Ford Fairmont News

Over there they became known as Super-Rhino Fairmont GTs. Now they are a highly sought after car among Aussie collectors, pushing prices up as high as $80,000. This white 1972 XY Fairmont GT is one of about 1800 that was exported to South Africa by Ford Australia after production ended in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, in 1971. Proud owner Pat Richter, 52, stumbled on the rare Fairmont GTs through a website devoted to the car.  "When I started there were only about half a dozen people on the website,'' Richter says. "Now there are more than 300. It's got huge in the past few years. "The interest is inflating their value because they are starting to get more known and highly sought after. "I did a bit of research and got in touch with Ford Australia and they verified they were genuine.'' He explains that South Africa had imported Falcons from the US which had a poor reputation, so when Ford Australia exported these models, they rebadged them as Fairmont GTs, but with Futura trim. Richter's search for a South African GT led him to Queensland and an ex-pat who imported four. He bought the GT in 2006 for $18,000.  "It was in poor condition. It was mainly the panel work there was no rust but there wasn't a panel that wasn't damaged and the paint had been touched up here, there and everywhere,'' he says. Mechanically, the car was pretty sound and intact. It is powered by a 5.7-litre 351 D block Cleveland V8 with four-valve heads and all the genuine GT running gear such as a nine-inch differential. However, the four-speed manual had been replaced with a four-speed C4 auto. Together with his friend, Grant Brown, the machine operator stripped the car to its bare shell over two years, costing $30,000.  "It would have cost a lot more without Grant's help,'' he says. He kept the auto but swapped the original red trim for an Aussie black GT trim, replaced the gauges with metric models and added a modern stereo and Bathurst five-spoke Glove wheels. The finishing touch was the Super-Rhino sticker replacing the famous Super-Roo. "The sticker was made by members of the (www.fairmontgt.com) forum website because of the nickname the car had in South Africa,'' he explains. Richter has since shown the car and won  "a couple of trophies''.  "It drives absolutely beautiful,'' he says. "It's pretty powerful. I had it at a Western Sydney drag club day and it runs 13s. Not bad for a cruiser.'' Richter doesn't consider himself a strictly Ford man, but he also bought a 1969 Mustang Coupe Grande with a 351 Windsor two years ago for $23,000 and his 25-year-old daughter, Jessie, owns a '74 XB Fairmont GS. "We're keeping it in the family,'' he says. "When I migrated from Ireland in 1978 I fell in love with the big cars here. "I used to frequent Bathurst every year and camped on the hill waving the blue oval flag. But I haven't been for a few years as the cars today are too far removed from what we have on the streets. "Back in those days you could walk into a showroom and buy pretty much the same cars that were racing around Bathurst.'' At a glance XY FAIRMONT GT Year: 1972 Price when new: about $750 Price now: $80,000 (insured) Engine: 351 Cleveland 5.7-litre V8 Body: four-door sedan Transmission: 4-speed auto  

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.” 

