Fairlane Club of America- Wagon issue and cover

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by 66Fairlanewagon, Mar 11, 2017.

  1. 66Fairlanewagon

    66Fairlanewagon Well-Known Member

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    Evening all,

    In the 'What have you done lately' thread, I mentioned that I had got around to submitting and article and some pictures to the FCA for their bi monthly club magazine. The issue came out just recently and I was really impressed to find that my wagon made front cover along with the article I wrote and few of the pictures I took.

    I said I'd share it here for you all to read and see, so here it is below the pictures. I hope you enjoy.

    34drfxk.jpg alqjk2.jpg fdas7c.jpg r0qjde.jpg 20b0opl.jpg 2ivjw4n.jpg vo1log.jpg 30ndoww.jpg

    I found my wagon for sale on an auction site here in Australia. I’d been looking for over a year for a wagon, simply as they are not as common and ‘run of the mill’ as the 2 and4 doors of the Aussie muscle cars. I hadn’t even considered a US import until this one showed up. The seller had it listed as an Australian Fairlane but my interest was piqued as they never released Fairlane wagons here in Australia. One of the biggest things I was looking for in my car hunting in general was originality and completeness and I wanted a car that I could drive straight away and do things as time (and more importantly money) permitted.

    The only thing the lovely wife wanted was ‘strip’ style speedo and bench seat, and this car had all of those things covered. As wagons are usually family workhorses and can be roughed up a bit as such, I was really impressed with the way that this one had been treated throughout her life, likely a result of the first owner who had the vehicle from new until around 2002.

    It was for sale less than an hour away from home, and I watched it for a while on the site, until a drop in price was enough to make me want to see it. A bit of discussion with the seller and the lovely wife and we all got to a point where we were happy, me probably most of all!!

    My plans for the car are to simply bring it back to as close to original as possible, with the very limited resources I have for these wagons based on the other side of the world from where they were made. I am fortunate that there are a ton of Mustang parts in the aftermarket for engine/trans/and chassis parts, and there are a lot of parts for Aussie built Falcons/Fairlanes that will suit too in terms of suspension etc. I don’t really want to talk about panels, particularly wagon specific ones!!

    There is lots of interest in cars of this era and particularly a very uncommon wagon such as mine. Whenever I take it a workshop, I’ll always ask the guys if I can watch them work so I can learn more about it. The car is on a restricted registration program linked to specific clubs, and these club guys are a wealth of knowledge and facilities to work on the car which is really helping.

    The car is a great highway cruiser and gets along nicely with the 289, although it is a little tired and could do with some love. A major spend like that is a fair way off in terms of $$ and I’ll drive it for as long as I can as is. It will never be a show/concourse car but I want to focus on getting it back to as near new as possible, so there is lots of interior detailing to do like re chroming of plastics, dashpad/arm rests etc first.

    I’ve done some digging about the history of the car purely out of curiosity. She was still wearing her original issue (1963 stamped Black/Yellow Californian plates) and have dealers book showing it was sold by Hollywood Ford (6125 Hollywood Blvd, owned by actor Ben Alexander from Drag Net) on 8 January 1966 to an owner south of Central LA. He owned it right up until 2002, as amongst the other bits of paperwork there was a for sale ad printed out from an internet site with a name and phone number that matched the original owner. It was listed for sale by original owner at $3500, showing 252k miles with a rebuilt engine/trans and now based in Pico Rivera. I suspect that having just one owner for such a long period in the cars early days attributes to the great condition she is in.

    After that, there are rego documents for 2 different owners all in California all in the LA area. I can't be sure that they are the only other owners but I'm pretty sure based on the dates. I have registration card for the next (2nd) owner from 2005 in Huntington Beach. I’ve entered this addresses on Google Maps, I can see the wagon parked in the driveway of this 2nd owner both in 2008 and 2011, who then passed away in 2012. After that I have some receipts from 2013 and a registration card for the 3rd owner from 2014 based in Anaheim. It looks like it lived all its life around LA/Huntington Beach, before it was shipped to Australia out of Long Beach near the end of 2014.

    Without the benefit of Marti reports being available on 66’s, I started doing some research on the car itself to try and find out more about it. I have a theory that being a 289 auto wagon, it wasn’t ever the target of someone wanting the engine/trans for a 2/4door like if it was a 390/4 speed combo. The door plate build date is 21 M (December 65) in Sahara Beige and parchment trim and so far all the components of the car match up to that. The engine still has the tag attached and it shows a build date of 5 M (Dec 65), the power steering pump has a tag for 66 Fairlane (non AC) and the build date for that is 5 L 8 (Nov 8 65), the intake is 5 L 29 (Nov 29 65).

