Ugly Koala - my project car

[MGDriver]

Thought I'd share with you my long term project that I'm working on. Those who were curious enough to click the links in my signature might have already seen it.

It's an Australian car, more precisely a 99 Ford Fairlane AU Ghia powered by a 5 Litre 302 Windsor V8, pretty much the luxurious long wheel base Town Car variant of the Ford Falcon AU, you might be able to see a little bit

Long story short, this was basically a barn find that I pulled out of a shed in the middle of Eastern Germany where it was sat to rot for years. It has an interesting history of being a diplomatic vehicle in service for the Australian embassies in London and later Berlin. It was last owned by an Australian consul who passed away a few years ago and was then discovered during his estate sale and offered up online which is where I found it for a few hundred bucks.

Condition wise it is just a big bucket full of rust, harsh British and European climate pretty much destroyed it so everybody in his right mind would drive it straight to the scrap yard and I would probably do the same if it wasn't for the fact that this is likely to be the only modern Australian Ford in this country since it isn't possible to import these. That's why I'm planning a full on restoration job for this car like you would normally do for classic cars to maintain a little bit of Australian automotive history on the other side of the world especially since Ford Australia will stop building cars this year. The car is now 16 years old and due to local import restrictions it will be another 14 years before we could legally import one from Down Under.

Also, believe it or not, this car is rarer than a Marauder. According to Ford Australia 4487 Fairlanes were built for the 99 model year but I don't want to bore you with facts, let's move on to some pictures. My friends have nicknamed it the Ugly Koala because they think it's endearingly hideous but you be the judge.

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076970/fullsize/dsc09532.jpg http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076971/fullsize/dsc09537.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076972/fullsize/dsc09538.jpg http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076975/fullsize/dsc09541.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076977/fullsize/dsc09543.jpg http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076979/fullsize/dsc09545.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076981/fullsize/dsc09547.jpg http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076982/fullsize/dsc09548.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076984/fullsize/dsc09550.jpg http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1076989/fullsize/dsc09555.jpg

[2,4shofast]

That is awesome! It will be a pretty cool project, I spend way too much money on a Citroen BX 1.9 Wagon when I was in Italy. In the end I had way too much money into it but I like the weird one off builds. Enjoy!:beer:

[MyBlackBeasts]

How much work are you looking at to fix the broken steering wheel?!? :eek:

[Mr. Man]

Looks like someone threw a Caprice, LHS and a Crown Vic into a blender. Interesting though.

[MyBlackBeasts]

Looks like someone threw a Caprice, LHS and a Crown Vic into a blender. Interesting though.

I was seeing some Chrysler in the rear end.

[Mr. Man]

I was seeing some Chrysler in the rear end.
Guittard22's mind is going to explode when he sees this car. It's got a little of everything. :D

[MyBlackBeasts]

Guittard22's mind is going to explode when he sees this car. It's got a little of everything. :D

Hahahahaha!

You listening Chris?!?

[MGDriver]

I agree it's got an odd design but I think you can see a Town Car in it. These came in two trim levels, the basic Ghia trim (like mine) and the upmarket LTD trim which is really nice and rare. LTD stood for Lincoln Type Design.


That is awesome! It will be a pretty cool project, I spend way too much money on a Citroen BX 1.9 Wagon when I was in Italy. In the end I had way too much money into it but I like the weird one off builds. Enjoy!:beer:
You have a Citroen over in the States with you? French cars were never sold over there so surely that's gotta be quite a rarity. I too enjoy unique cars, everything that you can't just buy at a stealership interests me which is partly why I have my Marauder.

[2,4shofast]

You have a Citroen over in the States with you? French cars were never sold over there so surely that's gotta be quite a rarity. I too enjoy unique cars, everything that you can't just buy at a stealership interests me which is partly why I have my Marauder.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to send my Citroen nor my Skyline back stateside. The major issue with the Citroen is that the hood and front fenders are plastic, plastic door skins and the roof and rear half was fiberglass so there was zero possibility of getting it to pass any kind of crash testing in the states.

I had the Skyline under contract to be converted to DOT standards and dropped off at the transporter to have shipped to the states when I was notified that they still needed to crash test two more R32's. Just bad timing I suppose as I had friends that had already shipped R32's stateside. Oh well. :)

Here is what I started with, defiantly an ugly beast but I loved it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/shofast/My%20Hooptie/DSC00005_zpskbto3hji.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shofast/media/My%20Hooptie/DSC00005_zpskbto3hji.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/shofast/My%20Hooptie/DSC00002_zpsneaziwg0.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shofast/media/My%20Hooptie/DSC00002_zpsneaziwg0.jpg.html)

After too much money!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/shofast/My%20Hooptie/DSC00105_zpsamykn0su.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shofast/media/My%20Hooptie/DSC00105_zpsamykn0su.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/shofast/My%20Hooptie/DSC00099_zpskhwtfyxn.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shofast/media/My%20Hooptie/DSC00099_zpskhwtfyxn.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/shofast/My%20Hooptie/DSC00125_zpstallzrto.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shofast/media/My%20Hooptie/DSC00125_zpstallzrto.jpg.html)

[Mr. Man]

I agree it's got an odd design but I think you can see a Town Car in it. These came in two trim levels, the basic Ghia trim (like mine) and the upmarket LTD trim which is really nice and rare. LTD stood for Lincoln Type Design.


