Ford Fairlane (middle class)

Ford Fairlane (1962)

Ford Fairlane 500 (1965)

Ford Fairlane (1967)

Ford Fairlane Convertible (1970)

The Ford Fairlane from model years 1961 to 1971 is a middle class passenger car from the US manufacturer Ford .

history

Ford discovered a niche in the market in 1961. The big Ford, now the Ford Galaxie , had grown more and more over the years. For customers who preferred a smaller car, the Falcon had been around since late 1959 . But now there were also motorists for whom the galaxy was too big, but the Falcon too small and who wanted a car in "reasonable" size back, like the American Ford ten years earlier.

The new Fairlane, which replaced the larger sister model of the Galaxie of the same name, was intended for this group of customers. With a length of exactly 5.00 m, it was in the middle between the Galaxie (5.32 m) and the Falcon (4.60 m). It was motorized by a six-cylinder with 2800 cm³ (as in the Falcon) or with a new eight-cylinder, which was quite small for American standards with 3600 cm³. It is worth remembering that the Ford V8s of the 1930s and 1940s also had an engine of this size.

The gap in the market identified by Ford turned out to be smaller than anticipated. The new Fairlane got off to a tough start and initially didn't sell as well as hoped. There was also criticism that the engines were too weak.

Ford responded by offering a larger V8 engine with 4300 cc from 1962. From 1963 there was an optional 4700 cm³; the original small eight-cylinder with 3.6 liters displacement was deleted. The six-cylinder was also enlarged to 3300 cm³ in 1963. So the Americans liked the Fairlane more. The sales figures gradually increased.

The first major model change took place after four years, in autumn 1965. The model years 1966 and 1967 had a new body with double headlights one above the other (like the Ford Galaxie of those years). More important, however, was that the large eight-cylinder engine with 6400 cm³ finally fit into the larger engine compartment, which made the Fairlane a serious car by the standards of many Americans.

This model was only built two years. For the 1968 model year, the Fairlane received a new body. The twin headlights were now arranged side by side again. With this year the farewell to the Fairlane began. The best equipment variant now got the double name Fairlane Torino .

The last year for the North American Fairlane was 1971. From model year 1972 the model range was called Ford Torino .

Web links

Commons : Ford Fairlane  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files