Here’s how a rare Ford Falcon that sold for $5k is now worth $500k

We’re sure there are many of you who regret letting go of certain cars that were never thought to be of any real value back in the day, only to see them sell for unimaginable figures these days. That’s exactly what happened to one man in Australia who sold a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase I for $5000 over five decades ago – a car that is now worth $AU500,000 ($NZ545,017).

As reported by Australian publication Drive, the unique muscle car was bought from a dealership in 1972 for the grand sum of $4000. However, the then owner, John Oates, never realised that he had just taken the keys to a former race car.

In fact, the Falcon was actually campaigned by Ford Motorsport in the 1969 edition of the Bathurst 500, back when teams used to race cars taken straight from the showroom floor and later sell them on.

However, Oates sold the car just a few years after he bought it for a $1000 profit – not too shabby if you ask us. But his decision to flick the car on is arguably a tad regretful after recently being reunited with his old fling, which has now been restored and is worth in excess of half a million Aussie dollars.

Drive reports that the car changed hands a number of times in its life, up until 1998 when a classic car dealer by the name of Terry Healy figured out it was once raced at Mount Panorama. The storied Falcon was then sold to muscle car collector David Bowden.

Much of the car’s history has been unearthed by Ross Vasse, creator of the Ford Falcon GTHO Register series of books that dive deep into where these models were made, their past lives, and who drove them. Speaking of which, his new book about the Phase I cars is said to reveal who piloted Oates’ car at Bathurst.

But as with the cars themselves, the Register books are only printed in highly limited quantities. As of writing, all of the 1969 Ford Falcon XW GTHO Phase I Register books have sold out.

We’re sure you could write a novel about this particular car’s journey alone though.