1973 Ford Falcon XA Superbird Restored To Former Glory | Ridiculous Rides
AN OLD Ford Falcon XA Superbird has been given a new life after one man restored the car to surprise his father. Tommy Giankos’ father, Paul, bought the XA Superbird in 1973 - it was his very first car. However after an accident wrote the car off, it sat idle on their family farm. It wasn’t until 2013 when Tommy decided to rebuild it to the surprise of his father. Industry experts estimate that the car has increased significantly in value after its $100,000 revamp, but the family has no plans to let go of it just yet. Tommy said: “It took five and a half years, but it's pretty much a dream come true to think that I can drive this car now, when growing up I thought I’d never drive it again after what happened.”
Transcript
00:00 Sleek, mean and green.
00:07 What's the fastest I've gone in this car?
00:16 Am I allowed to say that on camera?
00:19 I'm a law abiding citizen and I do the speed limit.
00:23 I'll leave it at that.
00:25 My name's Tommy Jankos.
00:26 This is my Ford 1973 XA Falcon Superbird Hardtop.
00:31 You wouldn't know to look at it, but this rare classic has a unique history
00:36 and has brought many a grown man to tears.
00:39 The Ford car is a dying piece of history in the Australian landscape
00:45 with the cars not being built anymore.
00:47 You wouldn't think that the car's over 40 years old.
00:49 It's 46 years old this year.
00:51 The way they designed things back then and the way they had things styled
00:55 were way ahead of their time.
00:56 Just the sleek look and being as low as it is and everything else.
00:59 This Ford is an iconic car, especially in terms of the landscape
01:03 in regards to the history of the coupe.
01:04 Very rare. There's not many Hardtops left.
01:07 I love the way when the windows are down that it's all nice and open here
01:14 and you can see everything from outside and people can see inside the car.
01:18 It's just fantastic.
01:19 This car was bought brand new by my father.
01:21 I remember growing up in it as a kid, sitting in the back seat
01:25 until the time when I think it was 1988 and Dad rolled the car into a ditch in an accident.
01:32 Pretty much wrote the car off.
01:35 It was my favourite car and I always knew that that was going to be my car one day.
01:38 After the crash, the car was left to rot on the family farm for over 20 years.
01:44 I started getting a bit worried thinking if it stays there for much longer
01:47 there's probably not going to be much to the car left.
01:50 I drive it once as a kid and I remember we had a really long driveway at home
01:53 and I sat on my mum's lap and I was holding this very steering wheel.
01:57 As far as the whole restoration was concerned, I wanted to keep everything original.
02:10 We started stripping the car down, took the engine out.
02:14 The roof was complete right off, so I had to buy another shell
02:18 and replace the original roof that was on the car.
02:20 Retouched doors, put new guards on.
02:23 We pretty much copied the same pattern plan in regards to the way the interior was.
02:27 It took five and a half years.
02:29 It's pretty much a dream come true to think that I could drive this car now
02:33 when growing up I thought I'd never drive it again after what happened.
02:36 And dreams like this don't come cheap.
02:38 When I started the restoration, I didn't really have a figure in my head about how much it would cost.
02:43 It was pretty much do or die. I didn't really care.
02:47 Probably cost a bit more than what I expected.
02:49 With the end result and everything, it cost me over $100,000 Australian.
02:53 Job complete. It was time for Tommy to surprise his parents.
03:00 I've made a lot of grown men cry when they've heard of the story
03:08 and my dad and mum seeing the car after it was rebuilt.
03:13 [Music]
03:16 It makes me feel happy that I've made them happy.
03:28 So it's a good story all around.
03:31 [Music]
03:35 [Music]
03:38 I always look forward to getting in this car and driving it
03:45 and it always makes me think back to when I was a kid
03:48 and sitting in the back seat just like my son does now.
03:52 I wanted to enjoy being able to drive the car.
03:54 It's something that I always wanted to do as a child
03:57 and I want to be able to pass that down to my son as well when he gets a bit older.
04:00 It will give me a lot of happiness and joy as well watching him drive the car
04:04 and keeping it in the family.
04:06 (gentle music)
04:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]