Prized vintage car worth up to $100K is cut in two in horror crash - as driver miraculously walks away

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 03:55, 14 May 2026 | Updated: 03:56, 14 May 2026 A driver has escaped a horror crash with only a few scrapes and bruises - but the same can't be said for his prized vintage car. The blue 1971 Ford Falcon GT, worth up to $100,000, was completely ripped in half following the collision on Wednesday in Padstow, in Sydney's southwest. Paramedics were called to the scene on Henry Lawson Drive and expected the worst when they saw the Ford which looked unrecognisable.  Miraculously, the drivers involved suffered only minor injuries.   The back of the driver's seat in the Ford was torn off but the steering wheel and passenger seat appeared to be intact.  NSW Ambulance Acting Inspector Todd Swinnerton said he had 'never seen anything like it'. 'He was sitting behind his steering wheel with his seatbelt torn off. He was completely uninjured. It was absolutely wild,' he said. 'Our medical retrieval guys turned up and asked, "how is this guy alive?". 'No one was hurt. We took two people to hospital with very minor injuries. The guy in the Ford had a bit of seatbelt abrasion.' The rare 1971 Ford Falcon GT was ripped apart on Wednesday in a horror smash The crash happened on Henry Lawson Drive in Sydney on Wednesday Aussies were stunned after the driver walked away from the crash with only minor injuries Acting Inspector Swinnerton said the car was believed to have been travelling east over the Salt Pan Creek Bridge when the driver crashed into another car, then traversed a median strip into oncoming traffic before it was split in half. 'The guy that crashed his $100,000 GT Falcon is not having a good day, but he's alive. He is very lucky,' Acting Inspector Swinnerton said. Photos were shared to Facebook with many struggling to believe the Ford driver survived the crash given the state of the car. 'If you've survived that. Go and buy a lottery ticket,' one person wrote online. 'How did no one die? That vehicle wouldn't have surely even had airbags given its age and make,' another said. 'Airbags and all that high-tech stuff is obviously overrated if you can survive this in an old XY Falcon with minor injuries, You've just ruined a classic,' a third said. The vintage Ford Falcon is one of Australia's most collectable muscle cars. Original models sell from anywhere from $100,000 for a regular Falcon GT to $1million or more for rare GT-HO versions. Only 1,557 units of the Ford XY Falcon GT were produced from September 1970 to December 1971. The car could be worth at least $100,000 It was ripped into a number of large pieces  The 1971 Ford Falcon GT is a highly sought-after model for collectors No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.