(Hopefully) this doesn’t happen often, but if you asked me to visualize a 1970-1971 Torino convertible, I would have pictured…a hardtop. I simply can’t remember ever seeing a convertible Torino of this vintage, and it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with these cars; I worked at a Ford dealer in 1970-1971, and was very familiar with the product. But I never saw one. Even the brochure doesn’t show any pictures of one, except for a little line drawing on the last page. I might well have gone on thinking they didn’t exist, but now CC Cohort c5karl has enlightened me, and with a genuine Curbside Classic at that. It’s one of only 3,939 made that year, which could help explain its low profile. Still…
Maybe it’s because I’m not a big fan of these cars, and wasn’t looking with the right frame of mind. No; I actually like finding cars I don’t like. It’s just that they were trying so hard to look “new” despite their all-too-obvious 1968-1969 roots. Or older, actually.
I sort-of liked the ’68-’69 Torinos and thought the fastback actually worked reasonably well, considering its size. Of course, the windshield was a giveaway that they were merely re-skinned 66-’67 Fairlanes.
That very same windshield, which was used from 1966 through 1971, clearly indicates what was going on under the skin–and I’ll bet the top and side windows also would be interchangeable with the ’70-’71 models.
Reasonable enough, from Detroit’s point of view, but not so to the kid who’s easily suckered into believing that each different generation represented really “new” cars. I learned the windshield trick from Mopars of the “Forward Look” era, when the Imperial used the same windshield from 1957 through 1966. Back then, that was an eternity in car years, especially to a kid.
So when the 1970s appeared with their droopy, anteater snouts and bulging hips, I was sucked in…for about 90 seconds or so. OK, I’m being harsh; maybe 15 minutes.
Of course, the really big giveaway was the wagon. It was virtually unchanged from the 1966 Fairlane and Falcon wagons, save for the new and rather silly-looking front end. Interestingly enough, there’s also no picture of the wagon in the 1970 brochure; this one’s from the 1971 catalog, which also contains a picture of the convertible.
Here it is, perhaps in farewell as the very last of its kind, ever. Not that including it in the brochure helped; only 1,613 were sold in 1971–and good luck finding one of them on the street, especially with that laser streak.
Living proof that there was a convertible Torino for 1970. Maybe we should start a new category: Forgotten Classic. or Spaced-That-One Classic. And just how many other cars’ existence have I forgotten?
This is one of my favorite Fords. There is a perfect black GT Convertible with white bucket seat interior that runs around Danville, VA & it is amazing. I’ve only seen it on the move and it has Magnum 500 wheels and that “laser stripe” on it. The stripe itself has some strange reflective quality about it & about caused me to run off the road as I couldn’t stop staring at it.
I like the dog dish & trim ring combo that’s on the feature car better than the Magnums. Very clean & easy to keep that way. The hidden headlights work very well with the grid pattern on the hood scoop. I just love the proportions on this car. It reminds me very much of the ’69 Cougar, another one of my favorite cars. Gorgeous!
Those Ford Dishes and Trim Rings can do no wrong.
I have just come across a 70 4 door sedan with a factory 429 cj. It also has the nagular rear end. 70000 miles. Sittn in a barn
Did you pick up the 4-door with the 429 in it? If not send me an update.
Thanks
Mark
cyclonemachining@t6b.com
These are nice looking and a good restyle, I say. Also, the ‘Road Warrior” Aussie Falcons looked a lot like these Torinos, so these are classics to many.
They were styled at about the same time. The XA/XB Falcon was done by the Australian team in competition with the styling studio in Dearborn; the Australian designers flew to the U.S. for the summer to do it. So, while the Australian proposal won out, it still looked awfully Torino-like.
Does this body style look familiar? It should as it appears to be a copy of the 1969-70 Cougar! Given that the Cougar came out a year earlier, this appears to be a case of Ford “recyling” the body style.
I owned a 1967 XR-7 coupe (burgundy) , a 1969 XR-7 Convertible (black) and a 1973 XR-7 Coupe (yellow). The 1969 XR-7 remains a favorite in terms of overall design and size.
Here is the first of three pictures. Compare them to the pictures in the article of the the 1970-71 Torino.
Here is the second picture
Isn’t the Cougar a bit smaller than this Torino?
Yes, 69 was based off the Mustang with slightly larger wheelbase. But smaller than the 70 Torino. The 71 Mustang and Cougar were based off the 70 Torino/Montego……quite a bit larger, but not as heavy as some think.
