The 1970 Torino Fairlane 500

Car: Ford Torino Fairlane 500 2-Door Hardtop

Year: 1970

Where: Citrus County, Florida

The '68-'71 Torino was developed from the Fairlane, Ford decided on this name change as they believed a more aggressive name would appeal to drivers who had "outgrown" the pony-car. In 1970 Fairlane became a sub-series of the Torino, the base model being Fairlane 500 which was available as a 2-door and 4-door hardtop, a 4-door sedan or a station wagon. This model has the 351 V8, which was either good for 250 or 290 horsepower, depending on the carburettor configuration.

Ford had moved away from the boxy lines and the Ford Torino/Fairlane line was influenced by coke-bottle styling. A car with coke-bottle styling bears an overall body shape that resembled a glass coke-bottle, with outward curving fenders and a narrow centre. Another influence for the Torino line was was the aerodynamic shape of supersonic aircrafts, again narrow centres and bulging front and rear fenders.

This Ford Torino/Fairlane definitely caught my eye at this cars 'n' coffee cruise in, due to its loud colour and unique taillights but also because I had never seen one in person.

The 1970 Torino had a very distinctive rear, with the honeycomb design that stretched across the whole of the rear-end.