1980 Steve Holzhausen Fairmont

[David Bogard]

Wisconsin's Steve Holzhausen raced for a long time and always seemed to have a knack for keeping his car under him in long races and in good shape for the dash at the end. Almost always a Ford man, back in 1980 he campaigned a Ford Fairmont that was sharp looking and wicked fast. I am in the very early concept stages of building a tribute to that race car. So far I have cleaned up a little bit of the very old resin body, have started to straighten it (warped and twisted), and have begun to envision the modifications to attain the "look" of the real car. Very early but this one will need a little thought and planning ahead of time.

[Dirtman]

Got a good start on a great looking (and fast) car. Looking forward to seeing this one done!

Rett

[Brian Conn]

Man...it sure is great to see you building this...I cant recall seeing any Fairmont Futura builds anywhere except at Scott Popham's site http://www.futurattraction.com/index.html and this very well could be the first stock car build utilizing this body......at least from what I have seen. 
   That 440 engine (side of hood scoop) was a 351 Windsor stroker just in case you got some spare NASCAR kit Ford engines around.

  Looking forward to seeing you complete this one for sure    

[David Bogard]

Yep, I plan to use an old Ford NASCAR kit to get bearings underneath. The body lines and detail are pretty nice; I've just had it too long and it has warped in the garage heat. It will be a challenge but the results could be worth it!

[Brian Conn]

................ it has warped in the garage heat.........

  I had you figured as being the kind of man that would have central A/C in the garage as well 

[Bob P.]

Very interesting build, we had a local guy run a Fairmont body back in the day.

Bob

[David Bogard]

Funny Brian! A guy down the road from me has HVAC in his garage, along with a kitchenette, bathroom, big screen TV and that epoxy floor coating. He just had it built a year or so ago. Incidentally, I think the last time his wife saw him was about a year or so ago. Hmmm. . .

[Gary Davis]

WOW...that's a good looking Racecar. This is going to be really cool build when your finish it. I'm going to enjoy watching this come together.

[pdaly28]

................ it has warped in the garage heat.........

  I had you figured as being the kind of man that would have central A/C in the garage as well 

   Yikes!!!!I just got a roncoon wedge dlm body,and have 4 other kits in the garage I should bring in.I am in florence az where it has been 102-110 every day for the past month and 112 yesterday.I don't plan on working on this stuff until it cools down,maybe october!!

[BobD]

This is one sharp-looking race car....I'm sure you'll do this replica justice David!

[David Bogard]

Not stalled enthusiasm, just gotta wait until this "real feel" of 100 degrees stops here so I can get in my garage and on the bench.

[Brian Conn]

...If its any solace, the evenings and over nights are getting cooler up here in Kansas....66 degrees as I type this with the overnight lows forecast to be upper 50's - upper 60's for the next 7 to 10 days   This should be headed your way real soon

   

[David Bogard]

I am using an old AMT NASCAR kit for underpinnings and at the very least, this material needs to be removed.


Once that was removed I could get the frame under the car and begin to locate the wheelbase. I opened the rear wheel wells and although there will be much work on removing and rear well hump and building a flatter rear interior deck, the rear is set about right.

It's clear that I may have to shorten the front wheelbase a little as setting a tire in place where the front suspension will go on this frame appears to be too far froward. I will get the front suspension done and make the adjustments from there.

By then, my shirt was wet with sweat so I will continue a little at a time until the temps drop down!

[Maineboy]

David, you do a great job with these kinds of projects. The cars you build require a considerable amount of vision to be able to see what you want the finished product to be. I am looking forward to the day we see this finished and I love your photos of progress made along the way.

My dad bought a brand new Fairmont in 1978. It had the anemic 4 cyl motor in it. He bragged about the gas mileage. To make a long story short I ended up with the car eventually. By then the anemic 4 had gotten more anemic. Parking it with the manual trans in first gear would not hold it on a fair hill due to loss of compression. I sold it for $500 to someone who needed it more than I did.

I did not realize, until just a few years ago that the Fairmont was built on the same chassis as a Fox body Mustang. In the first picture of this car, the 1:1 race car, the Fox body shape is unmistakable. I did not like the real car I had. Sure would have run lots better with a Ford small block in it I bet. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry on the evolution of the Fox body at Ford Motor Co.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fox_platform

Great work, keep it up and share it with us.

MB

[TarheelRick]

Also looking forward to your masterful work on this build.  I have that very same picture along with another of his '63 (I think) Ford.  My introduction to FOMOCO was an '83 Fairmont four-door with six cylinder automatic. Have been a FORD FANatic ever since.