1970s AUSTRALIAN MUSCLE CARS - Ford Falcon XB Hardtop John Goss Special

1970s AUSTRALIAN MUSCLE CARS - Ford Falcon XB Hardtop John Goss Special http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_XB_Falcon http://www.aussiecoupes.com/jgs.html 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 Gos