KEY POINTS:
A go-fast 37-year-old Ford Falcon might turn out to be the most expensive Australian muscle car sold at auction.
The 1971 Falcon XY GT-HO Phase III goes under the hammer at the Brisbane motor show next week and is expected to fetch around $850,000.
The Bathurst sedan is one of only 300 built, just over half of which are said to survive in original condition.
A few of the originals are said to be in private hands in New Zealand.
The XY Phase III has been described as the ultimate Falcon GT in terms of raw performance.
It was reputed to be the fastest four-door sedan in the world in the early 1970s.
It proved just about unbeatable on race tracks back then, too.
In 1971, at the Bathurst endurance race, it took out five of the first six places, with Allan Moffat at the wheel of the winning car.
The Phase III Falcon has become the most collectable production car ever made in Australia - more so than Holden Monaros of the same period - and cars in tip-top condition are rapidly appreciating assets, with prices regularly nudging A$750,000.
The car is one of 50 made with factory-fitted close-ratio gearbox and special rear differential. The GT-HO was restored in Melbourne in 1997 and has since travelled 10,000km.
