A 1978 Fairmont Futura heralds Ford milestone in U.S.

The 100 millionth Ford built in the U.S. -- a two-door Fairmont Futura -- rolled off the line at the company's Mahwah, N.J., assembly plant on Nov. 15, 1977.

The historic cream-and-gold 1978 Fairmont Futura went on a national tour to mark the milestone, with stops in Detroit and other U.S. cities.

The Fairmont series was introduced at the beginning of the 1978 model year to replace the discontinued Maverick and was built through 1983. Lincoln-Mercury dealers sold a version of the Fairmont called the Mercury Zephyr.

The Fairmont marked the rollout of Ford's Fox body, which became the platform adopted for the Mustang, Thunderbird and other Ford cars. The Fox body was a light and compact rear-wheel-drive platform designed to reduce weight and improve fuel economy.

Ford offered four Fairmont bodies: a four-door sedan, a two-door sedan, a five-door station wagon and the sporty two-door Futura.

The Fairmont marked a new design direction for Ford and much of the auto industry: The basic four-door and two-door sedan with boxy styling and formal roofline was ahead of its time.

Chrysler successfully copied the Fairmont sedan's boxy styling on the first-generation K cars a few years later.

But where Ford diverged from rivals was with the Fairmont's ultrashrunken rwd Fox body platform.

The success of the Fairmont didn't guarantee the future of the Mahwah factory, the biggest vehicle assembly plant in the U.S. when it opened in 1955.

On June 20, 1980, a two-door, cream-and-tan-colored Fairmont Futura became the last of 6 million vehicles to roll off the Mahwah assembly line as the plant was closed.

Ford cited declining demand for small and midsize cars and subpar quality for the decision to shutter the 25-year-old factory.

The closing inspired a 1982 Bruce Springsteen song, "Johnny 99," about an auto worker who gets laid off from the Mahwah plant and shoots and kills a night clerk while drunk and distraught.