Talk:Ford Fairlane (Australia)

Intro

Hi there. I've tweaked the intro, as it was a little bit jarring to read about American Fairlanes first thing in a page titled Ford Fairlane (Australian). Cheers Natgoo 18:27, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

The highy succesfull BA Fairlanes????? the Fairlane is near extinction in Australia, the Statesman/Caprice is out selling the Ford 8 to 1.

There was life before this year, friend. The Fairlane is highly successful, all things considered. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.59.50.151 (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

NC III

One model or sub-series Fairlane that is not listed is the NC III. This was a small update of the NC III & was released in Aug 93. It is the equivalent to the ED series Falcon & was the 1st Fairlane to use the new 'ozone safe' R134a air cond refrigerant. (Terrybebb (talk) 05:30, 11 April 2010 (UTC))

Hi Terry, are you sure that the NC III was actually a separate (official) model series? There are very few references to it online (a couple of forums only). Red Book lists only NC and NC II ([1]). Maybe the "Series III" changes (based on the EF Falcon) were implemented but never officially released as a Series III. This is similar to the 1990–1991 VN Commodore update: while many people refer to the VN II model, the change was in fact just a mid-model update (à la VE MY2010, et cetera). OSX (talk • contributions) 16:22, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi OSX. Some of these Ford updates are not that 'official' at when it comes down to it. The later cars like the BA & BF MkI & MkII are official in my mind, they even have a badge to prove it. But, & it's a big but just how 'official' are the EA II & EB II updates? I realise that they are listed in the Red Book, Glass's Guide or whatever, but I believe that are are no more 'official' than the VN II upgrade, at least GM-Holden gave that one an option code (XX8). I think NC I, NC II & NC III are just tagged by the used car trade & are as legitimate as the XC 1/2 or EB II. I know from my experience, working in the car trade, that if you were to ring a Ford Dealer's spare parts dept. & tell them you want parts for say, an EF II, they would laugh & then just ask for the actual production date, they have no official references to a series II anything in their parts manuals.

BTW the NC III was ED based, not EF.(Terrybebb (talk) 11:16, 14 April 2010 (UTC))

I have added NC III information to the Fairlane page, but an even larger update (probably more deserving of the NC III tag from a cosmetic point-of-view) was applied in March 1994, bringing new design alloy wheels, body coloured bumpers, etc. I don't know why I stated the NC III is the EF Falcon equivalent above, but your right it would be ED Falcon equivalent. OSX (talk • contributions) 12:20, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

ZG/P5 ??

The P5 LTD & Landau have been listed as the ZG equivalent. Having worked on these vehicles when new, I can tell you this not the case. the P5 was released during the XA/ZF model run & retained many XA/ZF components

The P5s are actually based on the ZF Fairlane as a lot of the hardware will show. The give away item for me is the blinker stalk. The main interior upgrade from ZF to ZG (also XA to XB) is the blinker stalk. The XA & ZF had an old fashioned blinker stalk & the high beam 'dipper' switch on the floor. When the XB ZG was released a big item was the new multi-function column stalk which incorporated dipper switch & horn. The P5s however used the XA/ZF style stalk & still had a 'squeeze rim' horn similar to Falcon GTs of the era.

The P5 LTD model run was quite complex. As I've said, it was XA/ZF based but ran until late 1976, meaning that it was still on sale during the XC Falcon era. The P6 LTD wasn't released until about 5 months after the ZH Fairlane & 3 months after the XC. Some of the last ones off the production line actually had a few minor ZH/XC parts fitted. (Terrybebb (talk) 23:50, 15 April 2010 (UTC))

Hi Terry, I was not aware of this and just assumed the P5s were ZG-based due to being released only three months prior to the ZG Fairlanes. This was confirmed through the Falcon Facts: ZG Fairlane / P5 LTD/Landau page. I find it a little strange that Ford would release the P5 to ZF specifications despite a ZG model upgrade being only months away. Did the P5s receive a mid-model upgrade to get the newer style indicator stalk, et cetera?

I have retained the P5 information under the ZG heading as it's production run roughly correlates to the ZG's cycle: 1973–1976. An explaination based on your above statment has been included. Do you object to this? OSX (talk • contributions) 04:49, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

Strangely enough, the old style blinker stalk was retained in production for the whole of the P5's life. The XB/ZG model update was more relevant to the Falcon than it was to the Fairlane. There wasn't much mechanical change on any of the cars & the big deal was the Falcon's new front sheet metal, new bumpers & tail-lights. There was the obligatory interior trim changes, but apart from the blinker stalk that was about it on the inside.The Fairlane received no new sheet metal or bumpers & only a freshened grille & tail-light lenses. It also got interior trim changes & the blinker stalk, but the whole thing was much less of a deal than was for the Falcon. So Ford probably figured that the Fairlane wasn't much of a change, then why even bother updating the P5 at all. If Ford had fitted the blinker stalk to the P5 you probably wouldn't know that it was XA/ZF based.(Terrybebb (talk) 06:31, 16 April 2010 (UTC))

Okay, thanks. By the way, I just noticed your complaints at Talk:Ford Windsor engine#Adding to the Confusion. I know nothing much about this engine, and there does not seem to be a single editor controlling it/frequently editing it. You may have to make the changes yourself for that one. OSX (talk • contributions) 12:20, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

Rear Suspension

Would anybody know when the changeover from Live Axle rear suspension to Independent Rear Suspension happened? I know someone who purhcased an NC Fairlane [I think] because it had Live Axle suspension for towing so it was obviously after that but when I am not 100% sure on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.245.137.28 (talk) 07:45, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

I believe it was the AU Fairlane from 1999 onwards that introduced independent rear suspension (IRS). The AU Falcon was also also the first Falcon to feature IRS. With the Falcons, only the AU Fairmont Ghia and high-end XRs received IRS as standard at first. OSX (talk • contributions) 09:23, 13 September 2011 (UTC)