Those old station wagons keep on rollin’, and today’s discovery, courtesy of Zappenduster, is the seldomly encountered Ford Fairlane Squire, a 1966 example to be precise. The full-size Country Squire makes BF front page news pretty often, so this smaller, intermediate Fairlane Squire is a welcome review topic. This one is unusually equipped, so let’s take a closer look at this resident of Fruita, Colorado. Here on craigslist is where you’ll find it, and it’s available for $15,500.
In some respects, Ford’s 1966 Fairlane station wagons look a lot like shrunken versions of their full-size rig. At 200 inches in length and riding on a 116″ wheelbase, many felt that they were rightsized. How many, you ask? About 43K, of which 11K were Squired, found homes in ’66 – not a huge number but certainly a respectable volume. Trim levels were three, with the Fairlane at the bottom, Fairlane 500 in the middle, and the faux wood slathered Squire at the top of the heap – and that’s the only feature that separated the Squire from the 500. The images of this car were taken at a distance and small in size, so a close-up, detailed view isn’t available. The seller claims that one repaint occurred twenty-five years ago, and garaging has always been part of this Squire’s routine. Also stated is, “It had two small areas of rust in the floor pan and some rust on the tailgate that has been repaired. There are a few small areas of rust still on the body…,” and I would assume that those dark areas on the lower portion of both driver’s side doors, and at the bottom of the quarter panel is what he’s referencing. Overall, the presentation is pretty fair, with the DiNoc fake wood showing no sign of bleached-out fade.
Power is provided by a 200 gross HP 289 CI V8, connected to a three-speed manual transmission (three-on-the-tree), which is accompanied by electrically engaged overdrive. The seller tells us that the engine has been rebuilt, and it and the clutch have experienced 15,000 miles of usage since the redo occurred. The seller adds, “front disk brakes, rebuilt rear suspension, new u-joints, new front suspension parts as necessary,” and “The car runs and drives very well for an almost 60-year-old car.”
The blue vinyl upholstery, for the most part, is in OK shape, though the bottom rest of the driver’s side front seat has been patched with what looks like blue duct tape. This Fairlane’s recorded mileage is 90K, and the interior generally reflects that usage. The wayback is sound and doesn’t show signs of heavy hauling abuse, though the dash is wearing a toupee, so I’d assume a cracked dash pad. There’s no third seat in this Fairlane, so there’s a spacious storage area instead – a very functional feature. This is a non A/C equipped car.
Considering this wagon’s attributes, I’d suggest its moderate size (compared to a Country Squire) and overall condition to be its most important. The three-speed manual gearbox and overdrive are an unusual departure from the commonly found Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission – some may consider that an enticing feature, while others may not. Regardless, this Fairlane Squire is a nice alternative to the typically found full-sizers, wouldn’t you agree?
Really cool wagon here. When I saw the photos I thought what Jim wrote, you NEVER see a Fairlane wagon. And it really does look like a shrunken version of Fords full sized wagons for sure. The 302 with a stick and overdrive sounds like a great combination. It’s overall a solid looking, more rarely seen wagon that deserves a good new home. I wouldn’t change much, other than address the minor rust issues and possibly recover the front seat. ( or at least a fresh coat duct tape lol). A tip of the hat to Zappenduster for the nice find, great write up too Jim. This is a treat for wagon lovers.
Actually a 289
From back when one could equip a car in unique ways: here, the top level trim, with a three-on-the-tree. One can only surmise why: “I don’t trust those newfangled automatic transmissions; I can shift my own gears, thank you very much.” Overall doesn’t look bad, but a repaint (or at least a touch-up) plus some basic interior work would help tremendously. Bonus!!: a necker knob. Thanks Jim.
I saw the Suicide/neckers knob too Bob, and had a good laugh. Not that long ago, many folks genuinely felt that a manual transmission was more “heavy duty”. But you’re right, back when you could order it any way you want.
My Dad had a suicide knob on his 1956 Chrysler back in the 1970’s Cool stuff to remember.
A lot of the 3 speed manual shift cars had the pull knob overdrive so you could get that extra gear and save on gas and it was much quieter.
I couldn’t tell from the pictures but it might have the overdrive.
“3 on the tree with electric overdrive” – directly from the listing.
JO
My parents had one of these, I think it was the first “new” car they ever had. Looked just like this, even the same blue interior. Crank out vent windows, genuine brushed aluminum trim on the dash. Mom’s had a 352 if I remember correctly. She always said that car would run like a scalded dog!!!
IIRC the 352 was never offered in the intermediate Fairlane. Your mom’s car might have had the 390, which definitely did make for some real get up and go performance.
I was talking with my brother, who is older and therefore wiser than me, and we got on the topic of column manually shifted cars. My brother was right beside me throughout the old mans car escapades, and being an engineer all his life, he knows what’s what. When I mentioned all the vintage cars coming through here with column stick shift, he laughed and pretty much agreed with my ideas, if these cars were automatic, be a much bigger market. He also couldn’t remember the last time he saw a column shift, especially in traffic. While a floor shift is pretty discreet, it’s hard to miss someone rowing through the gears with a column shift.
In ’66, we must remember, the automatic was still a hefty option, almost $200, almost $2grand today, and a car like this was clearly for a family, and money was tight. Pa had no issue with shifting, and the kids got to beat the heck out of it too. Ma had nothing to do with it. If you look closely, you can still see the old mans toolkit in the back.
Lovely looking car. My favourite years for the Ford Fairlane is 1964-66.
In the early 80s I bought an identical to this 67 Squire. Same interior and exterior colors. 289 with the 3speed with O/D. To family and friends it was known as June Cleaver. Many fun adventures with June. The only thing she needed is what the owner did to this one listed for sale, pier drink discs. This looks to be a great car at a great price!
I adore this (stacked headlight, ’66/’67) style of Fairlane wagon. Almost pulled the trigger on one last year. What I’ve learned in my lusting is that to have the (to me) extremely desirable rear-facing 3rd-row seat, those only came with the “500” version. Of course, 3/tree is also sweet, but I’m not sure whether the 500 ever included that.
Note the attached image: 1966 Fairlane Squire with rear-facing third seat.
JO
Thank you for posting that, so drool-worthy. And it looks like the Squire stood apart from the 500 as also having a 3rd-row option. Unless they called it the Squire 500? Anyway, it will be on my bucket list to own a wagon with such tight, confident styling. To my eyes, it really puts the ’70s bloat to shame, desirable though many ’70s wagons may be.
Just an FYI comment…When you ordered-out a new car back then, & you preferred the std. trans., you did NOT order a 3-speed manual trans. You just placed your order & left the auto trans. box unchecked. The factory then produced your vehicle to your specifications w/a manual 3-speed trans. as STD equipment. A 3-speed trans. was stock, & if you didn’t want an automatic your car came down the line w/a 3-speed manual trans. However, O/D was an option, as was a 4-speed transmission.
cool wagon these were a great body style and a good look as well. i would lose that ridiculous knob on the wheel and the cover as well. fix the seat and drive it.