Vehicle Description
1966 Ford Fairlane 500 Hardtop
Restomods started out as a small trend in the late 1980s. You may
have spotted it way back when Car Craft created the original Real
Street Eliminator. While most hot rodders were still entrenched in
drag racing, pro-billet street rodding, and the pro street wave, a
few pioneers at the grass-roots level quietly began the restomod
movement. The evolution of the restomod movement in the muscle car
world was a natural outgrowth of the improvement of factory
production cars, which began to incorporate more powerful engines,
electronic fuel injection, disc brakes, better radial performance
tire technology, computer-designed suspensions, and overdrive
transmissions. Owners of older muscle cars didn't like getting
gapped at the stoplight or out handled on curvy mountain roads, so
they did what hot rodders did through the ages: They rummaged
through late-model junkyards and the OE parts bin, adapting
technology to work on older cars, giving birth to the restomod
craze. The early restomod builders were less interested in
traditional car shows or drag racing-they just wanted a muscle car
that performed as good or better than a new Corvette or Mustang.
Looks were still important to restomod builders, but they would
develop in a distinct visual direction, (bigger wheels, lowering,
stance), that implied handling and stopping as well as
acceleration. -Thx To Motortrend.com
For consignment, this Ford classic in Fairlane 500 form. Despite
what the year says, parts are from across the board and
incorporatetons of aftermarket extras. The mill has been changed to
a Ford 501ci big block stroker V8 and many other performance
goodies have been added to check all the boxes for even the most
critical restomod fan. So we could call it a retro restoration-mod,
now showing in Nutmeg which is close to Ford Emberglow, giving me
that arm n fuzzy feeling about this consignment. Purchased a year
ago by our consignor from the original owner, the body remains
solid with all original metal with the exception of the hood, the
chassis has been upgraded to a Art Morrison unit, and the brakes
are courtesy of Wilwood. So grab your picnic basket, blanket and
head to your nearest lea to frolic in the butterfly grasses. Oh,
and you'll get there in a real hurry if you need to!
Exterior
A 2 door hardtop version, all bathed in deep end of the pool Nutmeg
metallic paint which presents as miles deep covers the original
straight steel with well minded gaps that show the countless hours
involved in achieving perfect alignment and straightness to make
you the belle of the ball when you arrive in this skate. Stacked
front headlights flank a horizontal large egg crate shaped grille,
and a shiny bumper resides below. Just above is a Crites fiberglass
427 ram air hood that is near flawless and shows with a stainless
mesh insert within the air intake. Mirror polished stainless
highlights the all new lightly tinted glass of the cabin and with
all emblems shaved from the sides the beltline body bumpout does a
wonderful job of accenting the side profile, giving the car the
aura of motion even when standing still. The back of the car
features vertical rectangular tail lights, and a squared off trunk
lid with a shiny bumper below with polished exhaust tips peeking
out from below at a 45 degree angle. 17 and 18-inch Vision Torque
Thrust style wheels are on all 4 corners and are wrapped in
245/47ZR17's in front and slightly larger 285/40ZR18's on back for
the perfect restomod look. It's hard to find fault on the exterior,
so we'll leave this one like it is....nearly perfect!
Interior
All new, attention to detail and all buttoned up are three terms
that come to mind when swinging the doors open. High back
heavilybolstered ProCar Touring bucket seats, modeled after the
original buckets, are now in and use vented vinyl for narrow tuck
and roll inserts for the seats and lower backs, and some shiny
smooth black vinyl for the bolsters and upper backs with a broad
tuck and roll all in black. In the center between the buckets is a
custom long armed black leather booted shifter riding the hump and
in back is the original bench seat which has been recovered to
match the front buckets. Up front is an original dash fitted with
DakotaDigital gauges and includes two tachometers,one digital and
one analog. A wood rimmed 3 spoke billet steering wheel fronts this
dash and sits atop an adjustable column and the original AM radio
resides within its factory slot but has been upgraded to a
Bluetooth, aux out, sub out hands free unit. 2 6x9 speakers reside
within the package tray and work with the sub mounted behind the
rear seat and a new factory spec dash top mounted speaker to sate
the audiophile in you. Also in the dash we note added vents for the
heater and AC units. All of this excellence floats in a seat of new
black carpeting, and above is a black headliner in vinyl which is
nice and tight.
Drivetrain
A Z code in the VIN denotes a 390ci V8, however, during the redux
this was ditched in favor of a Ford 429ciV8 based stroker engine
that now displaces 501ci. It has been fitted with the best of
everything including a Scat rotating assembly, is capped off with
reworked 429 cylinder heads and generates a consignor stated 500hp
and 570lbft of torque on the dyno. On top is a QuickfuelBrawler
4-barrel carburetor and Weiand Stealth intake manifold. Add on some
polished Ford Racing valve covers and a polishedair cleaner
assembly and we are in blingy bling heaven within this very clean
engine bay. A polished March serpentine system keeps the
accessories turning and an aluminum radiator is on for the cooling
system with twin cooling fans keeps things at the perfect
temperature. Meanwhile MSD ignition and billet distributor are in
charge of lighting the fires within. On the back is a new Tremec
TKO600 5-speed manual transmission and way back is a Ford 9-inch
rear axle. Our consignor notes that the axle carries 3.89 gearing
and is built with all Strange internals. We note that a shock tower
delete was performedin the engine bay, but more on that in the
Undercarriage section. Exhaling is accomplished through shorty
headers, and a 3-inch stainless steel exhaust.
Undercarriage
Well restored with no rust, and just nice black surfaces of
straight rust-free steel and that is thanks to a new one piece
floor pan. An Art Morrison chassis now provides the backbone for
all this perfection as this is now a full frame car with the side
rails hidden within the rocker panels. In front is a Mustang 2 type
suspension with adjustable coil overs courtesy of the folks at Rod
& Custom Motorsports and sports a power rack and pinion steering
kit. A triangulated 4 bar with more adjustable coilovers is
reserved for the back, and Wilwood 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS and
consignor-stated electronic power assist brings this car to a halt.
This is a good thing as these heavy cars were noted for their poor
braking with the all manual drums which proved to be not enough for
the horsepower produced. We note a new fuel tank and one could call
the undercarriage showroom quality with improvements, all well done
and looking good!
Drive-Ability
This car was an immediate hit with my crack decoder, however I
drove and he sat in the passenger's seat. Because despite his
wealth of automotive knowledge, he has questionable motor skills
with his legs, and tends to stall the clutched cars...just sayin'!
Anyway I digress to the test track where it performed swimmingly
and accelerated, stopped and handled much like that of a modern
car.
A great restoration, well done and attentive to detail. A 501ci V8,
new manual transmi...for more information please contact the
seller.
