25 Years of Drive: Ford Fairlane bows out
In the commotion over the Mitsubishi 380’s departure, the Ford Fairlane has tip-toed out the door without much fanfare.
Story originally published 4 April, 2008
It’s not often we test a car that’s just gone out of production but we figured after 48 years and 275,000 sales it was worth one last look in the rear-view mirror at the Ford Fairlane.
Named after company founder Henry Ford’s family estate in Dearborn, Fair Lane, it was one of the oldest nameplates in the Ford world – even older than the Falcon.
The Fairlane name has been on Australian roads since 1959 but the first models sold were imported from North America.
Local production of the Fairlane began on February 27, 1967 and continued until 7.31 in the morning on January 25, 2008, when the last one rolled off the Ford line at Broadmeadows.
Sadly, the Fairlane isn’t likely to be missed by anyone other than politicians and hire-car drivers. More than nine out of every 10 Fairlanes sold went to a government, fleet or hire-car buyer.
The first Fairlanes were a crude way to charge more for a Falcon by simply adding more sheet metal to the front and rear of the car. It didn’t cost much more to build than a Falcon but Ford could charge a lot more because it was marketed as a luxury vehicle.
At the time it was such a successful formula that Holden copied the idea. In 1968 Holden added a bigger boot to the Kingswood of the day and created a Fairlane rival.
Interestingly, even though Ford came up with the concept, it is the Holden that survives today in the form of the Statesman. But the only reason the Statesman is still in showrooms is because of an export deal Holden forged eight years ago.
Holden now exports more than five times as many Statesmans to the Middle East as it sells locally. Indeed, this may have accelerated the Fairlane’s demise. Holden could afford to invest more and build a better car, equip it with more luxury and safety features because it could sell more Statesmans thanks to the export deal.
The Fairlane formula changed during over past 48 years; the difference between the Fairlane and the Falcon on which it was based gradually widened or, to be precise, lengthened.
Ford stretched the floor of the Falcon between the front and rear wheels to create more cabin space. Once again, it was a relatively economical way to charge a handsome premium. Once again, Holden copied the idea.
The Fairlane may have initially been a crude way to make more money but in the end it was a crude way to lose a lot of money. Ford Australia kept the Fairlane alive well past its use-by date in the hope it could do something to take sales out of their nose dive.
In the end, just 10,086 Fairlanes were sold in the past five years. When you consider the motoring media were savaging Mitsubishi for selling 11,000 of its 380 sedans in one year, it puts the Fairlane’s dire situation into context.
Not that the media completely overlooked the Fairlane’s long, slow death. At his monthly industry briefings Tom Gorman, the then-boss of Ford Australia, regularly fielded questions from inquiring minds – including mine.
Gorman became adept at either avoiding the question, coming back with long, convoluted answers or turning it into a joke: “Why, want to buy one?”
Trying to prise out of Gorman if a Fairlane was planned for the new generation Falcon, I asked him if the design of the rear doors for the wagon had been “locked in”. An example of how car makers reduce costs, the Falcon wagon has for at least 20 years (and possibly more) shared its rear doors with the Fairlane.
This explains why they look awkward on Falcon wagons (the window lines at the rear don’t align with the window lines on the top of the doors) but look neat on a Fairlane.
Gorman’s response: “You’re going to love the doors on the new wagon.”
We now know why he said it with a smile: the “new” wagon is identical to the old one. Ford will sell the old wagon alongside the new Falcon sedan.
In the end, I tried to corner Gorman by asking him how many headlights Ford had ordered for the current batch of Fairlane production. The latest model Fairlane headlights are the same as the Falcon but have a chrome garnish that sits beneath each – an example of the subtle touches car makers use to charge more money for a car.
Gorman’s answer was priceless. Straight-faced he said: “Two per car.”
But the inevitable caught up with Ford after 10 years of declining sales. In May last year the company announced it would cease production of the Fairlane but it had known for some time there wasn’t going to be a Fairlane when the new generation Falcon arrived in the middle of 2008. After all, it hadn’t designed any new rear doors.
