1968 Ford Fairlane 500 - Jalopnik Comments

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

chunkydeath — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:21:51 EDT

I remmber that Cyclone it was orange with a white interior. I dont know why i sold it to you Dam! I sould have held on to it . I loved doing burnouts with that thing ! I used to time it by having my buddy Jay climb on the hood and turn the distriutor,I did a brake stand burn out AT THE SAME TIME ! We knew it was right when the smoke would clear and the cops where there ! That car was a total fun ride ! long live the 68 Cyclone

chunkydeath

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

olmon — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:31:13 EDT

I had a 68 Flane. I used to road race it. lowered slightly, HD shocks, 8in wheels, built 302. It handled great. I could stay close to the Alfa's & other 'sports' cars on the turns & pass them on the straights.

olmon

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

whatwouldjessedo — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:22:36 EDT

I finally saw this car MOVING today in Alameda. For so long I only saw that it has switched parking placing on alternating sides of the street, but today while sitting at The House of Bagels on Park, it cruised past. I was glad to see it too, because a coupel days earlier it has a big orange sticker onthe windshield, the one cops put there on derelict cars two days before they tow it.

Glad it wasn't abandoned! Beautiful car, I wouldn't change a thing.

whatwouldjessedo

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

crewcutkid — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:37:54 EDT

Its a shame these things dont garner more attention- they deserve it.

crewcutkid

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

MeMikeYouNot — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:52:45 EDT

This is the Torino that looks way cool-1969 only and pretty rare, but maybe the owner of the one on here could shoot for a restoration:)
[www.cruisenewsonline.com]

MeMikeYouNot

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:22:30 EDT

@brandegee:

Marlins are THE fastback. At one point, I lived around the block from a guy who had one, and I'd go out of my way to see it and lust after it.

In the same neighborhood, oddly enough, was an H1, an AM General M35 w/ a dump bed, an Merkur XR4Ti, an older Range Rover with 40" super swampers that was actually off-roaded regularly, TWO GM EV-1's, and a late 80s olds cutlass that had the emblems rearranged to read "assmobile."

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

brandegee — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:24:41 EDT

I love the looks of this thing. But then I favor all the fastbacks, even the Marlin. Silly not to make it a hatchback, though.

I have a theory they all ended up in the Hudson off New Jersey. You can fit like 8 bodies in that trunk.

brandegee

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

lascauxcaveman — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:22:03 EDT

Small trunk openings notwithstanding, fastbacks FTW. My '69 Barracuda was a great ski car, with the fold-down rear bench and trunk trapdoor. One of the few cars I've sold that I really miss.

lascauxcaveman

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

ZeGerman — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:49:42 EDT

It's kind of refreshing to see one of these that isn't restored and parked with mirrors underneath, but rather is still getting regular use.

ZeGerman

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

scotte — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:09:22 EDT

Let's not forget that the 428 Cobra Jet was a late-in-the-year addition to the Fairlane/Torino option list, and would also make a good choice to power this car.

Or, if you want the displacement & power without so much cast iron (and less scary handling), pick a Windsor that's been bored & stroked to the magic 427 number.

Either way, a re-finish in red (be it Ford's "Candy Apple Red" factory color or the classic custom Candy Apple Red that noted custom painter Joe Bailon came up with many years ago) would also make this car its best.

scotte

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:38:55 EDT

The 2nd-gen Intrepid has a similarly awful trunk/opening ratio. It's bigger than my fridge (over 18 cubic feet!), but the opening is about the size of a pants pocket. It's incredibly maddening.

Even so: fastbacks are STILL cool.

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

biminitwst — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:57:19 EDT

IMO, that was one of the better looking American cars of the day. Not prone to rusting as much as the GM and especially the Plymouth, I'm surprised there aren't more around.
My sisters husband left Ford for Toyota around that time, and had a hand in the Celica trim design. They wanted to make the Japanese car more appealing to Americans....

biminitwst

1968 Ford Fairlane 500

cgarison — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:24:42 EDT

And people kvetch about the handling of the modern FoMoCo Panther platform car. With the WattsLink rear suspensions and independent front suspension with coil over shocks, car critics do not understand how damn great we have it.

In fact, (as I told a guy trying to sell me a $30,000 fwd near luxery car) people need to grow up and learn how to drive before they complain about how bad rear wheel drive is.

Of course, I grew up with leaf spring Jeeps and curvy mountain roads in Appalachia so I can appreciate the modern rear drive car. No to make the next gen Panther look as cool as that Fairlane!

cgarison