You just never know what kind of metal you’re going to encounter at these casual cruise-in events that have shot to prominence in recent years. Every now and then, you’ll unearth an absolute gem like this XT Fairmont, its crisp, white paint glowing in the morning sun.

First published in the December 2024 issue of Street Machine

A chat with the owner, Joey Stivaletta, and a pop of the bonnet reveals 408 cubes of very healthy Clevo, machined by the legendary Southside Engine Centre and built by Wayne Wooten. It’s a factory block that’s topped with CHI 3V heads and a dual-plane intake, ported and polished by A1 Hi Performance. Inside, it’s all forged, with SRP pistons, Scat crank and rods, and a Pavtek billet main girdle to make sure everything stays where it should.

The carby isn’t crazy – just a sweet 750 double-pumper from Quick Fuel Technology to get the fuel in – and a set of headers with two-inch primaries and three-inch collectors get the noise out via a twin three-inch exhaust system that drops down to 2.5 inches to get over the diff and out the back.

The mill punched out 536hp and 531lb-ft at the crank on the C&R Motorsport Developments dyno, and, with a fully manualised, reverse-pattern C4 built by Peter Veersma and an AllFast converter with 3800rpm stall and 3.5:1 gears, it’s a pretty entertaining combo.

With its unadorned exterior, this XT a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but that’s what Joey was after.
“I got the car about five years ago from South Australia,” he recalls. “It had a bit of rust in the rear window, the quarters, the torque boxes and the outer sills, but it had no rust in the floors. I did have a set of genuine door skins, so they went on as well. I just wanted it to look stock, lowered with a nice set of wheels.”

However, while it might look that way, it’s far from stock, and there are a lot of neat details that set it apart. Joey stripped the trim that runs along the top of the guards and doors, as well as the trim piece on the C-pillar. It’s also been de-badged, with the only adornments being the full-width Fairmont trim on the bootlid and the XY Fairmont emblem on the C-pillar.

Plenty of bodywork was carried out by Joey himself at home. He began his working life as a spray painter, and it seems he hasn’t lost the skills he learnt way back when, as he had no trouble getting the car ready for paint before the team at RPM Panel & Paint laid on the 2019 Ford Ranger White.

“I would get the panels ready at home and take them in to get painted, and then bring them home and store them,” he says. “Once the body was done and painted, I took the panels back to RPM and they put them back on.”

A close look in the engine bay shows how beautifully the brake lines have been run through the inside of the car using bulkhead fittings, rather than across the engine bay. Joey also did a custom job with the original fuel tank. While there’s now a fuel cell in the boot, there’s also what appears to be the stock tank underneath the car. It’s been modified with a recess to hide the Aeromotive fuel pump so you can’t see it from the rear.

The car’s not mini-tubbed, but Joey still managed to stuff a set of 15×8 Weld Magnums wrapped in 265/50R15 rubber under the back. Thanks to a narrowed nine-inch by Final Drive Engineering, the rims have a good amount of dish that makes them look wider. Up front is a set of 15×6 rims with 215/60R15 rubber – skinny enough to give it a bit of a stagger, but not so skinny you can’t pull the car up in a hurry.

Where the car really shines is in the interior, with Julian at Exclusive Marine Trimming & Upholstery doing a magnificent job in classing it up. The grey inserts work remarkably well against the coffee-coloured leather, and the woodgrain insert in the custom centre console matches the woodgrain on the dash. The finishing touch is the GT dash insert from Superoo Spares, which has been filled with Auto Meter gauges. Topped with the Grant three-spoke wood wheel, the XT’s cockpit offers that perfect mix of sport and luxury.

So, while it might look like a pretty clean and simple car at first glance, this XT really does drag you in with a bunch of neat details. It’s had a full rotisserie rebuild, and underneath is neat as a pin as well. Amazing what you’ll come across at your local car meet these days!

JOEY STIVALETTA
1968 FORD XT FAIRMONT

THANKS
Wayne Wooten for the engine; RPM Panel & Paint; Julian at Exclusive Marine Trimming & Upholstery; A1 Performance for all the performance parts; Superoo Spares for all the Falcon parts; Rory Smith for the electrical work.