Ford Fairlane News

Australians used to be spoiled for choice.

However, the 1962 Ford Fairlane 500 Compact is in pieces in Dinte's garage and he says he is running out of time to have it back on the road by January when he will have owned it 40 years. "I would like to have it back on the road by then but I don't think I can," he says.  "It had done 26 trips to Sydney in one year by the original owners, a Gold Coast real estate company, and I've had it around the odo a couple of times myself. "I've even taken photos of it going back to zero twice.  "It's done half a million miles (800,00km) easy and there's another half million miles in it." The 64-year-old retired computer store manager used to own a bodyshop years ago and has always been mechanically minded, so he has stripped the Fairlane back to a shell and its various parts for a much-needed complete restoration. It should be a perfect job, too, because his garage also plays host to an immaculate 1966 Ford Galaxie 500.  "I did everything except reconditioning the power steering, the upholstery and the diff," he says. His wife, Carole, points out that she helped: "I'm usually on the other end of the pulley block holding the engine."  Dinte joined the Queensland American Ford V8 Club in 1985 when there were just seven members, but he hasn't hasn't always been a Ford fan. "I had an FC Holden and rolled it in 1969 after hitting a lamp post," he explains.  "Three days later it was back on the road but it was dangerous to drive the wife and kids around, so I bought the '62 and I've had it now 40 years.  "It's been a brilliant car. Tough as blazes.  A Toyota Corolla ran into it and the Toyota was a write-off. We spent $28 to straighten out the Fairlane." The Fairlane came with a 221 cubic inch (3.6-litre) V8, but Dinte has replaced it with a 289 (4.7L) Windsor.  He has also updated the four-speed auto with an electronic gearbox and added cruise control and remote key entry. "It just idles along at 100km/h doing 2000rpm," he says.  "They talk about old cars being not very environmentally friendly but I used to get 26mpg (9L/1200km) and I'm hoping to get 28-29 (8.5L/100km) when it's done. "I just want to live long enough to get a bit of work out of it."  Meanwhile, he takes his Galaxie 500 on club runs every few weeks with his wife, Carole. Although it's called a 500, it features a 390 V8 big block with three-speed auto and a tall-ratio diff.  "They knew how to build them in those days," he says.  "It's a lazy old engine but by jeez they go." He bought it 16 years ago for about $9000 and has had it on the road since 2001.  "I had ordered a car from the US and it never turned up. The importer reckoned the container it was in `fell off the ship' on the way over," he explains. "I rang the police and they said you'd better go to Victoria to front the guy who was importing it, so I did and I put a bit of pressure on him and ended up with this car.  It was already converted to right-hand drive but I had to do a fair bit of work on it.  I stopped restoring it at about $32,000 but I could easily spend another $5000." Getting in the way of the Fairlane restoration is another resto project, a 1985 Chevy motorhome.  "You have to be careful with cross contamination with the Fords," he jokes.  "Parking these big Fords is easy after the motorhome."

1. Benz PatentwagenKarl Benz did a brilliant job for the 1880s but his three-wheeler re-created by Mercedes-Benz apprentices _ was missing even the basics of modern motoring. We had to push it up a slight rise and it was scarifying on a downhill run, with almost zero braking and steering vaguely controlled by a tiller feeding directions through a solid rubber tyre that would have been more use on a pram. Memorable, but . 2. 1911 Rolls-Royce.So many classic cars look fantastic but drive like old, slow . . . trucks. The Roller was one of those, with piddling acceleration, no cornering grip and a body which invited air in through all sorts of gaping holes. But the worst thing was the brake _ a single rear drum operated by a wild west wagon-style lever beside the driver's seat. It was incapable of stopping the car but did a great job of throwing it sideways at 80km/h.3. 1955 Ford Fairlane convertibleThis was supposed to have been a Route 66-style run to a 1950s-vintage petrol station in the suburbs of Los Angeles. I can remember the giant folding metal roof and the gorgeous body, but my real memory is a car with brakes the size of bootpolish cans. When the traffic pulled up for one unexpected red light I had to take to the sidewalk to avoid them.4. Lada SamaraPeter Brock did some strange things in his life, but putting his name to the evil little Russian hatchback is right up there. Quality was lousy, performance was missing and one journalist crashed at the first corner _ with Brock egging him on. If it's not the worst car I have driven, it's only because the other experience was so bad it's been erased from my memory.5. Bugatti VeyronNow I can tell the truth about the Veyron. Beyond its shattering performance, I can see zero reason to pay more than $1.5 million for a car which is ugly, devours petrol and does not even have electric seat adjustments. But does it go. It felt quicker around Sandown than a V8 Supercar.

Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi are killing off several of Australia's best-known model names — including some which have been around since the 1960s — to keep pace with changing times.After years of slow sales, Mitsubishi halted production of its Adelaide-made 380 sedan last Thursday.The 380 replaced the Magna in 2005, adopting a new name in a bid to freshen its image.Mitsubishi Motors Australia president Robert McEniry said axing the 380 was a “very difficult decision.”“However, it is an inescapable fact that there is now a deepening trend away from large cars,” he said.“We can see no path for a return to viable production levels of the 380 sedan.”Mitsubishi is remaining in Australia as a car importer.Holden has announced that the imported Rodeo utility, one of the longest-running and strongest-selling names in its class, will be replaced by a model called the Colorado this year.Holden has lost the rights to the Rodeo name, which it has used for 30 years, because its agreement with Japanese carmaker Isuzu has ended.Isuzu, once part of the General Motors empire, has been building the Rodeo for Holden but is expected to introduce its own utility model, called the D-Max, in Australia.At Ford, the once-popular luxury long-wheelbase Fairlane and LTD models have already been killed off this year, and production of the Fairmont, Fairmont Ghia and Futura versions of the Falcon is about to end.Ford auctioned its last Fairlane, with the proceeds going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, but it fetched only $48,100, compared with the list price of $58,625.It was the last of more than 250,000 Fairlanes and LTDs built between 1967 and 2008.Ford used cricket stars Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden to promote the eBay auction.A new-look Falcon series called the FG is due in April and in it the Futura name (used on and off by Ford since 1962) disappears and the Fairmont (used continuously since 1965) and Fairmont Ghia (around since 1979) will be replaced by G6 and G6E.However, the changes have sparked heated argument in internet chatrooms such as Ford Forums.A Fairmont owner calling himself Airmon said; “Shame on Ford!”Another fan, Bo0, said: “Ford can't be that stupid could they?”Ford vice-president of product development Trevor Worthington said it was “time to draw a line in the sand and move on.”   Yesterday's models Ford FairlaneThe flagship Ford has finally been axed after more than 250,000 Fairlanes and LTDs were built between 1967 and 2008Holden RodeoThe Rodeo, which has been around for 30 years, will be replaced by a model called the Colorado later this yearMitsubishi 380The 380 sedan replaced the Magna in 2005, in a bid to freshen its image. But the unpopular 380 has been dumped. 

A charity auction ended in disappointment when the last Fairlane to leave Ford's production line failed to realise even its list price on Sunday afternoon.Disappointing for Ford perhaps and the National Breast Cancer Council that was due to pocket the proceeds.But not for Melbourne boat dealer Simon Miller, 43, who suddenly found himself the proud owner of another car.“I don’t I think I could have got one that cheap even if I’d haggled,” he said.Ford had anticipated “strong interest” in the event, but the Fairlane, a six cylinder Fairmont Ghia that retails for $58,625, managed to raise only $48,100 – and that's a driveway price including 12 month's registration.Ford enlisted the services of cricketers Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden to promote the event, but the current one day international series must have been more interesting.Perhaps the auction would have attracted more interest if the car had been a V8 model?Yes, concedes Ford, but the trouble is that it stopped manufacturing V8s some time ago.A Ford spokesman, however, confirmed the car is literally the last Fairlane to leave the line.“It's a nice collector car and a very good price at that,” a spokesman said.In the lead-up to the auction, Ford described the car as the final example of more than 250,000 Fairlane and LTD vehicles manufactured between 1967 and 2008.Early last year, Ford decided to pull the pin on the Fairlane as well as the more luxurious LTD model in the wake of falling sales.A total of 12 bidders registered for the auction which ended at 5pm on Sunday.It attracted 40 bids in total, with the winning bid coming just seconds before the end in typical eBay fashion.As the auction drew to a close there were some anxious moment as the eBay site refused to accept any further bids.At the time Miller was out on a boat enjoying the sunshine off Frankston, with a friend keeping him updated on proceedings via text messages.The father of two revealed his own father had owned five Fairlanes over the years but said he had no plans to give him this one.Miller might however cook up something with his beloved Geelong Football Club.Other than that, he has not decided what to do with the car yet.In fact, the boat dealer has just taken delivery of a new turbo-diesel Landcruiser which he uses to tow boats. 

