CL, Wichita KS, '67 Fairlane wagon for $1200, RUNS

http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/3687351331.html



Has some fender and rocker rust, probably floorpans too, but it's a runner (with battery) and has the 5 slot wheels. Good price.

 

That would look good in anyone's driveway!

 

Appears to be a good deal.....

I'll make a comment here....

I generally like these '66/'67 Fairlanes, but there's one thing about them (and the big Fords as well during this period) I just hate - the steering wheels. That big cone thingy that's meant to partially cushion your body in the event of an impact. All fine and dandy, but dang that's an ugly steering wheel.........

 

You're right KK it looks like a Tupperware container that got hot glued on there. UGH.

 

I'm there with you on the steering wheel for 67 Mercury/Ford products. But for me a hands down trade off of having post 68 cars having Insurance company mandated tacked on side marker lights. At least the hub can be twisted off and a slim horn button could be made to work. I know I have done a few that way over the years.

 

Actually, it was a Federaly-mandated rule on the side marker lights, not the insurance companies. They probably had input, but it's part of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

 

It's why I'm tempted to stick with a 1967 model if I ever manage to get another Ford pickup. I don't like all those extra reflectors and cornering lights. If you're coming at me from the left side, do you need to know if my left turn signal is on? No, I'm going across the road and turning into your oncoming traffic. If you're coming at me from the right side, do you need to know if my right turn signal is on? No, I'm hanging a right and I'll be over here on this side of the road, not in your way at all. Bunch of crap is what it is.

 

The fuzz wanted side markers lights.

 

They may have wanted them, but it is the FMVSS that mandates them.

 

Actually it was years of lobbying by the insurance industry (our premium money) that made it a federally mandated law that was the beginning of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards act of 1968. This was written directly from the insurance industry and other motivated corporate interest. As is the case with many other laws and compliance we have added in place since. Most of it starting in 1968 with side markers for side visibility, shoulder belts, steering columns that collapse on impact, padded visors and dash. Prior to 1966, seatbelts, back up lights and other items were still optional on many vehicles at the time. These periodic updates and changes happened over a broad range of years that have evolved into what we see in cars today. By the 1950's there was mounting pressure for the cars to start having safety features like doors with safety catches that held the doors shut in slight impacts, as well as hoods etc.. Safety dash pads, recessed steering wheel hub's etc.. By 1955 there was mounting pressure for safety. Ford even voluntarily campaigned on it touting there 1956 safety program features of padded safety and recessed steering wheels but didn't go over well with the public as a sales tool. We were apparently more concerned with power. or for some, economy.

Laws just don't appear and are not made from a whim, they are driven hard by big dollar corporate interests. If you need proof just look at how the Koch Brothers funded ALEC legislation we now all live under has changed the country in just the last 4 + decades.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to dishonor the post 68 cars. I just prefer myself of not having marker lights on the sides of the vehicles.

I have always looked at it from the designers standpoint of having to design the body with the various added features that had to be incorporate with the initial styling of the their original body design. I prefer a clean body design with not much clutter. Cars many years later have been built incorporating all of these safety ideas into the design. However that wasn't really the case in the early days of safety.

 

I actually like the huge center steering wheel hubs on 1967 Fords and Mercurys. Several relatives purchased new '67 Fords and Mercurys, so my fondness for them relates to family nostalgia. I will agree that based on a purely aesthetic consideration, they look bizarre.