1987 Ford Fairmont XF Ghia review from Australia and New Zealand

Head gasket (common problem). Fixed at home for a cost of $60, thankfully no damage to the head.

Door handles, but spare parts are cheap as chips, and there is a sneaky way to reinforce the handles so they never break again.

Electric windows worn out. The plastic slip gear ends up being chewed out eventually; even newer cars will do this when they hit an old age. Once again, a lot of spare parts are available.

Someone ran into me at a car park! The radiator was banana'ed, bumper destroyed... and it still made the 200 km trip back home!

This car was fantastic. It carried me from Melbourne to Queensland twice on 40 degree plus days, 4 men inside, A/C on, and running on LPG and did it without even trying.

Great first car. Heaps of room for all your mates, or just you and your girl in the back seat ;)

The interior is hard to keep clean, especially being a light tan color (yuk), but all the gadgets make up for it. Seriously, the accessories this car has put my dad's new Commodore to shame. The XF Fairmont Ghia came with a touring computer stock from 1987 onwards.

Including:

- Live liters per 100km

- Average liters per 100km

- Exact fuel mileage left in the tank (much more accurate then the dash fuel gauge)

- Trip computer

- Clock (I know, no way right! Haha)

- Timer

And I few more things I can't think of right now.

Anyone will a slight mechanical knowledge can usual fix all their own problems. The car is pretty foolproof.

Handle like a tank through the city, and chews fuel. But on open roads you can't get better. It seems the faster you go, the better it handles.

I kept mine stock, but I have recently bought another Fairmont from Dubbo and towed it down on a car trailer with my XF. I have lowered the new one, tinted windows, cut and polished the paint... and it looks mean!

Cheap car to buy, cheap to run (on LPG) and cheap to repair. And reliability is through the roof!

If only they made cars like that today.