I don’t know if it’s the constant exposure over the last almost-decade to CC or the recent binge-watching of Mindhunter but somehow I’ve come 180 degrees on the Fairmont. While it used to rank very low on my personal Desire-O-Meter it has made steady progress up the dial and now I look at them with admiration. This is the first one I can recall seeing in the junkyard in a while and at first I was excited just due to it being a wagon, but then I got closer and the big disco ball in my mind started to spin.
Just look at those seats! Red and plaid, is there a better interior color combination along with the (now faded) red carpet, dash, and steering wheel? And paired with such a plain white paper bag of a wrapper too. Now, I realize that we are on the cusp of a trend where many of the best condition junkyard finds seem to be sporting red interiors, but perhaps there is something to that.
Could it be that if you have the personality to spec, buy and drive around in a red interior, you are naturally more attuned to the upkeep of the whole thing than those that just take whatever common color happened to be around on the lot when you went shopping? (Never mind the missing door panel, we’ll get to that).
This is a 1980 model, no roof rack, dog dish hubcaps, no rear wiper, not much at all in the way of exterior options bar the “Exterior Decor Group” consisting of bright window surrounds, bright mirror (one side only), bright moldings, deluxe (not dog dish in Ford-speak, oops) and a hood ornament.
What I used to deride as plain and boring I now find expressive, clean, simple. Somehow it actually reminds me of the Dart of a decade prior which I always found characterful.
I do like the side placement of the license plate bracket, which I always found to be a particularly if not uniquely American look, they should bring that back but it’d probably look strange with the plate just drilled into the current plastic bumpers as they tend to do now
How does a lowly Fairmont with dog (excuse me, “deluxe”) dishes and minimal options otherwise end up with such a great hood ornament? It turns out they were not that uncommon although this is the first time I have ever noticed it on one. It’s attractive too, with the stylized “F” in there. All part of the package…
The goods. What there is of them, that is. Powered by Ford’s 2.3 Lima OHC engine with an output of 88hp and 118lb-ft of torque, at least it provided excellent fuel economy for the day. 1980 was the only year that a turbo version of the engine was available, sadly though in the sedan and coupe only. No joy for the wagon, besides the seats anyway. But you’re likely wondering how much of a slug this was on the road.
I don’t know, since I’ve never driven one, but this Fairmont is equipped yet again with the base option in transmissions, a 4-speed manual with a well-worn knob. The last manual 4-speed I owned was also a 1980 model, but mine was an Audi 4000, the 4-speed was just fine with lots of spacing between gear ratios, so a fairly tractable package.
Here we can see pretty much the whole extent of the “Interior Accent Group” option which is the only other option this car appears to have. Vinyl/plaid cloth bucket seats, woodtone molding on the dash and doors, deluxe steering wheel hub as well as the deluxe sound package. I do not know what the doo-hickey is that’s attached to the rearmost stalk. Looks like a doorbell…
In any case, I wonder how much those two packages actually cost. The base price of this wagon was $5,421 according to NADA but I could not find information regarding the options.
In a recent junkyard post, I lamented what I considered sparse instrumentation and a commenter responded that what I was looking at was actually pretty decent. Now I see it, this one has a speedo and a fuel gauge. And several blank gauge strips for non-selected options. You do get a nifty crest that doesn’t match the hood ornament at all but does seem to match the fancy steering wheel hub.
The odometer appears to read 44020, but there has to be at least a virtual “1” in front of that, or perhaps even a “2”. Or, could it be that it has never rolled over?
The “deluxe sound package” appears to be pretty dog-dishy with a manually adjusted AM radio. No A/C but a cigarette lighter. And more acreage of woodtone accent material on that glorious red dashboard. I don’t think Ford thinks the word “deluxe” means what I think it means….If Ford was in charge of TV programming in 1980, the Jefferson’s deluxe apartment in the sky would be in the basement, garden level at best.
The Fairmont did use a “modified” MacPherson strut suspension, a feature that Ford were mighty proud of in their advertising of the day. And an opportunity to festoon it with yet another type of fancy crest/badgery.
The full owner’s guide and a whole passel of keys, sadly none of which worked to open the rear hatch. But look at how that upholstery wore! The whites are even still white, very impressive.
