Xt Gt argument settlers

Following on from the XR GT Falcon, and with more Mustang-bred influence, the XT GT, despite not winning at Bathurst, became a worldly success in its own right. The XT Falcon GT won the teams’ prize in the London-to-Sydney Marathon and was also exported to a number of overseas countries that you wouldn’t expect.

Rapidly developed for release in April 1968, the XT version of the GT gained the more powerful 302ci Windsor V8, a beefy new three-speed automatic transmission option, wider 6-inch rims, lower suspension and heavier shocks. The XT GT was the first Aussie performance car to offer headlights to match its extra performance with the new grille-mounted Lucas driving lights. It was also available in a variety of colours with black-outs and colourkeyed side stripes. So

extremely popular was this model, sales doubled that of the XR version. A total of 1415 XT GTs were made, if you don’t include the one turned into an XW GT prototype. Of these, 1107 were 4-speed floorshift manuals, the remaining 308 were cruisomatics.

The first XT GT built was in February 1968, a lone pre-production Polar White example allocated to the Ford Motor Company itself (code 3997) complete with a rare centre console (option 32) and air-conditioning. In fact, the first five GTs off the production line were allocated to the Ford Motor Company before full steam assembly began in March. There

were five advertised colours available. In order of popularity, they were GT Gold, Polar White, Candy Apple Red, Zircon Green and GT Silver. In addition to these, there were a number of XT GTs made in non-standard colours, such as Springtime Yellow, Frosted Pewter, Vintage Burgundy, Nightmist Blue, Jet Black, Starlight Blue, Stratosphere Grey and Brambles Red; plus three stamped ‘SPEC’ paint code.

A SPEC-coded GT denoted a special order colour that wasn’t standard in the Ford range. The three made were all sold new by Peter Wright Ford and it is unknown what colour these actually were as they’ve never been found. We’d love to find out, of course.

All but four XT GTs had black vinyl trim. Of the others, three had a Parchment interior and one only had Champagne-coloured trim. Some

of the popular options that were ordered by GT customers, included the laminated windscreen, heavy-duty battery and power steering. There were a few oddball options as well, such as one Candy Apple GT fitted with a clock (Option 30), and one Polar White version fitted with a fuel tank guard (Option 44).

There were 78 XT GTs made with the vinyl roof option. Unsurprisingly, 74 of these were black vinyl, while four cars were actually produced with a white vinyl roof! Of these, three were Candy Apple in colour, and one was GT Gold. Four cars with distinctive looks, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Two cars with the black vinyl roof option were