LONG TIME COMING

The couple decided they needed to find a new car that would suit both their tastes, something that would have the combination of good looks and power that Dennis and Dixie were after. They found that car when they found this ’63 Fairlane—appropriate, as the two had even dated back in 1963. Though the car was in excellent condition when they bought it, that condition didn’t stop them from tearing into the car in an attempt to make it better suited to their needs and preferences.

Scott’s Rod Shop, in Deland, Florida, started working on the suspension. The shop added a frame stub from Fat Man Fabrications that then allowed the builders to replace the stock front suspension with Mustang II-style components. Standard coil springs and shocks work just fine while keeping the cost to a minimum, and Mustang II-style discs with single-piston calipers provide the same functionality and low price. A pair of 17×7-inch Boyd Coddington Smoothie wheels wrapped in 215/45ZR17 Kumho tires fills the wheel wells in style.

Out back sits a 9-inch rearend from a ’76 full-sized Ford, narrowed 2 inches and fitted with 3.50 gears and a limited-slip differential. Coilover springs and ladder bars eliminate the original leaf springs and provide better traction and handling. The rear brakes, too, are discs, this time tucked inside 20×8.5-inch Smoothies and 295/40ZR20 rubber. The fuel tank is gone, replaced with a plastic race-style fuel cell in the trunk.

The Fat Man frame stub eliminated the Fairlane’s shock towers, making it easy to install a large engine under the hood. A 460 seemed like a natural choice, and though this ’79 model is internally stock, it features many external upgrades to make it a real hot rod powerplant. Working from the top down, the builders added a twin-tube air scoop to funnel air into the Barry Grant Demon 750 carb and the Edelbrock high-rise intake manifold. The Ford Racing valve covers are just for looks, but the MSD billet distributor adds looks and a strong ignition spark. Hooker headers channel the exhaust into Flowmaster mufflers to give the Fairlane that required big-block sound. The owners estimate that the car makes a conservative 375 hp, which is then channeled through a C6 automatic to the differential.

One piece of good news is that the Fairlane required very little bodywork in order to bring it to its present state. Among the only real changes made to the car were to alter the rear wheel wells to better accommodate the big rear tires. To that end, mini tubs replace the stock wheelhouses, and the builders stretched the wheel openings. Of course, the hood had to be cut as well to accommodate the air scoops poking out of the engine bay. The rest of the bodywork consisted of nothing more than prepping the car for paint, and it’s hard to imagine a color that would better suit this ’63 than the Flame Red it received. Even the black vinyl top works on this car, and all of the chrome and trim are still there, too.

The inside of this Fairlane is just as bright as the outside. The dash is painted to match the body and contains a ball-milled aluminum instrument cluster, itself containing six white-faced Dolphin gauges. In the center of the dash you’ll find a JVC stereo head, and below that lies the air-conditioning system. The shifter is a Promatic, and the steering wheel a Grant. Red vinyl upholstery covers the stock seats.

So, 44 years after Dennis and Dixie Gray first dated, they can still go out on Friday night in the sort of car they could have cruised when they were first dating. We’re not sure if that makes the pair young at heart, exactly, but it does mean they have an awesome ’63 Fairlane with plenty of style and big-block power—and they still get to take it out on a Friday night!