I am surprised that we’ve not yet had a CC on the mid-size, mid-70s Ford Gran Torino. Of course, most of us remember a certain Gran Torino made famous on Starsky & Hutch, and who knows how many 1974-76 Torinos have been saved and restored thanks to that classic detective show? A lot, I’d guess. That said, I will assure those whose Torino knowledge is limited to late-’60s fastback Cobra Jets and Detective David Starsky’s tomato red hot rod that most Torinos were not at all like those. Back in the ’70s, your typical Torino shopper wanted comfort and luxury–a smaller LTD Brougham, if you will, and certainly not a muscle car. Today, we’re going to learn about non-TV prepped Gran Torinos that likely made up 90% of Torino production.
The Torino got its start as part of the restyled 1968 Fairlane lineup. The Torino was the plushest–or, in the case of the GT model, fastest–mid-size Ford. The fastback GT was especially attractive, and had plenty of power to match its looks, provided the right option boxes were checked. My maternal grandfather, in a surprising move, traded in his pale yellow 1965 Galaxie 500 sedan on a Torino GT hardtop. Such a sporty coupe was quite out of character for him, but Mom was grateful for it, as she got her driver’s license not long after its arrival.
The same basic chassis was restyled for the 1970 model year. By then, the Torino had effectively elbowed out the Fairlane 500 series, which offered only a coupe, a sedan and a wagon. (The Fairlane moniker would disappear completely from the U.S. for 1971, when the Torino 500 series replaced the Fairlane 500.) Every other car in the 14-model 1970 lineup was now badged Torino, including the new, top-of-the-line Torino Brougham. In the end, for better or worse, the Brougham would win the war between it and the GT.
The mildly restyled 1971 model was the last go-round for the 1968-based body, as well as last call for the speedy Torino Cobra, the GT, and convertibles. Muscle and sportiness were on the way out.
The Great Brougham Epoch was in full swing in Dearborn, and the arrival of all-new 1972 Torinos further raised the stakes. The new Torinos were sized closer than ever to the big Fords: Sedans and wagons rode a 118-inch wheelbase, and coupes a 114″ stretch. The focus was on ride comfort–not on speed, sportiness, or indeed, on any serious attempt at handling. By the early ’70s, quietness and smoothness had become the watchwords at Ford, as spurred by the “quieter than a Rolls-Royce” LTD. Handling? Those who cared wouldn’t find much at Ford, and most didn’t. For those who simply wanted something comfy to point toward the horizon while driving the Interstate, these were just the ticket–as long as they didn’t make any sudden moves with that steering wheel!
The new Gran Torino was the highline trim level for 1972 (a Brougham interior option was optional, but did not comprise a stand-alone model); offered for entry-level buyers was the base-model plain Torino. As previously mentioned, the GT was now gone, but two new Gran Torino Sport models, a fastback and a hardtop, were available for those who still valued sportiness over Broughaminess.
Nineteen seventy-two was the only year you could buy the redesigned model with bumpers as originally envisioned by the design staff. The following model year would bring bulky front bumpers that completely altered the front end’s appearance. Offered as a trim option the previous year, the Brougham now returned as a full-fledged model in 1973–how could it not?
Yet another face lift greeted Torino shoppers in 1974, as Gran Torinos and Torinos got new grilles. The fastback was gone from the lineup, but you could still get a Sport notchback coupe. Out back, taillights were moved from the bumper to a much less damage-prone spot in the rear fascia.
As in 1972 and 1973, plain Torinos sported a front end different from their higher-priced siblings…perhaps to upsell Torino customers on a fancier Gran Torino model?
Although very little else was changed for 1975, the base Torino’s unique front fascia was replaced with the fancier Gran Torino nose; probably having realized that tooling different grilles and headlamp surrounds was unnecessary, Ford simply decided to save a few bucks. Standard equipment now included chrome windshield, backlight and drip rail trim, high-back vinyl bench seating and hubcaps. Also standard was a 351 cu in, two-barrel V8 (the previously standard 302 having been relegated to Mavericks and Granadas) producing 148 hp at 3,800 rpm, along with a “three-on-the-tree” manual transmission. Because most retail customers didn’t want something as spartan as the base Torino, only 22,928 sedan, 13,394 coupe and 13,291 wagon versions were built that year. The real money–and volume–could be found in Gran Torino Land.
If you wanted something more than a fleet-duty special, the Gran Torino was your car. It was much better equipped, with standard front disc brakes (power assist was optional), upgraded cloth and vinyl seating, carpeting instead of rubber floor mats, and lots more chrome exterior trim. Odds are that most of them sported the optional vinyl roof and full wheel covers seen on this ’76 sedan.
