1969 Ford Fairlane

Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

9H36H173854

Gasoline

I hate to do it, but I've got my daughter's wedding to pay for. And it's the wrong time of year to sell a convertible, so the thousands I'm losing will be your gain. But here goes anyway... This is a two-an-a-half owner car. It belonged to an old lady who gave it to her grandson (I count that as 1 1/2), then I bought it from him three years ago. It has only 70,000 ORIGINAL miles. And the guy I bought it from was a mechanic and kept it in a garage, so it has been extremely well maintained. I have so much fun driving this thing that I went ahead and titled it as a daily driver rather than as an antique so that I wouldn't have to dodge cops when I felt like taking it for a drive to the grocery store or down the highway just for fun. She has 6 sets of seatbelts, so she can take your whole family on a ride in the country. And she has been on a bunch of 250 mile trips and drives like a champ. Here are the details: This Fairlane sports the popular, powerful and reliable 351 Windsor V-8 motor. No smoke, no leaks. Will spin the tires if you want. Automatic tranny shifts perfectly, and the fluid is nice and pink. I have absolutely no reservations about the drivetrain. I replaced the generator 300 miles ago. Power steering, AM radio and gauges all work great. (But the clock only works twice each day.) The convertible top is power-driven, and the motor and both lift cylinders were replaced last year. It has the original white top. The back window (glass, not plastic) is perfect, but the top is showing its age. No leaks, no rips, but it doesn't get as white as I'd like it to after cleaning, and some of seams are showing age. I'd replace it by the end of next season if I were you. The interior is nearly flawless. Black vinyl, no rips or tears. Brand new carpet. Custom floor mats. The only thing that's weak are the arm rests - a little cracking there. But would cost you nearly nothing to have them recovered. Glass is good and the windows go up and down fine but the driver's window tends to slide back on its track - probably just an adjustment. The paint is original and looks great from 20 feet, maybe even from 10 feet. But it's not as good as the pictures suggest. Some crazing here and there. She deserves a paint job, but as little as I drive it, and as decent as it looks, I never bothered. There is only one rust issue that I can find. There is a picture of that in the listing. The left rear quarter has a rust-through hole, and a patch panel should be welded in. Convertibles are notorious for this, since water drains down there. But the other three quarters and all of the rockers look great. The trunk is 110% solid. No rust at all. And when I took the old carpet out to replace it, I was thrilled to find that the floors are perfect. Absolutely NO rust. The frame is excellent. This is a very solid car. The chrome is, well, from 1969. Very presentable, no visible rust, but worn. Notice that I replaced the steel wheels with some Keystone mags. They're not in terrific shape, but they sure do look cool. I'll be glad to give you the original steel wheels and some hubcaps and wheelcovers if you want to go back to a stock look. Note to collectors: I have the original build sheet and bill of sale! Mr. Bowker bought this car on February 21, 1969 for a grand total of $3,166.08. No, you're not getting it that cheap this time! I'd be glad to have you come and see the car and take it for a drive. I live just off of Rt. 81 a few miles south of Harrisonburg, VA. Check my feedback... ask a straight question and you'll get a straight answer. You're on your own if you want to ship it, but I'd have no reservations about a fly-in and drive-home. I'm 90 minutes from Dulles, 15 minutes from SHD, and an hour from Charlottesville. And I wouldn't mind driving it a reasonable distance to meet you somewhere. Cash or certified check preferred. $1,000 deposit via PayPal within 24 hours, balance and pick up due in two weeks. Fair enough? As I said, this is a fun car. It turns heads everywhere it goes, and is a blast to drive. I'm gonna miss it, and so will my family. But I guess the blessed nuptials take precedence in this case, or at least so say my wife and daughter! Happy bidding!On Nov-03-10 at 22:27:23 PDT, seller added the following information: Some folks have asked why there are no pictures of the interior. I just didn't have any handy. Trust me, the interior is terrific. There is one tiny tear in the vinyl right where the driver's seat hinges and next to where the seat belt mounts to the floor, maybe the size of a quarter, but not in a place where it will get any worse. A little upholstery glue and it's fixed. I will try to post a pic of that right now. Other than that, I'd be hard pressed to find a single flaw in the interior. Seats and dash are like new. The front seat is a split bench. Each side folds forward to let folks into the back seat. The automatic shifter is on the column. I also walked around the car and looked in detail at all the rockers and quarter panels one more time. Other than that one that I have a picture of, that shows a rust-thru hole, they are unbelievably clean. No rust bubbles, not rust at all. You'll be quite pleased. Remember what I said about the paint... it's not as good as it looks in the pictures. Some crazing and cracking, the two worst places being the driver's door and the top of the right rear quarter panel. But it is quite presentable. And the bumpers... they look great except for the right front has a little surface rust. Other than that, they're probably much better than I represented them in the ad above! I have a number of folks calling and making offers. I dropped the buy it now price... you might want to jump on this one!