1965 XP FORD FALCON 2-DOOR HARDTOP

Introduced in 1965, the Falcon XP was the last model of the first generation of the Ford Falcon and was produced for just one year, selling approximately 70,000 units in its short lifespan.

Available in a range of model types – including a 4-door sedan, 5-door station wagon, a panel van and 2-door ute – the 2-door hardtop was the pick of the bunch, a stylish and sleek motor which was powered by a range of straight-six engines. Around 7000 of these handsome XPs were built and have become much sought-after over the years, becoming an affordable Aussie classic.

For Leo Topatigh, owner of the BP Workshop in Wellington Point, getting his hands on an XP Hardtop was something he had thought about for a long time. An XP was the first car he ever owned as a teenager in the late ‘60s and, though he parted ways with that one decades ago, he never forgot it.

“I did have one when I was 17,” says Leo. “It was my first car and I’d saved up enough money to buy it cash. It was beautiful, but I had it only for a couple of years before I smashed it up.

“Then, one day, years later, my son Neil was flicking through a magazine, saw an XR and said he wanted to build one of them. He was only 15 at the time and when he had saved up a bit of coin we went and found one. It needed a bit of work and took him two-and-a-half-years to restore but it was immaculate. When he drove it out of the garage I thought ‘Bloody hell,

I could get myself a classic like that!’ And that’s when I started looking.”

Six months later, Leo had his hands on what he thought was a pretty solid example of an XP.

“I found it in Sunnybank,” he says. “I had tried for a few months to find one but they were all overpriced and in bad condition. Then I found this one and I thought it was in pretty good shape. But then we started digging and found rust underneath, and in the sills and over the wheel arches and stuff like that – it got a little bit out of control.

“Visually, it looked very good, so whoever did it did a good job of bogging it up!”

It took a couple of years for Leo to knock the XP into shape. The car was stripped back to bare metal for some welding repair, the diff was changed with a pinion and crown wheel put in that had been salvaged from a sedan. The engine had a bit of piston-slap about it and was rebuilt too.

Leo was able to do most of the work at his workshop, using the resources of his business, the skill and enthusiasm of his colleagues, plus his own vast experience. He had started work at the shop in the ‘60s as a young lad and has worked there his entire life, the past decade or more as the owner.

“I was 14 when I first started here but I was underage so they sent me back to school,” he says with a laugh. “However, when I was 15, I came back to work here legally and I’ve pretty much done everything. Back then, mechanics rebuilt everything – alternators, starter motors, engines, transmissions, diffs – we did it all.”

For the XP restoration, Leo picked up some smaller pieces such as a blinker set, tail lights and kick panels from a company called Classic Ford Parts in Melbourne which, he says, “has got everything and at very good prices.”

The interior, which is original, was in good shape and even seven years on needs only minor maintenance work.

What isn’t original is the XP’s colour, and its source is somewhat unusual.

“It took a while to get the car into the shape I was happy with,” says Leo. “We got it mechanically going within six months, and the inside didn’t have to be touched. I then took it over to a painter who asked me what colour I wanted.

All I knew was that I wanted blue.

“Then, one morning, I was sitting in the office and this Hi-Lux came in to the garage and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I asked the bloke what the colour was. He gave me the colour code and that was that – so my XP is a Hi-Lux colour!”

With such an eye-catching restoration, and with an owner who uses it as his daily driver, the XP has garnered plenty of attention and there’s little wonder as to why Leo has been approached by many members of the public who have wanted to buy it. He says he won’t sell, at least for now, but there is definitely another car on his radar that could become another project.

“I get people stopping at the garage asking to take pictures of the XP, and once every few months someone will come in wanting to buy it,” he says. “I do sometimes think about it and wonder whether I might get a ’57 or ’58 Ford Customline. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m not far off from retiring, so I might look at a Customline project if I can find a half-decent one.

“I do like the classics,” he adds with a smile.

“They do feel good to drive.”