Ford Fairlane 500 - Perfection from the assembly line in 1959 (Test)
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Summary
The 1959 Ford Fairlane 500, a mid-range vehicle in the USA, but a luxury class vehicle in Germany, was available to the magazine 'hobby' for a test. In this test, Günther Gebhardt refuted (most of) the prejudices about American vehicles that were circulating in Germany at the time. This report reproduces the original wording of the detailed test and is illustrated with the pictures used at the time.
This article contains the following chapters
- Test drive across Central Europe
- Prejudice 1 - high fuel consumption
- Prejudice 2 - American clunkers
- Prejudice 3 - inadequate road holding
- Prejudice 4 - unwieldiness
- Unobtrusive shape
- Full engine compartment
- Good acceleration times despite automatic transmission
- Top speed 172 km/h
- Luxury class in Europe, middle class in America
- Technical data
Estimated reading time: 8min
Preview (beginning of the article)
In the world of motoring, there are certain prejudices that simply cannot be eradicated. Only rarely does anyone take the trouble to check whether they have long since become outdated and obsolete. As far as the general view of the products of the American automotive industry is concerned, such prejudices persist with a particular tenacity. This is perhaps understandable when you consider that there are only a relatively select few in Europe who, with their hand on the wheel and their foot on the gas pedal, actually have the opportunity to make valid comparisons in practice. In Europe, the millions of 'road cruisers' produced every year are initially viewed with skepticism. The 'fat Americans' with their monstrous dimensions and horsepower figures by European standards are always smiled at with pity by many car fans in this country, or at best marveled at as unnatural excesses of exaggerated comfort and luxury.
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