Ford Fairlane ZJ and FC LTD Launch Review

ZJ Fairlane and FC LTD at Launch

There was no denying that, by the late 1970s, the Europeans were setting the benchmark in automotive quality, road holding and comfort. It could be argued the Japanese had their measure in the reliability stakes – but Japanese manufactured cars were yet to become aspirational. Prior to the XD Falcon, the big Ford’s had an American look to them – but with the "Blackwoods" came a set of European-style clothes. The ZJ Fairlane and FC LTD followed the XD's lead by being smaller, roomier and lighter than the cars they replaced. Both are aimed at winning sales from imported luxury Europeans, with Volvo and Mercedes-Benz the prime targets.

The new Fairlane went on sale on May 30 1979, while the LTD hit the showrooms on June 27. The Fairlane's main competitor - apart from its traditional Holden rival, the Statesman de Ville – was not from Germany – but rather from Sweden – at the time Volvo was the clear sales leader in the semi-luxury class. The LTD was after some of the healthy sales commanded by Mercedes-Benz in the upper-luxury market, as well as strengthening its traditional sales against Holden's Statesman Caprice. Ford promoted the Fairlane and LTD on value-for-money, hitting the imports where it hurt most: the buyer's hip pocket. There was only one model of each - the Fairlane Marquis and LTD Silver Monarch were axed for the ZJ models.

Sharing The Same Dimensions

For the first time, the Fairlane and LTD shared the same body and dimensions. The difference was in styling and equipment levels. However, despite a big reduction in overall size, the LTD flagship was slightly roomier inside, except for a small reduction in rear leg room. The Fairlane and LTD were based on the XD Falcon, both built on the Falcon wagon's 2946 mm wheelbase and, with extra rear overhang, were 223 mm longer than the Falcon sedan. The extra length of the cars was behind the B-pillar door post. Because of the extended floorpan, the C-pillar was thicker, the rear quarter panels longer and the rear axle was moved back. The doors, however, were the same as those used on the XD.

The rear of the roof was slightly higher than on the Falcon because it was squared off. The boot and fuel tank were also bigger because of an additional 96 mm rear overhang. Forward of the B-pillar, both Fairlane and LTD were straight XD, structurally. Sheet-metal changes resulted in new front fender, grille opening panel, bonnet, rear quarter panel and boot-lid pressings. Slight changes were made to the RIM bumper bars to fit the new panels. The most obvious difference between the Fairlane/LTD and XD bodies was the extra side window in the C-pillar, but other styling changes that distinguished the luxury Fords were revised grilles and tail-lights. The LTD retained the XD's rectangular headlights, while the Fairlane had four square quartz-halogen units. The LTD's C-pillar windows were covered by angled louvres.

A Mercedes with a Ford Badge?

The LTD's grille had the same vertical bar styling of the old P6 model, but its profile was lower to blend in with the sloping nose of the new car. As well as the grille, the LTD's tail-lights was different from the Fairlane's - they showed up as black in daylight. Ford had delved into the science of optics to achieve this "illusion". In daylight, the colour of the lamp lens was hidden by a series of black grooves. However, when light from the globes inside hit the lens, it was optically bent so that the lamps functioned normally. Despite a lot more chrome trimming than on the XD, both the Fairlane and LTD had clean, European looks. Indeed, there was more than a passing resemblance to the larger, luxury Mercedes-Benz models from some angles.

Inside, a new dashboard was used in both models. The instrument binnacle was wider than in the XD, with a vertical bank of warning lights up above the console. Instrument location was revised to suit the new design. And the dashboard was colour-keyed to the interior - not all black, as was the case on the XD. Extra sound insulation was fitted to both cars, which, along with softer spring and shock-absorber settings and thinner front and rear anti-roll bars, gave both models a much quieter and softer ride than the Fairmont Ghia. The rear anti-roll bar was new- in fact the ZJ model Fairlane and LTD were the first to be fitted with one!  At the time Ford engineers claimed the cars could handle "nearly as well as the XD" despite the softer suspension.

Both were significantly smaller externally and much lighter than the old models, benefitting from the same weight-reduction campaign used on the XD. The LTD was 342 mm shorter, 92 mm slimmer and 172 kg lighter than the P6. Slight gains in front and rear headroom and front legroom were made, while rear legroom was reduced by about 13 mm. Luggage space was also slightly reduced, though the capacity of the plastic fuel tank was up from 79.4 to 80 litres.

