Ford came out with the Fairmont on a new Fox platform for 1978 to replace the aging Maverick. Two and four-door sedans, as well as station wagons, were available. A few months later, they brought out another model, a 2 door coupe fashioned with a Thunderbird-like roofline and dual headlights and a unique grille, while regular Fairmonts had single headlights. It was called the Futura, a name that had been previously used on a premium Falcon model (a Mercury version was called the Zephyr Z-7). Here is a 1979 Ford Fairmont Futura 2 door coupe for sale here on Craigslist in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
This is a one owner car with only 19,000 miles. WOW! It is also a California car. It was donated to a major charity, sold at auction, and shipped to South Carolina. In this picture, you can see the Thunderbird inspired roofline, minus the opera windows in the B post. Maybe this is a design Ford would have used for the 1980 to 1982 Thunderbirds had this model never existed. There were 106,065 of these Futuras sold in 1979, while nothing near Thunderbird sales numbers, it was still quite a healthy sales figure. This car has the standard deluxe wheel covers.
Inside we find the standard interior with bench cloth seats. The original owner bought the aftermarket plastic seat covers to protect the seats. Apparently, after 40 years, the front seat bottom plastic has disintegrated. But the seats have been well preserved along with the carpet and dash.
These cars could be outfitted with a lot of interior options, but this one appears to be quite basic. Unfortunately, due to the lack of air vents, this car does not have air conditioning. It also has just an AM radio. There are no pictures of the engine included. There also is no mention of what engine it has. If it has the standard engine, it would be 2.3 liter (140 CID) 4-cylinder engine with DuraSpark Electronic Ignition. Other engines available were a 3.3 liter (200 CID) 6 cylinder 1 barrel or a 5.0 (302 CID) 2 barrel V-8. The car does have automatic transmission. It runs very well and is in really great shape. The seller is asking a firm price of $5,000 for this true survivor. How about a 1979 Ford Fairmont Futura 2 door coupe for you?
Wow you never see these cars any more. Nice
No problem with the car, just where it is parked.
Had a 1978. From 1985-1992 was a second car loved it
That’s a lot of brake pedal wear (picture #8) for only 19k miles.
Good Catch :) That coupled with no engine pic’s does raise a big flag the same color as the interior IMO.
Jacks response below doesn’t hold up as a two footer would not show the wear on the right side of the pedal ?? Maybe A LOT of short trips to church ??
That looks like a piece of gum or something stuck on that pedal.
Brake pedal could be worn down because the driver is a two footer and never takes his foot off of the brake. I get stuck behind these guys a lot. You never know when they are really going to stop because the brake lights are always on!
Nice……
The red interior kills it. How do people not get headaches.
This is a perfect sleeper candidate.
It’s a perfectly preserved bucket of diarrhea!
rented one in L.A. once and drove to Vegas , thinking at the time that Nevada had no speed limit, i pushed the pedal to the metal once i crossed the state line and picked a corvette who kept up with me till he backed off overheated, drove the six maxed out till i descended into the Vegas valley, drove back to L. A. then Tijiuana , cute car, too bad its 5k.
Judging from the exhaust it is a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine. It’s not a v8.
A very nice car for the money. The exterior and interior need nothing, apparently, so after paying $5,000 for a rust-free 40 year-old car, the new owner can upgrade/update as funds allow. Drop in a small performance V8, figure out how to add A/C, maybe add sportier wheels and you’re done. Or just enjoy it as-is. I always thought these were pretty good-looking cars though I’m not a fan of the C-pillar treatment. For the money, you’re looking at a cheap daily driver that you can also bring to the local cruise-in. You’ll get a lot of folks who’ll say, “I had one just like it!”
I had one just like it! Except mine was a 1978 Futura with red exterior to match the red interior.
These make great sleepers, at a little over 2500 lbs built on the fox platform the engine and suspension choices are endless.
I think this is one of those cars you could take to a smaller car show and you would have lots of people stop in to talk to you. Probably more lookers than a Mustang or a Camaro.
Had a pal whose sister had a Mercury Zephyr Z7. The small block and skinny tires allowed us to leave our mark anywhere we felt like. The hood and doors, at the time, felt lightweight to me. These days I would probably call them flimsy. That said, I’d readily commute in a V8 variant with dog dishes and plain-Jane paint, without hesitation, with a preference for the wagon or sedan.
No AC, bench seats, small engine, this one is a dud. No way it is worth $5000.
As previously mentioned, a great sleeper candidate. This is a Fox body Mustang in sheep’s clothing – all the trick suspension and performance goodies that were developed for the Fox Mustang can be added to this baby with no hassle. There was a Fairmont running in the Ultimate Street Car Invitational several years back- take off the stickers, and it looked like Granny’s grocery getter except for the wheels. Some wider steelies with dog dish caps would make it look totally innocuous. A 347 stroker & a 5 speed along with suspension & steering mods and you could have a lot of fun blowing off sports cars on a twisty road, or surprising some muscle cars at stoplights. Another option would be to go full SVO with the 2.3 Turbo…….
I endorse the 347 stroker option and I would love to run it up Pikes Peak.
Very nice car and the 347 stroker would be nice with a three no the tree or automatic with a 3000 stall converter fun fun…
Did the seller pull the photo of the brake pedal from the ad? I’m not seeing it now.
You have to click on the Craigslist link Poppy, it’s picture number 8.
Thanks, I was too busy checking out the ashtray and lighter to notice the worn brake pedal.
We had an 1980 Zephry wagon when the kids were little. Same platform, different trim, higher price. Traded a 75 Merc Villager wagon in on it, tired of 9 m.p.g. from the 460. Zephyr was a 200 inch 6 w/ automatic, air, power steering and brakes. That 6 was a major pain, couldn’t keep oil in it. Back to dealer 5 times cause of oil puddle and empty dipstick. They did everything, except replace the engine! The kids out grew the size of the wagon, before the 1st year of payments! But it was great on gas mileage. At a steady 65 could pull real close to 26 m.p.g.
this “future” for 5K is a deal breaker.
This is the sort of car your grandma would get when she had to downsize from the Country Squire. Barf. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s good.
I had one of these for a while.
I gave up on it when the AC compressor broke off the front of the engine.
On another point, why does the write up say it is a one owner car then go on to say it was donated then sold to somebody else, then shipped across the country?
We don’t know how many owners the car has had since it had been donated to the charity.
Also, if you damage that tail light lens, you will not be able to replace it.
I have the turbo version of this coupe. Great car
were is that ford Fairmont at I wood like to have it thankyou how much
cannot put a v-8 in the six cyl car, the cross member is different but the 4 cyl and v-8 share the same cross member just add a quarter inch thick spacer when installing the v-8. or find a true V-8 cross member and get the five lugs spindles. only 5 bolts on each side holds the cross member. I learned the hard way I did a 78 fairmont
Is this car available? if so where is it located?