A 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 2-door hardtop caught our attention at a spring car show because the 62-year-old car’s owner was born many decades after the Fairlane left the Ford factory.
Consequently, we needed to find out why the ’63 Fairlane owner decided to buy the car about three years ago. Nathan Hardy was the car’s proud owner and explained why he bought a vintage vehicle from an era long before his time.
One of the reasons was the size of the car. 1963 Ford Fairlanes were labeled as intermediate models because they were bigger than a compact Falcon and smaller than a full-sized Ford Galaxie. Thus, the Fairlane occupied the “tweener” spot in the Ford family at the time.
A young car guy like Nathan liked the overall size of his 1963 Ford Fairlane because it was smaller than a typical land yacht from that automotive era and he could better relate to its less bulky dimensions.
More importantly, Nathan liked the overall style of his ’63 Fairlane because it was a 500 model and wore all the bling of an upper end edition from that era. Domestic cars from the past were adorned with extra bright work so they could be identified as a more expensive model by their excessive bling factor. Cheapskate editions had almost no shiny parts because car builders wanted to push (or shame) them into more expensive car purchases.
The up-sell tactic even worked 60 years later because Nathan liked the extra trim on his Fairlane 500, so it became a selling point when he bought the car.
Nathan was also drawn to the car’s overall condition body-wise, particularly when he factored in its age. The grim truth is very few cars built in 1963 are still around, given the passage of time, so Nahan was very fortunate to find his Ford Fairlane’s body was still in decent shape.
He also noted the car needed some electrical and mechanical work before it was ready for the road.
The car had undergone a powertrain swap and now sports a 302 high performance Ford small block coupled to a 4-on-the-floor manual transmission. The 302 is lively and able to meet or exceed Nathan’s need for speed.
The 302 breathes easy through headers and even has a gated exhaust system that “sounds so cool” in Nathan’s view.
The good news is Nathan can slow his Fairlane down in a hurry when necessary because a dual master cylinder front disc/rear drum brake system replaced its factory single master cylinder and 4 drum brake system. The Fairlane 500 also has a complete gauge package that replaces its factory warning light system, affectionately known as “idiot lights”, by car guys.
Nathan told MyStarCollectorCar his ’63 Ford Fairlane 500 he has encountered no problems on the road and is comfortable with its reliability.
A young car guy driving a 62-year-old car attracts plenty of attention from the public, so Nathan had to get used to the experience. There are plenty of thumbs-up on every road trip in the Fairlane and Nathan appreciates onlookers’ reaction to his vintage Ford.
It’s clear the car and its young owner are a good match.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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