    All the glass is original except for the windscreen, the wheels are M 5 stamped, and all the chassis and panels that have stamps are all around Nov/Dec 65 which makes it as close to matching numbers as possible, and certainly close enough for me. It has a closed door respray at some point, and is currently a bit lighter than the original Sahara Beige. I’m doing my best to determine whether it came with a 3rd row seat, but again with no Marti, I can’t confirm. I have found some details of the seats, and plan to fabricate one for it one day. Of the 19826 500 wagons made as far as I know it’s 1 of only 2 in Victoria, with the other one being Wimbledon white with blue interior. It was bought into the country by the same guy who brought mine in, a few years prior to mine coming in. I’ve spoken to the current owner of the other wagon, and we are hoping to meet up for a photo shoot of the ‘twins’ sometime soon. I’ll be sure to get some pictures made available when that happens. (PS I still have the original radio, I took it out to be serviced)

    Thanks for reading my story, feel free to check out my instagram @66fairlane500wagon for more pics of #acarcalledheather and others from the Aussie car scene.


    Cheers

    Dave
     
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  2. 63Fowagon

    63Fowagon Well-Known Member

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    FCA member here and congrats , I look at that magazine sometimes over and over .
     
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  3. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    Amazing you tracked down so much history on the wagon, INCLUDING seeing parked at a residence on Google Earth historical docs.

    Beautiful wagon!

    Marshall
     
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  4. 66Fairlanewagon

    66Fairlanewagon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Marshall, I too was surprised what I was able to come up with.

    My interest was piqued on the google maps thing by Fannie ( I think it was) who found a pic of her driving a wagon near her house on Google maps. I had the previous owners documentation, so I had a look. Here are the pics below. I've cropped them to remove actual addresses etc. Top pic is 2008, second one 2011. Driveway3.png

    driveway4.png
     
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  5. dennis

    dennis Well-Known Member

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    Awesome article and history on your Longroof 66 and pics are fantastic :thumbs2: ,we need to catch up half way between Brisbane and Melbourne or come for a holiday with your family up this way :cheers: from Queenslnd
     
  6. dennis

    dennis Well-Known Member

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    Awesome article and history on your Longroof 66 and pics are fantastic :thumbs2: ,we need to catch up half way between Brisbane and Melbourne or come for a holiday with your family up this way :cheers: from Queenslnd
     
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  7. 66Fairlanewagon

    66Fairlanewagon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Dennis, much appreciated. I filtered the images to give them a slight vintage look too, really happy with how they came up.

    I actually grew up in Briso, and have grand plans of road tripping up there sometime in the wagon. My parents live in between Bris and Toowoomba, and bought a 66 Tbird about a year ago. I'd love nothing more that to go for a cruise with them when it's on the road.

    In all seriousness, would be keen for a catch up either halfway, or in the old
    Sunshine state at some point if you're keen.

    To be honest, I'm running with some engine issues at the moment (possible timing chain) so it might be a way off, but I'd never say never!!

    Not sure where in Brisbane you are, but there is the Thunderbird Club of Qld (not 100% TBird, they're all about all American cars really) which may be of interest to you.

    Email me at 66fairlanewagon@gmail.com

    Cheers mate!
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2017
  8. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    As others here know, I've got a thing for looking up views on Google earth, like old familiar (or unfamiliar) places, former residences, etc. I'll have to look into that 'history' feature....
     
  9. 66Fairlanewagon

    66Fairlanewagon Well-Known Member

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    It's pretty easy. Have look near the top left hand corner, there is a slider and you can choose which year you want, on the assumption the little Google car has been past several times.

    I should mention, it was google maps, zoomed down to street view, not Google earth.

    Happy searching!!
    Cheers
     
  10. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    Awesome and congrats! Love your wagon. We follow each other on Instagram, by the way. :) I love seeing you post pics of Aussie wagons, classic, and muscle cars. XB and XC Falcons are my favorite. I love that pic of the XC Falcon and your wagon in front of the Assembly Plant sign.
     
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  11. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    I shot these pics in Lynnwood, 15 miles South of me; the owner was originally from Adelaide.
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  12. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    ^^^ NICE! You don't see many of those in the states.
     
  13. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Yeah, I know. 4.9L-4V Cleveland. Recognized it instantly. Beautiful black interior. I'd love to have an early '70s Falcon, just because of Mad Max.
     
  14. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    Same here. Love that movie. There's a XB Falcon, here in my hometown, that a guy had converted to a Mad Max clone. It's been sitting up under a canopy at an old gas station for years, up on blocks. He had it imported many years ago. It needs A LOT of work. I'm pretty sure he'd sell it, but it would be outta my price range.
     
  15. 66Fairlanewagon

    66Fairlanewagon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks mate, really appreciate the comments, and thanks for following me on instagram. I love that wagon of yours, the stance is fantastic. I'm a sales guy, so am on the road all the time so I get to see quite a lot of random cars on my travels. I've really fallen in love with XA,B and C coupes, such an awesome rear to them. On my instagram, there is an awesome blue coupe, I'll try and repost here.

    It was a great day out at the old Ford factory, it was the Sunday after production had finally ceased there. There were heaps of guys up there taking photo's in front of the old factory. The guy who owned that XC had owned it since he was 15, and had slowly been buiding and resto'ing it. Was lovely. Shameless cross promotion here, if anyone wants to see the intsatgram page its @66fairlane500wagon Feel free to check it out.

    They are awesome car, and worth a fair bit. Original ones in good condition sell around $150k+ AUD.

    Cheers
     

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