Some people really spit the dummy over GT mock-ups, as though someone turning their car into a tribute to a beloved classic that would otherwise be out of their reach is some kind of personal slight. But Aaron Apps seems to revel in the purists’ scorn – when he bought the GTHO tribute you see here, he stipulated that the FAKER plates had to come with it!

First published in the September 2025 issue of Street Machine

While it’s been quite a while since he’s piloted something this cool, this XY isn’t Aaron’s first foray into the wonderful world of modified cars. “My first car was a two-door LJ that I bought when I was 15, and I had an XW ute that I drove on my Ls while I did up the Torana with my old man,” he says.

After lunching the LJ’s 186 doing skids, Aaron dropped a 202 with triple Webers into its engine bay for even more fun, but he eventually moved on to crotch rockets when the constabulary wouldn’t leave the Torry alone.

It wasn’t until he attended a mate’s wedding that Aaron caught the hot-car bug again, as he got to have a steer of an XY GT mock-up wearing Pete Geoghegan’s green/white livery. So inspired was he by the experience that he offered to buy the car, and to his great surprise, the owner agreed and the deal was made!

While it might not be a ‘real’ GTHO, Aaron’s new acquisition still had a bit of history behind it. “It was a track car raced by Mick Weston for a while, and when I bought it, it had a 351 Cleveland with a bit of work done to it, and a Top Loader.”

Aaron happily drove the XY around for six months, until the unhappy engine and ever-expanding rust spots convinced him to take it off the road for a few minor repairs. Yep, we all know where this story’s headed! “Every time I stripped something back, I’d think, ‘I may as well do this or fix that while I’m here,’” he says. “All of a sudden, it was a bare shell on a rotisserie!”

Aaron engaged a local fella named Justin Read, who’d just finished his apprenticeship, to notch the shock towers and mini-tub the back end, before it was off to see Adam Travers at Travers Paintwerx. Although rust was present in the usual XY spots, once the shell was blasted, it turned out to be pretty clean. Adam repaired the cancer and dents, straightened the panels and laid on the custom-mix metallic blue, while the black GT stripes were applied by Wayne at Studio 4.

As Aaron’s plans for the XY evolved from neat streeter to Top 60 stunner, so did his drivetrain ambitions. After observing all the rigs with blowers or turbos cruising around Summernats, he realised a gnarly, aspirated donk was the right flavour for him. After picking up a block, heads and rotating assembly cheap from a guy on Marketplace, Aaron was pointed towards the late, great Sam Fenech at Westend Performance.

“I rocked up with the bits thinking I’d saved all this money and was going to make 900hp. Sam laughed and said, ‘You don’t know what you’ve got yourself in for, do you?’” Sam suggested aiming for a more streetable 800hp, and whipped up the 440-cube Clevor now stuffed between the towers with most of Aaron’s parts.

The block is a tall-deck Dart Windsor, filled with a Callies crank and rods and Diamond slugs. A set of early Higgins CNC Clevo heads close off the cylinders, and a custom Comp bumpstick calls the shots. It’s hard to miss the mountain of metal poking through the bonnet, with an APD Billet Enforcer carb delivering copious quantities of 98 and air to the cylinders via an SCM Engine Developments single-plane intake and APD Black Widow spacer. A Moroso vacuum pump helps ensure that every pony possible is extracted from the Clevor, which eventually spat out an angry 870hp at the crank on the Westend Performance dyno.

Behind the big V8 is a stout TH400 from Craig’s Automatics, with plenty of good bits installed to handle the abuse it’s going to cop from Aaron’s right foot, and a sky-high 6200rpm SDE converter supplies it with twist. Power travels down a GJ Drivelines Pro Series shaft to a nine-inch from RRS that Mick from Street Cred Differentials & Fabrication toughened up and shortened.

Speaking of RRS, Aaron turned to them when he decided that the XY’s antiquated handling needed a serious upgrade. Up the front, the change to MacPherson struts provides plenty of clearance for the gorgeous two-inch primary extractors built by Shane at Shane’s Chassis & Fabrication, and the RRS steering rack receives power assistance from an electric Astra pump concealed in the driver’s side front guard. The diff is held up by Viking double-adjustable coil-overs, and its motion is controlled by the RRS three-link system instead of the original cart springs.

Street Machine Summernats 37 was the big one for Aaron, as after years of observing all the shiny metal in the Elite Hall and wondering what it would be like to be a competitor, he was finally in the thick of it with his own build. To his great surprise, he was handed a trophy for Top 60 Elite Judges’ Choice and slotted into the competition for Grand Champion, where he snagged the runner-up spot! To come away with such an accolade first time out is a testament to Aaron’s attention to detail when building his XY. “I always dreamt of having a Top 60 car,” he says. “It looks bloody good, and I’m really happy with it.”

Further gongs have followed since then, including Top Pro Modified at this year’s Meguiar’s MotorEx, and Best Pre-1980 Ford and Best In Show at Rollin’ Chrome in Crookwell. And with a spot in the coveted pages of SM now a reality, there’s only the Killer Rides show to be ticked off Aaron’s bucket list before he stops worrying so much about the show circuit and starts putting the XY through its paces at Powercruise and off-street drags. “I built it to have a bit of fun, after all!” he laughs.

AARON APPS
1971 FORD XY FALCON

THANKS
My beautiful wife Felicity and my little sidekick Sofia; Trav at Travers Paintwerx; Pete at Peter Porter Motor Trimming & Upholstery; Sam, John and the team at Westend Performance; Blake at Wicked Reflectionz; Joel at Garage Nights Wheels; Mick at Street Cred Differentials & Fabrication; Shane at Shane’s Chassis & Fabrication; Craig’s Automatics; Andrew Spackman at MMS Auto Electrical; Wayne & Liz at Studio 4 Signs & Design; Speedpro; Haltech; JMB Draft & Design; Goulburn Tyre & Exhaust; all my mates who have helped along the way; special mention to Tony Nelson and Chris Ryan – I wouldn’t have been able to finish the car for Summernats without them.