suspension etc, no different from any other 5.8 XC. To race the car Ford had to produce the Option 97 (30 built), which added parts that weren't modifiable for the race car, ie strengthened suspension, shocker tower braces, cold air box etc. This is also not anywhere near a Phase 4, despite being the basis for a much later race car - it's just a slightly modified road car.
As for any Phase 4 parts after the project was canned, I have no idea, but if Ford were anything like Rover when I worked from them, they would have produced the parts "as and when", rather than all at once.
So the difference between the Phase 4 and the RPO 83 is a matter of different racing regs - one had to be close to race specs and the other didn't.
Nick Short
07-09-2002, 12:03 AM
I think I'd better add as a PS, in case it looks too much as though I've got a bee in my bonnet about the Phase 4 (as if!), I think it's because I've been told by more than one Ford fan the the Phase 4 was "never built, because they banned it first" and other comments to that effect. It is surprising how many people think it never happened at all, not helped by the "Phase 4" XC showcar from 1978, based on a mere GXL, which was advertised as "what the car would have looked like if Ford had ever made it"!!! Oh well, I guess I need to get out more.....
Nick Short
08-09-2002, 03:12 AM
OK, I'm answering my own posts here, but I think I've discovered where all this confusion came from. I've just read the original Wheels test of the RPO 83 from 1973, and it states "...uses most of the bolt-on engine components intended for last year's Phase 4 GTHO." The operative word here is "bolt-on", because they then list these parts: 750 cfm Holley, special exhaust extractors, a baffled sump and a manual choke. Other than these the engine is absolutely bog-standard XA GT 351 Cleveland. If whacking a big Holley on a Cleveland makes it a Phase 4 then my Cobra is a Phase 4! There were no other changes, other than fitment of rear discs (from the LTD and Landau) to some cars. And there were certainly none of the special internals, suspension mods or body strengthening found on the Phase 4. Even the baffled sump is, to quote Wheels again, "not the special eared sump of the Phase 4". So I guess Wheels were at fault for their ambiguous wording, rather than RPO 83 owners trying to get more money for their cars, as I first suspected....sorry guys!
I STILL need to get out more....
mustang1966
08-09-2002, 01:14 PM
Nick well I needed to some facts straight. I was infact incorrect in some things I posted. I spoke to some friends yesterday who are long time GT owners and also pretty clued up on most things GT & HO.
This is what I have been told. There was in fact no Phase 4 Coupe. The Calypso Green car is the only Phase 4 with the correct tag stating it is a Phase 4 Falcon. The other 3 cars were to be the Factory ford racing cars( Red Pepper in colour) but are not tagged as Phase 4's in the true sence.
I think I also stated in another post that all Phase 4 falcons came with a role cage. This again is incorrect. The 3 Bathurst to be cars were fitted with Roll Cages. The Green car was not fitted with a cage, simular to the road going Phase 3's and the QC cars intended for the track.
The RPO83 did come out in 73 and most were intended for the track and thus were fitted with the Phase 4 goodies including 780 Holly, different inlet/Exhaust manifolds, Phase 4 cam, detroit locker diff, etc.
Nice I also need to say sorry If I seemed a little short, for that I am sorry and had a crappy day, but that is no excuse.
You are correct there is a Phase 4 which had all the plates from Ford and was sold by Brabham ford in Sydney.
Another question I would like to ask some of our Holden buddies with more knowledge of the Generals stuff would be about the XU2 Torana. I know of clay mockups of the car but was there one ever build with complicence plates and sold via a dealer as is the Calypso Green Phase 4.
One more question to those Ford friendly folks is what they know about a XY GT made for the then ford Boss man (Name slips my mind at the moment, Seppo bloke) This car was a Black GT and was fitted with a 428 CJ Engine and had a C6 tranny. Anyone out there know any information about this car?
:)
Rascot
08-09-2002, 04:23 PM
I was reading an old Street Machine magazine ( sept, 89 ) I'll have to buy some new magazine's . Any way it has a article about the Phase IV XA GTHO . There where only 4 made 1st one was calypso green with white interior and HO marked on compliance plate the other 3 didn't have the same HO compliance plate, running any of the three serial numbers through Ford's computer will spit out HO coded info. The Phase IV engine wasn't all that different to the Phase III . it ran the same 780 holley - twin point distributor and valve train and slightly lower compression ratio . It has the same close ratio gear box fitted to the Phase II GT, a 3:1 Detroit locker diff . The car featured in the article has brackets welded on the diff where a panhard rod was tried but was dropped. It also has a 36 gallon fuel tank and a roll cage. The car was owned ( back in 89 ) by Rod Mann from QLD . The rego was GTH-04 . I hope this helps but don't forget I was quoting from Street Machine I'm far from a GT expert.
