GTX Series - Falcon XAGTs

**John McKechnie** · 07-24-2012, 07:46 PM

was sold to an enthusiast in Dunedin. At the time this guy already owned a nice tidy restored genuine XAGT coupe also Lime Glaze with white upholstery basically identical to Dads car but with a lot more miles on the clock. Dad traded this car and and received a large pile of $$$ for his race car. Dad kept the other coupe for a few years before selling it. Where that car went neither of us can remember!!

As for the race car all race damaged panels were to be replaced with NOS Ford items the guy from Dunedin had collected from various Ford dealers around the country during the 80's when they were clearing old stock at bargain prices. He basically had enough stuff to rebuild an entire XAGT coupe. To the best of our knowledge after the rebuild it was then to be put in secure storage as an investment.

**John McKechnie** · 07-24-2012, 09:44 PM

The 4 door XAGT that Barry Lloyd raced -as shown in the pic is dead.
Paul Lloyd said that Paul Urquart ended up with it and asked me to find out where it is.
Paul U said that he owned it in the early 80s.It was sitting at Mainline Motors for $18k.
He got it for $15k and owned it for some time.
Had a major in it and was totaled.
We now can complete and finish the history on GF1858 racing XAGT 4 door.Didnt make it.
Next car to carry on?

**Steve Holmes** · 07-24-2012, 10:43 PM

Here is the 4-door John was referring to:

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**Steve Holmes** · 07-24-2012, 11:52 PM

Thanks Paul. Yep he joined yesterday, hopefully he'll fill in the gaps.

**John McKechnie** · 07-25-2012, 07:29 PM

Hi Steve, looking at the red Monaro I am sure it is a HK ,you can see the shiny crossbar running horizontal on the grille, rear taillamps look smaller than HT.Could be the man from Steely Gears-is it Tony Rattray?

**Steve Holmes** · 07-25-2012, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by John McKechnie

Hi Steve, looking at the red Monaro I am sure it is a HK ,you can see the shiny crossbar running horizontal on the grille, rear taillamps look smaller than HT.Could be the man from Steely Gears-is it John Rattray?

Well spotted John, I didn't look that closely. Tony still owns that HK Monaro, its now painted orange.

**Steve Holmes** · 07-25-2012, 08:43 PM

Thanks Tony. I love that those Bryan Byrt Fords had been kept all these years. John Harris took over Bryan Byrt Ford when Byrt himself died, and Harris didn't think the costs to go motor racing were justified. He was a race fan, but felt the company couldn't sustain the costs, especially once 1980 rolled around, and teams had to replace their old XC hardtops with the new XD model. Bryan Byrt was actually the guy who started the Moffat Ford Dealer Team, and was clearly a huge racing enthusiast who thought motorsport paid for itself through the publicity it generated. But John Harris was obviously a genuine enthusiast too, because he has kept all these cars in a small museum for all these years.

**John McKechnie** · 07-26-2012, 01:04 AM

Hi Steve, in that photo with Captain Kirk-the XA Coupe next to him is the late Steve Woody-this is the Falcon Engineering Coupe I have mentioned before.
Kirk want to enter ,joined,but has not been able to sign in yet ,may need a push start,,there will be pix then

**Steve Holmes** · 07-27-2012, 12:20 AM

Interesting story John! Just by coincidence, I live in the Wairarapa, and there was a dark brown XC hardtop that a guy working in Carterton was using as a daily driver about 3-4 years ago. You tend to take notice because you don't notice them often. I should do a bit of research and try and find out more about it.

**John McKechnie** · 07-27-2012, 12:33 AM

Well spotted Steve.I kept the XA tail lamps on it .Also it was a designated Continental model, badges were attached.Had vinyl roof different to factory.It went past the back window, curled down onto the rear guard and finished up at the front of the B piller under the side windows.Very distinctive and much better looking.As a trimmer, I redid the inside a silver fabric. Had mags with 265 all around .A man of your capabilities should spot all these details very easily.

**John McKechnie** · 07-27-2012, 12:38 AM

Gezz Steve , you are replying quicker than I can send these.My customers will think I spend all my time here.Vinyl roof was cream.Forgot to mention-only reason that I sold it was that I was paralyzed and didnt know if I would ever walk again.As I recovered I didnt know if I would have the strength in my leg to operate a manual trans.Also the seats were not economically inclined for bad backs.All these things seem irrelevant now after 25 years- except I have another Coupe with ABSOLUTELY no rust

**Steve Holmes** · 07-27-2012, 12:36 AM

I didn't see it up close John, just sort of spotted it a few times when driving past. In amongst all the modern Jap cars it was easy to spot, and I'd look out for it when driving past each time. But from memory it had mags and a vinyl roof, which I thought was black, but could be wrong.