Found after all these years! The stolen Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III in this iconic photo

The 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III at the centre of one of the most famous photos ever taken of an Australian muscle car has reportedly been found decades after it was stolen and cut up for parts.

And the car enthusiast who in 2015 stumbled on the remains dumped decades earlier on a property in rural NSW says he wants to piece it back together.

Wheels magazine deputy editor Mel Nichols was testing the then-new 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III – said to be the world’s fastest sedan at the time – and photographer Uwe Kuessner captured the view of the speedometer while the car was at wide open throttle on the Hume Highway north of Melbourne.

There were no speed limits on that stretch of road back then, and the photographer had to balance precariously in the back seat while he took photos over the driver's shoulder as the needle started to wind off the clock.

As it transpired, the indicated speed was past 140 miles per hour (more than 225km/h), but senior executives at the magazine were concerned this could be deemed excessive, and had the art department reposition the speedometer needle to indicate about 100mph (160km/h) for publication.

While the true speed in the photograph wouldn’t be known until years later – after the unedited original was unearthed – the car itself would end up having a short but eventful life.

The 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III – with Victorian registration plates KXF-508 and finished in “yellow ochre” paint with black interior trim – had been assigned as a media evaluation vehicle to be driven by journalists for road tests and reviews.

After Wheels did its high speed return run between Melbourne and Albury in the winter of 1971, the car continued its duties with other media outlets.

While on loan for a review by one of the motoring writers at the Fairfax group of newspapers – based at the time in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Ultimo – the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III with KXF-508 plates was stolen while parked in front of the office.

Above: News reports regarding the theft of the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III media evaluation vehicle in 1971.

The following year, in 1972, a man was charged and sentenced for the theft, but KXF-508 was never recovered.

The thief had reportedly sold the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III parts for $650 and gave an offsider $150 for his help.

Today, eight pieces of bodywork belonging to what is believed to be KXF-508 are hanging by chain from the roof of a strawberry farm in rural Victoria.

So, how did they get there?

Strawberry farm owner and Ford Falcon GT enthusiast Darren Hayes stumbled on the remains while pig shooting on a private property near Condobolin in rural NSW in April 2015.

The owner of a local wrecking yard had told Hayes about a nearby 30,000 acre property that had a pile of decades-old stolen car parts.

Among the scrap were parts suspected of belonging to a stolen 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III that had been cut into pieces and dumped in the early to mid 1970s.

“I thought, ‘oh yeah, likely story, a Falcon GTHO,” said Hayes. “I've heard all this shit before.”

Although he didn’t know the property owner, they quickly struck up a conversation and Hayes arranged to go pig hunting on the owner’s land.

“To me it was a just another shooting trip,” Hayes told CarAdvice. “I’d never been to this property before and I wasn’t planning on looking for any cars. Next thing you know I stumbled on this big pile of old car parts.”

Among the remains of numerous vehicles were the telltale signs of a 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III.

“There were all kinds of car parts because the place apparently used to be home to a lot of stolen vehicles,” says Hayes.

“But as I got closer to the pile and saw the yellow paintwork and the blackouts and the grille, straight away I knew it was a GTHO.”

With the property owner’s permission Hayes gathered up the eight lumps of metal and other odds and ends, carefully packed them on the back of his motorcycle trailer, and towed the loot back to his home in Cobram, north of Shepparton near the border of Victoria and NSW.

“The owner gave me the parts, it was only junk to him,” says Hayes.

Since early 2017, the pieces have been hanging by chain at Hayes’ business, The Big Strawberry, near Cobram.

But if Hayes has his way, they won’t be hanging there for long.

“Soon after I hung the pieces in January 2017 and put photos on Facebook, people starting contacting me trying to figure out the heritage of the car,” says Hayes.

Automotive historian Ross Vasse inspected the wreckage and determined it was likely the remains of the stolen 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III with the plates KXF-508.

The car is also affectionately known as the “GTHO Down The Hume” due to the iconic photo taken by Uwe Kuessner.

While there are no identifying numbers on any of the salvaged car parts, the remains are believed to be those of KXF-508.

“There were 38 examples of the GTHO Phase III finished in yellow ochre,” says Vasse. “And of those, 36 have been accounted for and two are missing. One was built in September 1971, the other one was built in May or June 1971.”

Subtle differences in examples of the 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III built in May/June versus those built in September led Vasse to believe the discovered remains are of KXF-508 – which historical Ford data shows was a May/June built car.

After it was stolen in August 1971, KXF-508 is believed to have remained hidden for a few years before ending up in its final resting place on the NSW rural property cut to pieces.

The other yellow ochre 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III that is yet to be accounted for was stolen in Melbourne in the early 1980s. It too has never been seen since.

“The GTHO On The Hume is a May-June built car and the other stolen yellow ochre GTHO was a September built car,” says Vasse.

Meanwhile, Hayes says: “While we can’t prove it 100 per cent, everything points to these parts belonging to the car in that famous photo. It's been almost six years since I've found the car and not one person has put their hand up and said that we’re wrong.”

Now Hayes says he plans to weld the remains back together and bring KXF-508 back to life.

“At first I didn't think it was achievable, but I think it’s achievable now,” says Hayes, who noted he has about two-thirds of the original bodywork (only the roof and passenger-side rear quarter panel are missing).

Hayes says he will leave the welds coated but exposed when the car is restored, so it can better tell the story of its pot-holed history.

“It’s never going to be a genuine numbers-matching Phase III ever again, and I need a new engine and gearbox obviously, but the car has a lot of history and it would be a tragedy not to bring it back to life.”

Hayes estimates the restoration will cost close to $300,000 and has given himself a deadline of five years to complete the project, hopefully with the help of close friends in the Falcon GT community.

“I've already got another rolling XY Falcon that’s done 130,000 miles to use as the donor car, to make a jig up so we can weld it all back together,” says Hayes.

The phenomenal story of the GTHO Down The Hume is documented in a book due to be released later this year that covers every 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III ever built. 

The book, written by automotive historian Ross Vasse, reveals there were more than 30 examples of Ford Falcon GTHO Phase IIIs reported stolen.

“Some were found, but the remains of what was left wasn’t pretty,” said Vasse. “In the book, the very first stolen Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III is revealed – and you’ll be shocked to read who owned it.”

The 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III Register is almost sold out and orders close mid next week.

As reported by CarAdvice earlier, orders for the final Blue Edition will come to a close on 30 June 2021 after the first three volumes sold out within hours of becoming available online.

“The official cut-off date for the 1971 Falcon GTHO Phase III book will end on 30 June 2021,” Mr Vasse told CarAdvice last week.

“After this, this book will become unobtainable – the title no longer available and we will print no more. This is not a John Farnham farewell tour. There will be no encore.”

For more information about the 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III Register, click here.

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