Clean, purposeful, understated but very practical. No wonder Ford was the “wagonmaster” back then. Now? Not so much.
I found this car in Denver, about 35 miles away from where it was sold. Stan Barrett Ford was sold in 1982, so this may well be an original sticker from the purchase date, unless the new owners kept the name, although it is definitely not in use currently.
As I said, the keys didn’t work for the hatch, so here’s the view through the (non-defrosted of course) glass. We may have just found the missing door panel! And some fender trim. And a carpet sample sporting a style as old as the car.
Many of these seemingly usable specimens that we’ve been featuring here seem to have manual transmissions, which may well be a large part of the reason the cars ended up here. Perhaps nobody in the family wanted it, nobody in the immediate vicinity could drive a stick, and an old car without A/C isn’t an attractive proposition for many people that don’t read this site. Perhaps if it was brown?
Build date April 1980. Likely built in Kansas City (actually Claycomo), Missouri based on the K in the second position of the 11-digit VIN, the last year for this style of VIN.
After perusing the brochures online, I really don’t think this wagon has any options besides the interior package and exterior package. Those front bumper protectors are standard (optional on rear but not on this one). It’s a somewhat weird/sparse combination but also dresses up the interior to be less penalty box-like. Someone took pretty good care of it for the last 39 years…I like it!
Lots o’ Related Reading here at CC:
JPCavanaugh found a 1980 Fairmont Futura Coupe
Jim Grey’s excellent write-up of a first year 1978 Fairmont Sedan
Paul Niedermeyer seems to like a 1978 Fairmont Sedan
GN’s Vintage Review of the Fairmont
Perry Shoar’s take on the ritzy 1981 Fairmont Futura Wagon
Brendan Saur tackles a Cohort-supplied Fairmont Squire Wagon
Aw, that’s a real shame that a car this clean, this rare, and in this good shape is going to the crusher. It deserves an Ecoboost or larger engine swap and to roll along on dog dish wheels surprising muscle cars.
In 1980 this was indeed deluxe. Radio, cloth seats, woodgrain interior was pretty decent step up from hose it out no comfort interiors of a really base car. I can see that no one on 2019 can or wants to drive a stick shift wagon but it deserves a better fate.
Why not fix the car that already has an Ecoboost?
Also, you’re probably going to scrap a good V8 Mustang to get the rest of parts that will make the Ecoboosted Fairmont capable of stopping or going around corners.
A Mustang is of limited use or desire to me, but a lightweight wagon with excellent sightlines and actual utility is much more appealing. Everyone’s use case is different though.
Because it was totaled for a reason. Ditto for sourcing a 5.0 5sp or that 5.0 5sp became available because something bigger and better went in. If you want to make it stop or go around corners there are enough take off parts and the aftermarket that you won’t have to canibalize a useable Mustang.
Plus this would be a great sleeper that will be unique, and cheap to do, while a Mustang will never be uncommon, nor truly cheap.
You should have bought the seats and interior panels.
A mostly-base model, 4-cylinder, 4-speed equipped Fairmont wagon – in appliance white with a dressed-up red/plaid interior. Without a trace of irony, I can completely see the appeal. The adjectives “clean”, “purposeful”, “usable” all would apply to these cars in general, and to this example in specific.
Great find, Jim – thanks for sharing your musings on it. Seems such a shame this one is crusher-bound.
I. Love. This. Car. I don’t really love the throbbing 2.3 four, but sometimes compromises must be made. This would have been a hot item on a Ford dealer’s lot in 1980 when the economy sucked and gas was expensive. Put that option money under the butt of the guy making the payments!
Are these the plainest, least imaginative hubcaps ever designed?
I owned the polar opposite of this car, an ultra-loaded 86 Fox body Mercury Marquis wagon. It was essentially the same vehicle, but at the other end of the equippage scale. I really liked that little wagon. This one breaks the hearts of those of us who do daily battle with the rust monster in our cars.
Technically a Ford, at heart this is an AMC. Spartan with tartan plaid interior, as it were. The lack of AC or most options, but having the AM radio, was a hallmark of an aging person buying a new car as their last car. Nothing fancy, dagnabit, but not another Studebaker Scotsman, either. I picture this being owned by a grumpy old man who told every kid to stay off his lawn, which must be why it appeals to me so much.