You have a Citroen over in the States with you? French cars were never sold over there so surely that's gotta be quite a rarity. I too enjoy unique cars, everything that you can't just buy at a stealership interests me which is partly why I have my Marauder.
Peugeot was sold here for sure and I believe so was Citroen. Now we're talking back in the 1970's. Many European manufacturers left in the 1980's. Of those who left I think Fiat is the first to come back. The French can keep their "you'll need a special tool for that" cars.

[2,4shofast]

Peugeot was sold here for sure and I believe so was Citroen. Now we're talking back in the 1970's. Many European manufacturers left in the 1980's. Of those who left I think Fiat is the first to come back. The French can keep their "you'll need a special tool for that" cars.


My BX was a 91 Diesel and was surprising easy to work on. It is defiantly the most comfortable car I have ever driven. The hydraulic suspension system was the only thing that was a bit difficult to fix and modify.

[Mr. Man]

My dad had a DS briefly and your right it was comfortable. I still can picture him cursing it out though when he had to fix something. He still has a drawer full of Peugeot special tools.

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

The tail lights remind me of the 99 GM with chrome thru the tail lights.

[Big Black Beast]

Man, there are some cool Aussie Fords.

[MGDriver]

Here is what I started with, defiantly an ugly beast but I loved it!

That's a nice BX, those things are getting rare over here, I can't remember the last time that I've seen one. Where in Italy did you live? I'm guessing you were a serviceman with the military? I didn't expect to see such a large following for American cars in Italy because importing them there is very expensive. Costs about twice as much as it would be to import one to Germany from what I've been told.


Man, there are some cool Aussie Fords.

I've always loved Aussie Fords, my dream would be own a Ford Performance Vehicles BF Falcon GT-P one day, I'm not gonna lie, I would even give my Marauder up for one of those.

http://ag-spots-2012.o.auroraobjects.eu/2012/12/08/ford-falcon-fpv-gt-p-c459708122012183426_8.jpg

http://ag-spots-2012.o.auroraobjects.eu/2012/12/08/ford-falcon-fpv-gt-p-c459708122012183426_9.jpg

[epic]

where was the v8 made?

[SOSA03]

NICE ... I see a LHS booty with a Lincoln LS body, and ford Taurus, and escort guts
with the heart of a mustang !

[MGDriver]

The V8 comes from Detroits part shelf but features some unique Melbourne modifications which gives it a higher output than the Windsors available in the States. Due to laxer laws regarding emissions or whatever it was the Aussies were always able to squeeze more power out of their engines.

[MGDriver]

As some of you already know, I've just bought MunsterBro95's Silver Birch but my missus allowed me to buy the second Marauder only on the condition that my Fairlane would have to go and so with a heavy heart I've sold it today.

The project wasn't going anywhere and there was absolutely no chance of getting it back on the road without spending a fortune on it and even then it still wasn't clear if our strict German TÜV would give it a pass so I've rather invested that money into a second Marauder that I know can be brought back on the road without too much trouble. Had it for precisely 4 years minus 1 month and only put about 1500 miles on it but this country with its strict registration laws is not a place for a right hand drive Aussie Ford.

I made sure the Fairlane will be in good hands though, it's going to an avid Ford collector in the Netherlands who has much more chances of getting it on the road over there than in Germany. He promised me I could come over to see and drive the car whenever I wanted to so I will definitely be doing that and keep posting about the progress he's making with it. Makes me sad and disappointed that my dream of owning an Aussie Ford ends right here but some things are just not meant to be, especially when you live in a country like Germany so I guess Marauders is where it's at for me from now on.

Here's some final pictures I took of the Fairlane and my Marauders before the new owner came to pick it up the other day. I will miss it and it will probably become that one car that I wish I'd never sold but at the end of the day there is no point in keeping a car that I could never legally drive.

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125925/fullsize/dscn3874.jpghttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125924/fullsize/dscn3873.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125927/fullsize/dscn3876.jpghttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125928/fullsize/dscn3877.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125936/fullsize/dscn3885.jpghttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125932/fullsize/dscn3881.jpg

[crownvic97]

It’s for the best! Good luck with the new SB!

[RF Overlord]

I feel for you, Marvin. When I was in Oz in 1991, we hired a Ford Falcon and drove it 1500 km from Sydney to Canberra then down the coast to Melbourne. I swear it was the best car I have ever driven.

And BTW, there's no such thing as an ugly koala...they're all adorable.

[Mr. Man]

I feel for you, Marvin. When I was in Oz in 1991, we hired a Ford Falcon and drove it 1500 km from Sydney to Canberra then down the coast to Melbourne. I swear it was the best car I have ever driven.

And BTW, there's no such thing as an ugly koala...they're all adorable.
Had to laugh at "WHEN" you were in Oz. :P

[MGDriver]

Being in 1991, that would have been an EA or EB series Falcon which just became legal to import to the US if you really wanted one.

http://www.thebrashaustralian.com/images/bladeoz/FORD/Falcon_EA.jpg


I've always been a big fan of Aussie cars but unfortunately German authorities won't let me register them. I've spent years constantly fighting with authorities over this issue but they kept throwing one obstacle after another at me and the fact that my car was a barn find that still needed a lot of work didn't help either. I would have to win the lottery to get her on the road in this country and since that didn't happen I had to let her go.

To be honest, if I had the choice I'd rather keep the Fairlane over the second Marauder because you definitely won't find another one but that wasn't an option. They came to pick it up this morning so there is no turning back now but the Silver Birch is a great replacement though so I can't be too sad.

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125947/fullsize/img_6311.jpg