Thorn Red 3

Will is still chasing the history of his car, but to date he has found out -

Thorn Red is the colour used for Allan Moffat’s race car - confirmed by the man himself - and it was named after his race mechanic.

Ford Australia have confirmed this paint code.

The car was purchased new through City Ford, of Rockdale, Sydney, which was the major sponsor of Allan Moffat Racing in 1975.

The car originally had a John Goss style fibreglass front spoiler - which has sadly not survived the past 28 years - and had gold painted 6inch 12-slot wheels - which have become rusty and will be refurbished.

XD John Goss Special

Also of some interest is that there were XD John Goss Specials. These were not factory cars but dealer specials, offered by a Sydney firm, Trad Trim and Sunroofs. They featured revised suspension, and fibreglass wheel arch extensions, bonnet bulge and rear wing, plus JGS striping and badging. For anyone interested in these cars there is a letter about them in Issue Five of AMC magazine, including a photograph and a reproduction of the advert.

An XD JGS recently came up for sale in Australia. Here are some photos. It is nice to see it still used Aunger wheels.

Spoilers

The XB John Goss Special had a wild spoiler. I'm told that it was not factory fitted, but it could be fitted by a dealer.

Model changeovers 2

This is a fine example of an XB GS coupe which was built very late in the XB’s production run, and what do we find




Yes, it has XC style rear wings. The conclusion is that Ford, or whoever was contracted to supply the stampings, must have started production of the XC style wings and the supply of XA/XB style wings became exhausted too early so they used the new style wings that had been delivered to the factory.

The first documented XB hardtop with XC rear marker lights I have knowledge of is a July, 1975 GT, and the next is an October, 1975 John Goss Special. July, 1975 is very early, considering XC’s were introduced in July, 1976.

Model changeovers

One of the more intriguing aspects of Australian Fords which I don’t believe happened with American cars was the early introduction of parts or panels into the last models of the preceding range. This seems most prevalent on the XA/XB/XC models and hopefully we can show some of these aspects below.



If you examine the photograph of this 1975 John Goss Special which was based on the XB model, and compare it with the following photograph.



You will see that the 1978 XC, above, has horizontal marker lights in the rear wing whereas the XB - and the XA that proceeded it - had vertical marker lights.
As the fitting of these involved a stamping of the panel, you can see that new dies must have been used for the rear wing on the XC model, which was introduced in July, 1976.

Ford XB Falcon Hardtop: John Goss Special

Who is John Goss and why is he special?

For those that didn't follow Australian Touring Cars in the 1970's and 1980's, you most likely have never heard of John Goss so let us tell you about him and why he is special enough to have a car named after him.
John Goss is a Legend. Tasmanian-born Goss won Bathurst 1000 touring car race in 1974 as a privateer and again in 1985. In 1976 he made history again when he won the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Sandown Park. In doing so, he became the only man in Australian motor racing history to win both of Australia's premier races - the Bathurst 1000 endurance event for touring cars and the Australian Grand Prix for open wheelers.
Why a "John Goss Special"

The 1974 Bathurst win was not anticipated by Ford Australia, they anticipated that if a Ford were to win it would be one of the factory works teams. This didn't happen and John Goss / Kevin Bartlett walked away outright winners.
Ford seized the opportunity to boost lagging Hardtop sales by taking a base Falcon 500 Hardtop, dressing it up with decals and other bolt on options and call it a John Goss Special. These 'Specials' were only available in White with a choice of two accent colors: Emerald Fire and Apollo Blue.
Sadly it was seen as just that for many years by the average Australian Ford connoisseur, a Hardtop with flash paint. This is true, to a point. It had the small V8 (302 Cleveland), the smaller of the two 4 speed gearboxes (Borg Warner Single Rail) and the Borg Warner 8" rear end. But it also included color coded bumpers like the GT, a GS/GT hood and instrumentation. It was also only made in very limited numbers. Ford never kept track of how many they made but the number is commonly quoted as 260. So flash paint on a base model doesn't spell collectible but give is a cool name and limit the numbers and sure enough you have a collector car on your hands. Australians ignored the fact for 20+ years and it is only recently, as the price of all Hardtops have increased, so have the John Goss Specials.
Identifying a John Goss Specials

As Ford didn't assign a specific model code to the JGS, identifying one is more of a process of elimination than anything else.
VIN. Will be JG65R [S,T,J,U or M] XXXXX K
Model must be 18313 with Paint code of S or Q and Trim code of W
Contact Ford Australia with the VIN and they should confirm the options 32, 39, 48 and 68 were fitted to the car.
Price guide

As with any collectable vehicle prices vary wildly depending on rarity, factory options, condition etc. The below guide reflects conditions 5/10 - 10/10 and are based on sales prices.
John Goss Special
$18,000 - U$50,000
Interested in obtaining an JGS?

Like any limited run vehicle, these will continue to increase in value and probably faster than a Falcon 500 GS or Fairmont as there were far fewer produced.

John Goss specials

Who is John Goss?

John Goss is a two times Bathurst 1000 winner who Ford Australia honored in 1975 by creating a limited run of XB Falcon Hardtops to commemorate his 1974 Bathurst win. John Goss was an early pioneer of the Falcon hardtop while others chose to stick with the less refined, but track proven XY Falcons.

The 1974 Bathurst win was an unexpected win for Ford. By this time the Holden Toranas were at their peak, with the factory cars of Brock and Bond four seconds faster in qualifying than the privateer entered XA GT of John Goss.

With heavy rain falling on the track, and the Toranas expiring around them, John Goss and Kevin Bartlett crossed the line to win after over seven hours behind the wheel.

John Goss' long time sponsor during his racing days was McLeod Ford from Rockdale, Sydney. In the late 70s dealers were keen to be associated with winning drivers and rumour has it that the idea for the JGS began with McLeod Ford. Max McLeod was well known for adding innovative features to cars on his lot. His "Horn Cars" certainly attracted attention even though some designs were not to everyone's taste.

What is a John Goss Special?

John Goss Specials were based on an XB Falcon 500 Hardtop 302ci with the GS Rally Pack added. This included a GT dash and steering wheel, GT style '12 Slotter' wheels, GT style bonnet with lockdowns, and GT side vents. Colour choice was limited to either Apollo Blue over white or Emerald Fire (green) over white Actual production numbers of these cars were never released by Ford, but media reports of the day place the total numbers of John Goss Specials produced at somewhere between 260 and 800.

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