1960 Ford Fairlane - Hate To Say I Told You So

Can you imagine being right all the time? Not only would you never learn anything, but no one would want to be around you. That's why, sometimes, I enjoy being wrong. It not only keeps me humble, but on occasion, I do appreciate the company of others. Being wrong always means I'm constantly learning. Example - the other day this bizarre looking 1960 Ford Fairlane popped up on Facebook Marketplace with a $16,000 asking price. "Good luck with that, pal", I chortled to myself but after I checked what it could be worth on Haggerty, turns out this may be priced right. I was wrong?! Imagine that. 

No doubt the seller used Haggerty's online pricing tool to determine what they want for it. Haggerty says these things in "good condition" should or could go for $18,600 but that's one with Ford's 292 cubic-inch V-8. They suggest taking twenty percent off if the car has Ford's six-cylinder engine like this one has. It's also priced in line with what other 1960 Fairlanes in similar condition are going for these days on Marketplace. 

Haggerty values these in "Concours" condition at more than $35,000. Frankly, although I'm a big fan of everything Haggerty, I find their online pricing guidelines extremely generous. Pie-In-The-Sky if you will. Might be great to help make the owner of a classic feel good about what they have, but when it comes time to sell, we need a more realistic gauge. Sellers sees what Haggerty says and can be resistant to drop the price on what they're selling to something that will get the car sold. 

This car has been restored and there was considerable effort put into it. Trunk and floor pans are new, gas tank is new too. The interior has been redone but it's nowhere near factory spec, that's a big strike against it in my opinion. The paint job is not a factory color and it looks like it's on too thick as well. Strike two. The rims are cool but they look out of place on this, but I can deal with that. Again, this is a six-cylinder car and what's more, it has a column mounted, three-speed manual, the old three-on-the-tree. Brakes aren't boosted and there's no power steering. Strike three, four and five. 

If the powerplant had been modernized, power brakes and steering installed it might increase its appeal. As it is, this thing is a handful to drive. I can just see lovers of mid-century aesthetic sprinting back to their late model Toyota after a test drive. 

Speaking of aesthetics, there's also the issue of what you can't change about this car, it's somewhat off the wall styling. These cars ain't everyone's cup of coolant. 

The design story of these 1960 big Fords is that when Ford Motor Company executives got wind of the new-for-1959 Chevrolet, they freaked out, trashed what they had planned to do for '59, worked around the clock and came up with this design that more than apes Chevrolet's "batwing" '59's. Problem was, they didn't get it online in time for the 1959 model year, so it had to wait until 1960.

Irony of ironies, the 1959 Chevrolet was part of General Motors' haphazard reboot after their suits lost their minds when they saw Chrysler's 1957 models. Eyes on your own paper, boys. 

How much is something worth? Only what someone is willing to pay for it, naturally. Haggerty's generosity be darned. I don't know what price would help move this blue bomber but seeing it's been on Marketplace for forty-nine weeks and counting seems sixteen-large is way too much. 

Hate to say I told you so. 

1974 AMC Gremlin X Turbo - Turbo?

Our Facebook Marketplace gem today is a 1974 AMC Gremlin X for sale over in Buffalo, New York. Asking price is a staggering $12,900 but, get this, it's not really that far above what these are going for these days. Granted, that kind of money is for unmolested or mostly unmolested originals and this one is far from original. While I don't like to blog about cars I've already written about, you can read my past Gremlin soliloquies here and here, this Gremlin has enough uniqueness I've deemed it worthy of another go-round. 

Like me, no doubt the first thing you notice about our Gremlin here, aside from the comically large rear tires, is its lack of a hood and that trucker stack sticking up out of the engine room. 

The stack is bolted to a swapped in, Jeep 4.0-liter, inline six-cylinder engine that someone, no idea if it's the poster of the ad, added an aftermarket turbocharger to. Sadly, the post has little information about the turbo; I could message them about it, but my experience has been folks selling a car on Facebook have little interest in answering questions from some car blogger about what they're peddling. Besides, if I do and they don't like what I write about their car, they'll come after me wanting my head on a whip antenna. 

Anyway, even without the turbo, heck, even without the damn car, the Jeep four-point-oh deserves a blog of its own. It was a heck of an engine. 

Developed by American Motors just prior to their being acquired by Chrysler, the 4.0 evolved from another legendary AMC engine, their 258 cubic-inch (4.2-liter) inline six. The 4.0 was known for its power, tractor-like torque, fuel economy, durability and longevity. Popular Mechanics noted years ago that the engine was as reliable as a block of wood. Chrysler built the engine through model year 2006. 

I'd have just swapped in the 4.0 rather than "turbo it", the turbo the ointment that scares the tread of my tires. Well, aside from this being a Gremlin. 

As great as an engine as the 4.0 was, it was never intended to be turbocharged. And putting a turbocharger on an engine, while back in the day may have been little more than a literal "bolt-on", today requires considerable knowledge and a deft hand to tune it properly; there's a lot, I mean, a lot that can go wrong. Not just with the turbo, but the added stress the turbo loads onto the engine can make things go sideways. 

With around 190-horsepower, an un-boosted 4.0 would have made this thing go like stunk seeing it weighed maybe 2,600-pounds with the 5.0-liter V-8 it was born with. The complexity and drama of the turbo doesn't seem worth the hassle. In addition of having to find a shop to work on it if you weren't a turbo head yourself, where would you drive this thing anyway? 

 

 

 

1974 AMC Gremlin X ( real X trim ). Southern car its entire life until shipped up here. No rust or rot anywhere, all original metal. Only driven in summer months to shows and for fun. Some body filler, paint is single stage. Alot of time and effort went into redoing this car, all of the modifications done to it have been done in a way that can be removed and the car made to be stock again minus the 4.0 swap. An extra hood comes with it with the intention to cut a hole in it for the hood exit exhaust as the original hood is perfect and comes with the car. In addition, a normal exhaust system can be run exiting downward if desired, or put back to stock. The front bumper has been removed for cosmetic reasons but is in perfect condition and comes with the car also. Ebrake works perfectly, every light and feature on the car works as it should also. Car is NYS inspected and on the road currently. Many extra parts included not mentioned here.

$12,900.