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The GTHO
- Thread starter Quasi
- Start date
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Hardies Hero
New member
are you asking what GTHO stands for? if so I think its Grand Touring Handling Options.
I may be wrong though..
Not sure how many were built but would love to have one on my hands these days as they are worth a mint.
I may be wrong though..
Not sure how many were built but would love to have one on my hands these days as they are worth a mint.
The 69 Windsor 351 was the GTHO. IIRC there were 250 made and then they ran out of 351 Windsors and then put stock standard 351 Clevelands in the same XW package to make a GTHO. This was often called the PH 1 1/2. Probably the most undesirable HO because all it was , was Windosr HO with a stock Clevo
The HO bit always stood for High Output but with the supercar scare in full swing it was called Handling Option
The HO bit always stood for High Output but with the supercar scare in full swing it was called Handling Option
Hardies Hero
New member
they only made four of those didnt they? before the govt at the time stepped in.
Racin Jason
Active member
Sounds right to me Pete.
One white and one red. Both started life as lightweight XW shells and were later updated to XY. Moffat dropped off his and went with the Mustang and Pete went on to spend several fortunes making his car competitive. And what a car it still is![drive]
One white and one red. Both started life as lightweight XW shells and were later updated to XY. Moffat dropped off his and went with the Mustang and Pete went on to spend several fortunes making his car competitive. And what a car it still is![drive]
Racin Jason
Active member
All the info I have seen says that Moffats car was red, I could be mistaken though. Maybe Col or Henry have some more info?
The two "GTHO" works Improved Production racers were built as XW's, a red one in works/Coca Cola livery for Allan Moffat, who disliked the car, and the white Castrol unit for Ian Geoghegan, who committed to it as a successor to his 67 Mustang, which he felt was getting a bit long in the tooth.
They never raced as XW's IIRC, but were facelifted with XY panels. Both shells were radically acid-dipped, and built by Al Turner along the same sort of guidelines as the legendary "Trans-Am" Mustangs (of which Moffat's car was one). The gestation period was difficult.
On the basis that prizemoney was what kept the doors of AMR open, Moffat was reluctant to race the car, as it was distinctly lacking in traction, and handling-wise was never a match for the Trans-Am Mustang... and so it languished for a long time at AMR, its engine removed and fitted at one stage to the 'stang.
Geoghegan spent an awful lot of money and time in developing the car, reshelling it at one stage (IIRC) to try and restored the rigidity that went during the acid dipping, and getting John Joyce at Bowen Engineering involved. As legendary as that car was, its biggest day was Easter Monday 1972, and it garnered very little other success for Haberfield Fats. Geoghegan eventually sold it (traded it for a large-ish boat IIRC) to Kingsley Hibbard, who butchered it and shelved it, until David Bowden convinced him to part with it in 1985-ish.
When David went bust in the mid-eighties, it was the only car remaining in his collection, probably due to the notion that the creditors couldn't see any value in a junked-out old Falcon. He went on, with the help of John Wynne (the original head spanner at the Lot 6 Mahoney's Road skunkworks) in restoring it, taking two goes to get it to the condition it's in now.
The Moffat car was scrapped, but much of the componentry - such as the fuel injection system - was retained by AM (who seems to have retained a lot of that stuff - including a virginal set of conrods for the Boss 302, and the original Tunnel Port engine from the Mustang) and subsequently used in the rebuild of the Geoghegan car.
The Geoghegan car (NOT the Moffat one) was painted Grace Brothers yellow late in its Improved Proddie career, which tied in with the long-standing deal (remeber the brothers racing a Corty at Bathurst dressed in GB-supplied suits?) between Geoghegans and Grace Brothers (Leo raced a yellow Birrana, Fatty raced the yellow Charger in 1973, and Laurie O'Neill's Porsche as well).
Now for the real triva... the young designers responsible for stickering-up the Moffat car in XY trim for its publicity shots were Wayne Draper, and Peter Arcadipane. These two hoons were respnsible for many of the urban myths about big-block hardtops (they shanghaied a pair of Al Turner's 427's from the Lot 6 junkpile and whacked them in their XB's for a while). Wayne Draper did the graphics for Murray Carters XC's, XD' and XE racers, designed the "Phase" add-ons (he was a - silent, due to his emplyment within Ford - co-director of the Phase Autos mob) that formed the homologation bodywork for the XD and XE racers, and played a big part in ensuring that the XD was homologated for Group C - at 1362kg dry weight (DJ's car was the only one that got near it - for more info, read "The Unforgiving Minute".
Peter Arcadipane was renowned throughout the 80's as an illustrator, but is also the man behind the styling of Mitsubishi's current Lancer series.
And that's post# 1302... one 302 for me, thanks!
They never raced as XW's IIRC, but were facelifted with XY panels. Both shells were radically acid-dipped, and built by Al Turner along the same sort of guidelines as the legendary "Trans-Am" Mustangs (of which Moffat's car was one). The gestation period was difficult.