My parents had a 79 Zephyr, though it was a 4 door sedan. To address a few items: that strip between the two gauge “pods” I think had the gear indication for automatic transmission cars. That steering wheel may have been Deluxe in a Ford, but my parents car had a different wheel….I think. That “doorbell” on the steering column stalk may be a “work around” for the horn button that was on a stalk.)
Finally, these were fairly decent cars to drive, but assembly quality was a bit below the average Detroit product of the period. (About 6 months after one of these cars was sold new, the carpet pulled loose from under the sill plates, the glovebox door never fit correctly, and the dashpad cracked.
Astounding condition, I think that’s what a 1980 Fairmont would have looked like in Ontario in 1983.
Love the seats, and the 4 speed. Great candidate for a 5.0 / 5 speed swap, but you’d have to keep those hub caps.
100% agreement, but be prepared for refueling every three days. These have a really small gas tank (14 gal from what I looked up) and a 5.0 will slurp it quickly. My wagon with the 3.8 gave me about a 175-225 mile range most of the time. I never hit 300 miles on a tank.
Yeah it would have made a great drag car/sleeper. The 4cyl 4sp is the key here. The 4cyl used the same K member as the V8 and the clutch mechanism and cable will also work perfectly with the 5sp. It is as drop in and go as you can get when talking about putting a V8 where a 4 had been.
“and the clutch mechanism and cable will also work perfectly with the 5sp”
While you’re in there, replace the plastic ratchet quadrant with a stout one-piece aluminum piece.
Well that is the thing you wouldn’t have to crawl under the dash at all, not that the billet Quadrant isn’t a good idea especially if you are putting a performance pressure plate. Of course then it becomes a case of “might as well put a new cable in there if I’m taking it that far apart….
What a great find Jim. I have a soft spot for Fairmont wagons as for much of my youth a 1979 Fairmont wagon was our family car. I clearly remember the day that my dad sold it how upset I was that it was going. Dad on the other hand shed no tears for what he deemed and still does, the worst car he’d ever owned.
Looking back as an adult, I can’t say I’d ever desire to own one now. It was a terrible car that I remember being a rust prone, broken down, stalling in intersections, and having an oil leaking and worn 302 with little over 100k miles. DougD’s comment above on a car being in that condition I 1983 is accurate. Ours was sold to my aunt and uncle knowing it needed an engine. It didn’t make it to 1987 as it was so rusty my uncle decided to scrap it.
These cars were a huge leap forward in design and engineering for Ford, unfortunately, they were poorly executed. We had others in the family and none were great cars, mediocre even by the standards of that era.
I highly suspect based on the condition of this car that it actually only has 45K miles. Probably an elderly person who hardly drove it sitting in a garage or under a car port. Unfortunately these old cars have little value or interest with people actually willing to put their money where there mouth is, resulting in them ending up in the scrap yard.
Good find Jim.
Vince, our family car growing up was also a 1979 Fairmont wagon. Painted Canadian National Railway orange, as kids we couldn’t wait for it to go (no one else had a really, really orange car). It also had dual exhaust and glasspacks, for some reason, so you could see it and hear it coming a long ways away.
Plain as plain could be, with the same dog dish hubcaps but also with vinyl bench seats. Same 302/auto as the one you describe. However, it was a really good car and seemed to avoid the rust here in BC more or less. We had it about 7 or 8 years as I recall, and was still really, really orange when it left.
I will second Howard’s comment that the vertical strip was the shift indicator on an automatic car.
Now that you mention your Fairmont, I do recall a picture of it from your COAL series. Your family’s car sounds pretty close to how ares was setup. It was a plain base car, dog dish caps, no A/C, one exterior mirror. The only upgrade was we had the cloth vinyl interior. I also remember dad adding in a middle seat belt on the front bench so we could sit six people in the car.
Our car was definitely a lemon. My aunt and uncle had a 1980 Zephyr wagon with the 200 six that was a much better car than our Ford. They kept it for 16 years but it didn’t even have 100K miles on it by then (my aunt is the proverbial old lady owner). Even the rust wasn’t too bad after 16 Ontario winters, but the light use helped. It wasn’t exceptional in anyway but proved to be adequate for them.
