2025 AFD highlight - 1976 XB Falcon GT hardtop ‘Horn Car’

This year’s annual All Ford Day in Geelong celebrated 100 years since the foundation of Ford Australia. As such, Ford owners and fans made it the biggest day in the event’s 34-year history.

Fords on show covered the full gamut of local production, plus a wide variety of English Fords, American Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns, as well as Ford-based hot rods.

But even with more than 1,600 cars on show, there were still some cars that stood out from the pack, like this 1976 XB Falcon GT ‘Horn Car’.

In the early 1970s, if your Falcon GT wasn’t bold enough, you could take it to McLeod Ford in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale for the ‘Horn Car’ treatment. An initiative from dealer principal, Max McLeod, the Horn Car package added bold striping in a variety of designs, along with front and rear spoilers, sunroofs, aftermarket wheels and other cosmetic touches.

McLeod’s concept proved so popular that he was able to license it to Ford dealers interstate, with the example pictured sold new through Adrian Brien Ford in St. Mary’s, who were Horn Car agents for South Australia.

A genuine GT hardtop with the 351 V8 and three-speed console auto, this car’s factory spec included (rare) Blue Steel paint with silver lowers and Chamois vinyl trim inside. These and other features made it a 1-of-1 in terms of XB GT hardtop production.

The Horn Car package applied to this car included ‘Horn’ decals on the front guards, white-and-silver side stripes that ran along the flanks and over the roof, jelly bean-style alloys, a front spoiler and distinctive “fold over” rear spoiler.

A restoration of this car saw the colour and unique Horn Car extras retained and refurbished, but the auto transmission was switched to a four-speed manual.

In August, 2024, this unique XB Falcon GT hardtop was sold at auction through SEVEN82MOTORS. Whether the buyer back then was the same person who presented it at the 2025 All Ford Day is unknown, but the car certainly stood out, even amongst a field of high-quality GT sedans and hardtops! 

To see JUST CARS’ report from the 2025 All Ford Day, click HERE.