CLIFFCHAMBERSCURRENTDEMANDfor
verifiableRPOsremains
strongandvaluesare
climbingin thewakeof
heavily-publicisedGT-HO
sales.Scarcity,asalways,
contributesstronglytoprice
growth,asdoestheXA’s
superiorityoverearlierGTs.
A majorissuewithcarsof
thiskindis authenticityand
notjustthepossibilitythat
someonehascreateda
fake,cloneor‘ringer’.A car
canidentifyasgenuinebut
missingcrucialcomponents
orexistonlyasa setof
IDplatesrivetedtoa
completelydifferentcar.
Colouris oneareawherethe
scarcityofanRPOcanbe
quantified.Workundertaken
someyearsagobyMark
Barracloughrevealedthat
therewasindeedonlyone
sedanbuiltin OnyxBlack-
plusfourhardtops.Themost
commonhardtopcolouris
YellowGlow(22made)with
sedansnotfarbehindat
20.RedPepperis themost
commonsedancolourwith
22 builtplus 18 hardtops.
Ownersareoftenreluctant
toadvertisecarsforsale,
howeverasPerryBitsakis
provedwhenacquiring
hissedan,almostanything
becomesavailableonce
therightmoneyis offered.
Andwhileyoumightneed
a Lottowinin ordertore-
homethispairofstunners,
theircombinedcostwillfor
theforeseeablefutureat
leastremainlessthanthe
moneybeingtoutedforjust
onePhase 4 orevensome
recently-soldPhase3s.
MarkBarracloughbelieves
thatattritionduetorustand
otherfactorshasreduced
thenumbersofavailable
RPO83hardtopsandthis
contributestohigherselling
prices.“Plus”,headded,
“thenormalsituationwhere
two-doorXAsofanykind
generatemoremoneythan
sedans.”XA GT
RPO83
MARKET
featured RPOs rank high on his list of very
special cars.
“Like several of the early-build RPOs,
the yellow hardtop was supplied to a
prominent racing driver. It was supposed
to compete at Bathurst but never did,”
Perry said.
Later in life it would be owned by
drag-racing identity Des Leonard but
still wasn’t used as a competition car.
In fact, so much store was placed in
keeping the car authentic (apart from
an external respray some years ago) that
when Unique Cars first saw it in 2012
when photographing a USA vs Australia
muscle-car feature, the coloured bands
identifying a competition-spec driveshaft
were still visible. So were production-line
markings on the differential.
Perry Bitsakis’ all-black sedan is
acknowledged by RPO authorities as the
only one ever produced. It is made more
significant (if that’s possible) by a black
vinyl roof and white interior. Yet this truly
unique vehicle came very close to being
“IT WAS SUPPOSED TO COMPETE
AT BATHURST BUT NEVER DID”
lost prior to Bitsakis’ involvement.
“It was delivered by Anderson Ford
in Western Australia and obviously to a
special order,” Perry explained. “It over
the years found its way to the northern
regions of Western Australia where it
was repainted and finally parked in very
neglected condition by the owner who had
it prior to me.”
The car had been sold to that owner
many years earlier for a reported $9000LEFT We first laid
eyes on this stunning
XA RPO83 hardtop
back in 2012. It was
used in our huge
OZ vs USA feature
at Eastern Creek
Raceway.BELOW Original
factory markings on
the driveshaft.