Hands up if you’ve ever dreamed of getting into the Bill Bourke XW?

The father of the Falcon GT’s one-off, 428ci big-block Falcon has attained near-mythical status as one of the hottest things in Ford Australia history.

The original car survives to this day, but it’s far from attainable for most of us. That’s where this gorgeous tribute version comes in, up for auction at Grays!

The XW you see here started life as a 1969 Futura taxi working in Tasmania, before it was saved it from A previous owner stripped the whole thing to bare metal, whacked in a new GT-spec radiator support, and had it all coated in Onyx black topped with gold-flecked clear, just like the OG Bill Bourke car. 

He also dropped in a new driveline, so the XW now packs a 351 Cleveland with a mild cam, roller rockers and Holley Sniper EFI plus a remote vacuum reservoir to keep the brakes well-powered.

It’s not a 428ci Cobra Jet mill as fitted to the Bill Bourke car but it’s still a proper bent eight, and there’s always the option to wedge in a big-block and C6 slushbox if you’re keen. Same goes for the lack of a wind-back sunroof as per the original, which is probably best left to the future owner’s discretion!

There’s a C4 behind the big Clevo, and a fresh nine-inch diff with handy 3.5 gears, an Eaton locker and beefy 35-spline billet axles to future-proofing any fat-block activities to come.

Inside you’ll find high-back front buckets as per the Bourke Special, retrimmed with cloth inserts and paired to a matching Fairlane back seat. All the other requisite GT interior bits and accessories are there, as are the correct Cobra Jet badges.   

Other worthy mentions include finned GT rear brake drums, super-low King springs all’-round to sort the stance, and refinished chromework everywhere you look, down to the belt buckles. 

Bidding on the tribute car is approaching reserve as of Friday afternoon, with a top bid of $67,000. It’ll close at 6:30pm AEST on September 6th.