Take a two-door Fairlane post car with original paint, one that covered a mere 16,000 miles in 60 years. Stuff a stroked 427 V8 under the hood, add a five-speed manual transmission, stiffened chassis, and other performance parts, and you’ve got one potent lightweight classic. This 1964 Ford Fairlane near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is not trying to be a clone of the famous Fairlane Thunderbolts or a NASCAR-prepped racer, or a Super Stock drag racer, yet it boasts elements from all these famous Fairlanes. Check out more pictures and details here on eBay, where at least two bidders have its market value barely over the cost of the engine, above $20,000 without meeting the seller’s Reserve.
Ford fans and classic performance fans in general should lament the passing of Charles Crites and subsequent closing of Crites Restoration Products, which provided (at least) this car’s hood and shock tower panels. Dual-quad 427s propelled high-performance Fords down the 1320 and around the nation’s oval tracks as the top dog racing motor of their day. While manufactures rarely rated engines higher than 425 HP, these motors crank out 600+ HP with some massaging. This car’s seller claims this stroked 482 cid (7.9L) V8 makes a “reliable” 549 HP and 566 lb-ft of torque.
A solid cam with .647 inch Lift opens the 427’s valves about a third more than a stock 2024 Ford stock 5.0L Coyote V8 (.443″), giving some indication of how this 482 inch stroker will tear a hole in the universe when you drop the hammer. Bravo to the builder for mating that beast to a five-speed Tremec TKX manual gearbox. The top gear overdrive and 4.11 gears let you pull a claimed “11 second” pass at the strip and cruise home on the highway, as per the listing.
A redone red interior pops against the car’s 60 year-old Wimbledon White paint. Hardly a decked out and modernized Pro Tourer, this “all business” coupe lacks a radio, heater, and carpeting, for a raw driving experience you won’t find in any modern techno-tourer.
The Crites fiberglass Thunderbolt hood and twin air intakes in place of the high beams announce this Ford’s sporting intentions from a mile away. Holman Moody callouts pay homage to that company’s place in Ford racing history, and subframe stiffening, a stout drivetrain, and fat tires back that up. I’d take this one up a notch with functional HVAC and dual-quad EFI for a cross-country trip connecting the dots between America’s amazing road courses. Would you change anything on this hopped-up Fairlane?
Wow this looks like one Fast Ford 🏁
Mama Mia, a more badazz Ford you’d be hard pressed to find. This was Fords
“Hemi Killer”, and several drivers did well. Gas Rhonda made a 11:78@ 123.4 mph in one, but it was Tasca Ford that really made these run. My son in law lived in Morris, Ill.( near Joliet dragway) and he said his dad knew a guy with an old Ford Fairlane with an odd hood bulge and no high beam headlights. I said, . A THUNDERBOLT??? He said, yeah, that’s it, so you never know where these will show up.
Nice, clean build and high end workmanship.
This is perfect just the way it is. Buy it, then drive it. If i win the lottery I will hunt it up. If not I can dream.
It’s a really nice car. There are few things worth changing, I’d ditch any visible modern speed equipment, such as gauges, much of the accessory drive and most of the decals. I’d put on the front runner dish mags, then make sure it sits level. Maybe put in a milder cam, then drive it as much as possible. The build quality is really nice and well executed. This won’t be inexpensive, for good reason.
Steve R
Not sold. The auction ended on 1/23/2025 with a high bid of $26,000, did not meet reserve.
Steve R
Install the biggest gas tank available-many came with just a 20 gallon tank, and with that motor it’ll probably get gone quick!
If you put in a bigger gas tank, the race fuel you need to run the 12:1 compression 427 might hurt your budget a lot. On the other hand, if you stand on it a couple times, you’re going to be back looking for more fuel shortly.
If you buy this thing you will either have lots of money left to support it, or you’re broke and can’t afford the $8/gallon fuel.
As Steve said, the wheels and stance are wrong. I’m not sure how that happened with most everything done right. The other thing that sticks out is why the motor was built without serious head porting and way too much cam for street use. It will go down the track in 11 seconds with a lot less cam.
I’ve still got a big block Mopar with the “Purple stripe, competition only, do not use on the street” cam. I bought the motor done and should have changed it, but didn’t. I only drive it to local shows, but it and the associated high stall torque converter are still a PIA.
In my defense, I was already out tens of thousands of dollars (in the early 2000’s) on a car that wasn’t worth that much at the time. And the motor was fresh and cheap, so why not? Now I know why.
You don’t need high beams anyway. Drag strips are well-lit at night.
The track itself and staging lanes are, but not necessarily the return road or pit area.
Steve R
Something that I failed to notice until just now is the fact that they removed the high beams, but didn’t run duct work to the carburetors. Odd since this thing pretty closely mimics a true Thunderbolt.
In the article he comments that the can lift is a third more than the Coyote.Thats true but the Coyote had two intake valves per cylinder so there’s twice as much fuel at the lower lift so the combined lift would probably be more than the FE motor .Very cool car.
Now that’s cool. I don’t care who you are.
I could not agree more. The ultimate “street sweeper”. If I had a time machine and could take this back to the mid-sixties when men were men, women were women, and cars were fast, I would do it in a heartbeat. What a cool trip down memory lane.
A car that size with 427 V8? GET REAL. A straight 6 is all that car needs.
Grandma???
I really think that this is the bee’s knees. The seller should be complimented on their well written and informative advertisement. Lots of good photos as well. I was disappointed that the You Tube link wouldn’t open for me. I was hoping to listen to it idle. I’ll bet it’s lumpy to the max. GLWTS.
Cross country? You’d probably pay for another one in fuel.
The only thing that i would change.. Is location on where it would reside…
This car with a six in it would sit in a field and rot away to nothing!!!!