1966 Ford Fairlane Base Model 4 Door Sedan on 2040-cars
Edmonds, Washington, United States
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I am the second owner of this vehicle. The original owner was the City of Long Beach, California and I bought it at the municipal garage auction in 1980. It had under 59,000 miles on it when I bought it. This was a District Special Order car for the city and the DSO number is stamped on the VIN plate. The DSO consisted of heavy duty brakes (2.50 front x 2.00 rear), heavy duty radiator, HD battery, thick sway bar on front suspension (so it won't roll going through a corner like other base model cars), and I suppose some other stuff. Originally it was an odd gray-green color, special order on fleet cars, but common on Ford trucks in the 40's and 50's. The city resprayed it in green and since then, it has been resprayed black.
This car has a 289 2v V-8 engine. Because it was originally sold in California, it has the Thermactor emissions system on it which is still intact and still works. Over the years, I've replaced the gulp valve and a couple of other things on the system. The transmission is a C4 automatic. Condition. I've heard too many horror stories about people buying cars online only to find out that the description was inadequate to the actual condition of the car. I'll tell everything I know about this car; after 33 years, I've had plenty of time to become familiar with it. By the time I'm done, you'll run away screaming, "No! No! No!" but I can't be anything but honest about it. From 1980 until about 1987, the car was in use as a work car; from 1987 until 1997 I drove it to work in Wash. state. From 1997 until 2000, it was in dry storage in so. CA. From about 2000 to 2008, it was stored outside in WA and driven occasionally. From 2008 until present, it has been stored in my garage here in WA state. These days, I drive it every few months. It starts easily without priming after sitting for extended periods. The body is pretty straight, no rust in the floors, rocker panels, quarter panels, etc. The only rust I know of is a bubbled spot in one lower corner of the driver's door; and two small pots below the rear glass that show bubbles. The car body has numerous little dings in it from use and storage (small objects got dropped on it now and then). Circa 1988, I backed into a tree with the right rear corner and damaged it which was repaired professionally by a body shop with the insurance company paying the bill. The clear, untinted glass is in good condition with some scratches on the driver's side window. the windshield is intact with no cracks or hawk-eyes but has a few light pock marks. Front bumper is so-so, with two rust-dripped areas below the hood cracks where water ran for years. I got some "chrome paint" at the auto parts store to touch up these areas, but it doesn't look anything like the cap on the can. It looks like silver paint. Sigh. The pie-pan aluminum trim is somewhat dull all around; the lacquer coating on these wasn't meant to hold up for 40 years. The interior is kind of a mess. The front seat was rebuilt and recovered in original fabric in 1986, but it has splits in it again and needs work. The headliner stitching in the back has rotten and popped apart but there are holes in the C pillar areas anyway so it needs replacement. The instrument panel pad looks like a bomb went off over it. The instrument panel knobs have been replaced with 1961 Linc. Continental hardware, which was my handy-work because I thought that '66 Fairlane knobs were the ugliest ever. I still do. This car, as a base model, has rubber floor mats rather than carpet and these are still in pretty good condition. The car was built without a radio. Not long after I bought it, I got the radio, antenna, and instrument panel plastic and installed what would now be called the "sound system." I don't know if it works these days, as I never listen to AM radio anymore. The 289 is the original engine to the car. It runs good, doesn't smoke but for many years hasn't had a smooth idle. I suspect it has a burned valve but I haven't done a compression check on it for over 25 years to confirm. I've driven it on multi-thousand mile trips in this condition and it still gets 18-19 mpg on the highway. It's been my practice to change the engine oil and filter every 3,000 miles on the engine so can say that it doesn't use oil between changes. I've never heard any bottom end noise in this engine, even before the oil galleries get refilled after an oil change. It has a Motorcraft 2v replacement carb on it that the city put on in 1974. The C4 transmission shifts fine. I had it out for resealing in the 1980's but that's the only work that's been done to it other than periodic changing of the ATF and filter. The car has the removable carrier differential and it is fairly quiet. I've replaced both axle bearings in it over the years. The service brakes are good, no leaking cylinders, lots of lining left, good master cylinder which I replaced once. Tires are economy radials 205-75Rx14 with about 12,000 miles on them and in good condition. The car has power steering, it's in good condition, works fine and the hoses do not leak. Front suspension is in good condition; I've replaced the upper control ("A") arms twice. Second time, I had an old guy cut lube access holes in the spring towers so the second set has lasted longer with regular lubrication. Let's see, what have I forgotten. Oh, the electricals are all fine on the car and everything works, but then again, when a car has so little equipment on it, how much can go wrong?? So I will end with what courtroom lawyers get a shot at, a summation. This car isn't a glamor car like most '66 Fairlanes remaining, you know, muscle cars, convertibles, etc. However, "remaining" is the operative word. As a special order car, this wasn't entirely routine when made, and now, how many of these former "working" cars can there be left? My guess, not many. Please feel free to message me with any questions you might have. |
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Auto blog
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