Ford Surferoo

ford_maiden · 31-08-2009, 06:59 PM

what did everyone think of the surferoo featured in yesterdays sunday mail??

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25998038-5010760,00.html[/URL]

ehast13 · 31-08-2009, 07:03 PM

Yes. Mr Jonic's alleged suferoo. No comment

flappist · 31-08-2009, 07:04 PM

Could have been a real collectors item but he has stuffed it. Not only did he rebuild it but he

Quote:

Originally Posted by the idiot who owns it

rebuilt it how ford should have made it

A bit like taking a phase 1 GTHO and fitting it with a stroked blown clevo, 6 speed transmission and IRS.....

It is an abortion and a tragedy.

ford_maiden · 31-08-2009, 07:06 PM

the only changes he has made to the car were the stickers, oh and rebuilt the rear wing as the prev owner cut it off.
i have seen this car it is a work of art

ehast13 · 31-08-2009, 07:10 PM

So have I. I have also met Mr Jonic.

No Comment

ford_maiden · 31-08-2009, 07:14 PM

and i, but what is with the "no comment"?

deanp100 · 31-08-2009, 08:54 PM

I guess he ran out of historic churches to wreck, may as well move on to historic cars.

ehast13 · 31-08-2009, 09:05 PM

Ouch!

If you haven't got anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all

deanp100 · 31-08-2009, 10:34 PM

I'm sorry. Was that too harsh!!It wasn't his fault anyway. It was that bloody excavator went crazy and wrecked the piece of history.

dallasv8 · 31-08-2009, 10:44 PM

heres a few pics ive had on my computer for quite some time.
i think if he really wanted coin for it he should have left it stocko.
not sure where i found the pic of the ute and symbol from

ColourHide · 31-08-2009, 11:02 PM

You have to give him 10 for the idea, but 1 for doing it.

xr6turboford · 01-09-2009, 02:04 PM

That car reminds me of the super roo ute dad had when I was a young kid. From memory it was a XW ute with a 302, top loader and had a fiberglass tray with a hand painted mural on the back tail gate and no rear wing. Not sure if it was a custom job or a limit edition ute. I cant ask dad as he past away afew years ago but would be nice to find out a bit more it if anyone remembers them. Thanks

Fev · 01-09-2009, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallasv8

heres a few pics ive had on my computer for quite some time.
i think if he really wanted coin for it he should have left it stocko.
not sure where i found the pic of the ute and symbol from

You got them off Ebay mate, probably when the bloke tried to sell it(see the little watermark in the bottom right corner?)

Whats wrong with it though, howcome everyone's so negative about it?

XABEBAGT · 01-09-2009, 03:16 PM

There is nothing wrong with it and it is the real deal. Anything Lubo has done can easily be reversed. It's his car (at the moment) and he can do what he likes with it. Not everyone is a purist. We are trying to get it to the Brisbane All Ford Day on 20th September.

GTP 290 · 01-09-2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Could have been a real collectors item but he has stuffed it. Not only did he rebuild it but he

A bit like taking a phase 1 GTHO and fitting it with a stroked blown clevo, 6 speed transmission and IRS.....

It is an abortion and a tragedy.

so you're comparing changing wheels and stickers to a complete custom fabrication job on a car??

read the article mate, he clearly says what has changed, stickers and wheels are the only 2 things I can see in there.

**TUF_302** · 01-09-2009, 08:12 PM

Exactly GTP 290, from what it says there he has only made two very minor changes, not sure why everyone thinks its ruined!

SM1DY · 01-09-2009, 08:48 PM

I reckon it looks alright. If it had have come out with the original line-up back in the day, then people wouldn't have given it a second thought. Seeing as it's a classic with a modern day dress-up, it's been given the horses a$$. Try to keep an open mind.

flappist · 01-09-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP 290

so you're comparing changing wheels and stickers to a complete custom fabrication job on a car??

read the article mate, he clearly says what has changed, stickers and wheels are the only 2 things I can see in there.

Does he have the original stickers and wheels? ORIGINALS not copies?

