The last Aussie Ford Fairlane, a sad demise or a bargain.

[oscar]

Before w116's, Fairlanes almost became my hobby.  Seems Aus Ford made a good decision in stopping production of the Fairlane.  From Unique Cars magazine, the last Fairlane to be produced in Aus rolled of the assembly line in January this year and was auctioned off for charity via ebay.  Despite the certificate of authenticity and the uniqueness of the car, representing the end of a 40 year production run of an Australian built luxury car, the auction failed to give the car collector status.

Retail price, should the car have been sold through a dealer, was $58,000. 
The winning bid was $48,100.

A significant model should've attracted more $ but in my opinion, someone has grabbed a bargain.  If kept pristine and put away as an investment, someone will make a tidy profit me thinks in years to come.

[SELfor50]

Oscar... that's $48,095.00 too much!!   

[oscar]

    I'll pay that one....

We've been arguing at work here whether the term "luxury" should be used to describe a Fairlane.  No comment.  I'm up against a bunch of Holden people, how can I possibly win.  I'll admit "Ford Quality" is an oximoron, but still.   Their laughing their asses off speculating how much a last off the line Statesman would fetch. 

[koan]

What Fairlanes have you had oscar?

ZD and  ZL here.

koan

[oscar]

Personally, just a ZL - 85.   You know the type, white, two red pin stripes down the side.  I loved the cockpit look of all the buttons at night and the stereo was the best I've had in a car.  It was a 3 deck pioneer stereo with 7 band graphic equalizer.  None of this Rock, Pop, Classical preset stuff.  It made you feel like a sound mixer whilst sliding the different bands up and down to make Bon Jovi sound the best to impress the girls .

I was after a Fairlane 500 initially, not sure what year but at 17 in 1990 I was set on buying an ex mourning car, black on cream with black vinyl top, electric everything and a V8.  My dad wouldn't let me have it, so I settled for their ZL.

Be damned if I can find any actual photos though, the one down the bottom off carpoint is exactly what I had minus the venetian blinds.  My folks owned it first. I had it from 1990 till about 1996, gave it to sisters when they went to Uni, then I got it back in 2001.  Man what a change!  I was going to restore it, I still loved it except the stereo had been stolen.  The ride was still good but the interior was falling to pieces, plastic parts scratched, saggy doors and the bumpers and chromed plastic was pfft.  It had done way over 400,000km and was using oil.  So in 2003, whilst my parents still had an NA Fairlane, they had run the 350 into the ground as a second car doing a lot of towing.  They wanted a ute, so we did a deal, swapped the ZL for the 350, I've never looked back and they traded the ZL in and got $2000 off an old Landcruiser ute from a dealer.

The NA died 3 years later from multisystem failure, and now the folks are driving an ex state govt V8 2004 Fairlane.  White on black, they got it in 2006 and whilst it's a smooth ride, that Ford Quality bug has hit as it turned 100,000km.  Just a few electrical probs but geez, they bought it for $44,000 approx and now would be pressed to get $12,000.  Compare that to depreciation on a good 450SEL for $10,000.  I know I'm straying here but it shits me when people ask about the 350 and comment on how much fuel it must use, yet they happily run round in economic cars that loose 80% of their value over 5yrs.    Anyway, since my folks have no more Fairlanes to choose from, old MB's have to be the next step surely. 

[Big_Richard]

   I'll pay that one....

We've been arguing at work here whether the term "luxury" should be used to describe a Fairlane.  No comment.  I'm up against a bunch of Holden people, how can I possibly win. 

Just watch the puerile defecate spew from their bucktoothed mouths when you remind them, of which manufactures car of the 70's sells for the most money. 

[koan]

Way back in the early '70s a ZD Fairlane or a GT Falcon could be had for about $4000. I'd been looking at GTs for awhile and finally found one. The pressure was on from those older and wiser not to do it, usual stuff, "You'll be stopped every 100 yards by the cops", "What about the insurance" etc.

I headed out to the yard with cash but the car had gone. The search started again but Fairlanes where now part of it. The talk must have got to me and I bought a 351 ZD. Kept it in top condition for years until someone ran up the back of it.  The repair wasn't too good and my interest faded, seemed to degrade before my eyes after that, bits fell off, plastic bits crumbled and rust appeared.

I rue the day I missed out on the GT, I doubt it would have lasted any better but I would have had one, been part of the legend, I could tell tales to the grand kids, "When I was young lad I had the fastest ..."

Poverty stricken as a result of house and children for the next decade I ended up with 114 from father in law. Absolutely gutless compared to the Fairlane of course but reliable, only replaced two shock absorbers and a fan belt where the Fairlane needed a water pump, two auto rebuilds, rear springs, endless alternators and lots of minor fixing over a similar period.

The little work I did on the 114 revealed the quality engineering, where Ford would use a bit of bent "tin" and self-tappers, Mercedes would have a nice webbed casting and allen head bolts for a bracket serving the same purpose.

When finances improved I looked for a bigger car and bought a ZL Fairlane, thinking economy (mistake) I got a 6 which did about the same MPG as the 351 in the old Fairlane as it turned out. That wasn't a bad car really, it just went and went without problems. It had the same 3 deck stereo you had oscar.

I've always liked big cars and big engines and started looking for something else, a 6.9 got me both and engineering as well. I bought one and intended to get rid of the Fairlane and replace it with a small car for shopping trips. After about three years of dithering I had the Ford all polished up and ready for sale and it was stolen. Missing for a couple of months it turned up about 5 kms away but the insurers had already paid out.

The Fairlane 500 you speak of oscar, is that the "tank" of late '50s era, not the smaller "compact" Fairlane which followed it?

koan

[oscar]

Just watch the puerile defecate spew from their bucktoothed mouths when you remind them, of which manufactures car of the 70's sells for the most money. 

So true Pat.

Koan,
Looking through Carpoint for examples I'm sure the ex mourning car was a ZH Fairlane 500, so, late 70's and had low mileage because of its role.  Although garaged it had crackd paint on front fenders and bonnet.  Maybe too much polishing is a bad thing.  Not sure of the size of the V8 whether 4.9 or 5.8L.

I rue the day I missed out on the GT, I doubt it would have lasted any better but I would have had one, been part of the legend, I could tell tales to the grand kids, "When I was young lad I had the fastest ..."

If only we knew then what some people would pay now.   I'm sure everyone says the same thing but that last quote needs rephrasing because now you get to tell the grand kids - "Did you know you're riding in the fastest sedan of the 70's.  It's got the biggest engine MB ever made after WW2 and cost more than a RR...."  If they don't give a genuine "wow" and look interested, you may have to disown them and adopt a new lot and start again. 

ZL v w116 - The mileage of the 4.1L I6 matched the 350se.  They both used around 13L/100km whilst cruising and the 350 was quicker off the mark.  But the general difference in quality is chalk and cheese.  Like I said, sagging doors, poor interior finish and it's so true the cheapness of componentry.  I know exactly what you mean regarding the bent tin and self tappers v's the webbed casting and allen head bolts analogy.  Nothing's changed.  The folk's 2004 V8 Fairlane doesn't fair much better.  It also doesn't have neck snapping acceleration and I'd love to put the two side by side.  My folks are visiting this weekend so I'll see if I can get Dad interested in a drag with the 350.    What about front wheel alignment?  I don't know how many front tyres we went through from inner wear despite numerous alignments.  It's a Ford sedan trait because it's the same on the AU wagon we had plus the other Fairlanes my folks had.