Behind The Wheel

The turning circle had been made tighter at 12.3 metres - the P6 LTD  was 13 metres. Despite going down from a 3073 mm wheelbase to 2946 mm, Ford was able to squeeze extra room into the inside of the FC LTD that helped offset the visual impression of the car being much smaller overall. The Fairlane shared the LTD's dimensions. It was 155 mm shorter than the ZH, and 92 mm slimmer and 86 kg lighter. There was a big bonus in legroom over the old model, however -  up by 91 mm. The plush seats in the Fairlane and LTD were based on the XD seat design, but were wider, had thicker padding, and the seat cushion was larger. The see-through head restraints on the front seats were retained, though they were hidden on both cars by padded filler panels.

The LTD had rear-seat head restraints that incorporated the rear radio/stereo cassette speakers in panels behind them. The Fairlane's standard power train was the 4.9-litre V8 with three-speed T-bar automatic transmission. The 5.8-litre V8 - standard on the LTD - was optional. Both came with four-wheel disc brakes and steel-belted radials. Steel wheels and ER70H x 14 tyres were fitted to the Fairlane, while the LTD had alloy wheels and Michelin XVS tyres. LTD owners were surrounded by leather trim, while Fairlane owners had to "rough it" with cloth trimming (but leather is optional). Both had carpeted boots, with the LTD getting an added touch of luxury with carpet on the rear parcel shelf. A remote-control boot release lever down beside the driver's seat was standard on the LTD.

As well as the dash, the LTD's twin-spoke steering wheel (from the Ghia) and centre console were also colour-keyed to the interior. Full instrumentation was standard on the LTD, including a tachometer. The Fairlane did not have a tachometer, but otherwise it had comprehensive instrumentation. Other LTD features were an AM/FM Multiplex radio-stereo cassette, power antenna, a new central door-locking system, both left and right-hand remote-control exterior mirrors, power seat adjustment and power windows. In comparison, the Fairlane only had a driver's-side remote-control mirror, press-button AM radio, a twin-spoke steering wheel that was not colour-keyed to the interior, and no power seat or windows, or central locking system. However, tinted glass all around and air-conditioning were standard on both the Fairlane and LTD.

Better Handling Than Ever Before

Despite the suspension of the Fairlane/LTD having softer settings than the XD Falcon, both luxury sedans handled well for big cars. These big Ford’s could keep up with their smaller Falcon brothers, perhaps because they had larger capacity engines, but also because of the weight and exterior dimension reductions which were even more significant than those achieved with the XD. Both cars, particularly the LTD, benefited enormously from the down-size and shed the image of “luxury barge” to become quite respectable road machines. Earlier LTD’s were sloppy through corners, with lots of body roll, however the ZJ LTD was much more stable and precise. The longer wheelbase gave a secure ride at highway speeds, and many road testers of the day felt the LTD was better on the open road than the XD – quite a feat! Ride comfort was excellent too, given Ford had embarked on an intensive programme aimed at isolating the occupants from mechanical and road noise, and also road irregularities.

Their efforts paid off, both Fairlane and LTD would run quietly and smoothly. Wind noise, which was a problem with early XDs, was almost eliminated, while on corrugated dirt roads the extra suppleness of the suspension made the luxury Fords less skittish than the Falcon. What made the ride quality even more astounding was that Ford had not given the LTD an independent rear end. Instead, the Ford engineers were able to achieve a ride and handling balance that was comparable with imported European luxury cars by implementing very clever suspension tuning.

Both cars looked stylish in the flesh, and to our mind were the equal of the best from Germany – or Sweden. Despite the external size reduction of both cars, interior room was massive. There was more than enough head and leg room for the tallest drivers and passengers, and space in the rear was little short of limousine proportions. Comfort was a by-word in both cars - the seats held you well even in hard cornering, yet they were wide and bulky in the luxury-car tradition. The driving position was improved over the XD by an increase in the rearward travel of the front seats, which meant the driver could achieve a proper relationship between their arm and leg positions.

The positioning of controls and instruments was designed to put most things within easy reach or easy sight of the driver. A 20 percent increase in glass area over the old models gave excellent all-round vision, particularly at the rear three-quarter position because of the extra C-pillar side window. However, all that glass meant that you really need the standard air-conditioning. Overall, the new Fairlane and LTD represented a bigger advance over the old American-look models than the XD Falcon was over the XC Falcon model.