It was a factory one off, that is now just a ute that was in a magazine. Yeh to some there is no difference but there is no real difference between a fake GT with a compliance plate transplant and factory GT is there?

ehast13 · 01-09-2009, 09:46 PM

How do you know it's the real deal?

Other than Lubo's word (!) and some circumstantial evidence.

Any verification letter?

There were a few special order utes made. My XY ute was stamped with special vehicles code. It took three months to be made/delivered. It had was a 302 4V and a 3 speed column shifter with GS pack (sans stripes) on a base ute (not 500). That doesn't make it the suferoo. Special orders were often taken offline to fit special combos and often had the special vehicles code.

Mr Jonic could surely attempt to provide more than his word that he believes it is the prodigal ute. How about a letter of verification from ford, or some answers from someone like Joe Kenwright or AMC

I hope it is the/a real suferoo, but I'm not too convinced. I won't get into personal attacks on Jonic's Character (as much fun as that would be) as this thread is about cars.

GTP 290 · 01-09-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehast13

How do you know it's the real deal?

Other than Lubo's word (!) and some circumstantial evidence.

Any verification letter?...

...Mr Jonic could surely attempt to provide more than his word that he believes it is the prodigal ute. How about a letter of verification from ford, or some answers from someone like Joe Kenwright or AMC...

answers to this are clearly written in the article.

mabey people should learn to read articles before posting stuff like this.....

ehast13 · 01-09-2009, 10:46 PM

So he has a letter from Ford saying this is the famous Suferoo Ute? Or does he have a letter that says it was a special order that passed thru the special vehicles division?
Clarification?

ehast13 · 01-09-2009, 11:32 PM

A QUEENSLAND car enthusiast believes he has found a motoring treasure. The long-lost Falcon Surferoo, a unique show car hand-built by Ford Australia in 1969 in a bid to capture the youth market, has eluded Ford collectors for decades.

Motoring folklore is full of tales of valuable cars found in old sheds but Lubo Jonic lifts his garage door to reveal a one-of-a-kind Falcon utility, now covered in many years of dust.

Mr Jonic, 58, owner of a service station and trucking business at Goodna, between Brisbane and Ipswich, bought it sight-unseen over the phone in 1983 from a South Australian for $3500, suspecting it was the ultra-rare Surferoo.

It resembled the Ford showcar – bright orange with a custom-made cargo area and huge rear wing.

Reports at the time said Ford planned to make three or five, but many experts believe probably only one ever existed.

Ford has lost all track of it and cannot confirm or deny Mr Jonic's car is the real deal.

But there are some strong indicators. The car has an official identification plate which lists it as a "special vehicle order", there's the special paint colour, unusual fibreglass tray in the back, distinctive fittings and two-piece fabric cover, and mounting points for the Surferoos' roof rack.

Photos of a similar-looking vehicle appeared in Wheels magazine in 1970 and later in the authoritative magazine Unique Cars.

Mr Jonic is now looking to sell it. Since Falcon GTs from the era fetched more than $500,000 in the recent boom, he believes a Ford collector would pay at least $100,000 for the rarer Surferoo.

But finding a buyer hasn't been easy. He put it on internet auction site eBay, with a starting price of $99,000.

Though more than 4000 people viewed it on the internet, some doubters said there was no such thing. A typical Falcon ute of the same age would bring less than $2000.

"I don't need people ringing up and saying, 'You're dreaming', or, 'There's no such thing'," he said.

The XW-series utility has a V8 engine and the odometer is on 74,000 miles (119,000km).

"It doesn't look like it's done a lot of hard work," he said.

"I remember reading about the Surferoo when it first appeared."

When he bought it, the high rear wing had been cut off so the ute could be used for work.

That has been replaced with a specially made replica and Mr Jonic has angered some purists with other parts of the restoration.

"I did it the way Ford should have done it, with different wheels and the stickers in a different place. They only had GS stripes on it," he said.

The restoration work was done by his three sons – Julian, Lubo Jr and Adrian – and they're keen to get it back on the road.

"It would be the perfect car to go for a cruise on a Friday or Saturday night," Julian said.

Oh No. Ford can't confirm or deny? Guess it must be the real thing.