Nick Short
08-09-2002, 06:05 PM
Mustang1966, the Phase 4 coupe (which was the original subject of my pedantic thread!) was definitely built, despite what many people might think, although there is still some mystery about its subsequent history. It was mentioned by Howard Marsden (and he of all people should know) in Unique Cars, and Mark Oastler (editor of Australian Muscle Car) has confirmed that the car WAS built at the same time as the 3 Red Pepper race cars and single Calypso Green road car in 1972. What it had on its plate I don't know - it could well have been a bodyshell just taken off the line, as the 3 race cars were, but Mark is researching this rarest of Aussie Fords and should come up with the definitive story of the "Fifth Phase 4"! And I would hope that anything published by him and Chevron would be accepted as fact, and lay to rest any rumour or myth. I guess, though that without legend and myth, Aussie motor history would just be a dead subject, about as interesting as the history of British Leyland...
Nick Short
08-09-2002, 06:21 PM
As another PS (I really should think of these things sooner), I see what you mean about the plates, Mustang1966. The green roadie was the only Phase 4 to get an HO compliance plate, and as such could be considered to be the only "proper" Phase 4. However, I would still consider the 3 red cars to be proper HOs, as they were built with all the bits, were the reason the car was designed in the first place, and were built by Ford in their workshop. By that token, I would consider the coupe to be a "real" Phase 4, even though it almost certainly doesn't have an HO plate - however it was built with the same bits, by the same people in the same workshop. Whatever the final outcome, I want to see more published about these cars, and would love to see colour pics of the green roadie, if there are any out there!
Might I say that HO in GTHO meant handling option.
Nick Short
08-09-2002, 08:22 PM
Yes, and to illustrate how magazines can cloud the waters by printing "facts" that are anything but, a respected classic Ford magazine over here ran a story on the GTHOs (presumably borrowed from an Aussie publication, as they featured David Bowden's 4 car set), in which they repeatedly referred to HO as standing for "High Output"! No doubt the same error has appeared in some of your own Aussie mags. You try arguing the toss with someone who has just read that article - "No mate - it stands for High Output, I read it in Classic Ford". And thus myths are made.
biante1247
13-09-2002, 09:13 PM
Hi there,
in regards to the question about the factory big block GT for Bill Bourke it was an XW with a shaker in it. Most people think it is an XY but it is in fact an XW. If you want to see a pic of it aswell as read a good article on the car go to this site. http://fastfords.150m.com/ If this link doesn't work then look up Deano's Flying Fords on google and that should get you there.
Cheers,
Paul.
mustang1966
14-09-2002, 05:33 AM
Nick,
I have to agree with you. The other cars went down to be built at Phase 4 racing cars and to me yes they are a Phase 4. As far as the Green car goes there are several people within the GT Club who have seen the car but it rarely gets taken out of the garage. From what I understand only a few very trusted people ever get to see it.
biante1247, thanks for that info. I would love to know where that car is nowdays. A very rare car here in Australia.
VANPYRE
15-09-2002, 12:26 AM
Ok from what i know the three race cars were totaled one was rebuilt buy a guy in melbourne then sold of.The road car you mentioned got totaled towing if i remember a caravan somwhere in nsw after that i dont know what happened to the cars sorry i couldnt help more
More interesting info dug up from my Vault.
Mr(Sir now) Brian Inglis, Managing Director of Ford Australia at the time had a very special Landau built up, incorporating many Phase 4 parts.Sorry thats all I can tell you for now as the investigation is still been carried out.
More...... but a different Model...... Some years after the demise of the Phase 4 Wayne Draper(see my post on Moffat's HO) and some of the other designers at Ford re-painted a XA GT (Black with gold striping) that had scored a few Phase 4 bits. "We did it," says Wayne, "the way the car would have been done had we gone ahead with it." Thats all I know on that one!!
Next......to the great Phase 4 debate.....A chap, who I will keep anonamous, has a curious document from Ford Australia that lists production numbers for the various Falcon GT's. The most interesting items relate to Phase 4's, stating that 16 Sedans and 4 Coupes were built. Further investigation revealed that it was infact a Ford letterhead, but we knew therecouldn't have been 20 Phase 4's. A second sheet of paper listed the mod's that characterised the RPO 83. Big Problem! These mod's were for the Phase 4. So ,it seems , even within Ford there is confusion. Maybe the Documents were written in the past tense and probably prepared by someone who had been involved at the time but had forgotten or confused some details, I think I will get my best agents on it, so Australia please make Agent Mulder and Agent Scully welcome and help them with the X-File on the Phase Four GTHO!!
Regards once again
Dave from Kiwiland!!
Hi Nick, I've just updated my computer and boy am I going to have some fun as well as backing up my stories with pictures, yes I now have a scanner, so watch out over the next few days I will add to all my posts about all those rare cars with pictures, so hopefully I can work out how to post them for all to see. I will start with the Black XA GT done by Wayne Draper and the Ford Boys as mentioned in the above post.
Regards
Dave from Kiwiland!!
This time???
Dave from Kiwiland!!
Can anyone help me??
Dave from Kiwiland!!
Asked the Wife, she Knows!! Here it is!!
Dave from Kiwiland!!
ducksguts
22-09-2002, 04:04 PM
http://www.conceptual.net.au/~lippy/xa4.jpg
sorry folks just experimenting ...
Rocket
22-09-2002, 06:14 PM
Further to Mustang1966 post on 5/9/02, i found an article in an old magazine "The History of the Falcon GT" which mentions the XA GTHO falcon which was sold to a dentist. I have scanned the article for all to view.
Rocket
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