Record price likely for rare Aussie muscle car

A pristine example of a rare GTHO Phase III Falcon will go under the hammer, and is expected to fetch a record price for an Australian car. Picture: Supplied

Another pristine example of the Australian car that "broke" the internet back in February will be up for auction this weekend.

Saturday's online auction will also test how valuable the most collectible of Australia's locally made cars have become in recent years, with an immaculate example of arguably the nation's most iconic muscle car, the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, going under the hammer.

Ford fanatics across the country will be watching closely as a 1971 example, with just 30,875 miles indicated on its odometer, arrives as the headline and final lot in the Lloyd's online auction.

The speedometer of the Phase III topped out at 140mph (225km/h), but the car would go faster than that. Picture: Supplied

Bidding will start at $750,000 for the 5.7-litre V8 sedan, which has been been comprehensively restored and is one of just 12 examples in the special Yellow Glo paint scheme and beige vinyl roof.

It is not yet known how high the bidding will go, but a new record price is in the offing, according to Lloyd's chief operations officer Lee Hames.

"Its current bid is in the high six figures, and we expect it to reach anywhere between $1 million and $1.5 million come auction day," Mr Hames said.

In February this year, a similar, fully restored GTHO Phase III sold for $1.15 million, the highest price paid for an Australian-built road car.

In that auction, the auctioneer's online portal collapsed as tens of thousands of people watched up to 1000 people bidding.

The 5.7-litre V8 sedan is one of just 12 examples in the special Yellow Glo paint scheme and beige vinyl roof. Picture: Supplied

Prices of Australian-made muscle cars from the '70s and '80s are going through the roof, with a Torana A9X selling for $435,000 and an E49 R/T Valiant Charger fetching $253,000 this year.

In 1971, the Phase III, specifically produced in limited numbers as a "homologation special" to conquer the all-important Bathurst long-distance race, was the fastest four-door sedan in the world.

Manufacturers had to produce 200 of each "special" to qualify the cars for racing.

However a year later, the so-called "supercar scare" generated a ban on these high-performance cars and eligibility was changed, which has made them highly coveted by collectors.

This weekend the same auction house is also auctioning 13 of the outrageous hand-built cars which starred in the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road. The cars will be sold as a single lot.