Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 'Chicken Coupe' fetches record price

UPDATED 30/07/2020 10:30am: The rare 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83 hardtop manual 'Chicken Coupe' eventually fetched $300,909 at auction last night, which may be a record for a barn find of this kind.

After bidding between four keen parties extended the Graysonline auction for about 40 minutes beyond its scheduled end at 7:00pm, its new owner is an anonymous South Australian car collector.

UPDATED 27/07/2020 10:30am: In 1973, this Ford Falcon GT RPO 83 wore a $7000 sticker price in the Ford showroom. Today the price has surpassed $300,000 -- and there's still a couple of days bidding to go. The barn find is covered in bird droppings, hence its nickname: the 'Chicken Coupe'.

Original story published 26/07/20: It’s not often a car comes up for auction when it’s as hard to find as an original XA model Ford Falcon GT hardtop with the RPO 83 pack, but that is exactly what will take place two days from now, at Grays July Classic Car Auction in Brisbane.

This particular car is probably already worth more than most collectors could afford, being one of just 120 XA Hardtops fitted with the RPO 83 pack (‘Regular Production Option’). It’s rarer still for its colour – MacRobertson’s Old Gold (paint code Y157) – one of just two RPO 83 Falcons in that finish.

The owner of the car recently passed away, and his estate is now offering the Falcon at auction, the car having remained in storage for 32 years.

According to the auction house, the owner could no longer afford the high price of insurance for the Falcon, which runs mechanicals – the RPO 83 pack – from the four-door Falcon XY GT HO Phase III.

At the time the XA was built, Ford had already closed down its Phase IV (XA) Falcon program in the wake of the ‘supercar scare’ from the early 1970s.

Left with enough parts to homologate the Phase IV model, Ford created the special batch of XA GT hardtops and quietly sold them off without making a fuss. They have become arguably as collectible as any GT HO Phase III Falcon.

The owner of the hardtop purchased the car from new in 1973 and paid $7000 for it at the time. Taking it off the road 15 years later, he stored it away under chicken wire to stop pigeons nesting in and around it – or worse...

For that reason the car came to be known as ‘the Chicken Coupe’. Over the years, many prospective buyers came knocking at the owner’s door, offering money for him to sell it.

The auction house suggests the wannabe owners numbered in the hundreds. On each occasion the owner was approached to part with the Falcon he refused.

It was a car that meant much to him, not just for its exclusivity, but also the sentiment associated with it, the Falcon having served as the owner’s official wedding car in 1974.

“This car is as Australian as it gets. From its accidental birth after the supercar ban to its decades in a shed surrounded by chicken wire to its colour scheme that honours a local chocolate company, it’s a uniquely Aussie story surrounded by rumours and legend. We’re very proud and excited to offer it for auction,” says Rian Gaffy, Classic Car Specialist at Grays.

The Falcon is described by Grays as offered in ‘barn find’ condition, which means flat tyres, cobwebs, dust and rat droppings. But it appears to be reasonably easy to restore and the odometer has clicked over once already for a total mileage of 46,386 miles.

Naturally, a 351CID (5.8-litre) Cleveland V8 resides under the bonnet, and it’s rated at 224kW. The engine drives through a four-speed Topload manual gearbox. Inside, the car is trimmed in white vinyl, with orange cloth inserts.

Grays has put together a very informative video concerning the Falcon (see below) and the car can be previewed from this link.