Ford is the latest manufacturer to join the rush to space-saver spare tyres. From October the Falcon range will come with a temporary space-saver spare tyre as standard despite the company's insistence last year that there were no plans to follow Holden's lead.“There was criticism of Holden when the VE was launched without a full-size spare and some of it was from us,” Ford Australia President Tom Gorman conceded in announcing the Blue Oval's move.Holden launched its VE range with a standard space-saver spare, an industry first for the Australian-made family-car market.“Since then we have been watching the market and this is where the market is moving. Consumers are telling us by what they are buying that a temporary spare tyre is not a major issue.”Gorman says a full-size spare will be available as an option in line with Holden's marketing, and the price of a full-size alloy has been cut from $400 to $150, while a 16 inch steel spare is $100.“It has become obvious that the full-size spare gave us no commercial advantage in the market,” Gorman says. While the move will trim 5kg from the Falcon's overall weight, Gorman says it will not provide any significant savings for the company in production costs nor shift the Falcon's fuel-economy rating.“There are some small savings but nothing that is going to make any real impact,” he says.While the last of current Falcons will be made with a spare tyre well capable of holding the optional full-size wheel, that will not be the case when the new Orion range arrives early next year.Gorman says the market's acceptance of space-savers spares will provide extra flexibility for the Orion cars with the possibility of two boot configurations, one for customers who are satisfied with a space-saver and want extra storage space and another for those who specify a full-size spare.Ford has also deleted the Barra 220 and Barra 230 V8s from its engine range.The decision to no longer offer the 5.4-litre 24-valve engine was driven by the Ford North American's decision to close the Essex plant in Windsor, Ontario, where the engine is made.“In reality it is not that big a decision,” he says. “We were only selling around 10 of those engines a month. We are not talking big numbers.”The affected models are the Fairmont Ghia, the Fairlane G220 and G8 and the LTD. The XR performance cars will not be affected as they use the 32-valve V8 which is still freely available.Gorman says Ford Australia has stockpiled enough of the three-valve engines to meet model demand until the arrival of the Orion. While Ford struggles to bolster its Falcon sales in the run-up to the arrival of the all-new model early next year, Gorman says he still has faith that the new car market will tip one million sales this year.“There are a couple of factors that could impact in the latter half of the year,” Gorman says. “Interest rates (rising) will have an effect. The federal election is another factor out of our control, but in any event the market will be one million and that will be a record.” 

With the local car industry now at the halfway point in the 2007 sales race, it is easy to see who's winning and who's losing.Toyota is basking in the glory of not only being No.1, but also cementing its sales lead so convincingly that — barring a catastrophe — it will take out the sales crown this year.The Altona-based Japanese company is 40,404 vehicles clear of its nearest rival, Holden. It is also relishing the positive spin of the Corolla knocking off the Holden Commodore last month.But apart from Toyota, other players are also revelling in the good times.Of the importers, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Peugeot managed strong June sales.Mazda sold 6932 cars, with the Mazda3 being the strongest seller on 3037.The company experienced the biggest market share gain of any importer.Its record half-yearly result is 20.3 per cent up on the same time last year, lifting market share from 6.7 per cent in 2006 to 7.5 per cent, a gain of 0.7 percentage points.Subaru's tally was 4085 for the month, with the Forester, Impreza and Liberty all breaking through 1000 sales.Suzuki, like many importers, was buoyed by keen end-of-financial year deals.It sold 2368 cars for the month, bringing its year-to-date tally to 10,910 vehicles, a 43 per cent lift over last year.Of the French, an ever-expanding Peugeot line-up continues to bolster sales, but Renault flops around due to a lack of new product.Peugeot sold 1016 vehicles last month, bringing its year-to-date run-rate to 4549, a 13 per cent lift over last year. The 307 continues to be Peugeot's best seller.By contrast, Renault has a year-to-date total of 1431 vehicles, 32 cars fewer than last year.Even Saab experienced some solid growth, albeit off a low base, as the 9-3 turbodiesel helped lift the marque's appeal.Saab sold 336 cars last month, its best month for 10 years, taking its year-to-date tally to 1148, a 170 per cent lift over last year.The X-Trail, Tiida and Navara continue to drive Nissan sales. The Japanese importer sold 5845 vehicles last month with 31,176 year-to-date, a 20 per cent lift over last year.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries monthly Vfacts figures show that most of the extra volume last month was generated by the light, small and medium car segments.A breakdown of large car sales shows that Holden sold 5588 Commodores last month, Ford 3206 Falcons, Toyota 2626 Aurions and Mitsubishi just 877 380 V6s.All three were eclipsed by the new four-cylinder Corolla, which secured 5890 sales.But a finer look at the figures shows that much of the Corolla's success was down to fleet purchases and pent-up demand for the new car, which spiked figures.But a sale is a sale. Holden's own figures point out that 29 per cent of VE Commodores are bought by private buyers, as opposed to 18.6 per cent for the VT Commodore.Apart from the Corolla, other small car stars were the Mitsubishi Lancer with 2143 sales, Holden Astra 1763 and Ford Focus 1550.Of the tiddlers, Toyota again ruled last month. The Yaris managed 2926 sales against 2486 for the Hyundai Getz, 1361 for the Kia Rio, 1351 for the Suzuki Swift and 1392 for the Honda Jazz.Despite the dominance of the light, small and medium segments, large cars were up 3.7 per cent in June and, in year-to-date terms, are running 5.1 per cent ahead of last year.However, Ford's overall market share has slipped 2 per cent and Holden's by almost 1 per cent, despite its Korean strategy, which was hoping to deliver an increased share.Mitsubishi is a bit stronger, experiencing a 0.6 per cent overall drop in share and, despite Toyota's increasing sales, its share has increased by only about 0.6 per cent.One of the more interesting results was for the Ford Fairlane.Ford sold 149 Fairlanes, bolstered by the news that the long-wheelbase sedan will be axed at the end of the year.Dealers are also reporting a slight pick-up in interest for the car from fleets.Overall, the year-to-date sales figure of 524,376 means that a record 1 million market is likely by December.   Top 10 makes  1 Toyota 24,5392 Holden 14,2563 Ford 10,3044 Mitsubishi 81945 Mazda 69326 Nissan 58457 Honda 57508 Hyundai 50239 Subaru 408510 Volkswagen 2848 Top 10 models1 Toyota Corolla 58902 Holden Commodore 55883 Toyota HiLux 42494 Ford Falcon 32065 Mazda3 30376 Toyota Yaris 29267 Toyota Camry 26458 Toyota Aurion 26269 Hyundai Getz 248610 Mitsubishi Lancer 2143 