Thanks for providing so much data with these junkyards finds, Jim. Was wondering why there were no bumper guards in the rear. 🙂
One significant area that differentiated the mission statement for the Fairmont/Zephyr and one of its domestic competitors, the Aspen/Volare, was the Chryslers were designed to convey the feel and ride of a full-sized car. Though the Fairmont had the Volare beat in virtually every technical spec, the Aspen/Volare had a much more attractive, and user friendly dashboard IMO. The Fairmont’s cluster looking cheap, and too similar to the Maverick’s.
I was familiar with the plaid interior offered on the Aspen/Volare, but didn’t know the Fairmont offered one. Plaid inserts on the door panels would have been a nice luxury touch.
Wow, Chrysler didn’t give you ANY dash vents if you didn’t have A/C? Both Ford and GM would at least give you two of the usual four vents (usually left and right for Ford, center for GM). So you pretty much had to roll down the windows if you wanted some fresh air at face level
The vast majority did have full vents, including one on either side of the glovebox and where you see the filler panels to the left and right of the instrument cluster. Even without air. Roger628 pointed out to me that there were some with the unusual setup you see.
I’ve seen many Aspen/Volare dashes and I’ve never seen one without the four upper vents.
In a vague way an early-80s Fairmont was to the Volare what an early-70s Maverick was to the Valiant — a relentlessly decontented car. A six-cylinder Fairmont wagon was more than 500 pounds lighter than the equivalent Volare. That’s an impressive weight savings, but a price was certainly paid for it.
And this is the biggest problem I had with these cars back in the day. They took cheapness and lightweight materials to a new height. The door glass was as thin as a dime. The doors closed with a tinny clank and let in tons of wind and road noise. The dash actually vibrated on my 1979 sedan going 55 as if it was partially attached with loose screws. And literally every one of them I saw was so sparsely equipped. It was a literal miracle to find one with A/C or a factory V8. Many didn’t even have power brakes like my 1979. Cruise control or tilt wheel. yeah right. Stereos with a cassette player. Only if you put one in aftermarket. The 200 six was barely adequate in my light 2660 LB sedan with automatic and 2.73 rear gears and my grandfather’s 1980 wagon which amazingly did have A/C and the deluxe interior was almost dangerously slow.
The basic bones of these cars were decent and the rack and pinion steering was something you didn’t see in this class but the rest was a wet dream of cheapness.
I’m not saying Ford cribbed on the Volvo 245 to design this, but I sure see tons of similarities. At the time, I thought of this as the American 245, for sure.
Semi-related side note: The Volvo 16-valve cylinder head (from the B234F engine of the late 80s) can be fitted to the Ford 2.3 Lima with only minor modifications. Circle track racers in 4-cylinder classes have been doing it for years. Details here:
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtech/techarticles/item045.php
I’ve seen that head swap in the flesh- It’s amazing that someone thought to use a head from a completely different motor, and the modification proved to (mostly) bolt-on!
Still, I’m amused by the wording in the linked article- “intake and exhaust manifolds will have to be constructed as the stock Ford 2.3 manifolds will not fit”
No kidding!
One of those you got chocolate in my peanut butter/you got peanut butter on my chocolate moments.
Maybe a Turbo Coupe guy was lamenting to a Volvo Turbo guy that he wished for a beater breathing head option, while the Volvo guy was wishing for a bottom end that could take more power.
Followed by a “na, that would never work, would it?” and “Do you have a tape measure?” and of course the initial “Holy crap you got any extra/old heads/blocks/gaskets laying around”.
Okay, I have to dump on Mindhunter. I LOVE the show, but the folks who procure the vehicles make me crazy. Why is it so difficult to stick to the correct year of vehicle? From what I can tell historically, the episodes in the 2nd season take place in 1979-1981. Why is there a Chevrolet Celebrity there? It even looks old with dull paint. There are other faux pas’ as well. I could go on about this, but it seems like a simple thing. Why not be accurate, say 1980 or older?
“Why is it so difficult to stick to the correct year of vehicle? (and the rest of your post)”
That’s like me watching the 1976 production of Midway or various other war films that used ‘actual combat footage’ to convey an aura of realism. These things are always poorly researched. “SB2C Helldivers weren’t at Midway!” “What is a M47 Patton doing in 1944 as a Tiger (the ‘Shermans’ in Battle of the Bulge were actually Chaffees)?” “No carriers had an angled deck in 1942” and so on. These errors throw me out of the movie and I end up criticizing it endlessly. If I knew my small arms better, I’m sure there are a myriad of errors I would catch there too.
