Aussies abroad: 1995 Ford XG Falcon XR6 ute sold in the US - UPDATED

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 29.04.2020

UPDATE: Young Aussie backpacker finds new home on US soil

UPDATE: After 18 bids, with a high-bid of US$8,100 (AU$12,427), the humble XG XR6 ute has been sold.

The auction came down to the wire, with 11 bids placed by two back-and-forth parties in the closing ten minutes of the online listing. That would be reasonable money on home soil, but almost seems cheap for such a unique vehicle on US roads.

View the completed listing on Hemmings here.

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One well-travelled Aussie backpacker is seeking a new home in Detroit, Michigan.

We spotted this distinctly Australian 1995 Ford Falcon XG XR6 ute on Hemmings’ auction site. It currently has a high-bid of US$5,000 (AU$7,862), with eight days left on the listing.

In XR6-guise, the ute is fitted with the Tickford-engineered alloy-head 4.0lt single-overhead cam inline-six, this one backed by the four-speed automatic.

Uniquely an Australian creation, the ute is an extremely rare sight on American roads – with this XG possibly representing the only example of its kind in the US.

READ NEXT: AUSSIE ORIGINAL - THE FIRST UTE

The seller, with expertise on American classics and muscle cars, has yet to locate another XG Falcon.

The car is unrestored and shows some dings and signs of a life-lived. The tailgate has been repainted and there are some ‘barely noticeable’ bubbles in the lower passenger-side rear quarter.

The interior looks largely unmarked and in pretty good condition, with no rips or tears. All lights, signals, gauges as well as the heater are working perfectly. The odometer reads 195,800kms. An Alpine head unit and speakers seem to be the only deviations from factory.

Interestingly, the seller states to Hemmings that almost everyone is confused by it, and assumes it to be a custom "Ranchero" made out of a Fox-body Mustang.

The current owner stumbled upon the car by chance in Seattle, as they had travelled there to look at other vehicles. After finding it on an online classifieds, he "couldn’t help by go look at it".

"I’m one of those enthusiasts who grew up fantasizing about Mad Max-era Australian Fords and this was as close as I could get", says the seller.

The XR6 was imported into the US back in 2017, by a New Zealander who split his time between his home country and the Seattle area where he would search for classic cars to send back home.

The seller and current owner seems to have enjoyed his time with the car, and all the head-scratching it seems to provoke on the roads.

"You don’t know attention until you drive a right-hand drive Falcon XR6 ute", he says.

"No matter where you go people will point, take photos and ask questions about it. They’ve all seen vintage Mustangs and Chevelles. This is something different and exotic in America".

This isn’t the first well-travelled Aussie we’ve spotted for sale in the US. Just a few months ago we reported on a 1994 Holden VR ute for sale in California, and even saw a HQ Kingswood ute up for grabs in Las Vegas a few years back.

The high-bid of US$5,000 is yet to meet reserve, but with eight days left on the online auction – we’ll be watching with curious eyes as to how much bidding interest the humble XG ute drums up.

Perhaps we have some American readers, or Aussie expatriates that may be interested in giving the old workhorse a new home.

View the online auction listing at Hemmings.com here

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