Founding Club memeber, past Club President and Life Member Alan Tenraa, shares a bit of the history of his XR GT.

 

After around 3 years of searching, I finally decided to purchase my third XR GT Falcon. My first was way back in 1970 when my weekly income would barely half fill the petrol tank of car today. Unfortunately, I sold that one after only 6 months, needless to say, for economical reasons. The second, I bought in 1982 and this one was owned by a Chemist who only drove it to work each day and once to Melbourne. It was a great example of a genuine XRGT, but after a short few years and a second mortgage that needed to be paid, I sold that car for a huge profit of $300 (bought for $2,300, sold for $2,600). I have not seen either of the cars since but hope (RER and RJM) lived happily ever after.

In the late 80’s, I had the bug again to own another XR. So, over a two or three year period, I looked at almost every XRGT that became available. There weren’t many, so I wasn’t spoilt for choice. Finally, in 1990, I came across ‘The Old Bomb’ as it’s been known in our family for years. The man who owned it couldn’t drive anymore and reluctantly had to sell the car. Of all the cars I looked at, few would match the overall condition of this one. It had lived under a tarp for several years inside a workshop so the paintwork and body was quite good but the interior exceptional.

It still has the original engine which was refreshed (and balanced) in 1992. The seats, lining, dash, even the carpet etc are original. The car has been maintained but has not been restored and will not need to for many years to come. It was fortunate enough to appear in the Ford Boss 355GT television commercials shot in May 2012 together with some other great GT Falcons.

The car is one of the oldest GT Falcons made. It was produced in May 1967 the first month of production of GT Falcons, 105 being made. The Prefix number being JG33GL confirming May ’67 and the original number plate (before JG33) was RAF-703. In South Australia up until the end of 1966, number plates were numerical. At the beginning of 1967, number plates were changed to Alpha Numerical, the first being RAA-000. This probably means ‘the old bomb’ was first registered in early 1967. It will most likely never be known who has the first GT made in Australia, but am happy ‘tob’ was one of them and still alive and well today nearly 50 years later.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to as many Club runs as I should because of work and other commitments. Tob lives a contended life in a shed in a sleeping bag and only see’s the light of day every few months.

I’ve been associated with the Falcon GT Club of SA for many years and hope the Club will be around for many years to come especially beyond 2017 when our beloved GT’s will start turning 50 years of age. I wonder if they’ll get a ‘Seniors Card’?

Alan
LM - FGTCSA