One series that seems to get car years correct is Stranger Things. At least I haven’t caught an error yet.
I think there’s a dearth of old vehicles that are still running that can stand in for the 80s. Most are in their 2nd or 3rd life as appliances.
From the looks of this junkyard, all you need to do is hang out in Colorado and intercept vehicles like this Fairmont before they hit the boneyard. Between this Fairmont, the 600, and the Accord you could recreate just about any street-side scene from the 80’s. Would be a much better use for those cars than crushing them.
Nobody has caught the plaque on the dash that reads “Ride Engineered”.
This was a Mercury thing, meaning the wrong part was installed at the factory.
I caught that too!
I don’t recall if the Zephyr got more realistic gloss burled-walnet woodgrain; I seem to recall the Capri had nicer woodgrain than the Mustang though
la673,
I had a ’78 Zephyr Z7. I think it had better looking fake wood and better instrumentation. It also had almost identical plaid seats and the same steering wheel. Easiest car ever to work on. Simple as a lawnmower. And about as quick.
It may have come from the factory that way, there were reports of a Fairpher or a Zepmont making it out of the factory and to the dealer with the grille and front badges from one and the taillights and rear badges of the other. However after this much time it could have been changed when the only/first one they came across in the wrecking yard was a Merc and not a Ford.
I did see a Plymouth Volare at a new car dealer back then that had an Aspen badge on the passenger side fender.
I knew somebody with one that was mis-badged. After nearly 40 years, I don’t remember if it was a Ford Zephyr or a Mercury Fairmont, but it was definitely wrong from the factory.
Great find! That has to possibly be one of the most miserably sparse instrument cluster gauges ever! Sparse to begin with, and then it has the “if you spent a few more bucks you could’ve gotten this!” blank gauges.
What a fantastic find in great condition which makes its fate a real shame. The overall condition indicates a lack of desirability in the current market rather than a terminal issue.
This is the car my dad had when me and my sisters were little kids except his was a 2 door sedan. No ac 4 speed stick no RADIO and back then…no car seats so we could sit whereever we wanted 🙂 We went on many long family trips in this car and when I look back and compare it to the 2016 odyssey i haul my young family around in today I feel lucky.
Just last week, I happened to see a Fairmont in motion — probably the first time in over a decade that I’ve seen on actually driving.
This one is a 1982 two-door sedan. Looks rather well used. And somehow I doubt it has a plaid interior!
Echo the Volvo 245 comparison, sans the safety features.
So respectful, not one of you called it a Squaremont like we used to do.
Jim, your enthusiasm for this Fairmont is certainly shared in these quarters. After blending into the background for years, these are really quite refreshing for a 1970s Ford product.
Let’s not think about the condition of this one, as doing so could be a real downer.
I echo the sadness that such a clean and straight holy grail of a unicorn will soon be on its way to China in shreds. As I mentioned above this the one to have to do a 5.0 5sp conversion as I don’t believe you could get a 5sp with the 302 and the straight 6 cars not only were almost all automatics they have a unique K member that increases the labor required to put in a V8. Many years ago I did a 4cyl to V8 swap on a Foxstang. Started Fri night after work and drove it out of the garage Sat night, with a new full dual exhaust because it was really plug and play. (carbed 302 went in place of the carbed 2.3)
In a twist on the Pre CC effect I crossed paths this morning with a very straight and clean LTD wagon which was the same body shell with the new semi-aero nose.
Two friends owned Fairmonts in the early ’80s when the cars were fairly new. One had the four with (I think!) a 3-speed on the floor, and the other had the six with automatic. Both engines were SHOT. Burning oil, missing on one or two cylinders.
Both were around KC, so presumably from the Claycomo factory.
Yes, a 3speed manual was available pre-1980 with the 4cylinder.
That’s a new bit of trivia for me. The know the Vega has a 3 speed entry transmission, but the Pinto was always 4 speed so I thought the Fairmont was too.
Oops, a 3-speed manual WAS available but it may have been with the six, not the four, can’t verify it right now.
