Typically, showing cars is not a contact sport. As we are so often reminded, motor racing is dangerous, whereas getting your car judged at a show usually only risks your pride rather than your ride. But way back in 1992, Wayne Sloan and his XR Fairmont wagon weren’t so lucky when they attended the Goodguy Nationals in Shepparton. 

First published in the August 2026 issue of Street Machine

While in the queue for judging, the car in front of Wayne’s wagon was having some fine-tuning done under the bonnet, and slipped into reverse while the driver was giving it a particularly heavy serve of the right welly. The resulting collision took out the XR’s grille, bumper, radiator and radiator support, as well as pushing it backwards into a freshly completed Torana, causing some more damage to the rear bumper. While it could have been worse (and the Encouragement and Hard Luck awards Wayne received somewhat cushioned the blow), the Fairmont would spend the next 23 years off the road.

Wayne’s story with the wagon started a couple of years before that unfortunate day, when he and his girlfriend Sharon checked out the offerings at 500 Auto Auctions in Melbourne. Spying an XR Fairmont wagon in good nick and with a V8, the pair decided that they’d found what they were looking for, bought it and drove it home.

Wayne wasted no time in pulling the engine straight out for a refresh with a mild cam and four-barrel Holley, as was par for the course in the early 90s. The diff got a set of 3.9:1 gears, and a stall converter to match the cam was added. While the bodywork was in pretty good condition, the shell was stripped back and handed over to Alan Riley Smash Repairs to tend to the bits that needed attention, and a bug catcher scoop was fitted before the car was treated to a fresh coat of Contessa Gold, lifted from The General’s colour palette.

With that work completed, the XR took out the Top Wagon trophy at the 1991 Yokohama Performance Car Shootout at Winton and was an entrant at Street Machine Summernats in 1992 – its last show before the ill-fated Shepparton visit.

As devastating as the accident was, it did afford Wayne the opportunity to change the colour and do things in a little more detail. The repairs to the damaged bits were taken care of by Alan Riley Smash Repairs and Graeme Dosser Panels, and painted in striking blue-green Everglade by Billy Webb in Benalla.

Meanwhile, Wayne’s skills as a diesel mechanic came in handy as he turned his hand to working on a new donk for the wagon, which it still runs today. The 289ci Windsor boasts forged pistons, a Melling oil pump and High Energy sump, and is topped by a Weiand tunnel ram – exactly the sort of go-fast bits that were the hotness back in 1993. Once assembled, the combo was wrapped up and put into storage alongside the wagon, and that’s about where progress stalled. House renovations became the priority for Wayne, and the wagon only got looked at every now and then.

Fast-forward to July 2015 and Wayne, now a FIFO worker, was spending a week at home after two weeks on shift when his partner told him she had a job for him to do. It turned out she had a big surprise – she’d entered the wagon in Street Machine Summernats 29, which at the time was just six months away! She figured it was just the push Wayne needed to blow the dust off the XR and get it sorted once and for all.

One of the great things about the car scene is that the basics still hold you in good stead. Despite all the changes and developments in the automotive landscape over the years, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel; just because you pressed pause on your build a quarter-century ago doesn’t mean that you can’t finish things off along the lines you originally planned and still get a result that will turn plenty of heads. So, it was all hands on deck as Wayne enlisted the help of a small army of friends to get to work piecing the wagon back together. 

By September, progress was coming along well, but that was all about to change. Wayne’s homegrown donk was fitted to the bay and started up for the initial cam break-in, but the high heat of the exhaust caused the paint in the engine bay to start blistering. 

Discouraged but not defeated, the crew pulled the donk back out and got the paint in the engine bay sorted before getting the wagon back together by Christmas time. After a busy six months, Wayne had the wagon deemed roadworthy and got it registered just a couple of days before Summernats 29.

Wayne’s patience and hard graft over more than two decades was quickly rewarded. On its first appearance at the ’Nats since 1992, the XR placed in the Top 60 and took out Top Wagon in the Elite class, and it continued to claim plenty of top gongs in subsequent ’Nats appearances.

The XR’s numerous accolades affirm the quality and timeless appeal of a build done right, no matter when it was started. Not that Wayne and Sharon are resting on their laurels. Another wagon is up next – this time Sharon’s HG – and an HK Brougham is on the list after that. Hopefully both projects will have less interruptions this time around! 

WAYNE SLOAN
1967 FORD XR FAIRMONT WAGON

THANKS
Grant Manning; Jason Snoodyk; Jayden Snoodyk; Troy Snoodyk; Brandon Snoodyk; Bruce Howie; Dosser Panels; my partner Sharon