Ford Fairlane R-Code: a brutal muscle car that few people know about (13 photos + 1 video)

1966 was a watershed year for the Ford Fairlane: a new front end with two headlights located one above the other distinguished him from the others automotive brands. More importantly for muscle car fans, Ford has released a hot special version with a mysterious name R code.





Looking at Ford's position on American soil in sixties, that's what you can see. Ford dominated almost all types of professional motorsport, but not in the usual versions. For example, during the heyday of the muscle car class, there were such famous models like Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac GTO, Plymouth GTX, Dodge Charger and many others.

Even the Shelby version of the popular Mustang couldn't make up competition to the above models. Then Ford decided to introduce R-Code version of the popular Fairlane.



Fairlane is a relatively well-known model not only in America, but also in Australia, which debuted in its homeland in 1955 as the pinnacle of the model a number of Ford. It was named after the private estate of Henry Ford (Fair Lane) and in the early sixties became the first model of the company in called the middle category.





Prior to this, the brand offered only compact cars and large, so the Fairlane filled that gap. It could be ordered like coupe, sedan, station wagon, convertible and pickup and it is very good sold. Ford introduced the fifth generation in 1966, and for the first time there were added more powerful engines for street use.



First of all, this refers to the so-called Thunderbird V8 with a volume 6.4 liters, which was available in a version called GT or GTA if the customer chose an automatic transmission.

However, the Thunderbird V8 was borrowed from the coupe of the same name and designed exclusively for easy and comfortable long trips. Although he put out 335 hp, he still could not compete with the Chevelle, GTO, GTX and Charger.



There was no time to think, and Ford decided to equip the Fairlane with the best engine he could offer. His name was R-Code and he installed in almost every racing Ford, including the one on which was installed by the GT40 when it won the 24 Le Mans hour.



On paper, he developed 425 hp. and maximum torque 650 Nm with a working volume of 7 liters, although later tests showed that on in fact, this figure was closer to 500 hp. For comparison, large Chrysler Hemi engine, considered the holy grail of "muscular" vehicles had the same power, but the torque was only 14 Nm more.



The only additional transmission was a four-speed manual transmission that sent power to the rear wheels. According to factory data, acceleration from zero to 100 km / h took only 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 247 km/h.



A fact that was especially liked by all those who “gasoline flows through veins" lies in the fact that at first glance R-Code looked like any other Fairlane. Americans call this configuration "sleeper" or "sleepy" and it usually features cars that at first glance they look a bit boring, but with a big surprise in terms of mechanics.



Perhaps the only way to recognize it is the large hole in the hood, which is designed to cool a more powerful engine, and also because he just couldn't fit into the tiny Fairlane in some other way. Ford has previously offered lightweight materials such as like aluminum, glass and racing seats, but R-Code has none of that It was. Moreover, even the wheels and tires were identical to the six-cylinder models.



The key reason was that it was necessary to save on costs, since R-Code was already expensive, and that the owners were very fond of tuning their cars and rarely respected the factory specifications. Note that the only color offered was white.



Unfortunately this carthe mobile turned out to be too expensive for the average buyer, as it cost 4,502 US dollars (about 38,740 in today's money equivalent). In the mentioned year 1966 it was about 33% more than, say, what was asked for a Dodge Charger with famous Hemi engine.

It ended up being offered for just one year and only 57 were ordered. units. Most of the buyers were those who participated in motorsports, therefore, very few R-Lines have survived in their original state, and if you find a decent copy, then its cost is estimated at approximately at 200,000 dollars.



After that, Ford focused on a new version of the Mustang Shelby model. GT500, as well as a sports car called Torino. Like five decades ago, R-Code still attracts the attention of the wealthy buyers.