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Monte Carlo-Winning Ford Falcon Heading To Auction

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The Rally at Monte Carlo is one of those famed races that has been around longer than most of us have even been alive. The first Monte Carlo Rally took place in 1911 in the small principality in southern Europe, and by 1963 it was already a well-established race that drew some of the world’s best drivers and race cars.

In other words, it’s the last place you’d expect to see a Ford Falcon. But not only did Ford enter a fleet of its Falcon compacts in 1963 and 1964, they dominated the rally. Hemmings Auto Blog [2] reports that the first-in-class Falcon from that famous rally is returning to Monte Carlo, this time as a collector’s car, not a racer.

The year was 1963, and the Ford Falcon was, well, boring. Ford decided to inject some excitement with the addition of its new small-block V8 and giving the Falcon some racing credentials. So they sent a V8-equipped Falcon to the Monte Carlo rally with Swedish driver Bosse “Bo” Ljungfeldt. Alas, Bo could only do so much, and wound up finishing in 43rd place.

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A rally-racing Ford Falcon...who woulda thought?

In typical Ford fashion, the Blue Oval stepped up its game in a big way the next year. This time a fleet of eight Falcons, all highly-modified with Galaxie 9-inch rear ends, 305 horsepower 289 V8’s, and fiberglass body panels. All eight cars finished, and the Falcon driven by Bo finished first in the 3-liter and over class, and 2nd overall. The only car to beat it? A Mini Cooper driven by Paddy Hopkirk.

Oh what we would have paid to see Falcon and Mini battling on the high roads of Monte Carlo back in the day. Now this famed class-winning Falcon is heading to auction, where it is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $260,000.