Fairlane..LTD...RIP ?

[csv8]

Any more news if FORD are ceasing production of the Fairlane/LTD ?
if they are, thats a sad day for Ford.
Only choice will be 300C or Statesman.
Surely FORD can keep the Fairlane ? maybe kill off LTD ?
Either way, not good.

[uranium_death]

I reckon the Fairlane is far nicer than a Statesman.
Never been a fan of the Statesman.

[LUXO_8]

interested in info here as well....

its easy to fix fairlane / ltd, just needs to be destinguishable from the falcon....

[Polyal]

Good riddings. If Ford are not prepared to spend the cash, then its better to pull out thn selling something as embarrassing as they do now. Its a nice car and all, but it gets shat on from a very great height by the competition.

In its current state, its a complete waste of cash.

The only thing that could save it is future LHD programs or exports, but Ford are to stupid to do anything like that.

A very big shame, as Ford basically created the segment. They only have themselves to blame. :

[Walkinshaw]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

interested in info here as well....

its easy to fix fairlane / ltd, just needs to be destinguishable from the falcon....

Bingo. Needs unique bonnet, lights, guards, bumpers (front and back) at a minium

[LUXO_8]

ford lost it when they decided to ditch the full width garnish on the boot.......

hell even if they put the Ghia numberplate surround in the bootlid with some kind of chrome spear across......

needs xenon headlights, some kind of chrome mouldings on the side and whalla

[Falcon Freak]

Fairlane/LTD are history after this model. It has been already discussed in other threads on this forum.

FF

[Allen]

The last fairlane and LTD to look different to the falcon was the NC/DC... all the others after that looked too much like the falcon/fairmont.

Take the EF/EL fairmonts... they shared the same front sheet metal as the NF/NL Fairlanes. Thats where the problem started.

It will be sad to see them go...

[csv8]

http://www.lincoln.com/ Wouldn't it be nice if FORD oz imported the american LTD ?
this looks very different to the current model here.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by fairlane_ghia

The last fairlane and LTD to look different to the falcon was the NC/DC... all the others after that looked too much like the falcon/fairmont.

Take the EF/EL fairmonts... they shared the same front sheet metal as the NF/NL Fairlanes. Thats where the problem started.

It will be sad to see them go...

No that wasnt the problem. Look at the AU Fairlane, it was totally different to the AU sedan.

The issue is product differentiation, theres not enough good in a Fairlane over a Fairmont Ghia anymore, things like Satnav should have been standard in the Fairlane, and a sunroof.

They should have dropped the LTD range and just had the Ghia and G8, and offered the following Tweeks.

Ghia

- Satnav
- Sunroof
- 17 (as per BF)
- LED lights
- front parking sensors
- reverse camera (as per Territory)

G8

- all of the above plus
- 18's and an optional 19 inch.
- body kit (no spoiler).


I think the Fairlane Ghia is a better car then the Fairmont Ghia, based on the fact theres not enough room in the standard SWB. I doubt Ford will drop the Fairlane now as numbers are back on the up and it seems they really need to keep this market in their back pocket, its still the favourite for limo conversion!

[Kryton]

to find a real LTD you need to look back to the 70s. its longer than the fairlane, it had the HiPo engine and lookied totally different to any range of Ford profuct.
its slowly been going down hill since then.
as for the Statesman....the interior looks like a commodore and nothing else.
Both companies need to make the luxury packs different looking with the option of a HiPo engine.

[MYT]

Originally Posted by csv8

http://www.lincoln.com/ Wouldn't it be nice if FORD oz imported the american LTD ?
this looks very different to the current model here.

The Towncar/Crown Victoria model is being wound up too afaik

[Psycho Chicken]

Simple fact of life, there's barely enough to support 3 car companies (let alone 4) in Australia. There's absolutely no chance of running different sheet metal for a the LWB, even less chance of doing a different one again for the LTD. Maybe in the states, but not for such a low volume here, the tooling is too much. Sure it worked in the 70's, but it's not the seventies anymore. They've had their run, sure Ford probably didn't help but it was going to happen sooner or later.

One of two things will happen, either it'll die or get LHD and export options. But I won't be holding my breath.

[uranium_death]

I reckon that the AU Fairmonts looked awesome. A big fan of them.

The BA Fairmonts look retarded. They are just a longer BA.
The rear looks spastic. You have two lights and a number plate and a lot of plain metal.

The rear is simply too plain. The back needs to be garnished.

[Dezza]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

I reckon that the AU Fairmonts looked awesome. A big fan of them.

The BA Fairmonts look retarded. They are just a longer BA.
The rear looks spastic. You have two lights and a number plate and a lot of plain metal.

The rear is simply too plain. The back needs to be garnished.

I take it you mean Fairlane, not Fairmont. A Fairmont basically looks like a Falcon with a little bit more chrome. I still like the BA-BF Fairlanes, but more does need to be done to differentiate them from the Falcons. And I reckon the AU Fairlanes actually look better now than what they did when they were new.

[csv8]

All Ford oz has to do is graft the Lincoln MKZ 2007 front bumper light assembly and rear bumper light assembly onto the BF Fairlane. Surely, it cann't be that hard ???

[MeestaNob!]

Yep, if Ford wont have a real crack at it then axe it, no more half arsed Stretchmonts.

That said, I'd be shattered if the Orion Fairlane didnt happen.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by ea_silver_ghia

I take it you mean Fairlane, not Fairmont. A Fairmont basically looks like a Falcon with a little bit more chrome. I still like the BA-BF Fairlanes, but more does need to be done to differentiate them from the Falcons. And I reckon the AU Fairlanes actually look better now than what they did when they were new.

