FORD ZJ FAIRLANE

FORD ZJ FAIRLANE

From 1959 to 1964, the Fairlane was a locally assembled version of the American Ford Fairlane which had taken its name from Henry Ford’s estate, Fair Lane, near Dearborn, Michigan. This was Ford Australia’s top-of-the-range model until replaced by an Australian-assembled version of the full-size American Ford Galaxie. In 1967, Ford Australia reintroduced the Fairlane, this time as an Australian-developed, luxury, long-wheelbase version of its mainstream Falcon, positioned between the Falcon and the Galaxie. The locally assembled Galaxie evolved into the LTD which was itself replaced in 1973 by an Australian-developed, Fairlane-based model, also known as the Ford LTD. In North America, unlike its designation in Australia, it was not considered a luxury vehicle. In Australia, “LTD” originally stood for “Lincoln Type Design”, although Ford Australia later promoted a connection with the meaning “Limited”.

Ford would wait until May 1979 before updating the Fairlane to the ZJ Series. This model was a leap ahead into the new decade, with squared-off lines and a six-light bodyshell clearly distinguishing Fairlane from the new XD Falcon of that year. The traditional quad headlights and distinctive vertically striped tail lights further differentiated the luxury model from Falcon. The trim levels were deleted: there was now only a single Fairlane, with 4.9 litres (302 cu in) or 5.8 litres (351 cu in) V8 engine choices. In October, recognising the fuel crisis, Ford introduced a Fairlane with a 4.1 litres (250 cu in) inline-six from the Falcon.

The LTD version of the ZJ surfaced in October 1979 as the FC Series, using the same wheelbase and body panels as the Fairlane. In mid-1980 the Falcon 4.1-litre Alloy Head engine was made optional, the first time the LTD was available in six-cylinder guise.