That’s not true(though running gear and suspensions may differ). The Mustang/Cougar’s 71-73 chassis was still based off the 69/70 structure(which itself dated back to the original Falcon). The 71 just was the last of the cuts and pastes to it for the muscle Mustang.
The 66-71 intermediate (and 66-70-1/2 Falcon) structures were wider, used all new stampings, the most obvious differences being the frame rails, cowl structures, floor pans, shock towers, wheel wells… err, like I said, all new(for 66). When you pull a 71 grande down to the bones and a Torino down to the bones and the differences become quite apparent. The only similarities are in the front and rear suspension layouts.
Bravo to Ford for recycling the Cougar styling then. Whatever the origins, it’s a beautiful design. Too bad they cheaped out on the full width taillight though.
One of the things I love about this site is getting everyone’s respective “likes” and “dislikes” about each subject. Refreshingly, these opinions are often relatively well thought out and defended….Not just an “It sucks!” response.
Paul’s observation about the windshield frame is spot-on and I admit that I usually pick up on carry-over “hard points” like these pretty quickly…Sometimes, like with his example of the “Forward Look” mopars it’s all to obvious. I guess those bulging hips and droopy snout on the Torino destracted me! : )
I suppose that I should admit that I have a secret thing for the ’70-’71 Cyclones, especially with the hidden headlights. They are nowhere near as cohesive design-wise and actually rather ungainly from most angles, but as a boy I saw one with the deck-lid spoiler and a bit of a nose-down rake with oversized Cragar wheels and tires filling up the wheel wells, hidden headlamps, gun-sight snout and shaker hood scoop. The thing was all black inside and out and to this day I think it was the most sinister looking machine I have ever seen on the highway…The closest thing to an American “Mad Max” V8 Interceptor that I can imagine…It was my first case of automotive lust and I have coveted one ever since!
I have to also admit that I like this generation Torino and always have. I think the styling for the ’70-’71′s perfectly nailed the coke-bottle curves that so many other styling departments were striving for around this time.
I had two uncles that owned versions of the ’68-’69. One had a ’68 Torino fastback in red with white stripes, the other a ’69 Mercury Cyclone in pale yellow. As a kid I thought both of these were really sharp, but I was truely seduced by the ’70-’71′s. To my young eyes, the ’68-’69′s looked like door-stops in comparison. When the ’72′s came out I was stunned…Ford had lost the thread.
I’ve never seen a convertible Torino of this vintage in the metal (not surprising given the low production figures), but I had seen pictures of a few. I gotta admit that I like it…Now if I could just un-see that damn windshield frame…Dammit Paul! *grins*
I have to admit I didn’t know about the Torino convertible. Interesting car but I think the hard top looks better. The style is attractive and older mechanicals is much less of an issue as classic car than when they were new.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the 1970 Torino and 1969 Cougar convertibles.
I’ll take the Cougar!
I’ll take the Cougar as well, the 69 is my favorite pony car, not that I’d refuse a nice 70-71 Torino rag top.
I’ve thought they were similar too. But the interior of the Cougar, especially an XR-7 is so much nicer.
The interior of the 1969 Cougar was very nice. I think that it was the best of the 1967-73 Cougar series, especially in XR-7 form.
Considering that this was designed in the 1967-68 time frame, I think is still looks good.
Same here. Cougar all the way
Wow, when I was a kid I was all about Ford (I was sporting a Motorsport ski jacket in 6th grade!) and I never made the Cougar/Torino connection.
I love Cougars but I’d have to take the Torino. It has a deliciously evil look on it’s “Face”.
Avoiding retooling of the back end of Wagons is not that uncommon, with their lower volume it isn’t that cost effective to refresh all the sheet metal of the wagon as it is with the higher volume sedans. Ford kept doing that until they quit making station wagons. The most glaring example is the 2000 Taurus/Sables that kept their funky ovoid era rear ends despite removing all other instances of that design que.
And the 1977 LTD II/Cougar wagons had a 1972 Torino rear cargo area, for same reasons.
Also adding to the list, the 1982 Granada/Cougar wagons who had the 1978 Fairmont/Zephyr rear cargo area as well as the 1983-86 Fox-body LTD/Marquis wagons.
Comparing windshields is an excellent trick. For me, the way I always could tell if a car was “all new” or not was to check the wagon’s styling. If it looked like last year’s with this year’s front end grafted on, then it wasn’t all new.