The Gran Torino was the most popular Torino model in 1975, with 53,161 sedans, 35,324 coupes and 23,951 station wagons sold. (The personal-luxury Elite was badged as a Gran Torino in 1974. It became simply “Elite” for 1975-76, but technically remained part of the Torino series.) Engine options were limited to a two-barrel, 158-hp, 400 cu in V8 (priced at $5.00), and a 218-hp, 460 cu in V8 with four-barrel carb that went for a whopping $245.00 extra.
The Gran Torino Sport returned for 1975. With only 5,126 buyers, it might well have been the least-frequently seen Torino. The lone model was a two-door hardtop that featured special badging, turbine-style wheel covers, color-keyed sport mirrors, and full instrumentation–including a tachometer.
Torino and Gran Torino station wagons offered the same engine selections as the rest of the lineup. They were available in three flavors: Torino, Gran Torino, and Gran Torino Squire. If the Di-Noc-sided Squire was not enough, you could equip it with the Squire Brougham option, which got you seats from the Gran Torino Brougham sedan and coupe (more on those in a moment), although in vinyl only. Also included were that all-important stand-up hood ornament, deluxe wheel covers, electric clock and whitewall radial tires. If Ford was known as the Wagonmaster, it was mostly thanks to their full-size LTD and Country Squire wagons. While Torino wagons sold rather well in 1972-73, they were not seen nearly as frequently by the mid-’70s. In 1975, 37,242 Torino wagons were produced, versus over 95K full-size Ford wagons. A bit of a gap there, eh?
At the top of the ’75 Torino heap again was the Brougham. Available only as a coupe or sedan (Brougham option Squire wagon notwithstanding), a Brougham cost about $500 more than a “standard” Gran Torino. The easiest was to spot a Brougham was by its exclusive stand-up hood ornament.
The expected flossier interior was available in your choice of Westminster cloth or all-vinyl. Either way, you got a split-bench front seat with dual folding armrests, unique door panels with pull straps, thicker cut-pile carpeting, and extra woodtone trim.
Standard on Brougham coupes was an opera window, inset into the C-pillar, that was optionally available on lesser Torinos.
Broughams also got standard power front disc brakes, power steering, bodyside moldings, a padded vinyl roof and, of course, the obligatory hood ornament.
You could identify a Brougham from the back by its special reflective molding between the taillights, as seen on this clean sedan spotted by Paul – you may remember it from the Fairlane FEMI fiction post done back in May.
Brougham identification was located within the opera window glass on coupes, and on this chrome C-pillar emblem on sedans. The Brougham series sold decently enough at its 1974 reintroduction, with 11,464 sedans and 26,402 coupes finding buyers, but demand went off a cliff in 1975; only 5,929 sedans and 4,849 coupes found homes.
My guess is that most of the Ford faithful chose the new-for-1975 Granada over the Torino. Although a smaller car, the Granada was much more space efficient, and the uplevel Ghia model did the Brougham treatment just as well as the Gran Torino Brougham–and for less money. In fact, the whole Granada line blew the Torino out of the water, to the tune of 302,658 to 177,953. Even if you include the Torino-based Elite, 1,333 more Granadas were sold, despite the lack of a station wagon model.
But back to the Torino. Whatever model you chose, there were plenty of options available to personalize your Gran Isolation Chamber. In addition to the aforementioned engine choices, other options included an AM radio ($54), AM/FM stereo radio ($217), vinyl roof ($96), A/C ($426) and whitewall tires ($33). You could even take your pick of several wheel covers, including the still available, always-cool Magnum 500 wheels–but please, please don’t order them with the fender skirts!
After 1976, the Torino name was no more. The car, however, got fresh sheetmetal and a new LTD II moniker, and carried on through 1979.
Today’s CC is a 1975 or 1976 Model 65D Gran Torino coupe. I spotted it in a fast food restaurant parking lot in Monmouth, IL, on my way to the 1000+ car Maple City Cruise Night. Initially I passed it by, thinking I’d see it at the show. After a few moments of internal debate, I turned around and went back. Good thing I did, because it wasn’t at the show!
Here’s how you can tell it’s a ’75-’76: The ’74s had a straight-across steering wheel, which was replaced with this car’s U-shaped wheel the very next year. This car would have sold for $4,234 new, but the full wheel covers, whitewalls, landau vinyl roof, pinstriping, side moldings and bumper guards would have added to the tally.
It was in very nice shape, and looked good in bright red with a white vinyl roof and red vinyl interior. These cars have all but disappeared, at least in non-Starsky and Hutch tribute form.
Just as I was backing out of the parking spot, the owner and his wife/significant other came out and got into their time capsule from 1975. I had time to lower my window and say “Nice car!” and they waved, but seemed to be in a hurry. I hope they know they’ve got a great Curbside Classic!
Nice article, just a couple of corrections-
The high back seating was 1972 only, and very unpopular. Replaced by applied headrests in 1973.
