The #FairmontProject, “Oliver” A Mustang in Fairmont Clothing
Back in 2013, I reluctantly sold my 1997 Subaru Legacy. I didn’t want to sell the car, but the former owner made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
That left me with money in my pocket and the desire to go looking for a new project to work on.
I couldn’t decide exactly what direction I wanted to take. I was hoping for something I could feature on my show and enjoy driving. I actually started out looking for a VW diesel or a diesel truck. I thought that might make for some interesting and new video topics. However, most of the cars I found had very high mileage and seemed beyond repair. The trucks were also worn out and beyond my budget. Diesel trucks hold their value BTW.
That’s when I decided to change my strategy and came up with the idea of getting a Ford Fairmont. Weird I know, but hear me out.
I really wanted a wagon, but this one was so clean I couldn’t pass it up.
I chose a Fairmont because it’s made on the Ford Fox body platform. Other Fox bodies include the Mustang from 79-92, as well as other Ford/Mercury/Lincoln cars of that era. This means there is a TON of aftermarket support for these vehicles. Not to mention it’s chassis can support a V8 with minimal modification.
Personally, I’ve never been fond of Mustangs, too obvious. A fast Mustang is something you’d expect to see. I was going for something different than that. I was going for a Mustang in Fairmont clothing. A ‘sleeper’, which is a car that looks slow, but goes fast.
Like just about everything in our world these days, I ended up finding what I was looking for online. I was happy it was so close. A lot of the Fairmonts I found were halfway, if not all the way, across the country. The ‘clean’ cars anyway. I didn’t want something that needed a lot of body work because I wanted to focus on the performance upgrades, not the body.
I ended up driving for about 3 hours to a small dealer in Portsmouth OH. I took my wife, and the asking price in cash, so that I could take it home if I wanted to.
As you can see, the car is this baby poop yellow, some call it custard. I believe Ford called it, Antique Ivory. I think the PPG color code is 90102. Despite what people say, I like it.
I named the car Oliver because the color, and the car, reminded me of the 1963 Opel Kadett that Richard Hammond drove, and named “Oliver”, in the Top Gear Botswana Special.
It’s not lost on me that an Opel is a GM and my Ford is well, a Ford. Aside from being a similar color to Hammond’s car, I also saw both cars as being created as basic transportation for the everyday person. There’s nothing really special about either of them.
The appeal for me, and I think for Richard, is that they are cars that have an endearing plainness about them that gives them a personality all their own.
The Kadett and the Fairmont are about as far removed from a supercar as you can get. In my eyes, that makes for the perfect ‘sleeper’.
While my Fairmont shares the same chassis as a Foxbody Mustang, it did not perform like one. The original engine was a 3.3L inline-six that made a conservative 86hp when new. That equals to about a twenty second quarter mile at around 65mph in my Fairmont.
