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1978 Ford XC Fairmont
Capsule
This is a 1978 Ford XC Fairmont that was manufactured in Australia and assembled in New Zealand. Fairmonts were somewhat more luxurious and European-styled versions of the Australian Ford Falcons. It's powered by a 302 Cleveland engine (2V), which is an engine native to Australia with a different crank, rods, and head than their American-designed counterpart, the 351 Cleveland. It was originally orange and had a vinyl roof and square Farimont headlamps, but I've fitted it with a GS hood and lights.
Details
1978 Australian Ford XC Fairmont (New Zealand assembled).
Had an original vinyl top. Found it hanging out in Dunedin and originally just wanted the spare engine it came with, but ended up keeping it, instead (not sure where the engine ended up). The paint color is Ford Vista Blue Metallic. 302 Cleveland V8 (not sure if original) with a C4 automatic transmission. It has a BW78 open differential (I think a 2.92:1 ratio). Edelbrock 1406 600cfm carburetor (I still have the original Carter that came with it). Fitted GS hood and lights.
The rebuild happened in the summer of 2005, then some poor life choices (emphasis on "poor," i.e. graduate school) and "hardships" (for the lack of a better way to put these) forced me to abandon him. The paint work was done by Josh Horrocks of Tucson, Arizona. The car and I are back together now and he's undergoing a refresh. A big thanks a shout-out to Josh for handling the car for over a decade for me while I was down and out and unable to do anything--big appreciation for your efforts and friendship!
Here are links to the photo galleries of this car (you don't need a FB account to view these):
This is a 1978 Ford XC Fairmont that was manufactured in Australia and assembled in New Zealand. Fairmonts were somewhat more luxurious and European-styled versions of the Australian Ford Falcons. It's powered by a 302 Cleveland engine (2V), which is an engine native to Australia with a different crank, rods, and head than their American-designed counterpart, the 351 Cleveland. It was originally orange and had a vinyl roof and square Farimont headlamps, but I've fitted it with a GS hood and lights.
Details
1978 Australian Ford XC Fairmont (New Zealand assembled).
Had an original vinyl top. Found it hanging out in Dunedin and originally just wanted the spare engine it came with, but ended up keeping it, instead (not sure where the engine ended up). The paint color is Ford Vista Blue Metallic. 302 Cleveland V8 (not sure if original) with a C4 automatic transmission. It has a BW78 open differential (I think a 2.92:1 ratio). Edelbrock 1406 600cfm carburetor (I still have the original Carter that came with it). Fitted GS hood and lights.
The rebuild happened in the summer of 2005, then some poor life choices (emphasis on "poor," i.e. graduate school) and "hardships" (for the lack of a better way to put these) forced me to abandon him. The paint work was done by Josh Horrocks of Tucson, Arizona. The car and I are back together now and he's undergoing a refresh. A big thanks a shout-out to Josh for handling the car for over a decade for me while I was down and out and unable to do anything--big appreciation for your efforts and friendship!
Here are links to the photo galleries of this car (you don't need a FB account to view these):
Photo Gallery
FAQ
1978 Fairmont XC
- Wait--is it a Falcon or a Fairmont? What's the difference?
Short Answer: The only difference between an Australian Falcon and Fairmont is the trim, otherwise they're the same. You can think of a Fairmont as a "Falcon LX."
Longer Answer: Ford Australia did not have a luxury division (i.e. Lincoln), so luxury options were offered as different "models." As such, the Fairmont and Fairmont GXL are the luxury options of the Ford XCs. What this means in practice is that the Fairmont trim levels have plusher interiors and more Euro-styled features such as the square headlights and the vinyl roof my car originally came with. For what it's worth, I'll call the XC a "Falcon" at times. - Is the Fairmont a GXL or an actual GS?
No, it's just a baseline Fairmont. I fitted the GS-style hood and lights since I like they way they look. - Does it have a name?
George is his name. No, there's no other reason than I started calling him that. He's not named after George Miller. - Is the XC's hood any different from the hoods on the BoB/Pursuit Special or Max's yellow interceptor?
The geometry is exactly the same. The only difference is that Falcon/Fairmont XC GS/GLX hoods don't have hood pins like XB hoods.
- A 302 Cleveland? You mean a 302 Windsor, right? They only made 351 Clevelands.
The 302 Cleveland is an Australia-only creation as they were importing and then eventually casting only the 351 Cleveland block (not the Windsor series). As such, they had a need for a 302 cubic inch variant of the V8 engine to fill this void so they destroked a 351 Cleveland engine and made their own heads with smaller, quench combustion chambers. Eventually, Ford Australia converted to the Windsor engine series, but not until after the XC series had been discontinued.
If you're still skeptical, there's a picture of the factory crankshaft in the car's gallery.