But he says it is too early to write off the Fairlane nameplate. With a strong history over 40 years, he is confident we may see the name rise from the ashes in the form of an imported model.

These iconic Australian-made cars will exit a rapidly-changing market, with consumers demanding higher-technology and smaller-displacement engines in the premium sector.The long-wheel base versions of the Falcon have suffered a sales decline over the past five years, while its main opposition - the Holden Statesman/Caprice range - has increased export sales to offset slowing local demand.The Melbourne-based car maker said the decision coincided with the arrival of the medium-sized Mondeo, returning to the Australian market after a six-year absence.Ford said there was a major decline in sales of vehicles in the upper large-car segment.Industry observers have pointed to Ford’s product planning as being partly to blame, suggesting that Ford may have diluted the original premium perception of the Fairlane and LTD by reducing the specification of the models to bring them into reach of a broader market.

Setting off on a driving holiday through Victoria and South Australia, the 1991 film sprang to mind, but any comparison evaporated rapidly. This was no case of "wild girls on the run" – despite the cowboy hat which featured throughout. Rather, it was a mother and daughter holiday.Instead of a low-slung '66 Thunderbird convertible our chariot was a solid Ford Fairlane Ghia with a six-speed auto. There were no guns, police chases or hitchhikers (much to the relief of both Ford and my mother). But there were thermal hot springs, wineries and the pleasure of driving the length of the Great Ocean Road.And the Ghia was the perfect vehicle for such a trip.As a large car it held the road beautifully. It also had grunt.Overtaking on the open road can be a fraught business in an unfamiliar vehicle. There is nothing worse than putting your foot down and finding you are at the wheel of a gutless wonder, but this sedan had plenty under the hood.Cruise control ensured speeding tickets did not become an issue on the open road and another road trip bonus was the satellite navigation system ... which I am sure would have enhanced the chances of Thelma and Louise actually winding up in Mexico rather than over a cliff.For someone unfamiliar with Melbourne it was a breeze to get from the airport to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula simply by listening to its directions.And for the map challenged it was helpful to find it could be orientated in a similar vein to turning a map book around. It coped with finding a spa and even the ferry trip across to Queenscliff.From there other features made their advantages known. The leather-trimmed seats were a delight for long hours behind the wheel, the boot contained enough room for suitcases and cartons of wine (no visit to the Coonawarra is complete without a purchase or two), and there was ample leg room in the back if we had found a dreamy hitchhiker along the way.The downsides all sound like quibbles – but for the record the centre console (which the manufacturer says is "liquid metal") looks more like cheap, shiny black plastic.The doors were heavy – and usually took more than one attempt to close. And I'm glad I was never faced with the challenge of trying to park this car on a busy city street – even with reversing sensors it could pose a challenge.LOVE IT LEAVE ITFord Fairlane GhiaPrice: $58,625LOVE ITA delight on a long road trip. Comfortable, roomy, great stretchy shopping holder in the enormous boot.LEAVE IT No good for anyone who struggles with parking – even with the help of park sensors this is a big car.