The 2020’s list of collector cars selling for outrageous amounts of money at auction is continuously growing. With the top two being 1930’s Bugattis followed by a 1965 Shelby GTR350 and a 1968 Ford Mustang GT driven by Steve McQueen in the movie “Bullitt,” the list thus far has predominantly been dominated by exotics, competition winning models, and movie cars.
However, that does not mean that the car has to have some famous ties or exotic status to sell at auction for extreme amounts of money as proven by this run-down 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83 that has been deemed the “Chicken Coupe.”
In the early 70’s Ford, Holden, and Chrysler were all competing to dominate the track at Bathurst and by the end of 1971 Ford came out on top with the Falcon XY GTHO Phase III. Ford’s plan to stay ahead of the competition in 1972 was the Falcon XA Phase IV which was lighter, more aerodynamic, and more powerful.
According to homologation rules, a production run of at least 200 of the Phase IV Falcons would have to be on Australian streets to qualify for the race at Bathurst. However, a news story in which politician Milton Morris condemned the Phase IV Falcon as “bullets on wheels” broke before the cars could be assembled and led to a change of course for Ford.
Instead of moving forward with the Phase IVs, Ford used all of the parts it had procured for the scrapped project to make the 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83. Only about 250 were made and even fewer were coupes. Of the 120 Coupes that made it to the streets of Australia was a Falcon that was dubbed the “Chicken Coupe” because it was left to rot in a rural Queensland chicken coupe.
Despite the past 32 years of neglect not being easy on it, this 1973 Ford Falcon XA GT RPO 83 recently sold at auction for an astonishing $300,909.
Elizabeth is hardcore horsepower enthusiast with unmatched intensity for making things faster and louder. She wakes up for power and performance and only sleeps to charge up for the next project that’s heading to the track. From autocross to drag racing, Elizabeth is there with you, so stay tuned for her unique perspective on horsepower news, builds, tech info, and installs — with her, it’ll never be boring!
