Ford Fairmont

The Ford Fairmont is a front-engine, rear-drive compact car, manufactured by Ford for model years 1978–1983 over a single generation, in two- and four-door sedan, wagon and coupe configurations — alongside its badge engineered Mercury variant, the Zephyr. As the successor of the Ford Maverick, the Fairmont was the third generation of compact sedans sold by Ford in North America, and in contrast to the Maverick, the Fairmont was a completely new design, no longer based on the Ford Falcon.

The inaugural model lines of the rear-wheel drive Ford Fox platform, the Fairmont and Zephyr formed the basis of twelve additional model lines for Ford and Lincoln-Mercury of which the last would remain in production through the 2004 model year. In contrast to its predecessor, the Fairmont was offered in four different body configurations.

Through its seven-year production across a single generation, the Fairmont/Zephyr was manufactured at numerous facilities across North America. The 100-millionth vehicle produced by Ford was a 1978 Fairmont Futura coupe, assembled on 15 November 1977. As Ford expanded its use of front-wheel drive across its model lines, the company replaced the Fairmont with the Ford Tempo for the 1984 model year.