(^46) themotorhood.com
WILLIAM ‘WHAT’S THE
DEALS’ CHAPMAN
CAR CLUB: On a Roll
AGE: 46
OCCUPATION: Painter
PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: I’ve lost count of
how many cars I’ve owned — XY GT replicas, [a]
twin-turbo 347ci XF ute, [a] ’69 Chevelle SS 396,
two tubbed Capris, the list goes on
DREAM CAR: Probably this one
WHY THE FAIRMONT? I always wanted
something that was big, bad, tubbed, and
blown!
BUILD TIME: One year
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: 1.5 years
WILLY THANKS: First of all, I have to say chur to
Vance for selling me the coupe; my partner Lisa,
son David, and good friend Keith, for chipping in
here and there; most of all, a huge thank you to
Marty and Zoe Radford at Radford Ventures Ltd,
for basically turning a rolling body into a get-in,
turnkey dream car — they have worked on most
of my cars, and I would recommend them to
anyone; Wayne at Henderson Automotive, for
the engine machining; Alan at Als Blower Drives,
for the help and information
too crazy — enough to give the car the badass
pro-street attitude Willy always wanted but nothing
to draw its legality into question. The low-profile
Streetcatcher scoop certainly helps in that respect,
and Willy also went low with the rear, getting
the XB’s fat behind right down over the huge
15x15-inch Center Line Convo Pros. In the process,
the existing 31-inch tyres were swapped out for a
pair of 29x18.5-15 Mickey Thompsons — a subtle
change that makes a big difference.
Things are no less serious inside. Thanks to the
car’s previous life as a street and strip weapon, a
six-point roll cage had already been welded in,
and, while Willy’s not planning to go fast enough
to need it, it’s a welcome piece of his pro-street
puzzle. However, once he’s pretzelled himself
into the Recaro bucket seat, his forward view is
surprisingly reserved, with just the polished blower
and scoop, a trio of Auto Meter gauges, and the
B&M shifter providing any indication that the stock
Fairmont gauges are connected to a package far
more potent than the bigwigs at Ford Australia
could have dreamed of in 1974.
On the other side of that coin, it’s everything a
younger Willy Chapman wished for — the real
teller for a guy like him, though, is going to be how
long it takes for him to swing a deal and flick it off
like the countless other tough cars before it. We’ve
got a feeling that he might be keeping this one for
an uncharacteristically long time.
frankie
(Frankie)
#1