XA GT RPO83 MARKET

CURRENT DEMAND for verifiable RPOs remains strong and values are climbing in the wake of heavily-publicised GT-HO sales. Scarcity, as always, contributes strongly to price growth, as does the XA’s superiority over earlier GTs. A major issue with cars of this kind is authenticity and not just the possibility that someone has created a fake, clone or ‘ringer’. A car can identify as genuine but missing crucial components or exist only as a set of ID plates riveted to a completely different car. Colour is one area where the scarcity of an RPO can be quantified. Work undertaken some years ago by Mark Barraclough revealed that there was indeed only one sedan built in Onyx Black - plus four hardtops. The most common hardtop colour is Yellow Glow (22 made) with sedans not far behind at 20. Red Pepper is the most common sedan colour with 22 built plus 18 hardtops. Owners are often reluctant to advertise cars for sale, however as Perry Bitsakis proved when acquiring his sedan, almost anything becomes available once the right money is offered. And while you might need a Lotto win in order to rehome this pair of stunners, their combined cost will for the foreseeable future at least remain less than the money being touted for just one Phase 4 – or even some recently-sold Phase 3s. Mark Barraclough believes that attrition due to rust and other factors has reduced the numbers of available RPO83 hardtops and this contributes to higher selling prices. “Plus”, he added, “the normal situation where two-door XAs of any kind generate more money than sedans.”