First published in Street Machine’s Australia’s Toughest Fords #3, 2005

Calvin Heyden says of his XY Fairmont, “I didn’t want to go with the GT stripes and all that. Ford made a couple of thousand XY GTs and there are about 50,000 on the road now! I didn’t want to get into that.” Fair enough. You’d have to agree the results are pretty damn cool.

The way we see it, Calvin has created something Ford might have built back in the day: an executive express that looks tough without being lairy and with plenty of muscle in reserve, should needs be.

Hailing from Mackay in far north Queensland, Calvin started the project with a bog stock XY Fairmont, complete with 302 and column-shift auto, way back in 1987. “I bought the car for my honeymoon. When we got back I decided it was worth doing up,” he smiles.

The base car was in need of lots of love, but was no basket case. “The UV is pretty bad up here, so paint jobs tend to suffer, but unless you live near the beach, it’s pretty good for rust.” Even so, Calvin bought a handful of XYs to use as parts cars – handy for finding elusive bits of trim, brackets and bolts.

On the outside, the XY has only those GT touches needed for practicality: an alloy shaker, GT mirrors and a lockable XB GT filler cap. Even the rims – seven-inch five-slotters from a ’69 Torino – are understated. Yet once you add Calvin’s VW Gold duco, perfect chrome and a nice, low stance, the result is one hell of a head turner!

Calvin stuck to the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ theme inside. Instead of the black GT trim, a full Fairmont trim looks better and stands out like the dog’s proverbials (Jim McGill did the stitchwork in tan vinyl with cloth inserts). For extra class, Calvin replaced the factory faux timber door inserts with the real thing, retaining the original ‘F’ script over the top. A woodgrain tiller was used to match, with a GT dash and shifter. The finishing touch is Allan Moffat’s signature on the glovebox lid.

Under the bonnet is enough grunt to dispatch a BA GT-P pilot into the weeds. Calvin’s mate Mario Torrisi from MCS Automotive Engineering performed spanner twirling duties and loaded the 351 Clevo with plenty of good gear, starting with a balanced 4MA crank, forged Speed Pro slugs and balanced GT conrods. Mario cleaned up a set of 4V heads, fitted Speed Pro single-groove valves, Iskedarian valve springs, Phase III pushrods and a set of roller rockers.

“Queensland racing legend Bill Mann provided a Phase III-style cam with slightly different duration,” Calvin says. Up top is a 780cfm vac sec Holley on an Edelbrock Torker manifold.

Mario added a high-volume Mellings oil pump and a 6.5-litre sump with baffles to make sure the big beast stays alive in those high-g situations.

Calvin’s never bothered to dyno the beast, but it has more than enough grunt to keep him happy. “It runs well on premium unleaded, but loves a mix of 50/50 with avgas… on the track, obviously!”

Backing up the Clevo is an ex-Phase III Toploader and a McLeod 11-inch clutch. Calvin loves the ’box. “It’s pretty notchy, but that’s the way they are supposed to be. We rebushed all the linkages and she shifts beautifully.” Out back is – no prizes for guessing – a nine-inch diff, complete with 28-spline axles and a 3.55:1 LSD.

Calvin went right through the suspension, powdercoating just about everything and adding Nolathane bushes and a brand new steering box. The brakes copped a much-needed upgrade, with 11-inch discs and aluminium calipers from an XE, matched to a set of big finned drums out back.

Calvin had the car built by 1992, and the fact that it made our eyes stick out on stalks at the Rockhampton Motor Show more than 10 years later is a testimony to both the build quality and the original vision. “We pretty much drove straight to Summernats,” says Calvin. “We had a ball and the only trouble we had was with a $20 condenser.” Since then, Calvin and his family have put about 15,000 miles on the car, attending shows all over the region.

Much to the chagrin of Calvin’s kids, the time has come for the GT to go, with its imminent sale funding the next build: a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang. The kids might be disappointed now, but we have the feeling they’ll forget all about the XY when the Mustang comes to life!

CALVIN HEYDEN
1971 FORD FAIRMONT XY