There's nothing like good, friendly Aussie rivalry. And since the 1960s, the one played out on the racetrack, which has in turn spread to suburban driveways, has attracted some very passionate and dedicated fans on either side of the fence. It's none other than the Holden v Ford debate, pitching mate against mate, car against car.From a young age, many car fans choose a side and stick with it. Most wear their team insignia advertising their choice from head to toe.But then there are those who are best referred to as the 'more extreme' fans.Take Dave Kahila and Bob Pupovac, for example. Both have spent about $100,000 and endless hours transforming an average car from their favourite brand into a masterpiece.And both will put their cars on display at next weekend's MotorEx for the first time.For Kahila, not only did he know where his loyalties lie from a young age, he also knew exactly what car he wanted and needed to show off this allegiance.As a teenager, Kahila was full of envy when his cousin bought his dream car, a VK Commodore. Kahila continued to pester his cousin for more than 10 years, making his intentions well known.“I said one day, `I'm going to own that car'; he would say, `Yeah, yeah, whatever'. And now I've ended up owning it,” Kahila says. “He wanted to build it himself, but kept putting it off.“It sat in the garage for about five years. Over coffee, I said, `Sell me the car'. He said, `All right'. I think he just got sick of me asking,” he says.And with the car finally in his possession, Kahila then enlisted the help of his younger brother, Paul, and the pair got to work.“We stripped every nut and bolt, every panel, every door, paint stripped it, supercharged it, put a nine-inch diff on it, tubbed the back ... it was a full custom restoration,” he says.“Ever since I was a kid that was my dream to have a blue VK Commodore.”This is the third car Kahila has restored, and the one he lists as the best. While he bought the brown car on his own for $5000, he has now given half of the ownership to his brother for all his help on the project. He estimates the car would be worth between $50,000 to $60,000, despite the extra money he spent restoring it.But to him, it's priceless.And when examining the extravagant nature of it, it's clear this isn't your daily driver.Kahila says he mainly takes it out on the weekends and is often greeted with some fairly scared responses, especially from the noise.“They freak out, it turns heads big time.They really get scared, it's so loud.”And it's not just kids with this reaction. Kahila says it's “kids, dogs, grown-ups, everyone, all the time”. Kahila may be proud of his car, but that doesn't mean he'll be embarking on another one any time soon.“I'm not allowed to do anymore,” he says, mentioning the house he is in the process of building. "I have got two kids, I've married recently, there's just no time for them (the cars). My wife hates it.”Kahila also says that he's not prepared to spend the huge amount of money that is needed with a new project.However, that doesn't mean he has completely finished this one yet. “Once I've finished the house, I'm planning to strip it and do the underneath, make it a full proper showroom car. I want to go that little bit extra.”While he's a Holden man, Kahila is one of those rare fans who doesn't mind Fords as well. But when it comes to V8 Supercars and the car he loves to own, he always has his Holden hat on.Over in the other corner is Bob Pupovac.There's no sitting on the fence at any time for this self-described “Ford freak”.“I've always loved them, always, the shape of them, and they're quicker,” he says.Pupovac became a Ford fan at a young age, and says it's a bit of a mystery as to why he fell in love with the blue oval. “One of my uncles has always been into drag racing,” he says.However, Pupovac says his father always drove a Ford, although wasn't really a big car enthusiast. And like Kahila, he's turned his dream car into a reality. His is in the guise of a 1981 Ford Fairmont XE ESP — the very first car he purchased 11 years ago, at just 18 years old.He says he paid $5500 for it and spent the first five years cruising around in it as his daily driver.But Pupovac knew it had a lot more potential.“About seven, eight years ago I pulled the car down to a bare shell,” he says. “I've added a supercharger, fuel injection, airbags, suspension, a roll cage, 20-inch wheels, I could keep going on forever but that's probably the main ones.”Pupovac, who co-owns a Bridgestone Tyre Centre, completed the restoration in stages with his business partner. He still plans to spend another $10,000 on brakes and suspension.“I love doing it, it's like a hobby,” Pupovac says.He gets a similar reaction to Kahila when he takes the car out. “People freak out, they can't believe the size of the engine and wheels.“I plan to drive it a bit more about and I'm going to race it as well,” he adds. FAST FACTS1986 VK COMMODOREEngine: 355 cubic inch with supercharger, 500kW at the motor 328kW at rear wheelsValue: $50,000-$60,000 1981 FORD FAIRMONT XE ESPOwner: Bob PupovacEngine: 408 cubic-inch Cleveland, 395kW at the wheelsValue: $60,000-$80,000 WHERE TO SEE THEMWhere:  MotorExWhen: next weekend June 30 - July 1Where: Sydney Olympic Park, HomebushMore than 50 Ford and Holdens, plus more than 500 hot rods, street machines, performance and classic cars, exceeding $60 million in value.  

And they did it with $2.45 to spare.Their timing couldn't have been better, coming as the Federal Government announced grants of up to $1000 for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas vehicles and $2000 for LPG conversions.Around Australia project architect Andrew Ellis said it was a stroke of luck.“We planned this early in the year and not as some people seem to think as an immediate response to the Government grants for LPG,” he said. “We wanted to keep the Falcon product out there and with fuel prices an issue we thought we would display the benefits of LPG.”And they certainly did, driving more than 13,950km around Australia on $997.55 worth of gas.The Ford E-Gas range includes the Falcon XT sedan and wagon, Futura sedan and wagon, Fairmont, XR6 ute and the limited-edition pack Falcon SR.Demand for E-Gas Falcons has risen 300 per cent in the current climate.LPG was first used in Australia's taxi fleets as long ago as 1970.Back in the early '90s this writer ran a dual-fuel LPG/petrol XE Ford Falcon and the price of gas was about 25 a litre.It never missed a beat doing the Brisbane-Sydney run without stopping and using petrol only as a back-up.These days LPG varies around 60 and is available in most places around the country. Last week LPG cost 56.9, but the price varied as much as 20 on the run from Brisbane-Tamworth.It is actually safer than petrol with shut-off valves to prevent the gas tank from exploding in an accident. Tanks must be checked and crack tested every 10 years.The Falcon E-Gas is the only production car in Australia that runs solely on LPG. The petrol tank, fuel lines and pumps of the normal Falcon have been stripped out to fit LPG tanks and the engine cylinder head re-designed solely for gas use.The engine is essentially the same as the four-litre, straight six-cylinder but running on gas it has about 18 per cent less power (156kW compared with 190kW), but only fractionally less torque (374Nm against 383Nm).It comes with the standard four-speed sequential shift auto transmission only and cruises at 2000rpm at 110km/h.An LPG car should use about a third more fuel than an equivalent petrol car. But when LPG costs 50 to 60 a litre in some country areas when petrol is $1.25 to $1.40, it doesn't take long to be in front.To allow room for the 93-litre gas tank under the boot, the spare wheel has been moved inside the boot. It's neatly carpeted and although it drops boot space by about 20 per cent. small items can be tucked around the spare.www.lpgautogas.com.au