Yeah I meant Fairlane. When the fingers don't co-ordinate with the mind.

[jimmy_c]

Jeeze I hope not. I love seeing stretched lanes. they just suite it more than a statesman.

My next B series will hopefully be an LTD or Ghia. the early BA builds are POS... compared to the equv. stateman. bad wind noise, creaks and not enough toys to play with. !!!!!! although the green screen in the stato is a bit 1980s.

[Abacus]

I'm sure Ford would look at the broader picture before killing off the Fairlane, but here's my 2.2c (including GST) worth:

Since the demise of the Kingswood and the original Stateman, Ford has pretty much had the taxi and Australian built hire car market to itself.

Killing off the Fairlane leaves the Statesman as the only Australian built alternative in the hire car market. I wonder if this would open the door for the Commodore to make an impact in the taxi market. In particular, it would have to be an attractive thought for operators who run both taxis and hire cars.

With the Crown Vic on the way out, US law enforcement will be looking for a suitable replacement. A LHD Fairlane would fill the bill IMO.

Holden have done very well with with LWB models by exporting them to the Middle East. No reason why a LHD Fairlane could not be a proposition in that market.

I know the BF does not lend itself very well to LHD conversions, but I read somewhere that Orion was supposed to be LHD friendly? If so, there are more issues to consider than domestic LWB consumotion.

[Abacus]

Originally Posted by MYT

The Towncar/Crown Victoria model is being wound up too afaik

Like a said above, Ford Australia should be looking at the global opportunities this might create.

In the US, the Crown Vic is THE tool of choice for law enforcement. Since GM killed off the Caprice the Crown Vic has had this sizeable market pretty much to itself.

And the Town Car is extremely popular in the US hire car industry.

Maybe the production runs are too small for Ford US to bother with, but gee, substitute downspecced Fairlane/LTD for Crown Vic/Town Car and they would keep Ford Australia busy.

It would be interesting to see what the landed price of a stripped down Fairlane would be in the US.

[Fairlane]

Useless info, but the Town car has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any car in the US, lexus included.

[VZSS250]

With the introduction of the WM Caprice, the BF LTD is chopped liver. With half-hearted and bland design, small rims, weazy V8 and minimal chrome highlights, the LTD is dead weight on the Ford Australia catalogue.

Is the Ford LTD dead? In some ways I hope it does die because thats what it deserves, but in other ways, I'd love this car to evolve into another 300C killer, the way the WM Caprice has managed to come in and mop the floor.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by VZSS250

With the introduction of the WM Caprice, the BF LTD is chopped liver. With half-hearted and bland design, small rims, weazy V8 and minimal chrome highlights, the LTD is dead weight on the Ford Australia catalogue.

Is the Ford LTD dead? In some ways I hope it does die because thats what it deserves, but in other ways, I'd love this car to evolve into another 300C killer, the way the WM Caprice has managed to come in and mop the floor.

Thats your opinion which is great but i think the WM series is the ugliest pos ive ever laid eyes on from Holden.

Their SWB calais shits all over the Statesmen, id buy a runout before the new one!

[blackahcdx]

you obviously haven't seen a new WM in the flesh then. Boy those things are H O T, especially the Caprice, and a credit to Holden.

But each to his own

It's a shame if ford do kill off the LWB's :(

[Ryan]

Damn and I wanted FPV, to do a suped up Fairlane, to compete with the Grange. :(

[T3ts50]

Originally Posted by blackahcdx

you obviously haven't seen a new WM in the flesh then. Boy those things are H O T, especially the Caprice, and a credit to Holden.

But each to his own

It's a shame if ford do kill off the LWB's :(

Id have to agree with Lsterritoryghia. Saw a stato yesterday, the new calais s*it all over it. It looks to chunky espicially at the front.

Didnt Tom Gorman say the next Fairlane/Ltd would have a lot more differentation to the next falcon/fairmont, or has gone off that idea.

[Bossxr8]

They are looking at exporting to the Middle East to replace the soon to be discountinued Lincoln. Only when an export market is found will the LWB versions be considered. Unless that happens they won't survive. At this stage there will be no LWB.

[outback_ute]

I disagree, I don't think the LWB is dead yet judging by some comments I heard recently. I think there would be potential for RHD exports too, eg to the UK where some already go.

[Iphido]

As far as I know there is no replacement for the LWB cars designed for Orion. So I would doubt they will appear in that generation.

So most likely will not reappear until 2018?

However Ford could do a bit of aurion effort. Use the SWB car possibly with diffrent rear/front sheet metal and some interior appointments. Ford has made several press releases that hint this is the direction.

Personally I think it could still be viable if done correctly. Space was really the only draw card of the BA lanes and LTD. And it wasn't much bigger, inside, did not improve rear seat access and looked a little droopy and mismatched from the outside.

-Slightly higher roof (~ 10mm) with sunroof or glass opening front and rear like european cars. Provide much more airy cabin, and cabin space.
-Unique cushions and leather
-Larger boot
-Unqiue front bumper and head lights (simular to XR in they use same sheet metal but diffrent style).
-Xenons and LED lighting inside and out with use of fiber optics
-Cushion tilt, slide for rear passengers
-Rear table for rear passengers
-Cooled/heated cup holders front and rear
-Rear TFT screens with DVD
-Real wood inserts, machined and polished, with stains.
-Diffrent switch gear (colours or details or styling)
-Improved audio (400w)
-Improved NVH
-Use of light weight components. (perhaps plastic front guards, rear guards like BMW's, maybe carbon fiber boot).

Competitive pricing and decent advertising and ownership benifits.

That would be a awesome package, and would find its niche against the huge Statesman/caprice.