Pictured above is the first car I ever owned (and still do), a 1983 Ford Fairmont Futura 4 door sedan. I purchased her in 1991 for $1150 with 91,875 miles in Jacksonville, FL. She was my daily driver until 1997 when I purchased another vehicle as my daily driver, and then another in 2001. During those 6 years, I got the odometer up to over 35,000 miles watching it turn over twice. After that, I just drove her every once in a while to keep her running and to keep her miles down.

I had put a fair amount of money into upkeep and repairs, but that was far outweighed by her overall dependability. She never left me on the side of the road. She still ran and shifted smoothly, and still had a decent body and interior.

In those last years, I drove her less and less because of an extremely bad exhaust manifold leak that could not easily or cheaply be fixed. Then towards the very end she developed a valve knock. These Repair items coupled with thinning paint and rust forced me to make a financial as opposed to an emotional decision. I figured that it would cost less to purchase another Fairmont, as close to identical to mine as possible, for much less than it would cost to repair the '83.

Above is the "replacement" to my baby, a 1982 Ford Fairmont Futura 4 door Sedan. I purchased her on ebay from a dealer in New Jersey and had her shipped to me. The car cost me $1500 after shipping charges, which is still a lot less than repairs on the '83 would have been. She had just shy of 36,000 showing on the odometer when I took possession of her November 2004 which is interesting, because When I finally retired the '83 she showed 36,000 miles even.

The only differences between the two are the steering wheels, the roof, and rear window defroster. The '82 has a stationery two spoke steering wheel (the '83 has a tilt four spoke), the '82 has a vinyl roof (the '83 does not), and the '82 has a rear window defroster (the '83 does not). Other than that they are identical in paint and pinstripe and in interior, which is what I was looking for. In overall body and interior condition, the 1982 is in much better shape with less rust and dents and fading of the carpet and seat rips. I am very pleased to once again have a car that I can drive proudly.

I still have the '83 and intend to keep her for as long as I can if for no other reason than for parts. If ever I can afford to get her "restored" and running again, I will do so and have two running almost identical vehicles.