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Detroit, 9:21 AM
Sun Dec 6
10 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #fairmont more →

    1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street

    Which Dead US Automotive Nameplates Should Remain Buried?

    For 1978 and Beyond: Ford Futura!
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of LTDScott LTDScott
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    Do want.
     Reply
    LTDScott was starred LTDScott was unstarred
    Image of lilwillie lilwillie
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    Mmmmm. Memories.

    My car at 16, a Fairmont Wagon. 302V8 from a 69 Fastback 'Stang, three speed and gears that would go forever.

    Not a 5.0L car in town could touch me. Most 5.7's had a tough time.

    Giggity...
     Reply
    lilwillie was starred lilwillie was unstarred
    Image of Joe_Bloe Joe_Bloe
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    My family had one of these with the 200 Six and a THREE SPEED OVERDRIVE on the floor. It was even lower-line than this one, dog dish hubcaps, no roof rack, beige, with vinyl bench pickup truck seats with the notch cut out to clear the shifter. 1-2 shift wasn't until almost 30 mph, that Falcon motor sounded like it was gonna have an aneurysm. But it ran forever.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom promoted this comment Joe_Bloe was starred Joe_Bloe was unstarred
    Image of junkman junkman
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    There's a clone to this car sitting around the corner from my shop. It hasn't moved from the driveway it's in for at least two years. When I drive by, I have fantasies of picking it up as a stablemate to my Fairmont Durango. Fortunately, it doesn't take too long to return to my senses.
     Reply
    junkman was starred junkman was unstarred
    Image of If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    I like how Ford didn't even try to have a divisional logo/emblem in the late '70s, just very period-looking "FORD" badges. And the Fairmont never got the Blue Oval after it came out; it's as though Ford tried to distance themselves from these tinny, boring-ass cars as much as possible.

    However, I always did like these wagons. And I saw an almost-mint Futura coupe on I-75 today. Neato.
     Reply
    If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
    Image of astrocramp astrocramp
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    Compared to its competition of the day, the Plymouth Volare wagon, this thing is a dream. My dad had the Volare, rusted out within a year with water sloshing around the tail lights and you could see the road under the floorboard. A few years later he bought an '80 Fairmont wagon, the thing lasted for 250k miles.
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment astrocramp was starred astrocramp was unstarred
    Image of ummagumma82 ummagumma82
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    It's hard to believe this is what spawned the Thunderbird/Cougar, Continental, Mark VII, and Mustang (until 2004!!). Even the almighty K-Car wasn't quite *that* versatile or long-lived.
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment ummagumma82 was starred ummagumma82 was unstarred
    Image of Maymar Maymar
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    Between nostalgia (my grandparents had a blue Fairmont sedan up to the early 90's) and inherent Fox body love, I would drive the crap out of this, and slowly throw Mustang parts at it. Clearly, it needs the IRS out of a later SVT Cobra, and more power, and other fun bits.
     Reply
    Maymar was starred Maymar was unstarred
    Image of LTDScott LTDScott
    11/29/09

    @Maymar: It's actually easier to get good handling by using aftermarket parts with the stock live rear end. The Cobra IRS isn't that great because it was designed to fit the same packaging as the older Fox based live axle.
     Reply
    LTDScott was starred LTDScott was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    This wagon proved that sometimes vanilla is a subtle, simple treat.
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of Rust-MyEnemy Rust-MyEnemy
    11/30/09

    @Novaload: Quite right. Like a nice clean sheet of toast. A blank canvas.
     Reply
    Rust-MyEnemy was starred Rust-MyEnemy was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/30/09

    @Rust-MyEnemy: Or a yummy ice cream cone in one of our cardboard tasting-unknown substance cones on a hot August day, when pistachio might interfere with the taste of your G&T.
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of Rust-MyEnemy Rust-MyEnemy
    11/30/09

    @Novaload: I hate it when that happens. I've fired so many butlers over that
     Reply
    Rust-MyEnemy was starred Rust-MyEnemy was unstarred
    Image of DrLemming DrLemming
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    The Fairmont was a nicely-sized family wagon, if rather bland and decontented. Only trouble: this car was more than a half decade too late. By 1978 the Fairmont should have been FWD.
     Reply
    DrLemming was starred DrLemming was unstarred
    Image of tonyola tonyola
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    My brother had a '78 wagon for a year and I drove an '80 sedan as a company car for a couple months. Utterly bland but competent cars. A big problem was that the majority were equipped with either the rough 2.3 four or the ancient and gutless 200 six. Perhaps a Futura coupe with a 302 might have been a bit more thrilling? Too bad the turbo 2.3 Fairmont never really made it to production - it was announced for '80 but immediately cancelled.

    Some magazines almost called the Fairmont revolutionary in late '77. Maybe it was, seeing that it came after the aging bottom-feeder Maverick and the baroque roly-poly Granada...
     Reply
    tonyola was starred tonyola was unstarred
    Image of mobilene mobilene
    11/29/09

    @tonyola: I remember all the buzz about the Fairmont when it was still forthcoming. I was stunned when they finally unveiled the car -- this boring thing is what all the hubbub was about?
     Reply
    If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face promoted this comment mobilene was starred mobilene was unstarred
    Image of If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
    11/29/09

    @mobilene: Even better was how Ford tried to compare the car to Audi and Volvo. Somehow, I sincerely doubt this car was ever cross-shopped with the 5000 and the 240.

    In fairness, I should point out that the '78 GM midsizes were absolute dogs and were all-around junkier cars than the Fox cars...I mean, Jesus, the rear windows didn't even roll down. And the Aspen/Volare (or the near-identical M-body) were not bad cars from a design/engineering standpoint, but the quality of the initial '76s was so abysmal that car thoroughly deserved its reputation as a piece of shit.
     Reply
    Edited by If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face at 11/29/09 8:10 PM If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    11/29/09

    @FromaBuick6: I'd cross-shop it with the 240 now - RWD potential hot-rod wagons for under a grand - but then? No way.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
    11/29/09

    @MushyHeirloom: Touche, both are equally likely to end up with a hot-rodded 302 under the hood in my hands.
     Reply
    If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
    Image of LTDScott LTDScott
    11/29/09

    @tonyola: Actually there are a few factory Fairmont Turbos out there. They had a dedicated hood scoop that is made of unobtainium.
     Reply
    LTDScott was starred LTDScott was unstarred
    Image of CptSevere CptSevere
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    While paying off a speeding ticket fine, I scored a Community Service job for the Red Cross picking up day old Mrs. Fields cookies and delivering them to blood drives in a V8 Fairmont station wagon. It drove pretty well, I recall, and could actually get out of it's own way. I think of these as being Malaise Falcons, good sleeper potential using Mustang parts.

    Falcons are much cooler, however.
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment CptSevere was starred CptSevere was unstarred
    Image of Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    This is a sight I hadn't been hoping to see. Nice town, though.
     Reply
    Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was starred Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    11/30/09

    @Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: Hah! Yeah, it is, and hopefully it's not the last you'll see of it.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    I can't decide whether it would be more or less cool as a Cougar wagon (a la Buck's "Pussy Wagon"?)...
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of flyingstitch flyingstitch
    11/29/09

    In reply to 1978 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon Down On The New Hampshire Street
    Weird...just Friday I saw one outside the Sears service center in Phillipsburg, NJ...in all its fake wood glory. Overall, it looked to be in rougher shape than this one.
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment flyingstitch was starred flyingstitch was unstarred
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