I don’t think they had any 3sp in the parts bin for the 2.3 while they had used that combo on the 6cyl for near 2 decades.
That sounds right. I drove a friend’s new 4 cylinder Fairmont, manual trans and I think a 4 speed (vs 5 speed). It was quite nice for the day.
My father called his Fairmont “the tin can”. Like this wagon, it was a 2.3 four cylinder, 4 speed, but also optioned with power steering (I don’t think it was available on 4-cyl wagons) and power brakes.
I liked it. Inherited it.
In 1978, the six came with a 3 speed manual standard
In 1979 and 1980, the six had a 3 speed plus overdrive standard, with OD down to the right (like 4th on a 4 speed)
Although it was the featured subject of magazine ads, there seems to be substantial doubt that Ford ever built a turbo Fairmont. The Standard Catalog of Ford says none were produced.
And yet they were advertised…
I have pleasant memories of a few of these owned by family and friends, and of one long-highway-commute owner getting great mileage with that 2.3/4 speed combination.
Part of my delight at the time was the technical advances (for an everybody car, admittedly) compared to a decade earlier–front discs standard, electronic ignition, rack & pinion, struts up front, radial tires, and so on. And the clean design was a bonus.
Sorta-CC-Effect: the talk of possible engine swaps reminds me of the recent (July 2019) appearance of the period electrical conversion in a ’81 Fairmont wagon (also appliance white, 4-speed): https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule/cc-capsule-1981-ford-fairmont-electric-evs-sure-have-come-a-long-way/
Jeez, I am getting very forgetful, I had zero recollection of that very recent post until you linked to it and then I see I even made the first comment on it. And it was a white wagon to boot!
Your comment gave this elder a smile, Jim K. I’m forever reading one of the CC “repeat” columns, presuming it was new-to-me, and then finding a comment I’d made…
While I’m at it, another possibility for under-the-hood modifications would be all the Esslinger Engineering (“Pinto Beans”) parts made to squeeze more power out of the 2.3: http://store.esslingeracing.com/cart/ford_2300_sohc_parts-list.aspx
Happens to me all the time too. Not long ago, I Googled a question I had about Lincoln Town Car production. I found the answer… not only was the answer on CC, but it was in response to a comment of mine when I asked the same dang question a few years before. If only I had a photographic memory…
Joyce Byers, your new/used car is waiting.
The only thing better than red plaid would be baby-blue plaid which was available on these too. I’d have gone for that, and a wheel trim upgrade (maybe the latter over the parts counter?)
I think the crest is where the warning lights would go if you got the gauge package, it’s vertical and the PRNDL indicator would’ve run horizontally since most autos were on the column. A bit spendy of Ford to scatter them all over the negative space under the gas gauge if you didn’t, it would’ve been more like them to use the same warning-light cluster and just have a lot of empty space under the gas gauge.
No, the auto trans indicator was definitely in that vertical space, even with a column shift.
OK, now I see;
https://assets.hemmings.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2015/06/1977MercuryZephyrZ7_03_1000.jpg
Looks like you got the crest with a floor-shift auto as well;
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/3862/2421/22153710012_large.jpg
We had one too when I was a kid. Our was a ’78 and my Dad insisted on a passenger side mirror, but otherwise it was even more if a stripper than this one. Did have the 6cyl/auto combo.
It was not an exciting car, or even a great car, but I think it was a pretty good car.
6-7 years, 100k and no major drama.
A friend of mine had a Fairmont wagon like this. Stick shift, standard engine, AM radio, dog dishes…it was his work car and served well. It was in that odd orange color so naturally, it was called, “The Pumpkin.”
I realize the manual trans was the default / standard one, but putting it on the floor looks so tacked on. Reminds me of some of the Thai “classics” I used to find.
The plaid seats and the blanked out gauges are nothing short of hilarious, too. They don’t make ’em like this anymore. They wouldn’t dare to.
And like everyone else, I’m very sad to see this one is about to be turned into a (smaller) cube. If it were uglier, less practical and with a running horse on the grille, someone would have saved it. Fairmounts just can’t get a fair shake in this world.
We had a Fairmount wagon when I was about 5 or so. Sky blue, blue vinyl interior.
