We all knew it was doable, but that’s not the same as seeing it in steel (and plastic). waiohg posted this at the Cohort, and now we can savor the work of someone fulfilling their flight of imagination. Needs a new license plate, though.
From The Cohort: Merchero
– Posted on January 6, 2013
Ok, so the question burns: Is this just a Ford with a Merc front end, or is this a Merc with major body surgery?
Looks like it’s a ’77-’79 model with the smoothed-out rear quarters. The LTD II/Ranchero doors and fenders were borrowed from the earlier Montego, so this is a clean, easy swap.
That Mercury front end looks way too busy. Plus the hood scoops and bumper guards.do not help. All it’s missing is a front spoiler and a Starsky and Hutch stripe.
Photoshop?
This is pretty neat! If you hunt around a bit on the internet, you can find a ’70-’71 Ranchero that somebody grafted the nose of a Cyclone onto…IIRC it may have even had the hideaway headlights, hood scoop and the hockey-stick stripes down the side, like a Spoiler or GT…It was very nicely done
I was just thinking that would be a lot more interesting (to me, at least) than the one above.
i’d like it if it had a ’72 model nose & some other color than resale red.
Nice Montero! It even has cornering lights. The donor must have been a pretty dolled-up Montego.
If the hood is any indication, it came off of a Montego GT. I actually had to go to Google images to make sure that was the correct sheetmetal for a 1973. The cornering lights are a bit of a mystery to me. I don’t ever recall seeing them on a GT, but of course that doesn’t mean they weren’t an option.
OTOH, the Cougar XR-7 of the same time period would be more likely to have the cornering lights and almost be the exact same stamping. Mix and match if you will. I applaud the guy for being creative, but not my cup of meat. I’d really rather have the Montego GT the nose came from…
I really like the fastback 1972-73 Torino and Montego fastbacks, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the metal.
I own one,72 Torino fastback, unrestored and in excellent shape. It was purchased new by my Dad, and never seen a winter since day one. I have only seen one other in the past 20 years and it was a full restoration. I have seen a handfull of 4-doors and 2-door formals roofs. Mind you I live in an area that kills cars fast with salt. If these cars hadn’t been neutered with low compression engines, they’d probably be way more sought after than they are. Although, a Q-code will hold it’s own against most other 1972-73 cars in it’s class.
I too much prefer the fastback body to the Ranchero.
Sticking the Montego nose on the Ranchero probably eliminated about a foot of frontal overhang compared to the LTD II aircraft-carrier-length nose it came with.
Was a common thing to attach a fairlane front clip to Falcon utes I guess this is the US equivalent.
I have seen this done before, as others mentioned it’s a front end clip swap for a 77-70 LTD II. I have also seen it with a T-bird front end too. It’s not too bad looking, I’d take this over the ugly LTD II front end. The guy needs to cut his front springs though, the car is way too high on the front end (although the rear is jacked too).
yeah, it’s got the 4×4 stance going.
Actually an easy swap, did the same to a 78 Ranchero, they may have swapped fenders to get the cornering lights, I’m not sure if they were available on Rancheros. All that’s needed is the bumper, hood, nose, and front filler. Core support and fenders are the same on LTD II, Thunderbird, and Cougar. Putting on a Thunderbird nose does involve putting in all the vacuum plumbing and hardware if you want the hidden lights to work.
Cornering lights were available on the Ranchero, but I think they were rare. Here is one from the ’78 brochure shown on a Squire model, another rare option. Both of these were part of the ‘Brougham’ effect from the seventies.
Here’s a 1971 Ford Falclane – Kiwi ingenuity! The owner was selling it here last year. It’s a ’71 Australian Falcon ute with the front end (and interior) from a same-year Fairlane. There was some very vocal criticism in the Q&A on the auction, but the original Falcon parts were included with the sale in case the new owner wanted to change it back to a Falcon. Me, I liked it.
72-73 Montego GT fastback bodies were raced in NASCAR by David Pearson, prepared by Wood Bros. They then switched to ’75-76 Cougars; not as sporty looking.
Hi I am the owner and builder of the ranchero you see pictured above. It started its life out as a 79 ranchero. I decided I wanted to do something a bit different and I always liked the 73 Montego. Since the 79 ranchero follows all the montego body lines I thought this would make a nice swap. The car follows a complete Mercury theme down to all the badges on the car. The color is a GM med red garnet (not resale red as someone mentioned). Check out this link http://www.ranchero.us/forums/showthread.php?t=11391 and you can see what i did to make this happen. I have owned this car for over 23 years now (last 3 as a Montego) and it is a head scratcher (keep em guessing).