Thanks T3man and rayban76.
If you asked me 12 months ago about AU Fairmont wagons I would have given you a blank stare. But as they necessity is the mother of invention.
I had been driving my historic race car (a 1975 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT in case you're asking) to and from the track for almost ten years. I didn't always make it back (S&%t happens as they say!) but I prided myself on not needing a tow car. You see I got around in an original Honda Integra Type R.
Transporting the race car annually to the Phillip Island Classic required some logistical skill, but there were enough Alfa punters doing the same to make it financially viable. Not this year - it was expensive and problematic. When I decided to travel to Queenland in July to race (Lakeside and Morgan Park) I bit the bullet and decided to buy a tow vehicle and borrow a friend's trailer. The common consensus for a cheap tow vehicle among the Alfa racer brigade was a Falcon wagon with the AU2 being the best bet for features as well as price.
So I started looking and stumbled on a two owner Liquid Silver AU2 Fairmont wagon. I wasn't really looking for a Fairmont, but it was there in reasonable condition and it got the thumbs up from my mechanic. We gave it a thorough going over including transmission service and separate transmission oil cooler and towed the Alfa to Queensland and back and it didn't miss a beat.
Since then I've spent a bit of time and money fixing things and improving the car, but I felt that it would never be a great car condition-wise and it wasn't worth spending a lot of $$ on it.
I came across the Fairmont AUIII V8 wagon on ebay and wasn't looking at buying it, but as the price came down it started to look more attractive and it had some of the features - Momo wheel and T-Bar the, warm charcoal interior that I really liked. Also I had never owned a V8 and I promised myself that one day I would, even though a lot of people believe that the I6 is a better tow vehicle.
So I went and looked at this 2 owner AUIII V8 and it was in much better condition than my AU2 and it had plenty of extras that I could either sell or keep - like Pacemaker extractors and a Hayman Reece heavy duty tow pack with electric brake, etc.
Plus I knew they were rare - mine was built in December 2001, so would be one of a handful of 2001 AUIII V8s built. Michael at Ford was able to tell me of it's history (I did have the log book) and that the only Factory Option was #42, a High Capacity Cooling System. I beliieve the Tow Pack and cargo barrier were fitted by Bayford of Coburg, Vic.
The AUIII V8 needs a good service plus sorting out of the
ABS/Traction Control and the 6 CD stacker and a few other minor things, but it's a great carg and $50K cheaper than its modern day equivalent - the Commodore SS Sportswagon. I love it, and yes, I still have my original (2001) Integra Type R that I've owned since new...
Paul