Terry Lanesbury

Car: Ford Fairmont XB 351 Hometown: Newcastle, NSW

What is it?

“It’s an XB Fairmont 351 auto. I had the GS stripes put on it but it’s not a GS. It was built up as a street cruiser; we’ve only just started using it for different stuff; we went up to Wellington a couple of the months ago for the drag races up there, and we came down here and had a crack at the MC Hammer Time sessions at the Muscle Car Masters. Doing these kinds of events, it’s just different from throwing them in a car show every weekend. At least we get to use them!”

When did you buy it?

“I’ve had this one for about four years.”

Why did you buy it?

“I’ve always had Falcons. I got out of them for a while, and then when I started to see how the prices were going up, it was getting to the point where if I didn’t get one soon they were going to be out of my price range. I found this one down in Penrith; it’s pretty much as is how I bought it, apart from the different motor I’ve put in it. The Globe wheels on it at the moment are just on for the weekend, because for this event it had to be period correct. I normally run a bigger wheel.”

Anything you’d like to add?

“This Falcon is lowered an inch and a half, but otherwise the suspension and brakes are as standard. The motor in it is not too ash, it’s got a bigger cam and had a bit of head work done, but for a big heavy car, it’s a lot of fun. The three-speed auto limits it a bit, but overall it goes really well. I think over the three days at the Muscle Car Masters, the only maintenance we had to do was x a heater hose which had popped off. And we weren’t babying it either, we brought the car down here to have a crack, and we certainly had a crack! I won’t be selling this car any time soon. I’ve waited too long to get another one, so I’ll be keeping this one. This is just my toy, not my daily drive; I’ve got a couple of other cars and I’ll sell them before I had to sell this.”