When we saw the XE007 plates on this Fairmont coming up for auction at Grays it immediately started to ring a bell, and a bit of further digging revealed that our curiosity was justified.

This 1982 V8 Fairmont Ghia ESP has a pretty special story to tell, as it’s the exact car was used for all the magazine write-ups and promotional duties when the XE Falcon debuted in 1982.

The car is a very early February 1982 build, and is said to have been a special-order specimen that also underwent further up-speccing at Ford’s Special Vehicle division, according to official Ford documentation supplied with the car.

Given it was destined to be a press car early in its life, it’s no surprise that Ford gave it the full luxury spa treatment, a common practice for press cars to impress grumpy car journos and (hopefully) snag a good review.

Along with the official Ford docs are all the magazines the car has appeared in over the years, including a review from our mates Modern MOTOR and a Wheels shootout against a VH SS Group 3 Commodore, which you can read right here.

Fast forward to 2022 and the car still presents in amazingly original, top-notch condition –  a testament to the two owners the car has had since it left Ford’s hands.

The driveline is still the matching-numbers flagship 5.8-litre Clevo V8, mated with the original four-speed manual.

The car’s only covered 129,000km and the Sierra Tan interior trim certainly reflects that, presenting in as-new condition. And if for some reason you want to replace a section of it, then the owner has included a bunch of NOS Ford interior trim just in case.

The Grays auction for this rare bird kicks off today (March 31), with bidding finishing up on April 5.

There’s solid evidence that it’ll go for some good money too, as the last V8 XE Falcon built went through Grays nearly 12 months ago and sold for a whopping AU$354,759.

That car was also a Fairmont Ghia ESP, but only had the 4.9-litre iteration of the Clevo bent-right and a far less interesting history compared to this early press car.

You can view the full listing on Grays here.