To help us on our way to covering the older models, Dave decided to send in these shots showing us the 1969 ZC Fairlane that he and his wife rebuilt together. So what did we do? - Wrote straight back requesting more information! Thanks Dave - you not only take the honours as having the first ZC Fairlane on this site but as of the writing of this article - it is also the oldest car to date (24th April 2001) to grace the pages of Falcon/Fairlane/LTD!
And so on to our story...
| I always love to hear about some old car being rescued back from the brink of destruction - and from the look of the rust that had taken a hold of this Fairlane - that wasn't exactly far off it when Dave came to the rescue! Starting out as a Fairlane 'Custom' (or as Dave puts it - the poverty pack) meant this Fairlane came complete with bench seats all 'round. Still, the Fairlane came at the right price (nix!) courtesy of a mate who had intentions of "doin' her up" but had sold the original motor (302 windsor V8), gearbox, radiator and front sheet metal instead. Fortunately Dave knew what had to be done - and quickly had replacement panels lined up including a 351 Clevo to save the day. |  |
While Ford Canary Yellow hid the disgusting original green paint (may look ok on some models but the ZC is not one of them!) triple tone black and grey material found it's way into the interior courtesy of Dave's wife and $25 spent at Spotlight! Which is pretty fortunate considering Dave's dislike for the original "horrible green interior".
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Along the way Dave rebuilt the 351 himself, adding enough bits and pieces to stir the old girl along nicely. While he was there he also rebuilt the replacement gearbox and diff (BW with 2.92:1 ratio for economy's sake). When a deal with a neighbour to paint the Fairlane fell through, Dave figured he'd have a go himself (and why not - since between him & his wife they'd done practically everything else!) There's no doubt about it - with the entire build coming in at under $3000 bucks, there's no longer any valid excuse for not owning a classic piece of classic Ford sheet metal. So now the Fairlane's finished, where does Dave like to do his cruising? - Try "north of Brisbane". |
Gee some people make you jealous!
