Two of the most sought-after Falcon GTs ever produced have raised almost $400,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
FPV GT F 001 and 500 netted a total of $393,700 at 8:00pm last night, when bidding in the official Ford Australia auction closed on eBay.
After seven days of bidding, car 001 (a Kinetic Blue example with Matt Black stripe and 6300km on the clock) went to a West Australian-based businessman for $157,600 – more than double the vehicle's retail price of $77,990 plus on-road costs.
Meantime, car 500 – the final Falcon GT ever to be produced in Australia – was sold to a Victorian bidder for $236,100, or more than three times its list price.
Car 001, fitted with 'GTF 001' Victorian registration plates, received 84 bids while #500 -- a brand-new vehicle, also a manual, to be painted in the paint and stripe colours of the winning bidder's choice – attracted 106 bids.
Ford Australia President and CEO, Bob Graziano, said he was thrilled with the result.
"Given the historical significance of both cars, we expected to raise considerable funds for NBCF and I am thrilled with the final result,” he said.
"Both Ford and the NBCF are focused on the importance of investing in research and development and the innovations those programs can achieve.
"The auctioning off of these two iconic vehicles, built by our passionate and dedicated Australian team will provide necessary support to the NBCF to fund their equally passionate researchers in their bid to achieve a future of zero deaths from breast cancer in 2030.
“We welcome the two lucky GT F bidders to the Ford family.”
The two highly collectible models are among the last 550 FPVs to be made (500 for Australia and 50 for New Zealand) before the axing of Ford Australia's performance brand.
All of them – except the two retained for charity – were sold before they were revealed in June, and some buyers paid up to $100,000 to receive the build number of their choice.
In fact, car 351 – the model's official kiloWatt output and a reference to the cubic-inch capacity (equal to 5.8 litres) of the now-legendary 1970s Falcon GT that dominated Bathurst – went to a Gold Coast customer after his local dealer drew the hallowed number in a ballot.
However, neither vehicle came close to the official record price of $750,000, paid for a classic 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO by a Sydney car collector in June 2007.
While the GT F is the most powerful production car ever produced by Ford in Australia, a slightly less powerful version of the GT F's 351kW supercharged 5.0-litre V8 will be available in Ford's born-again Falcon XR8 sedan.
Likely to be priced from under $50,000, the 2014 XR8 is expected to deliver 335kW when it is reintroduced as part of the facelifted Falcon range in November.