Named after Henry Ford’s Dearborn property, immediately’s Good Value or No Cube Fairlane wagon is a mannequin of automotive that when dominated suburbia. Now, a lot rarer, we’ll need to see how domineering its worth seems.
Within the Nineteen Seventies, British Leyland was the automotive equal of public housing, with disparate marques and fashions thrown collectively and instructed to get alongside. The 1980 Triumph TR8 we checked out yesterday was one of many outcomes of such an upbringing, and whereas age and what seems to be some cautious curation ensured our candidate TR8 was not with out its charms, these charms didn’t prolong to its $13,500 asking worth. That failed to seek out favor amongst most of you, managing to muster nothing higher than a 57 % No Cube loss.
Talking of public housing, right here within the U.S., many had been the results of the Housing Act of 1949. That was a bit of laws signed into legislation by then president Harry S. Truman, the intent of which was to deal with the housing disaster afflicting the nation following the dual whammies of the Nice Melancholy and WWII.
The growth in building engendered by the Housing Act prolonged outdoors of cities as nicely, creating what we all know immediately because the huge suburban sprawl that encircles most main metropolitan enclaves. These suburbs, in flip, gave rise in reputation for a selected type of car: the station wagon.
This 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 is the suburban station wagon in almost its peak type. I say almost as a result of it’s lacking one essential component: a fold-in-the-floor third-row set of seats.
Apart from that besmirchment, it’s bought the products. In accordance with the advert, it options manufacturing unit energy steering and brakes, non-obligatory A/C, and a two-barrel 289 Challenger V8 below the hood. That Windsor mill made a factory-claimed 200 (gross) horsepower and is paired with an ordinary Cruise-O-Matic three-speed automated transmission.
Different plusses embrace the intelligent “Magic Doorgate” within the again, which permits for load space entry by both folding or swinging, together with a set of good-looking Styled Metal wheels wrapped in new Cooper tires.
Per the advert, every little thing works because it ought to, save for the A/C, which, being old-school, would possible must be changed and up to date anyway. The automotive has an older respray in metallic gold, and that appears to be, at finest, a 10-foot job. The vendor helpfully factors out within the advert the areas the place the paint is popping, or prep work for the shoot wasn’t correctly achieved. These aesthetic points ought to in all probability be tackled ultimately, however total, the automotive seems strong and never in want of something fast.
Issues are higher within the capacious cabin. The upholstery shouldn’t be authentic, however the velour and vinyl seat covers are clear and tidy and do the job of matching the colour of the door playing cards. Carpet and period-correct rubber flooring mats adorn the footwells.
It seems that the automotive’s authentic exterior shade was cream-white, as evidenced by the dashboard and nicely within the again. The present gold shade is a little more interesting, however ought to a brand new proprietor want to repair the paint, there’s all the time the choice to return to that manufacturing unit hue. Properly, the automotive nonetheless wears its black and gold California license plates, which solely add to its throw-back attraction.
The advert notes that the odometer has rolled over and now reads 100,819 miles. That’s not too dangerous, and neither is the clear title, which implies this Fairlane needs to be pretty straightforward to re-register in a brand new proprietor’s identify. To take action, nonetheless, there’s the small matter of the automotive’s $17,950 asking worth.
What do you concentrate on this former suburban stalwart asking that a lot money? Does that appear truthful, given the automotive’s situation and attraction? Or is that an excessive amount of to show again the clock?
You resolve!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
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