XA FALCON GT-HO PHASE IV

The legend of the production "XA Phase IV" was destined to remain exactly that - a legend. Developed during the early days of the XA Falcon range to follow on from the XY GT-HO Phase III, at least 200 cars were to be produced in order to meet CAMS Series-Production homologation rules for road going cars. The well known saying, "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" certainly applied to the touring car championships during this period in Falcon history, and Ford were not backward in coming forward with their new 170mph Supercar intended for the ATCC Championship - including the ultimate race at the Bathurst 500. On 24 April, 1972 the first of three prototype Phase IV race cars was ordered followed on 1 May, 1972 for the second and third examples. The three XA GT sedans were delivered to the Ford Special Vehicle (FSV) Division at the Mahoneys Road 'Lot 6' facility near Broadmeadows for modification. The mods included the Phase IV version of Ford's 'QC' (Quality Control) Cleveland 351ci engine among many other changes for the race track. The reworked big port V8 could produce 340 bhp at 5,800 rpm and 390 lb/ft of torque at 3,600 rpm making it somewhat more powerful than the usual XA GT road car. On 15 May, 1972 the first production GT-HO Phase IV was ordered by Jack Bradham Ford, then on 17 May it was announced that 100 Phase IV production cars would start being produced by Ford in June, 1972. It seemed everything was progressing for the 1972 race season smoothly...
The three XA GT-HO Phase IV racing prototypes being modified at the Ford Special Vehicle (FSV) workshop. It should be noted when development was cancelled the three cars were all in various stages of conversion with XA-1 being the only completely finished and upgraded of the three Phase IV racing prototypes.
BODY STYLE		Sedan
STANDARD FITTINGS
	Engine:	High Performance 340hp 351ci (5.8L) V8 / 4V / HC-HO
	Transmission:	Top Loader (Wide Ratio) Manual 4-spd Floor Shift
STANDARD PHASE IV FEATURES
	- Ford 'QC' Cleveland 351ci V8 engine featuring: 4V heads with cylinder head machining for better volume and flow; super duty   conrod bolts; solid cam - twin point distributor; reworked 2.25 inch exhaust headers, larger reworked baffled and winged oil sump;   1.5 litre oil capacity increase; larger radiator and redesigned fan blades; reworked air cleaner housing & filter.
	- Holley 780cfm 4V Carburettor
	- 3.0:1 Detroit Locker 9 inch Differential
	- Panhard Rod on the rear axle to counter 'torque steer' of the Detroit Diff.
	- Lowered Suspension with Double-Acting Shock Absorbers and revised Rear Leaf Springs
	- Widened Front and Rear Guards for the fitting of various race tyres
	- 15 x 7 inch Alloy Globe Wheels with ER60 x 15 Olympic Reflex Tyres
	- Brake Vacuum Tank and Special Brake Linings (PH3)
	- Additional Spot Welding and Seam Welding during manufacture
	- Roll Cage and Graviner Fire Protection System (Race car builds)
	- 8k Dashboard Tachometer
	- 36 gallon Baffled Fuel Tank (up to 40 gallons when modified by FSV)
	- Carpeted Boot Lining (Production car builds)
	- GT-HO Sports Console Badge (Production car builds)
Another angle of Phase IV race cars 'XA-2' and 'XA-3.' These cars had roll cages added and larger 36 gallon fuel tanks installed - the larger tank can be seen here in the bottom left of the picture as it has no spare wheel well.
The Supercar Scare On 25 June, 1972 the Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper ran a front page story by Evan Green stating that 160mph Supercars would soon be available to the motoring public. This headline has since became a piece of motor racing history as it more or less took the blame for the widespread cancelling of car manufacturers high performance race car developments using road going cars. The fact is the article was essentially the "Straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak in that there was already deep public concerns around supercar public sales going back to 1967. These concerns had slowly accumulated in the public mind and government fuelled by the steadily rising road fatality figures that by 1972 were reaching the 3,500+ mark annually. While these figures are not all squarely the result of overly powerful 'race grade cars' in the hands of an inexperienced public, they didn't help the situation either. There are 'Supercar' accounts in multiple Australian newspapers of public complaints and government minister concerns - specific articles appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in March, 1967 and the AGE newspaper in April, 1967. Further accounts were published in July, 1969 by mainstream papers about 'Supercar' speeds, by now government ministers were threatening car manufacturers of fleet car contract cancellations and the like.
The infamous front page headline across the cover of The Sun-Herald on Sunday 25 June, 1972.
Five days before the infamous Evan Green article would be published - on 20 June, 1972 - the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), under enormous pressure, announced (quietly) of the deletion of the Series- Production race category essentially ending the Ford XA Falcon GT-HO Phase IV program. It also finished the Holden XU-1 Torana V8 and the new Chrysler Charger V8 race development cars. Ford carried on the 1972 race season in the XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III which at the time was the "fastest four-door family car" in the world. In 1973 CAMS created the Group C Touring Car rules, which would stay in place until 1984, and Ford would race the new XA Falcon GT coupes for the ATCC season including the now rebranded Bathurst 1000 race. As for the XA Falcon GT-HO Phase IV, the three race prototypes under development were issued a stop work notice by Ford on 30 June, 1972. The three cars were at various stages of completion with only car XA-1 totally finished and race tack tested. One production line XA Phase IV was completed and it was ushered away to a Ford dealer with the announcement by Ford to their dealer network that the Phase IV never existed.
The bulletin issued to Ford dealers stating that the Phase IV never existed.
Phase IV racing prototype XA-3 being modified by FSV mechanics who have already installed a roll cage and removed some of the standard GT fittings like the 12-slots wheels.
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