6. Ford Fairlane NA to DL

1988-1999 FROM $3000

It’s no surprise that the earliest (1967-’72 ZA-ZD) versions of Australia’s first successful locally-developed luxury car regularly breach $60K, while the final Fairlanes – ’02 BA to the ’07 BF swansong – are approaching $40K in mint condition. The same applies now to the ’72 XA Falcon-based ZF and ’79 XD derived ZJ generations (along with the flagship LTD from mid ’73 onwards) that ran until ’88; with variants like the Town Car, Marquis and Cartier, these represent the big Ford’s golden years. So, why are the values of the NA/NC/NF/NL Fairlanes and corresponding DA/DC/DF/DL LTDs that followed still so soft? Sure, they’re stretched EA-EL Falcons, but they’re nonetheless streets ahead of their ponderous predecessors, offering far-quieter bodies, improved suspension, sharper steering, greater comfort and more safety to go with their confident and uniquely Australian styling that nowadays seems to look better than ever. From late ’91 NC/DC onwards the V8 returned (it disappeared mid-ZK in ’83), and these start closer to $10K, but remain undervalued comparative to what went before, while the cheaper injected inline sixes are currently conspicuously cheap luxury bargains. For now…