The last of the classic full-sized American built station wagons (Buick Roadmaster or Chevrolet Caprice) rolled off GM's assembly line in Arlington, Texas in 1996-- but in another time those things clogged the roads filled with families doing things like going to church or traveling to Aunt May's house for a weekend of running around in the woods. To say they handled like a boat is, frankly, an insult to boats, but if you want to relive the summer days of riding backwards in a smoldering hot car, I don't think you could go wrong with this thing. Find this 1965 Ford Fairlane 500 Custom Ranch Wagon offered for $12,900 in Grand Rapids, MI via GRAutoGallery. Tip from Michael.
The Fairlane name was originally plastered on the back of a full-sized sedan in 1955, but in 1962 it was moved to Ford's midsized chassis where we see it here. The Fairlane is technically a unibody chassis, but used something Ford called torque boxes -- four boxed metal pieces in the underbody that added compliance/damping to reduce NVH.
Under the hood is Ford's 289 cubic inch V8 which would have been rated at 195 horsepower when equipped with a 2bbl carb from the factory.
Wow, that rear seat doesn't look very comfortable -- it looks more like a kid-sized waffle iron if you ask me, but I think once you source a set of seat cushions it should work fine.
See another 8 passenger classic for cheap? tips@dailyturismo.com
I always liked the 65 Fairlane because it was a one year only body style where the 63-64 and 66-67 where pretty much the same different trim but pretty close overall. This wagon is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThis was not a full-size wagon, this was an 'intermediate'.
ReplyDeleteThe full-size Ranch Wagon was gone by '65 I think, you had the Country Sedan and (woodgrain) Country Squire as the full-size wagon options that year.
Further, I'll note that IMO the '65 Fairlane was far and away the least attractive year of that nameplate, EVER, the design was a one-year disaster having more in common with that backyard-production '41 Plymouth-based pickup of an earlier post than with either the '61-64 Fairlanes or the '66-67 cars.
Delete