A stock 80s Ford Fairmont 2-door won't get your blood pumping even in the sweet fastback-ish Futura trim (similar to a Mercury Zephyr Z-7...if that helps). Even the healthiest 5-liter V8 version only pushed 139 horsepower at a leisurely 3600 rpm...but that's nothing that a crate motor swap won't fix. Find this 1981 Ford Fairmont Futura 351W offered for $8,500 in Detroit, MI via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
Seeing that no automakers currently produce a car based ute in the US, interest in older El Caminos and Rancheros is stronger than ever. A cottage industry has even sprung up selling car to truck conversion kits for Dodge Chargers and various VW cars. The Ford Durango ute was not an official Ford vehicle, but some 212 conversions were said to have been produced by National Coach Works between 1979-82. Today's car has followed the Durango formula by starting with a two door Futura model and basically losing everything after the b-pillars to create the flat floor pick up bed. Find this 1979 Ford Fairmont for sale in Stafford Springs, CT for $8,500 via craigslist. 
The Ford Fairmont (and its badge engineered Mercury Zephyr cousin)
was a Fox-body based large compact (or small mid-sized) sedan that
superseded the Maverick in 1978 and survived until it was replaced with
the ill-timed Tempo in 1984. A used Fairmont won't get you front row parking at the valet, but it does a nice job of checking the Fox-body box in your bucket list. Find this 1979 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon offered for $2700 in Colorado Springs, CO via craigslist. Tip from Zach Z.
by Kevin -- First
off, just look at this thing. What are those, 12 inch wheels? Ask any
first-grader to draw a car and they will give you something more
exciting than this. It’s so boring, it couldn’t entertain a thought.
It’s fitting that such a sad looking car would also have a sad little
engine. 200 cubic inches of despair. Bolted to a 3 speed automatic to
suck out whatever life it may have had in it. I hope the original owner
got a 36 month prescription of Prozac to go with his payment book. Click
at your own risk: 1980 Ford Fairmont 2 Door Sedan offered for $4,500 in Earlysville, VA via craigslist.
The Ford Fairmont (and its badge engineered cousin, the Mercury Zephyr) was a Fox-body based large compact (or small mid-sized) sedan that superseded the Maverick in 1978 and survived until it was replaced with the terminally terrible Tempo in 1984. The Fairmont isn't something you'd expect rich guys to buy under the air conditioned tents at a Barrett-Jackson auction, but this next one will be able to embarrass the stock C4 Corvette they just bought for too much money. Find this 1981 Ford Fairmont Wagon here on eBay
offered for $6,500 buy-it-now located in Odenville, AL.
The term sleeper gets thrown around casually in automotive circles. Some folks might call the Samurai powered Morris from earlier this week a sleeper because it has double the stock power of an original version, but it is still slower than a Prius with a fully charged battery and it looks like a hot rodded ride. What a sleeper really should be is a car that looks like a total turd but can smoke a new Z06 in the 1/4 mile. Like this 1981 Ford Fairmont Turbo LSX
currently bidding for $1,300 on ebay with 3 days to go, located in Upper Marlboro, MD.
