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.

Thorn Red 2

Perhaps the most famous, and continuing the success carried over from racing the XW and XY, was Allan Moffat who drove some quite awesome looking hardtops at Bathurst.

This is the car Allan Moffat drove in the 1975 Bathurst race.



And this is the XB hardtop that is privately owned.



The car is a 1975 XB Falcon 500 hardtop, fitted with a 302ci Cleveland V8, three speed automatic trans, and factory ordered GT/GS options - dash, steering wheel, bonnet, grille and rear wing.

Alan Moffat Special

Thanks also to Mark we have the Ford dealer bulletin for the cars.

Alan Moffat Special

Thanks once more to the Falcon GT club’s historian, we now have some more information regarding the Allan Moffat Specials. Here is a breakdown of what they offered:

Serial Prefix JG23TG (TC ?) August 1977

Serial number 48xxx (49 ?)

SIDO Number 524 followed by 001-500 (seems to denote AMS number)

Model Code 18633 - XC Falcon 500 4 door sedan

Engine Code

P - 4.9 litre 4V 8 cylinder

Transmission Code

L - 4 speed floor manual or B - 3 speed floor auto

Paint

P - Pine 'n' Lime
9 - Snow White
H - Red Flame

Trim

Z - Saddle
G - Ginger
B - Black
D - Doeskin
U - Dusk

C - Chamois

Options

03 - Seat belts (mandatory)
45 - Limited slip differential
48 - GS Rally pack (incl bonnet, wheel, driv lights, instruments, clock, LH Mirror, Overriders, 12 slots)
53 - 4 wheel power disc brakes
67 - Dual exhaust system
68 - Sports handling suspension

Tyre Code 92 - FR70 H14 Black sidewall radials
OSOS Off Standard Options - Black G.T. Striping (denoted by G.T. on radiator support plate)

Alan Moffat Special

In addition to the cowl mounted compliance plates, many XC Falcons had an extra tag added to the front of the radiator support. This tag most usually showed options fitted to the car. However, the options were of a larger or more ‘serious’ nature, for example, sports handling suspension, rather than, say, sunroof.

The tag was located on the passenger side of the support and is seen here between the radiator cap and the rubber bonnet bumper.



The tag contained stampings for the paint code, the last five digits of the VIN, and the options.



In this instance we can see code ‘9’ for Snow White paint and ‘R/Pack’ is for the sports handling suspension.



However, the ‘G.T.’ stamp is interesting. As we know, Ford never produced an GT model in the XC range, but they did offer the buyer the option of speccing up their car to the equivalent of an old style GT, or purchasing the GXL, which was the ‘sport/luxury’ model in the XC range.

The ‘G.T.’ on the tag for the AMS refers to the XB GT style black paintouts on the bonnet and on the lower sills and wheel wells.

Allan Moffat Special

Here are some pictures of a surviving Allan Moffat Special XC Falcon.