It might be interesting to see how the decline in convertible sales correlated to geographic parts of the country. In the Baltimore area, with very humid summers and plenty of freeways, I hardly ever saw a new convertible at Towson Ford in the 1970-1971 period. I strongly suspect that the folks who could have (and once did) splurge on a rag top were over it by then already, thanks to common A/C.
Probably a different story in the coastal areas.
I’ve seen several in the SoCal area. I didn’t know they were that rare. A long time ago I tried out a blue on blue 70 Torino convertible with a 429 Thunderjet.
“Hey! You with the camera! Get off my lawn!”
Hey Clint,
I’ve got this ornery chair that needs a good talking to.
My father-in-law had a yellow on gold 1970 Torino 2-door hardtop. It was a rather plain car, with the small V8, automatic, and (I think) power steering. I did like the styling of it though – thought it was a good revision of that body shell.
That convertible is indeed rare – I don’t remember seeing one.
There is a illustrated pic of the Torino Squire and Fairlane wagon at the last page of the 1970 Fairlane/Torino brochure. However there is one picture of the mid-size Ford wagon in the 1970½ Falcon.
I had no idea these were so rare. When I was in grade school, there was a kid a year behind me whose dad was a doctor, I think. His mom would drop the two boys off every morning in a bright red 71 Torino convertible – complete with that yellow-to-red rainbow stripe. Those of us in the 5th grade were quite sure that it was the coolest car of any family in the school. It even out-cooled Mrs. Bordner’s light green 71 GTO hardtop. I suspect that the outcome of that vote might be different today.
They owned the car for several years. I have no idea what happened to it, it was long gone by the time we were in high school. Those things were absolutely horrible for rusting in northern Indiana.
I still like the lines of the 70-71 Torino. I will agree with someone above that the 68-69 was the ugly dog of the series, at least the coupes and sedans. Actually, I liked the 68-69 fastbacks quite a lot. It is amazing how sales of Fairlane/Torino convertibles plummeted from 1966-67 to 1970-71. But I guess that was happening all over.
I’d guess that Mustang convertibles took sales away from Torino ragtops, since they were nearly same size by 1971.
Things were changing. Buying habits were evolving. Note that there was a new Torino 4 door hardtop. They were all 4 door sedans previously. There was no base Fairlane/Torino convertible in 1970, only available in GT guise. The Torino was moving upmarket. That may have been the reason for the 70.5 Falcon….there was an imagined gap in the line-up.
Of course if you look at a 66 Ranchero (Falcon) it becomes a Fairlane in 67 with just a different front clip. While they may have still shared some of the old glass and top hats there were significant changes. A 429 is not an easy swap into the older body.
“…….. only 1,613 were sold in 1971–and good luck finding one of them on the street, especially with that laser streak.”
Here’s 71 for sale w/ Laser stripe
http://www.americanstreetmachines.com/xCars/PageId/11/Classic-Ford-1971-Torino-GT-Convertible-for-sale/Id/24/1971-Torino-GT-Convertible/ProdId/732/LId/0,24/1971-Torino-GT-Convertible.html#5289871TOR150189083.jpg
Here’s a 70 on Craigslist:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/3263935969.html
I must say, I have seen maybe 2 70/71 Torino convertibles in my lifetime and I thought for sure both of them were just well excecuted conversions with older Fairlane ragtops as doners. Funny thing is, what made me think that, was the bright 66-69 style windshield pillars! It never occurred to me the windshields were carried over on all of them until now.
Either way, carryover windshield and all, the 70 Torino is still one of my (few)favorite Ford designs of the late 60s/early 70s. Probably the first Ford intermediate I like better than GM’s or even Chrysler’s at the time actually.
Although this isn’t a ’70 Torino GT ragtop, THIS ONE is a rare one indeed! Screaming for a restoration . . . . appears (from what I could see through the tattered tarp) clean.
’70 Ford Torino GT 429 Cobra Jet! I’ll bet that shaker scoop is worth four figures alone (and there it sits unprotected in the Ewa Plain – Kapolei – salt air and intense sun).
More of the 429 Cobra Jet.
Damn that is SAD!
The shoes that poor car is being forced to wear are almost more of a travesty than the way it’s being “stored”.
Amen, brother.
Last Saturday, my wife and I needed to clear out some garage and office space, so we rented a huge storage box at the Kapolei Hawaii Self Storage. This is where I found the 429 CJ Torino GT. I asked the manager if the guy “storing” this ever defaults, to PLEASE call me immediately !!!
