With completely new styling for 1966 the Fairlane was a Ford transformed—now it was a genuine contender in the intermediate class.

“How much can a car change in one year?” the ad writers asked. The 1966 Ford Fairlane featured a radically new design from front to rear, with lines and features that mirrored the full-sized Galaxies, including vertically stacked headlamps and rectangular tail lamps. Here was a larger and more grown-up car than previous Fairlanes, or so it would appear. But oddly enough, the wheelbase had grown only half an inch (to 116 in) and the overall length was nearly identical to the 1965 models.

According to Ford chief stylist L. David Ash, the Fairlane had been “put on the back burner” for a few years while the Ford Mustang was under development. But once the Mustang was ready for its spring 1964 launch, attention could now be turned to creating a new Fairlane for ’66. Ash was proud of the result. “You don’t always achieve overall excellence in a new design, but I think that in the 1966 Fairlane we did,” Ash told Tim Howley in the August 1993 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.

The unit-construction platform was a refinement on the basic Falcon/Fairlane system, with newly isolated torque boxes in the floor pan and larger front coil springs. Meanwhile, the front track was widened one inch to 58 inches and the space between the front spring towers was expanded two inches. Now the Fairlane could accommodate not only the usual assortment of inline sixes and small V8s, but the FE-series big-block V8 as well, though it was a tight fit. Anyone who’s serviced the spark plugs can attest to that.

The sole FE-series engine available in a standard production Fairlane for 1966 was a 390 cubic-inch V8 with a sportier camshaft, 10.5 compression ratio, and a Holley four-barrel carburetor, good for 335 hp. Optional on all Fairlanes, this V8 was standard in the Fairlane GT and GTA (automatic), Ford’s contribution to the growing muscle car category for ’66 with all the requisite badging, stripes, and features, including bucket seats, console, and floor shifter. Car Life magazine called the GTA “a genuine imitation” of the Pontiac GTO.

However, the Car Life editors weren’t totally impressed with the 390 CID V8, reporting that while the engine was pleasant and docile in normal driving, it ran out of steam and flattened out at 4,400 rpm. But to be fair, their GTA’s 0-60 mph time was a respectable 8.6 seconds and the quarter mile was covered in 15.4 seconds at 87 mph, pretty much on pace for an automatic-equipped muscle car that year. Ford did offer the mighty 427 CID R-code V8 with 425 advertised hp in the Fairlane, but only in a “Race Car Package” intended strictly for drag racing, and just 57 were produced.

The ’66 makeover was a success, transforming the Fairlane from a hybrid senior compact into a genuine contender in the intermediate class, competing against the Chevelle, Satellite and others. Volume climbed 41 percent over the previous year to more than 317,000 cars. Not surprisingly, the especially stylish two-door hardtops were the best sellers, accounting for more than a third of the total. The Fairlane package was continued for ’67 with only modest changes, then transformed again for 1968 with the Fairlane and Torino fastbacks.