Originally Posted By: eljefino
I have little nostalgia for my dad's 1980 fairmont wagon. It wheezed into the 90's so I could "enjoy" driving it on my learner's permit. Sure it had good sight lines and tight rack & pinion steering, so it was a good car to learn on. But it was slow, tinny, and pinged. The seat vinyl wasn't appropriate for cars and would weld itself to your skin in the hot sun. (There is appropriate synthetic material, like MB-Tex. Ford didn't use it.) There was no AC, the radio speakers were only in front, and up in the defroster area. Adjusting the un-split bench seat required the cooperation of the passenger. You had fore and aft adjustments-- that's it!
Pop got the inline 6 (cool) and stick shift (huh?) on special order. He actually USED the parking brake, which led to its breaking, freezing, or needing constant annual adjustment. He parked the car on a hill with a chock behind the driver's tire, got in, pulled forward, opened the door, retrieved his chock from under the rocker panel, and went to work. Sometimes when he had a brain [censored] he'd gun it in reverse to go down hill and drive over the chock. He told us kids not to play in the driveway behind that car, lest it become a rolling stone.
A sticker in the door jamb instructed what tire PSI to run etc "except police". I thought, who would make this into a cop car? The bank robbers would get away!
(There is a scene in E.T. where a bunch of Fairmont cop cars flounder around, to prove my point.)
The cars we see at car shows are the most loaded, top shelf versions. Rose tint is totally a thing.
Car seats killed station wagons as much as CAFE, kids need boosters until they're 4'9" and it's a hassle to "hover" over them with a low roof getting all the straps right etc. It's illegal for them to ride "shotgun" until age 12 so that's effectively made one seat useless for a lot of the time.
And yes I know the Fairmont wasn't a full size. Grandpa had an 80s crown vic wagon. It was a little nicer: they got the seats right. But the 80's 302 had its work cut out with that tank.
I had a 4-speed Fairmont station wagon...liked it. Good mileage, bulletproof 200ci six, plenty of room, actually handled OK. (The 10-hole Mustang wheels and tires helped.)
Fairmonts were offered with a police package...those used the 302 V8 and Mustang chassis parts.