I read the article. I suggested that if he can't get verification from ford, that someone like Joe Kenwright or Australian Muscle Car magazine might be able to track down some info.

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT
I'm NOT saying it definately isn't the/a suferoo but without even anecdotal evidence (let alone anything concrete) it is a bit much don't you think?

It would seem strange that a cover car like that is completely lost.

If you have a look through a few 1970/80's car mag's you'll see a few replicas. Of course this one has to be it.

A good way to get some publicity I guess. $100,000 bucks for a car that may or may not be the real thing, with a set of chrome twelve slots (just the way ford should have made it, eh? Hmmmmm).

I have a Factory xc 351 that may or may not be the car that james Moffat was conceived in, the car that may have been the inspiration for Mad Max, the car that may have been on the front cover of wheels magazine october 1978.

I can't prove it. There seems precious little to back up my claims, but I am sure of it. $99,999 please. Cash Only

FOR THE RECORD. I hope it is the/a suferoo. I hope AMC does a story on it and that I can say I have seen it and have met the owner.

I would need to see something more than a few mounting holes to shell out a hundred grand on a modified xw ute with little history.

ford_maiden · 13-09-2009, 12:10 PM

the car is a work of art if you dont like how it looks or can only post negative comments on it then dont say anything, you cannot disprove that this car is not the real thing and even if it was a replica it would still go for big money look at the price that replica GTHO's go for????

ehast13 · 13-09-2009, 12:55 PM

QUOTE 'you cannot disprove that this car is not the real thing'

That is a double negative.

QUOTE: 'even if it was a replica it would still go for big money look at the price that replica GTHO's go for????'

$99,000?

If it is not the real thing then it is hardly a replica either, with different stripes, wheels among other things.

I reckon we should all hope it is the real thing (rare cars need loving owners). But until there is something more than circumstantial 'evidence' my wallet (if it could hold $99,000) would stay closed.

The original thread asked what people thought of the car.

People are entitled to have an opinion based on what they know/read.

There is very little in the courier mail article that would make a discerning reader fall head over heals.....

500SEC · 13-09-2009, 09:25 PM

Omg... another over-priced classic...for crisake, why not just ask the full $750,000?? So the owner is surprised no-one made a bid at $100k... after telling us it only cost $3500 in 1983. He's been spending too much time with Sonya of Tasmania.

**GasoLane** · 13-09-2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 500SEC

Omg... another over-priced classic...for crisake, why not just ask the full $750,000?? So the owner is surprised no-one made a bid at $100k... after telling us it only cost $3500 in 1983. He's been spending too much time with Sonya of Tasmania.

Or he's related to her

ehast13 · 15-09-2009, 04:16 PM

The real crime here is shoddy Journalism. Surely no one would spend so much time and money on car that possibly wasn't genuine. Did the courier mail report correctly....

tranquilized · 15-09-2009, 04:31 PM

Cant blame the guy for trying I guess, but I cant see anyone sensible paying more than a tenth of his asking price. Theres no way of proving its the real deal, and even if he could, the model has no heritage or racing history anyway, so $100k seems more than a little steep...
Someone needs to tell him he's dreamin.

ehast13 · 15-09-2009, 04:40 PM

Whoa, Whoa

He may not be dreaming. The car is really nice. It may be the real thing (lets hope it is).

There are pleny of people out there who are passionate about old fords and have the money to buy it.

While no absolute proof causes doubts. What is needed is clarification.

I agree that it would be hard to shellout 100k on a car that the 'COURIER MAIL' reports cannot be verified as being genuine. But there are other ways to find out...

Australian Muscle Car Magazine can find out heaps of stuff and this car would surely be of interest to them.

As I've said all along, I can't comment on the car (or owner) as I have no intimate knowledge of either but if this car could be verified as genuine (whether it be thru exhaustive reseach, archival evidence from ford or even previous owners coming forward) then it could be a real find after all these years.

I think we should all hope that the car can be verified as genuine rather than hope it isn't.

Just my two cents..

Bad Bird · 15-09-2009, 05:06 PM

Quote:

you cannot disprove that this car is not the real thing

If you are going to make big claims, the onus of proof is on you...