- Here’s a big green V-8 Ford to burn on St. Patrick’s Day.
- Already rare for its W-code 427-cubic-inch V-8, this Fairlane is also said to be the only example ordered in 1967 with an even rarer drag package.
- With 410 horsepower, you’ll finally be able to catch those damn kids before they make off with your Lucky Charms.
There’s no better day to drive on the green than St. Patrick’s Day. Patrick, and no ordinary green car will do. Obviously you can’t have a Viper or a Cobra—Pat had some strong views about riding snakes, but not like this—and it would be nice to have a big back seat for all those leprechauns. good my charmdo we have transport for you
Select the day of the auction site Bring a Trailer (which as Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is a bit of a unicorn: a 1967 Ford Fairlane 500 with a W-code 427-cubic-inch V-8, a four-speed manual transmission and an ultra-rare drag package. Anointed by Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, this is just the machine to ride in the Boston parade and then put on a set of those Highway Max tires that produce green smoke and make a burn they can see all the way to Dublin.
A factory-ordered W-code Fairlane was rarer than a four-leaf clover in 1967, with only 11 produced. With a four-barrel single carburetor, this car’s output was rated at 410 horsepower, slightly less than the R-code engines. Imagine pulling up to the Mustang at a stoplight during the day in this plain Jane two-door, and then giving away a fight like you’ve got Notre Dame’s entire starting line under the hood.
Earlier, that’s exactly what this car did, albeit on the unrepentant legal drag strip. The only one of those W-coded Fairlane 500s ordered with the drag package, it was delivered to Dave Van Luke of Michigan. It was originally ordered as an R-coded car specifically for drag racing; the drag package deleted the radio and noise dampening material as a relief measure. Van Luke drove it on the street for 400 miles while he waited for the race parts to show up—obeying the speed limit faithfully, no doubt.
He then took it to the track, where it eventually won back-to-back NHRA Super Stock/B championships in 1970 and 1971. Photos show the car in race-ready form, livery and wearing thick drag radials wider than the River Shannon. It went down the strip in a respectable 10.9 seconds at 128 mph.
A 1990s restoration returned this Ford to factory trim, removing the piped rear end and returning the car to its relatively hallowed skinny-tire form—though the idle dryer bowling ball and 427 side badges are pretty obvious giveaways.
Still, speaking softly and making a lot of noise seems like exactly the kind of thing St. Patrick would approve of. Because this car is so rare, you might need a pot of gold to throw in the winning bid, so keep your eyes peeled this Sunday for one of the little people hiding in the fern. (Too much? Sorry.)
The auction ends on March 20.
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He grew up cracking his knuckles on British cars, came of age in the golden age of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machines, whether Walter Cronkite’s racing career or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift in a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to forever buy Hot Wheels.
