1966 Ford Fairlane GTA Convertible

The 1966 Fairlane GTA convertible shared enough DNA with the humble Falcon that most buyers overlooked it, but a single letter separated it from ordinary Fairlanes. Ford’s redesigned 390-cubic-inch V8 delivered 335 horsepower standard on GT and GTA trims, with the A marking the automatic-equipped version. Fewer than 13,000 Fairlane convertibles were built that year, making genuine GTAs a rare and underappreciated find for collectors today.

This is a rare car indeed! These mid-sixties Fairlanes just couldn’t shake their close commonality with the Falcons of the same period…

Rare doesn’t always mean valuable, and valuable doesn’t always mean famous, the 1966 Fairlane GTA convertible manages to be all three while most collectors walk right past it. For years this car lived in the shadow of its cheaper sibling, the Falcon, sharing enough sheet metal and switchgear that casual buyers assumed it was just a dressed-up economy car. That assumption falls apart the moment you learn what Ford dropped under the hood for 1966: an all-new 390-cubic-inch V8 pumping out 335 horsepower, wearing a name that split hairs over a single letter. GT meant you rowed your own gears, GTA meant Ford‘s automatic did the work. Fewer than 13,000 Fairlane convertibles left the factory that year across the whole lineup, and even fewer wore the letters that mattered most. What exactly separated a genuine GTA from every other Fairlane rolling off the same line?

⚑ Featured Gear

Start Car Conversations →

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

One Letter, One Big Difference

Ford split its performance Fairlane lineup into two nearly identical badges for 1966: GT and GTA. Both meant the same 390-cubic-inch V8 came standard, part of the Fairlane 500XL series that also included a 2-door hardtop alongside the convertible. The only real difference was the transmission, choosing Ford‘s automatic instead of the manual gearbox turned a GT into a GTA, though the automatic still allowed drivers to shift manually through the gears when they wanted to.

The 390 That Redefined the Fairlane

For 1966, Ford gave the Fairlane an all-new unibody and spread the redesign across 13 different models, but the real story was under the hood. The 390-cubic-inch Thunderbird Special V8 got a modified cam, redesigned valve springs, a special carburetor, and a special distributor, pushing output to 335 horsepower and 427 pound-feet of torque, a new high-water mark for Fairlane performance. GT and GTA models wore the changes proudly, with bold triple racing stripes, nonfunctional hood vents displaying the engine’s displacement, and a blacked-out crossbar grille that set them apart from lesser Fairlanes at a glance.

That redesign also marked the first time Ford offered a genuine convertible in this generation of Fairlane, and with over 13,000 built across the lineup, genuine GTA convertibles remain a rare find, one that’s often priced well below better-known muscle cars with a fraction of the pedigree.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter