By Robert Emslie
Today is the rare and elusive Last Call post with a jump. Seeing the photo above, I know you’re going to make it.
WAT?
Oh…
Well, that sort of makes sense.
WAT?!
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image source: Imgur
Kamil Kaluski 
Jeff Glucker
OT: My pal started landed a position in sales at a specialty dealer and invited me and Bud over to check out the gig. Pretty much a candy store. He was showing a Boss to a customer so we wandered around the warehouse. E55, RS6, S4, M5, Vipers, GTRs, Z-cars, P-cars, BRZ… a lot of fun stuff. This is the kinda shop I'd have if I won the lottery.
<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/v/1084118_10151824162787853_1855493750_o.jpg?oh=cf8b19d92225b3abf552855870745738&oe=520546F4&__gda__=1376086982_0012ff56ee270b8cbc47bef20c1cd68e" width="400">
He had a modded STI on the lot and offered me the keys for a test drive.
In 2nd gear to the floor: wait, wait, BAM- all 4 tires spin and we're breaking the law. This may be as close to GroupB car as I'll ever drive. And that's how you make a Mustang GT feel slow.
Nice gig and showroom but I would need MOAR longroofs.
I bet they will. My buddy is a long time VW-Audi guy and likes the wagons.
Avant a ride when that happens.
(don't hurt me please)
Guy looks like a cartoon character.
So the Craigslist Crapshoot post earlier made me search for photos of Aussie Fairlanes and LTDs to illustrate that they shared the same wheel covers as some American Fords (see post: http://hooniverse.info/2013/08/07/craigslist-craps… ).
That search led me to Aussie Falcons/Fairmonts, and I happened to see a photo of a wagon and a part of it looked familiar to me. Sure enough, further investigation leads me to believe that Aussie XD/XE/XF Ford wagons shared the rear hatch with American Fox body wagons. All of the lines, curves, and cut outs appear to be the same. Probably 4 people in the world care about that, but I still find it neat.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Ford_Fairmont_wagon_rear.jpg" width="650/">
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Ford_Falcon_XE_Wagon_GL_rear.jpg" width="650/">
I care Scott, I care. 🙂
That's exactly the type of automotive trivia I love.
And now we just need to find that 4th person.
Hi!
Close, but not quite. Look at the distance between the bottom of the license housing and the bottom edge of the gate. A lot wider on the Fairmont.
That b/w photo is just too dark, this one shows that it really looks identical, IMHO:
<img src="http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/media/img/articles/fairmont-sidebar.jpg" width="596">
Yeah, if you use the lock cylinder as a reference, the distance appears to be the same.
It's very close, even down to the size of the license plate frame. Australian plates are generally not as tall as American plates and never quite fill the space properly (you can see this in the photo of the Falcon), so it may well be that you are right. Also, the photo of the Falcon shows a small rust spot near one of the window corners – very common on these Falcons as the rubber seal forms a water trap there. Is it the same on Fox body wagons? It would be interesting to run a tape measure across one of each to see what matches up.
Aussie plates (well, the older ones) are longer but not as tall as American plates, so they'd have to change the size of the license plate pocket to compensate. The Fox bodies have a body colored "barrier" between the reversing lights and the license plate (clearly shown on the race car above) whereas the Aussie cars don't – that would make sense since the Aussie plates are longer.
Yes, that rust spot is somewhat common on the Fox bodies too.
Pretty cool pick up Scott. Seeing pictures of old Falcon wagons is making me nostalgic, the coach of my cricket team growing up had a green XD wagon, I have many fond memories of getting lifts to and from games, with the space in the wagon easily containing all of the rather large cricket kitbags that we had.
It's mid-August, hopefully only 6 weeks to go before I can have a hit again!
My dad had an XD Fairmont Ghia when I was growing up, and I now own a Fox body LTD sedan. I wonder where I got the inspiration from? 🙂
******GRATUITOUS SELF PROMOTION************ THE FINAL SECONDS SATURDAYS OF 2013 THIS SATURDAY AT 9AM……. BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/secondSSaturdays/
I"M GOING!!1!
(Wait, maybe I shouldn't announce that… Might be better for attendance 😉
I'M GOING!
Wait, i don't think the spouse would approve the flight half way across the country for a few hours looking at cars…. Hey, racing! Got any cars racing? She'd go for that!!
Hmm.. The Monterey Historics are next weekend: http://www.mazdaraceway.com/rolex-monterey-motors…
In between now and then is most of the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance and satellite events. You could start off with Seconds Saturdays, spend a couple days in SF (not as much car stuff there, necessarily, but I understand there are other things to do). Then, rent a car, head down to Monterey and hit up the Concourse d'Elegance. Check out the Concourse d'LeMons and the Monterey Historic Races (Ok, Rolex paid money to rename them), and then figure out a way back to SFO.
Go book those tickets. I'll see you on Saturday. 😉