 THE interior is mostly stock...  THE interior is mostly stock and original, other than the Mustang steering wheel, the removal of all woodgrain, and the addition of necessary gauges. A T5 tranny is shifted by a Hurst shifter, with a custom "reversed" handle to get along with the bench seat. |
 Arguably, the most deceiving...  Arguably, the most deceiving aspect of the Futura is the car's weight. You'd expect it to be heavier than the smaller Mustangs, but you'd be wrong. Curb weight (with the 5.0 drivetrain) is only 2,800 pounds. Factory weight savings are everywhere. Bumpers look a little dull to you? It's because they're aluminum, front and back. Can you say sleeper? |
 The factory trunk lid shows...  The factory trunk lid shows the same attention to weight savings. Note how all the bracing has been "swiss-cheesed" by the factory. You'd think these Futuras were meant for A/FX racing. |
Jeff's mods included much needed 3.73 gears, and as a result, new tires were also soon needed. While the stock LX exhaust looked cool with the stainless tailpipes under the boxy Futura body, functionally it wasn't cutting it, so JBA shorty headers and a full custom 2.5-inch exhaust system were added, albeit with the loss of the cool LX tailpipes. The exhaust now exits the sides behind the rear tires, la the Fairmont. Jeff also upgraded the suspension by adding new springs, which gave the "sensible shoes" Fairmont a much more aggressive stance. Under the hood, he added a larger throttle body and mass air meter, March underdrive pulleys, a King Cobra clutch, and a B303 cam to liven things up.
When Paul obtained the car from Jeff in the spring of 2004, he also added some mods to make it his own. The interior was stripped of all the Fairmont woodgrain, giving it more of a performance look and less of the old-man's-car look. Auto Meter gauges monitor the critical variables, and a custom-made cowl induction hood was added.
Paul's Futura is truly a survivor of the mostly-extinct Fairmonts. It still has the original uphol-stery, paint, exterior chrome, and so on. The car is in excellent shape considering it's almost 30 years old. While not a daily driver for Paul, it does see regular street duty when the weather cooperates. With the Mustang innards, it acceler-ates, handles, and stops much better than a boxy car should, while still returning 26 mpg on the highway. It also fits the bill of sleeper, which is always cool.
Yet another important fact is the Futura's stellar performance, due in part to its surprisingly light weight. While you might expect the larger-than-Mustang Fairmont to bend the scales a bit more, you'd be dead wrong. The boxy car is a flyweight at only 2,800 pounds, including the Mustang organ transplants. You don't have to look far on the Futura to see the weight savings. From the aluminum bumpers to the lack of underhood bracing to the "swiss-cheesed" bracing in the trunk, the factory-engineered weight savings are everywhere. Apparently, Ford forgot these weight savings techniques on the later Mustangs, which somehow find places for almost 1,000 more pounds.
Although the car has yet to be raced, it will eventually find its way to a quarter-mile somewhere. In the meantime, Paul's goal is to continue with streetable mods in hopes of 300 rwhp. Never underestimate the power of what the future-or the Futura-will hold.