I loved playing pranks when I was little. One day, my mom and sister were going somewhere. Before they left, I snuck out into the garage and tied a string to the hood ornament. My hope was that the string would pop up and scare them, as if a snake had popped up from under the car. Instead, the wheels grabbed the hood ornament and pulled it clean off.
My dad was so mad as he sat in the garage and mounted a $37 replacement hood ornament.
That’s the memory I have of those cars but then in the 1980s I was (mostly) still living in Israel. The Israeli police had quite a few but they did not last as long as the Studebakers before them and were replaced by the European/British Ford Sierra later in the decade…
I remember a majority of these were a horrid prosthetic limb color with flesh colored interior.
“side placement of the license plate bracket, which I always found to be a particularly if not uniquely American look, they should bring that back”
Ugh, please, no. It looks like an afterthought to me on any car that has it.
I don’t mind the rest of this Fairmont, though.
Some cars should have the plate off to the side but don’t. The Pontiac Solstice is probably the best example of this.
A little late to the party here, but a few thoughts…
Letting this car go to the crusher, with it in that good of shape is just wrong.
The “door bell” button on the turn signal stalk is for the horn.
The stylized “f” hood ornament was on all Fairmonts if memory serves.
Where the old school Ford crown is between the two round gauges is where the “PRND21” indicator goes on an automatic with a column shift and bench seats.**
** side thought and speculation on my part… the plaid bucket seated Fairmonts may’ve had a floor shift, putting the indicator there, but I am not entirely sure… maybe someone else knows.
My first new car after the hand me down ‘73 LTD was a ‘79 Fairmont Futura that pretty much looked like this one, and despite how plain it looked, I loved the steering wheel in that thing. I liked it so much more than the corporate-put-it-in-everything steering wheel that was in the ‘83 Aero ‘Bird that followed this car.
And although I wanted those wheels, mine had these wheelcovers, although I would have loved the two-tone paint like that on mine. My Futura was midnight blue with a midnight blue split-at-the-basket-handle vinyl top.
Jim, there’s no way you were in my area. That junkyard is only about two miles from my house! That red Navigator in the background of some of the shots is my Nephew’s and I took it down there. I remember seeing that wagon and almost wanting to buy it, but at the moment since I already have a Delta 88 woody and a 65 Impala among all my trucks, I don’t think my wife will let me have anything else 😛
I’d look for you next time but don’t know what you look like 🙂
The Porsche 928 junkyard outtake was at the same yard, actually in pretty much the same spot as the Fairmont.
Well of course dog dish hubcaps were considered “Deluxe” after all there was always “Brougham” above that! 😉
Pretty tidy considering its surroundings I guess its hit that age and value where the least little thing sends it to the wrecking yard, here that happens around inspection time is it worth repairing to get another six months before next WOF inspection or bail out now and into something better.
Thats where most of those Broughamy jappas tatra keeps finding have gone away to China to become a fridge.
It bothers me to see a Fairmont in such good condition wasting away at an auto wrecker. No doubt a problem with the engine or transmission was the reason. Our family had an 80 Fairmont wagon during the early nineties. Served us well including a long highway trip to southern Alberta.
If I was offered the featured wagon in running condition, I’d gladly take it. Never seen such bucket seats in a Fairmont. Especially a wagon. The clean lines still look good to me in 2019.
I was 20 years old in 1980, couldn’t afford a new car. But the Fairmont was something I would’ve been interested in. Spacious, economical, unpretentious, inexpensive. Except for one thing. I’d learned to drive on a 1970 Maverick, and the utterly depressing cheapness of that car put me off. I felt the Fairmont was a Maverick with squared-off sheet metal.
I want the seats out of that car, can you tell me the name of the junkyard?
My mother had an new in ’83 (I think) 4 dr sedan Fairmont in dark blue with the 2.3 liter 4 and automatic trans. Two notable things about it- the “crash” pad on top of the dash wasn’t attached from the factory (screws were loose inside the glove compartment); and the standard tires were unbelievably cheap narrow things, only rated for 85 mph. It had the later grille with 4 rectangular headlights but not the hood ornament. Yes it was slow but did everything that she asked of it, as most driving was around a small town and rural 50 mph highways. It was way better than the Dodge Aspen it replaced, which rusted quickly and almost never ran properly.