Ford Fairlane GT

Fairlane GT at a glance

A bigger Fairlane and a GT for 1966

The 1966 Fairlane was a new, larger intermediate on a 2,946 mm (116 in) wheelbase, and for the first time it came as a convertible. Ford added the XL, GT and GTA versions at the top of the range. Pontiac had shown with the GTO that a mid-size car with a big engine could sell, and Chevrolet followed with the Chevelle SS 396; the Fairlane GT was Ford's direct reply.

Conceptcarz describes the naming rule plainly: GT meant a manual gearbox and GTA an automatic. XL and GT models together made up only about 20 per cent of Fairlane production in 1966, according to Consumer Guide's history of the car.

The S-code 390 and the GT hardware

Ford called the GT engine the Thunderbird Special 390. In GT tune it had 10.5:1 compression and a Holley four-barrel on a cast-iron intake, for 250 kW (335 hp) and 579 Nm (427 lb-ft). The ordinary 500XL could have a 390 too, but with 265 to 315 hp.

Standard and optional GT equipment in 1966, per autoevolution and Consumer Guide:

• three-speed manual with a Ford 9-inch axle, forged half-shafts and 3.25:1 gears;
• heavy-duty springs and dampers, a thicker anti-roll bar and wider rear drums;
• a bonnet with two simulated scoops, GT badges and stripes above the sills;
• bucket seats, all-vinyl trim and a padded dashboard;
• options: Toploader four-speed (US$183), SportShift Cruise-O-Matic (US$215), Equa-Lok limited-slip differential and, later in the year, front disc brakes.

Ordering the SportShift automatic, which could also be shifted by hand, turned a GT into a GTA. A GT convertible cost US$3,068 in 1966, US$225 more than the hardtop; Car Life's GTA hardtop with power steering, power brakes, automatic, radio and styled wheels stickered at US$3,499.

Road tests of 1966

The period tests gave very different results, partly because Ford's press cars were not all standard.

Curbside Classic, reviewing the Car Life test, suspects the printed 15.4 s was a typo for 16.4 s. Autoevolution notes that Ford later admitted the Car and Driver car had been "slightly" tuned by Holman-Moody, and that a stock car more likely ran in the mid-15s. Car Life still liked the chassis: the GTA's "sturdier suspension" improved handling "without ... causing any deterioration in riding softness".

1967: safety equipment and less power

The 1967 GT kept the 1966 body with a new one-piece aluminium grille and split tail lamps. Power front disc brakes and F70-14 Wide Oval tyres became standard on the GT, and the automatic was renamed SelectShift, with a T-bar lever on the console. New federal rules brought an energy-absorbing steering column, a dual-circuit brake system and four-way hazard flashers.

The Thermactor air-injection system cost the four-barrel 390 about 11 kW (15 hp), leaving 239 kW (320 hp). A two-barrel 390 was now offered as well: Wikipedia rates it at 275 hp, Consumer Guide at 270 hp, about 201-205 kW. The four-barrel added US$150 in 1967 and the two-barrel US$74.

The 427 Fairlane: R-code and W-code

The fastest 1966 Fairlane was not a GT. In mid-1966 Ford built 57 Fairlane 500 two-door hardtops with the 427 side-oiler V8 to qualify the engine for NHRA and IHRA Super Stock. They were built in Atlanta, painted Wimbledon White, and had a lift-off fibreglass bonnet with a forward-facing scoop, a Toploader four-speed and a 9-inch axle.

With two four-barrel carburettors the R-code 427 was rated at 317 kW (425 hp) at 6,000 rpm and 651 Nm (480 lb-ft). For 1967 the 427 stayed on the list with a single four-barrel as the W-code (306 kW, 410 hp) or with two as the R-code, but very few were built. John Downing's 1966 car set an NHRA Super Stock B record of 11.42 s in early 1967. These cars continued the drag-racing line of the 1964 Fairlane Thunderbolt.

Why the Fairlane GT ended

The 1968 Fairlane was redesigned, about 100 mm (4 in) longer and 91 kg (200 lb) heavier on the same 2,946 mm (116 in) wheelbase, and the GT became part of the new Torino range with a 302 V8 as standard. In mid-1968 the 428 Cobra Jet replaced the 390 four-barrel as the top engine, and the story continues in the Ford Torino hub. The full Fairlane line from 1955 is covered in the Ford Fairlane hub, and other Ford models are in the Ford catalogue.

Fairlane GT today: what to check

A 1966 GT with the 335 hp engine should have the S-code 390, shown by the engine letter in the VIN. In 1967 a GT could have the two-barrel 390, so a lower-rated engine is not automatically wrong for that year. GT-only trim such as the scooped bonnet, stripes and badges is easy to copy onto a Fairlane 500XL, so documentation matters more than parts. The 57 R-code cars of 1966 are easy to check on paper, all white Fairlane 500 hardtops with fibreglass bonnets and four-speed gearboxes, which also makes them the most likely to be copied.