The Ford Fairmount walked so the Ford Maverick could run by today’s standards. But the Maverick then is very different than the Maverick now. Let’s explain.
The Ford Fairmont was introduced in 1978 as a replacement for the Maverick, which at the time was not the Ford we know right now. The Ford Maverick of the 1970’s was a compact car, not a truck, from 1970–1977. It was originally a two-door sedan with rear-wheel drive that was original to the Ford Falcon of the 60’s. The Maverick replaced the Falcon across a majority of the market. The Fairmont was one of the first Fords to have rear-drive Fox platform. This eventually made way for several other Ford models. The Fairmont would continue through 1983 with minimal change, until it was replaced by the Ford Tempo. But that’s enough about the old Maverick.
The Ford Fairmont debuted to awesome reviews that sung praises for the Fairmont's space efficient interior and the boxy exterior. There were 4 different body styles available on the Fairmount: a 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon, and a 2-door coupe that was colorfully called the Fairmont Futura, resurrecting a name that was used by the Falcon in the 1960’s. The Fairmont Futura featured an unusual two-piece vinyl roof with a central roof band that was similar to the contemporary Thunderbird. Styling included rectangular headlights, vertical parking lights by the headlights, and vertically sectioned taillights, The Futura had a different eggcrate grille with 4 rectangular headlights and parking lights underneath. The Futura had unique doors, roofline, and backseat. The top Ford Fairmount's were called Ghia and the wagons could have optional woodgrain side paneling as well. Drivetrain choices for the Fairmount were the standards that were also used in the Pinto and Mustang.
The Fairmount were instant hits, becoming worthy adversaries to the GM X-body that was also on the Chevrolet Nova as well as a Chrysler F-body, featured on the Dodge Aspen.
Eventually in the 80’s, the V8 option was now automatic-only for the Ford Fairmount. But the biggest news was the addition of a Futura sedan. This shared the coupe's quad headlight design but still had the sedan's body style. All other body styles were the same, but the 255 V8 was now reserved for police and taxi models only by the time the 80’s rolled around. Around this time, Chrysler debuted the all-new front wheel drive K-cars which made the older-style rear drive Fairmount look a bit larger and more outdated by comparison.
In 1982, the wagon body style was no longer offered as it now became a part of the Ford Granada line, which had been redesigned onto the Fox platform a year prior. The 2-and 4-door sedan and Futura coupe survived into the 1983 model year and was unchanged for its final year. The Fairmont would be replaced by the all-new front wheel drive Tempo for the 1984 model year.
The Ford Fairmount served its purpose when it came to Ford, and one could argue we wouldn’t have a lot of Ford cars today if it wasn’t for the Fairmount. It came out blazing initially with amazing sales, securing its place in the Ford automotive industry forever.