WHEN WAS IT PARKED? And who owned it new?

For all 'barn finds', it seems the date it was parked is truly significant. I guess it is regarded as some sort of time warp vehicle, the more evidence of not being disturbed the better.

So what do I know about this car besides the statement of having been parked in the early 1970s?

First thing that happens when cleaning up is a search through all the dirt, rat shit and crap under the seats and in this ones case, in the seat. All sorts of things had been used to make the seat comfortable enough to sit on at some time in the cars life. Old clothes, newspapers,and a potato sack among them!

Now, I believe there is enough evidence to date it last being driven in mid 1975. Simply based on the youngest scrap of newspaper found stuffed in the seat, part of the Nhill Free Post (that cost 10c) dated
April 1975. The next youngest find were two receipts from a sort of Masonic Lodge dated 1972. This also has the names of two people, who are deceased and buried in the Nhill Cemetary it seems.

That this was a country car there is no doubt. Aside from the amount of soil in the car, there were a lot of wool bale clips in the boot, the boot lip looks very hammered and no doubt after the car was no longer pristine got used as a ute...after all the boot is very cavernous. Add to the collection of bits in the car, the unused shot gun cartridges and dog rego tags and you get farm car.

The next interesting proofs come from the body. Country Victoria roads in the 60s were likely dirt. That's what killed the first Falcon and gave ford massive headaches. The front and sides of the car are stone chip city, hundreds of them! No doubt from a life of following behind other vehicles. The underside is virtually sandblasted from gravel. The country roads have been harsh on the Fairlane, although it may have done low miles (9000 on the speedo...109,000? maybe) I think they were hard miles if the state of the rear shackles and other bushes are anything to go off.

Add to that the left hand rear leaf spring having snapped the main leaf and been arc welded back together. The fix also included a couple of layers of 3mm flat and twitching up with fencing wire...as is the steering idler arm. The left side park brake cable from the drum has been ripped off as well.

I hope to find pictures of it in the barn/ shed when it was first found, and try to put together more of its history. It has moved through at least two other hands since finding and being purchased by me.