At the press conference, Gorman said he was “saddened” to make the announcement but it was “an inevitable decision”.
“Each one of our brands is like a child in your family and what you want for your children, you want with your brands,” he said. “But to not recognise change is equally irresponsible. It’s the right decision, albeit an emotional and difficult decision.”
Fairlane sales dropped more sharply after the new Statesman was released in August 2006 and the flash-looking Chrysler 300C arrived in October 2005. It was being squeezed from all angles.
To allow journalists to get reacquainted with the Fairlane for its farewell, Ford made the sixth-last Fairlane available to test. It came with a hearty 5.4-litre V8, six-speed automatic transmission, an optional DVD satellite navigation system, 17-inch alloy wheels and beige leather upholstery.
With the options it had an RRP of $67,825, a ridiculously high price and one that buyers clearly refused to pay. Even the last Fairlane built, no doubt a historic model, fetched only $48,100 at an online charity auction in March.
Having not driven one for years, I was genuinely surprised by how well the Fairlane drove. Its tyres were silent at cruising speeds, the ride was comfortable and there was ample space in the back seat. With the six-speed auto, the V8 was relatively fuel-efficient.
But the attempts to spruce up the dash (and make it look different from a Falcon), such as the pretend brushed alloy instruments and shiny black plastics, looked naff.
The Fairlane was given stability control in October 2005 but no curtain airbags. Customarily luxury cars are first with such features but the Fairlane didn’t get them because it was nearing the end of its life.
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the Fairlane except no one ever paid full price for it. Hefty discounts to fleets meant the car could be sold more cheaply as a used car. Anyone unfortunate enough to have paid retail for a Fairlane haemorrhaged on resale value. Cars have a knack of establishing their true value – and few people valued the Fairlane’s extra space or old-man image.
The Fairlane badge may return on a new model in 2012. Ford Australia is at present working with Ford US on sharing a large car for both markets.
“We don’t have any immediate plans to [re-introduce the Fairlane name] but I’ve learned to never say never and never say always,” Gorman has said. “I think [there’s a possibility it might] return as part of a larger global rear-wheel-drive strategy but there’s nothing confirmed that I’m aware of at this stage.”
Fast Facts
FORD FAIRLANE
Price From $58,625.
Country of origin Australia.
Engine 4.0-litre, six-cylinder (190kW/383Nm) or 5.4-litre V8 (230kW/500Nm).
Weight 1775kg to 1850kg.
Transmission Six-speed automatic.
Consumption and emissions 10.4L/100km and 248g/km (six), 13.3L/100km, 316g/km (V8).
Safety Dual airbags and front-seat-mounted side airbags are standard but the Fairlane only gained stability control in October 2005. Head-protecting curtain airbags unavailable. Not tested by NCAP but it’s fair to assume it would have had a similar four-star result to the Falcon as it has the same structure at the front.
So, what happened next?
The Fairlane nameplate never made a return to Australia, despite hints from Gorman that a platform sedan from the global Ford stable could make its way Down Under.
Sales of Fairlane (and its more plush LTD sibling) dribbled on for the rest of 2008 (Ford sold 114 Fairlanes and just two LTDs in 2008) giving a free kick to arch-rival Holden which continued to sell Statesman (1804) and Caprice (1641) in acceptable numbers.
Ford Fairlane disappeared from Blue Oval dealerships entirely in August 2009 when the last of 13 cars sold that year found a new home, spelling an end to a historical nameplate that started life in September of 1959 when Ford Australia began assembling US-designed Ford Fairlanes sourced as knock-down kits from Ford of Canada.
The Fairlane’s donor car, the Ford Falcon, lived on until 2016 when Ford Australia pulled up stumps on local manufacturing, signalling the end of an era that began with the first Australian-built Ford Model T rolling off the Blue Oval’s Geelong production line in 1925.
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