You don't see many of these

[gofasttoday]

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/west-mifflin-1982-ford-fairmont/7473782776.html

1981 Ford Fairmont, 24,000 original miles, all original condition, one owner family, four-speed 4 cylinder, never been in garage kept since new, never been in snow. No phone calls after 9 pm.all original

Edited April 20, 2022 by ford40 (see edit history)

[1957Birdman]

The car is in excellent shape, but $10.5K seems like a stretch to me for a car with a 4-cylinder manual transmission car. On the other hand, it has the room for a 302 with EFI that would make an interesting sleeper. As it sits it is definitely underpowered. Is that part of the reason for the low miles?

Lew Bachman

1957 Thunderbird

[Jim Skelly]

an interesting sport sedan; I wonder how many are left?

[Leif in Calif]

It's a rare car for a reason! Few would have ordered that combination of features.

I'm sure it's underpowered by modern standards but probably got gas mileage in the low 20's when others were in the low teens. 

[TAKerry]

Thats about as basic as you can get with that car, Im surprised it had wire wheel covers!  Not sure I would spend 10k on it though.

[TerryB]

The 4 cyl was not a common choice but seen often in my area.  The 4 speed was less common.  The memories of gas shortages and price hikes helped sell cars like this.  A good flatlander car in the day.

[supercub]

I remember seeing these cars with 4s in them. I bet it has the Pinto drivetrain maybe with efi.

[suchan]

I bought a new 4 cyl, 4 speed Fairmont in 1978. Silver, vinyl top, red and gray plaid seats. They were quite common, partly because the 4 cyl cars with AT were absolute slugs.

It was an OK commuter car, but reliability was terrible. The paint went bad , the vinyl top lost its color, and I traded it in for an Econoline van in 1981. Mileage was OK, high teens/low 20’s.

Edited April 21, 2022 by suchan
Correcting autocorrect (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

Four cylinders & automatic Fairmonts were the fodder of the rental car companies.  Rented one decades ago in Colorado, should have come with sticker on the dash warning against driving it up into mountainous areas.  Gutless wonder on flat ground.  Never heard an automatic up and down shift as much as that car did. 

[supercub]

I remember HS days a cop in my home town had the Zephyr version. I ran a stop sign in my beat Chevelle and he tried to whip that thing around fast enough to hassle me. I could hear the engine being tortured to death, he gave up quick.

[Gearheadengineer]

Supercub, that’s a funny story. Gotta love the ‘80s!

 

My town had Volvo police cars during my HS days. I always assumed it was some kind of back room deal with the local Volvo dealer. 

[Leif in Calif]

1 hour ago, supercub said:

I remember HS days a cop in my home town had the Zephyr version. I ran a stop sign in my beat Chevelle and he tried to whip that thing around fast enough to hassle me. I could hear the engine being tortured to death, he gave up quick.

I lived near Donner Summit (7700 ft) in the early 80's.  The California Highway Patrol received a few Dodge K cars to try out. They couldn't catch a loaded semi going uphill! 

[supercub]

They had one K car in my town too, as a trial cruiser. It was annoying because it blended in with the other cars. We could spot the big blue LTDs from far away, leaving plenty of time to hide the beers.

In 1994 I drove an 87 Plymouth minivan X- country, I got up into the mountains of Taos and it would barely budge. I had to turn around in defeat. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by supercub (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Please remember to include some contact information,

if the ad provides it.  It will help if someone is interested

after the short-lived ad expires.

 

The telephone is (412) 4sixtysix4969.

[8E45E]

Interesting it has the optional tach and opening front door vent windows, for what was a low-priced compact car in its day.

 

Craig

[Rivguy]

My Dad bought my younger brother a two year old Mustang II with a four and manual four speed. A  beautiful little quasi T bird but it was pretty slow. The Fairmont sedans struck me as very rational modern sedans, kind of European in their simplicity. Unfortunately Ford only had a weak little four, an inefficient straight six, or a V8 that did not fit the economical design of the car. With a better engine it might have been a success. Of course the Fox platform served Ford well and was used from 1979 to 2004 on the Mustang and other Ford products. I do like the plaid interior, I had red plaid seats on my Pontiac Astre coupe.

[JamesR]

Nice car in good condition. However, having owned it's close Mercury cousin from 1978 back in the day - a Zephyr equipped with an inline six - I can't even imagine one of these with a four cylinder. What would top speed be? Could it even be driven on modern 70 or 75 mph interstates?

 

[supercub]

I think it would be a rough ride on today's highways where doing 80 is just keeping up. I like the door skins and dash with basic styling and full instrumentation.