At least cover up that shaker air cleaner/scoop and protect it from the ravages of the Hawaiian sun and salt air (and volcanic fog or “vog” as of late coming up from the Big Island). A shit-can the Nissan 17′ers.
Set the Wayback Machine for 1975, I was stationed in central california. Driving past the Ford dealer in a small town, sitting in the front row was a RED Torino Convertible, with the gold laser stripe, white top, Cragar “Sparkle” mags, and big wide tires on the rear. I had to stop and look at it (outside the budget of an E3). Shaker hood, white bucket seats, 4 speed in the console, just a “WOW” kind of car. It was a 429, but I don’t remember if it was a SCJ or not. The salesman came over while I was looking at it, and we talked about it, and he said the magic words “Want to take it for a drive?”. HELL YES! tho I tried not to look too eager. He got the keys, and when I fired it up I noticed it had almost no gas, so he gave me $5 and told me to put some gas in at the station across the street. Then he stood back and let me drive it out all by my lonesome (trusting sort). I put the gas in, pulled out on the street, revved it up and dropped the clutch, and… nothing happened, no movement… wtf? Then I smelled rubber burning, looked in the mirror, and the rear of the car was billowing tire smoke, but no noise, other than the engine roaring. I shoved in the clutch, looked over and saw the salesman looking at me with a big smile on his face. I took off more sedately and drove it around for a half hour, with a few more quick launches on the side streets. I’m pretty sure I used up that $5 in gas. That was a gorgeous car, ultra clean. When I took it back the salesman was still smiling “Helluva car, ain’t it?” was his only comment. Needless to say, I’ve always liked that car.
Does the divided grill with the red rectangular badge in the middle of the ’71 wagon picture scream Oldsmobile to anyone else?
Perhaps another GM touch from Bunkie.
I detest fastbacks — always have. Yet, a ragtop turns this into a real beauty.
I’m convinced that there’s no model that can’t be salvaged — or improved by a convertible version. Would I buy the car in this photo were it not a droptop? No flipping way.
Audi TT and Nissan Z convertibles are ungainly to me. Back in the era I always thought the 69 Mustang Mach1 sportsroof looked better than the convertible.
But 95% of time I’d agree!
There is a red 1970 convertible that has been around town for years. I don’t think it gets used much anymore as I think it may have some structural rust issues. Another 1971 white convertible has been around town lately too (it came from Florida). Overall though the 1970-71 Torinos are rare. But I think it can be said any Torino period are much more rare than the equivilant GM’s or Mopars.
I always liked the 70-71 Torinos, although I favor the fastbacks much more so than the convertibles. One thing about the fastbacks was that I always thought the styling around the rear quarter panel at the window was a little awkward. The 1970 SCJ cars were pretty much the fastest Torinos ever made, and they certainly rank up there with the best muscle cars in terms of performance. That said, they were far nicer in my opinion than the 68-69 boxy Torinos, which were too bland for my tastes. My favourite is the 1972, but that only lasted a year before the 73′s got the newer and much less appealing front end.
I liked the 68/69 and the 70/71. My best friend in HS had a 68 Torino GT formal roof, 390. Med. Blue, Bk vinyl top (5 years old and paint looked tired) then a red 69 Fairlane 428CJ Cobra…………really loved that one!
Then my brother-in-law got a 70 Torino GT, Med Green 351….certainly a nice handsome looking car. I asked about it recently. He wasn’t a Ford fan at all, and he didn’t like that one either. He mentioned a recurring problem with a plastic distributor gear (I think). I doubt if that’s a problem today.
Another case of the CC effect happened today. I went to the Portland area for an off-season robotics event and tonight crossing back over in to WA on 205 I was passed by a 70-1 Torino Convertible. It had been repainted in that 80′s aqua metallic and had a spoiler on the trunk. So there are at least 2 in OR.
Never was a big fan of any convertibles …( well maybe a nice AC Cobra, which is actually a Roadster) but I’ve got a GT “Sportsroof” fastback that is an ex drag car:
I am lucky enough to have found a ’70 convertible…..we will be celebrating 20 years together this month….she had but 52,000 miles when I bought her and now has 65,000. If you do the Google search, here’s my girl… http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1970-ford-torino-gt-convertible.htm
I want one now!The baddest bad ass Ford I’ve seen in a long time.The only other Torino convertible I saw was a yellow one at a car show a few years ago.