THINKIN' BIG TO small FORD?? ..HELP!

[Marcel Bluret]

Hi Folks, I have a 1995 EF FAIRMONT-(260,000klms) & its OK......hmmm.

However, I am also a 'Classic' Renault French-car collector & I only use the FORD for my wife's 'health-issues' during HOT summers.

She MUST have CHILLED, nah! ....FREEZING air-conditioning in QLD's summers coz soon as it gets to 32 degrees+ (due to a "Near-death-heatstroke-event" in 1998-she has a 'busted thermostat!), she gets REAL SICK - QUICK -SERIOUSLY!

So, my '70s Renaults do NOT have air-con & it would cost a fortune to "CHILL" one properly, which is why I have the EF FAIRMONT!

But I do NOT like it much, it is cramped, has a hard ride & compared to all the dozens of 1940s to 1975 FORDS that I was used to drive ...well, I'm not that impessed! :

I got it SO cheap, I could NOT refuse it as I had just BLOWN the headgasket on my ED FALCON-still got it-(123,000klms & over $1000 to fix!-NOT worth it!) :(also got that car SO cheap!).

I LOVED the FORDS of my youth but until 2006, I had NEVER driven, let alone owned any vehicle newer than 1977!
(NOT real keen on the post-1980 stuff!)

SO, while the EF FAIRMONT goes?....FINE- it has GREAT air-con! :

Yet, I know,(deep in my heart) ,haha!.. the headgasket will BLOW sometime & I realized the other day...I do NOT need a BIG car at all !

If it was an XR8 manual-yippee!..BUT ,really, all I need is an.......
"ESKY ON WHEELS" ! :

My wife hardly goes out at all-(doctors,etc,),so I only need a manual 2-door 4 cylinder car for her transportation ...so?.. Ford = ESKY ON WHEELS"!

PROBLEM ; WHICH CAR???????? :
As I sorta ignored 'new' cars during the 1980s to now, I have NO clue which small FORD 2 dr-hatch to buy? (It can have 4 doors if it is the 'right' car).

MOST IMPORTANT....it MUST have excellent AIR-CON, have a manual gearbox & be VERY CHEAP!
As I'm on carer pension, over 50, busy looking after wife & also meself=(hadda "Hard-Life!" ha ha) & paying off a house ..again (!), the $$$ are tight!

I am not a great mechanic but can do a lotta stuff myself and why waste $$ on a 4 litre FAIRMONT I don't even like much ?


Can you help me out - re; what models have the 'NEW' r134=AIR-CON-gas & what year these 'new' refrigerant-gas cars came out?

Should I get a LASER, FIESTA, FESTIVA, or what?
Which year & what are these models called?

Are they all-( : : :evil3 "EAST-WEST motor set-ups or are any "North-South" models ?
(I HATE working on "East/West" cars BUT I will if I have to!).

I have VERY low $ for such a car BUT I could maybe spend $1500 & no rego/RWC,etc, will be needed.

Paint, interior, dents, small rust is not a problem but MUST be mechanically sound with FREEZIN' AIR-CHILLIN'....Brrrrr!

Is there anywhere on THIS forum where I can follow the 'baby-Ford-car-range' ?
Cars that would fall within the category that came out with the "new" air-conditioning-gas-systems?

IF NOT?.. Can anyone bother to tell me the "WHOs WHO" of small FORDS?

ALL help GREATLY appreciated, many thanks, Marcel Bluret.