Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase 3 (The Saint)

The Saint: The survival story of an unrestored Falcon GTHO Phase 3 - The Saint
With its raw performance and racing heritage, it’s little wonder why the almighty and iconic XY GTHO Phase III is the Holy Grail of Australian muscle cars. Around 200 of the 300 GTHOs built are accounted for today, with only a handful of original, unrestored examples remaining in existence. ‘The Saint’, a multi-award-winning 45,000 miler in Vermilion Fire, is one such Survivor, which has had quite the journey up until now…
Built for homologation, the GTHO Phase III bore a striking resemblance to its little brother, the GT, except for the front and rear spoilers. However, performance-wise, the GTHO had some serious enhancements designed purely for track domination.
CAMS – Confederation of Australian Motor Sports required 200 identical units of a model to be built to the same specification as the actual GTHO intended for Series Production racing. As such, the Ford Motor Company of Australia scheduled the build of these 200 GTHOs during June and July 1971. These homologated units were termed ‘Bathurst’ GTHOs, as each Ford dealer was required to write ‘Bathurst’ next to each SIDO (Single Item Dealer Order). A ‘Bathurst’ GTHO was equipped with the same 351/4V ‘Big Port’ engine running the solid valve train as other regular GTHOs, but was fitted with a wide ratio 28 spline Toploader and 3.25:1 nodular iron diff ratio, which better suited the race track at Mount Panorama. The legendary Bib Stillwell would have considered it blasphemy not to request at least one ‘Bathurst’ GTHO in Ford’s corporate racing colour, Vermilion Fire, through his Adelaide showroom in 1971.
Saint George
George Kokotis was running a snack bar in the 1960s, whilst successfully flipping cars as a side hustle. In 1970, he took a leap of faith and established St George Motors in the suburb of Torrensville, South Australia.
“In those days, most car nut car dealers had GT Falcons,” George explains. “So when the Phase 3 hit the market, I wanted one!”
George fed his burning desire, ordering a brand new Vermilion Fire XY GTHO in 1971. Shortly afterward, George’s car buff brother-in-law, Eric Gianakis, feeling inspired, indulged in his own Vermilion Fire XY GTHO – the very same one that Stillwell’s had in their showroom.
“One great memory I have as a kid is watching both cars racing each other down our street. Dad in one and my uncle in the other,” George’s son Kerry fondly reminisces.
Being a wheeler dealer, George sold his GTHO after only owning it for a short 12 months, whilst Eric kept his until deciding to on sell it to his brother-in-law. “It was too much for him to handle,” says George, looking back, “so I bought it from him in late 1972.” At this stage, the ‘power machine’ was showing 15,000 miles.
Now a customary touch on most of his personal cars, George glued a gold St George pin on the center console and moved ‘The Saint’ onto its 3rd owner, Don Gallizzi, a concreter from Adelaide.
“Back in those days, that was the car to have,” says Don. “It was the quickest car there was, so it was a bit showy, ya’ know?”
Don didn’t own the street-legal race car long before trading it in at Dragon Motors in 1973.
It’s here that Noel Adams, an owner-driver truckie, bought this piece of iconic Aussie muscle. His truckie pal, John Adams, had entered his 1964 Austin Healey 3000 Mk3 into the Concours D’Elegance in Melbourne, so ‘The Saint’ was prepped as the tow vehicle. Noel installed a tow bar and airbag shocks as well as an 8-track tape player under the dash, whilst John fitted a left-hand mirror for the 1,500 km round trip.
The Seafood King
In 1976, Noel needed to ‘cash up for a new house build’. He wanted to swap ‘The Saint’ with his pal John, for his recently acquired Vermilion Fire XY GT plus $1,000 cash, but John couldn’t part with his beloved Falcon GT.
Both Noel and John knew Morrie Cappo of Cappo Seafoods in Adelaide. Noel had carted prawns from Darwin to him, whilst John had met him at Major Car Sales, where Morrie had bought a Nugget Gold GTHO a few years earlier.
John knew Morrie wanted a Vermilion Fire XY GTHO, so he reached out to him and sold Morrie ‘The Saint’ on Noel’s behalf. From all reports, it got very little use in the following 14 years, as it sat in a galvanised shed on the Cappo Seafood premises.

For more information, visit Ollies' Garage (olliesgarage.com.au)
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