Ford Fairmont: Classic Car Ads

Selling in the comfort zone.

1981 Ford Fairmont, blue — 1981 Ford Fairmont

Back in 1978, were you to ask a five-year old child to draw a car, he or she would likely—and quite accidentally—draw something that looked a lot like a Ford Fairmont. This is not because kids knew what a Fairmont was, but because the Fairmont was the single most anonymous-looking vehicle ever retailed in the U.S. by Ford.

I’ve written about the hubris of Seventies Ford Granada ads, ads that compared the small Ford to the likes of the Cadillac Seville, Volkswagen Rabbit, and even the Mercedes-Benz SLC sporty coupe. You can check those ads out here.

Ford took a very different tack with the Fairmont, which slotted below the Granada in the brand’s lineup. New for 1978, the Fairmont—along with it’s Mercury clone the Zephyr—was the first Ford model built on the maker’s Fox Body architecture. Compared to the dated Granada, the Fairmont was smaller outside, roomier inside, and was also significantly lighter.

The Fairmont was also, frankly, boring. And strangely, advertising for the car seem to reflect that reality. Offered as 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan, station wagon, and slightly rakish coupe, the Fairmont looked plain and simple, and that seemed OK with both Ford and the buying public.

The Fairmont hit showrooms during a period of global political unrest, high inflation, and rising fuel costs. And the new Ford’s dull but familiar profile appealed to shoppers tired of change and turmoil.

Though new, the Fairmont’s architecture was quite conventional. Ford did employ unibody construction, but the car featured rear-wheel drive, and, as noted above, conventional body types.

This was in contrast to General Motors’ new “X-Cars” which arrive early in 1979 as 1980 models. Every GM division but Cadillac received an X, including Chevrolet (Citation), Pontiac (Phoenix), Oldsmobile (Omega), and Buick (Skylark).

Compared to the Fairmont, the X Cars were radical, with strange body types, including a 4-door hatchback, front-wheel drive, and transverse-mounted engines. While the X Cars were ahead of their time, many shoppers weren’t ready for that much change.

Looking back, the Fairmont can be considered a half step between relics like the Granada, and paradigm changers like the Citation.

Ford sold a LOT of Fairmonts, a testament to the car’s approachable simplicity. Combined, the Fairmont and Zephyr racked up almost 1.6 million sales during the cars’ six-year run. So, yeah, the dull and boxy Fairmont may have looked like a child’s drawing, but it exactly met the needs of a lot of Americans during a turbulent time.