On the basis that prizemoney was what kept the doors of AMR open, Moffat was reluctant to race the car, as it was distinctly lacking in traction, and handling-wise was never a match for the Trans-Am Mustang... and so it languished for a long time at AMR, its engine removed and fitted at one stage to the 'stang.
Geoghegan spent an awful lot of money and time in developing the car, reshelling it at one stage (IIRC) to try and restored the rigidity that went during the acid dipping, and getting John Joyce at Bowen Engineering involved. As legendary as that car was, its biggest day was Easter Monday 1972, and it garnered very little other success for Haberfield Fats. Geoghegan eventually sold it (traded it for a large-ish boat IIRC) to Kingsley Hibbard, who butchered it and shelved it, until David Bowden convinced him to part with it in 1985-ish.
When David went bust in the mid-eighties, it was the only car remaining in his collection, probably due to the notion that the creditors couldn't see any value in a junked-out old Falcon. He went on, with the help of John Wynne (the original head spanner at the Lot 6 Mahoney's Road skunkworks) in restoring it, taking two goes to get it to the condition it's in now.
The Moffat car was scrapped, but much of the componentry - such as the fuel injection system - was retained by AM (who seems to have retained a lot of that stuff - including a virginal set of conrods for the Boss 302, and the original Tunnel Port engine from the Mustang) and subsequently used in the rebuild of the Geoghegan car.
The Geoghegan car (NOT the Moffat one) was painted Grace Brothers yellow late in its Improved Proddie career, which tied in with the long-standing deal (remeber the brothers racing a Corty at Bathurst dressed in GB-supplied suits?) between Geoghegans and Grace Brothers (Leo raced a yellow Birrana, Fatty raced the yellow Charger in 1973, and Laurie O'Neill's Porsche as well).
Now for the real triva... the young designers responsible for stickering-up the Moffat car in XY trim for its publicity shots were Wayne Draper, and Peter Arcadipane. These two hoons were respnsible for many of the urban myths about big-block hardtops (they shanghaied a pair of Al Turner's 427's from the Lot 6 junkpile and whacked them in their XB's for a while). Wayne Draper did the graphics for Murray Carters XC's, XD' and XE racers, designed the "Phase" add-ons (he was a - silent, due to his emplyment within Ford - co-director of the Phase Autos mob) that formed the homologation bodywork for the XD and XE racers, and played a big part in ensuring that the XD was homologated for Group C - at 1362kg dry weight (DJ's car was the only one that got near it - for more info, read "The Unforgiving Minute".
Peter Arcadipane was renowned throughout the 80's as an illustrator, but is also the man behind the styling of Mitsubishi's current Lancer series.
And that's post# 1302... one 302 for me, thanks!
Hardies Hero
New member
Geezuz Henry... you coming to bathurst this year? would love to sit down with you over a few quiet ales and just take things in...
Racin Jason
Active member
Great work again Henry!
HH, I wish! My Bathurst days are pretty much behind me... a wedding anniversary and eldest daughter's birthday fall within a two-day period that's usually on or anround the October long weekend, so I don't get to run away much these days around that time.
Still, will have to make an excuse for a catch-up with you guys at some stage...
Another piece of trivia... there was one man (with a strong link to DJR)who raced both GTHO Improved Proddies: while he only raced each car once (IIRC) he raced them both in Queensland. He wasn't quite as disparaging about the cars as Moffat was, and garnered creditable results in both outings (although his result in the Moffat car wasn't enough to get him paid for the experience).
Questions:
Who was that man?
When and where did he drive each car?
What was the condition that Moffat imposed on him, payment wise in the drive in the red car?
Still, will have to make an excuse for a catch-up with you guys at some stage...
Another piece of trivia... there was one man (with a strong link to DJR)who raced both GTHO Improved Proddies: while he only raced each car once (IIRC) he raced them both in Queensland. He wasn't quite as disparaging about the cars as Moffat was, and garnered creditable results in both outings (although his result in the Moffat car wasn't enough to get him paid for the experience).
Questions:
Who was that man?
When and where did he drive each car?
What was the condition that Moffat imposed on him, payment wise in the drive in the red car?
DJR-FAN
New member
Great read Henry.
For your info (you may already know) Wayne Draper is still designing. I had a long chat with him in the early 90's and he is a very interesting man to talk to. At the time I owned an EA fairmont Ghia and I had been talking to Wayne about the Allan Moffat HO kit that he was producing. At the time (pre XR6) he was producing a supercharged 6 and suspension tweaks that made the 6 cyl falcon a rocket ship. I was still in the Army at the time and unfortunately had to can the project when I found out I was to be posted.
Wayne owns the original XW GTHO Police interceptor Prototype built by Al Turner at Lot 6. He has a picture of it on his HO website http://www.gruppea.com.au/HO/index.html