Colin Matheson bought his 1967 candy-apple-red Ford Fairlane convertible the year after it rolled off the assembly line. The 1967 model was the sixth generation of the car. It was the first generation 1955 Ford Fairlane that had its peak movie performance in offensive and forgotten comedian Andrew Dice Clay’s feature film debut in the 1990 movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. Clay is crude. The car, whether it’s a 1955 or 1967, is classic.
What’s the story of your car?
It had fewer than 5,000 miles on it when I bought it. I’ve had it for 50 years. The lines are beautiful. It’s a beautiful car from that era. It really represents those years and one of the most gorgeous cars that they produced.
Is this the first car you ever had in your life?
No, I had other cars, but this is the first decent car I had.
Did you ever expect to keep it this long?
No. What happened is my oldest boy got to be 16 and I let him drive it and he blew the head gasket one night. So I drove it into the garage and it sat for about 20 years. I found a guy in Port Alberni who restored cars and he only took one vehicle at a time. I just happened to be over there and he pulled into a gas station with this little hot rod that he had and I was over admiring it. I asked him who did all the work on it and he said, “That’s what I do. I work on cars.” So I said, “Are you interested in doing a ‘67 Fairlane because I have this thing sitting in my garage just deteriorating.” He said, “Yes.”
Have you had offers on it?
Yes I have. I don’t even want to tell you because you wouldn’t believe me. A salesman at a Ford dealership in Abbotsford was walking around looking at it and he said, “You want to sell your car?” I said, “No I don’t,” and he said, “Oh yeah, everything’s for sale.” I said, “Not this,” and he said, “Well if I was to offer you $50,000, I bet you’d sell it.” I said, “Not a chance.” He looked at me and then he made another offer; I won’t even tell you what it was. I stopped for a second and thought, ‘this guy’s crazy’ and then he looked at me and said, “I’m getting close aren’t I?” I said, “No you’re not.” It has sentimental value.
