Ford GT-HO Super Falcon 1972 Bathurst ATCC Round 3 Winner

There were only two Ford Falcon GT-HO’s ever built by the Ford Motor Company of Australia, that were not Phase I, II, III or IV’s – they were not even XW or XY’s. They were just GT-HO’s and were aptly code named the ‘Super Falcons’.
Born to win the Australian Touring Car Championship, they came with factory lightweight body shells, 620bhp fuel injected full house motors and parts you could only imagine. Al Turner and Howard Marsden mothered them, then John Wynne hand built each car in a closed section of Ford Special Vehicles. The cars were destined for Pete Geogeghan and Allan Moffat, in the Improved Production Racing category.
Work started on the project in absolute secrecy in early 1970. The cars started out in XW guise and eventually appeared in March 1971 in XY form, with Pete’s in the familiar Castrol colours and Moffat’s in Brambles Red. Most of the year was spent sorting them out, but more than once they proved they were the fastest cars on the track, but reliability was their problem. Even after the vast amounts of money and time, the original Super Falcons failed to deliver. Moffat would later pull the good bits off his Super Falcon and put them on the Trans Am he was also racing, in the Improved Production category. That was the end of his HO.
Only one GT-HO remained. At the end of 1971 Pete Geogeghan began spending serious money on his Super Falcon.
In 1972 at Bathurst, on Easter Monday, the effort would finally pay off. The ATCC Round 3 battle at Bathurst is still regarded as one of the greatest touring car races in Australian motor racing history.
The Super Falcon was a very special car, with very special qualities and modifications that made it truly unique.
The lightweight body had holes drilled to save precious kilos, flared wheel arches, acid dipping to leave the panels paper thin and even magnesium door hinges and UK-built 15 inch Minilite rims.
The engine started as a 351 Cleveland V8, but with extensive work that is similar to today's race cars, coupled with a thirsty Lucas Fuel Injection System, front mounted oil cooler and pumps, multiple fuel pumps and filters and many more goodies; helped find 620bhp from the 5.7 litre work horse. Pete’s car had a 4-speed close ratio top loader gearbox and a lightweight triple-plate racing clutch. Adjustable shocks featured on the front end with a highly modified front suspension set up, with angle poised ball joints and torsion bar stabilisers. The rear end was ‘fully floating’ with shockers that went into the boot, double trailing arms, Watts linkage and thin leaf springs, to accommodate the fat rear tyres. The brakes on the front had 4-spot calipers with ventilated discs and the rear had 10 inch finned GT-HO drums.
Apart from the bolted-in rollcage and the special front seats modelled on the GT40, the interior looked largely stock XW, except for the cabin floor mounted battery box, the unique steering wheel, some gauges and other bits. The driver’s door armrest was missing to fit the side bar on the rollcage. The Super Falcon was certainly special and ready to take on anyone.
In 1972 Moffat was the man to beat, his beloved Mustang was ‘state of the art’, smooth and purpose built in the USA. The Super Falcon was a real handful, a brute, but its’ time had finally come. With Bob Jane in the 7 litre Camaro and Norm Beechey in his Monaro, the scene was set, along with Moffat, for the Bathurst Battle.
Bathurst was the only round of the Championship the HO was to win for ‘72, but win it did and in an extraordinary race Geogeghan won by 6/10’s of a second, with Allan Moffat a close second. Nose to tail racing on the toughest track known was an awesome sight and it really was only ever between Moffat and Geogeghan.
The beautifully restored GT-HO Super Falcon from the Bowden Collection shows us the effort and thought that went into building this awesome machine. The car found its’ calling at the Bathurst Round in 1972. Pete Geogeghan states the April 3, 1972 Mount Panorama race, as the ‘greatest drive of his career’.
With Pete behind the wheel and the Super Falcon as his weapon of choice, it would be hard not to agree.

Item includes certificate with individual production number.