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What came before the 1971 Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III? Why, the 1970 Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase II, of course. The Phase II had the same 5.8 litre V-8 engine as the Phase III, and took 1st and 2nd places in the 1970 Bathurst 500. Aussies, like Americans, seem to have the same need for speed. Even though their cars are a bit smaller, they have the same muscular engines of their American counterparts. The GT-HO Phase II and III cars could have competed favorably on the NASCAR circuit of their day.
TRAX isn’t the only die cast manufacturer to work a set of dies. So, it’s only natural they would come out with the GT-HO Phase II. They’re available in two colors—Diamond White with a black interior, and Grecian Gold with a Saddle interior. The fit and finish is identical to the previous release of the GT-HO Phase III images. Though not as feature rich as the images coming from DM and GMP, the quality is up there with the best. The dashboard, undercarriage, and engine detailing is first rate, as good as any. The seats are soft plastic and the images have full, working suspensions. The paint quality is excellent and the tampo quality on the stripes and logos is crisp. There are a lot of individual chromed parts (not painted) and all light lenses are clear plastic. All door, hood, and trunk seams are tight, with no slop. The only drawbacks are the usual, dogleg-style hinges on the hood, and an unusual door arrangement that allows the rear doors to open more like the 1:1 car, but requires the dogleg-hinged front doors to be opened first. While there are no new, gee-whiz features, this image is nonetheless well constructed and worthy of inclusion in your collection—especially if you have the previous release.
Ford dropped the Falcon here after 1970, but continued the marque in Australia. It’s smaller size worked well for that country, where the car blossomed into a performance legend. Today’s Falcon XR6 Turbo is a modern example of the performance image derived from the GT-HO lineage.
(11/15/2004)
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