Life in the Fairlane

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This article was published 06/11/2015 (3959 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new Fairlane series arrived in showrooms in 1955 as the top trim level for the Ford lineup. In 1957, Fairlane continued, but was split into two series with the addition of the Fairlane 500 as the top level. With the introduction of the Galaxie in late 1959, both Fairlane models fell into line as Ford’s mid-price offerings and remained there through 1961. For 1962, the base Fairlane and Fairlane 500 became part of Ford’s new intermediate line. With several models and two trim levels to choose from, these large and stylish cars filled a marketing niche. Both models saw several styling changes throughout the first half of the 1960s and remained relatively popular sellers. The newly designed 1966 models, however, really signalled a winner for Ford, with strong sales and a loyal following that still lives on today in the collector-car hobby.

For Kevin Torrance of Winnipeg, he’d tinkered with his 1959 Ford Galaxie since he was 16 years old. He had taken on several minor bodywork and paint projects and felt he was ready to move forward with a more challenging project. “I like all cars, but the Fairlane had a racing heritage from the days of NASCAR running on tracks like Daytona,” says Torrance. “The Fairlane was also a uni-body, fastback and fairly lightweight for its size.”

After spotting a 1967 Fairlane 500 XL for sale in Winnipeg on Kijiji in November 2011, Torrance went to look it over and found a complete V-8-powered car in running order, basically complete and only missing the bucket seats and centre console. “It did need a full restoration, but it ran well, so I made a cash offer,” says Torrance, who also sweetened the deal in typical Winnipeg fashion by adding a snow blower on trade.

The car was hauled home on a flat-deck trailer and Torrance got to work taking it apart and stripping the body down to bare metal. Next came several months of welding to install new floorpans, toe boards, rocker panels and rear quarter panels. Next he stripped off the vinyl roof covering and began the laborious job of prepping the car for paint. As luck would have it, he spied another car on Kijiji that he purchased as a parts car. It offered a better hood, trunk lid, doors and front fenders, as well as a good cache of extra parts.

Under the hood, the rebuilt 289-cubic-inch V-8 received ported and polished cylinder heads with oversize valves, a Crane performance grind hydraulic camshaft, an aluminium air-gap, highrise intake manifold with a Holley 600 cfm four-barrel carburetor, 100-amp chrome alternator and electronic ignition. The engine was painted the correct Ford blue and dressed up with finned aluminium valve covers, air cleaner and oil pan. To keep everything cool, a three-core aluminium radiator with surge tank was mounted along with a six-blade fan and custom metal shroud. Benders Brake & Muffler installed a Flowmaster American Thunder dual exhaust system with 50 series Flowmaster mufflers. Backing the potent small-block V-8 is a 2,400 r.p.m., B&M Holeshot torque converter and a C4 automatic transmission with B&M Transgo shift kit, controlled by a B&M ratchet shifter custom fit to the original console. It all leads to an eight-inch rear axle supplied by T.J. Rebert, fitted with 3.55:1 ratio gears in a Traction-Lok unit.

Underneath, the front suspension and brakes were rebuilt with parts from Mac’s Antique Auto Parts in Lockport, N.Y., as well as locally at Softy’s Speed Shop. Road appeal is enhanced with the use of Magnum 500 steel wheels wrapped in 70-series, 14-inch radial tires.

For paint, Torrance selected and sprayed a new Carmine Red base-coat/clear-coat paint finish. Several days were spent colour-sanding and polishing the paint to a high lustre. “I spent quite a bit of time sourcing supplies at both Rondex and Pat and Don McBride at Besman Auto Body Supplies,” says Torrance. Chrome for the bumpers, tail-lamp bezels and trim parts were re-plated by Nelson at the Chrome Pit.

Inside, the car features new reproduction red door panels and seat upholstery installed by Ron’s Custom Upholstery. The black carpet, dash pad, trunk liner and headliner was installed by AMA Glass & Trim. A new windshield and the original rear window were installed by Bill Grainger. For road tunes, Torrance installed a 400-watt Kenwood audio system. A trio of AutoMeter gauges resides in a custom-fabricated three-gauge dash cluster.

With assistance from friends such as Mick Delisle who helped with obtaining parts for the 31/2-year-long project, Torrance credits his main interest in vehicles to his godfather and automotive teacher, Leo Scheer and his friend Wally Lowen.

Torrance brought his 1967 Fairlane 500 XL out for its first official viewing in September at the Fabulous 50’s Ford Club’s Flashback Weekend car show, held at the Garden City Shopping Centre, where it drew plenty of attention.

Clean, well-built and with a ’60s style that just never falls out of favour, 1966 and 1967 Fairlane, Fairlane 500 and Fairlane GT models are popular among collectors and enthusiasts alike.

 

57ford@mymts.net