Falcon XP + Jaguar Mark V + Studebaker Starlite - Ones That Got Away 426
Looking back through the Unique Cars classifieds
Ford Falcon XP V8 hardtop - Advertised March 1996
The parts were available off the shelf in America, with the engineering work done and the XP Falcon shell was easily able to accept a V8 engine. So why did Ford Australia fail to do what owners like this one had no trouble accomplishing? Politics, probably. Ford didn’t want to start a power race – not until it had the physically larger XR anyway – and risk a reaction from officialdom similar to the ministerial blustering that killed the GTHO Phase 4.
This XP looks like it’s been done properly and while $14K was a lot of money in 1996, take a look at what they bring now.
Then: $14,000. Now: $35,000-$40,000
Jaguar Mark V Drophead - Advertised May 2001
An uncle of mine many years ago came to show us his brand new Morris 1100 and crow about conning the dealer into giving him £375 ($750 in the New Money) as a trade-in on his old Drophead Jaguar. Anyone seen how much Morris 1100s have been selling for recently? By contrast, top examples of the elegant Mark V soft-top hit six figures some time ago and values remain there or higher in markets across the world. Even in 2001, $80K wasn’t excessive for a car with trophies on the shelf and had it not sold here an overseas buyer would have been swift to pounce.
Then: $80,000. Now: $115,000-$125,000
Studebaker Starlite - Advertised July 1989
Controversial but much admired, the Raymond Loewy ‘backwards-frontwards’ Studebakers with their trunk (boot) longer than the hood (bonnet) are a rare sight in Australia and scarce in the USA as well. Back when these cars were new, the styling was a polarising issue and sales of the 1950 two-door Starlite fell a few cars short of 12,000. Some Studebakers were assembled in Australia but rarities like this were all private imports. Finding one in Australia will be tough and only slightly easier in North America, however prices there rarely exceed US$25,000.
Then: $14,000. Now: $40,000-$45,000
Reader's One That Got Away:
Nissan PulsaR GTI-R
Andrew Ramone - Rockela, QLD
When I attended TAFE in the early 2000s one of my fellow classmates drove a champagne coloured GTi-R it was such a great car with its AWD turbocharged drivetrain and I loved it more than he did. He never modified it and the last time I spoke to him he had sold the car for $10K as it needed some cosmetic TLC. I wish I knew it was for sale.
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