The Brougham was rebooted in 1973, not 1974. Also, starting in 1975, every Torino had a 351,Automatic transmission, and power steering and brakes standard. The last 3-on-the-tree was in 1974.
For some reason, the 1975 400 was rated at 144 net HP compared to the the LTD’s 158.
This may set a record for pathetic specific output. 1975 was a dismal year for Ford driveabilty and power, as they tried to meet emissions with a cat con.
They finally adopted them on most models the next year, sending the 400 to 180 HP.
I wonder if that feature car has aftermarket duals, because the only factory ones were with 460s.
My parents had a 1976 Elite equipped with a Canadian emissions 460 (as confirmed by the build sheet). Dual exhaust, no cats, and somewhat low restriction mufflers that actually had a mean rap at the RPM crescendo before each upshift. This car could burn rubber very well, I assure you, but other than that, it was a thoroughly loathsome auto. I get that ride comfort was the priority, but the suspension was so wallowy it made the car dangerous. Tight corners at anything above walking speed caused it to completely wash out. Steering feel was non-existent, and the shock absorber control shockingly flaccid.
At speeds over 90 mph, the front end would bob up and down like a hobby horse, and a
full rear seat would induce a decidely nose-up attitude. For some reason, the dealer didn’t order the uprated suspension , which included a rear sway bar. How much this would have helped, I don’t know, but it couldn’t have hurt. This was an inexcusable oversight, considering the big engine.
I didn’t say the Brougham came out in 1974. It was an option group in ’72 and went back to full model status in ’73.
As for three on the tree in ’75, it was shown as standard equipment in the Standard Catalog of American Cars. Maybe a mid-year change or fleet specifications?
As far as “Starsky & Hutch” was concerned – I never watched the show, but I caught parts of it when I visited my girlfriend (future wife) back then. I guess some of them have been restored, but I haven’t seen many except during and after the show ran its course. Of course, too many of them had that awful white spear stripe on the sides, which looked cheesy and ruined the looks of the car to me. Strictly amateur night in appearance.
What I do remember about these cars was that a friend’s buddy stopped by his house one day and drove a brand-new Torino. I checked it out. Nice car. I sat in the back seat. Not much room, let alone daylight. I looked for the window crank. None. I looked for the wndow switch. None. I asked his buddy how do you open the back windows. He said they didn’t open. Arrrrggggghhhhhhh! It was a pillarless hardtop, for crying out loud! How could Ford do this?
A sign of the times.
I liked the 1968-69 models best.
It was divine intervention that kept my mother from driving a sedan version of one of these home in 1974. She had made the deal on one (brown, of course) but did not sign papers because she thought someone might want to buy our 72 Cutlass Supreme. The next day, the salesman called right before Mom got home from work and said that the car had been sold to someone else. So, it was a Pontiac Luxury LeMans instead.
In hindsight, what good fortune. Those Torinos were quiet, but that is about the only thing going for them. They were rusters, not that well built, and terrible handlers. In my (ahem) sort of aggressive teenaged driving years, I am quite sure that I would have scuffed all the chrome plating from the door handles. The LeMans was actually quite a good handler for its size.
Back then these seemed so undistinguished, and didn’t really do anything that well. They were mid sized cars for Ford loyalists. Around here, they all rusted to powder. Many probably hit the crusher during the 1979-82 round of high gas prices. I guess that with the right powertrain they were fairly durable mechanically. Between these and the Satellites, no wonder GM sold so many Colonnades.
It’s tempting to sing the song “Gran Torino” used at the end of the movie of the same name.
Interesting to note then in Venezuela during the 1970s, Ford continued to use the Fairlane name for the 1972-76 Torino compared to Argentina who used the 1968 4-door sedan body until 1981. Here a picture of a 1975 Venezuelian Fairlane http://www.flickr.com/photos/hartog/7945571026/
I’m really surprised that the Torino wagons sold so much worse than the big wagons — even in the worst part of the energy crisis, the full-size wagons led 2:1. I get that wagon buyers probably wanted BIG, but the price spread between a Torino or Gran Torino wagon and a Country Squire was pretty vast (although it did get narrower as the 70s went on). In ’73, a six-passenger Country Squire was $800 more than a Gran Torino Squire and almost $1,100 more than a plain Gran Torino wagon — a jump of 25-30%. The Country Squire did come standard with the 400, which cost you $127 extra on a Gran Torino Squire, but that was a lot of money in those days.
I don’t thing that these things got significantly better gas mileage than the big ones. For a bit more weight and probably a 1 or 2 mpg penalty at most, you got so much more room, utility and probably resale value.
In same cases, the Gran Torino’s gas mileage was nearly the same as the big cars. But also, the interior space utilization was not good, nearly compact size. I think even Volare’ wagons were roomier. Plain sided LTD wagons started selling fairly well, too. Why get a cramped car with poor mileage for a family?
Also, full-sized vans started getting more sales from wagons in 1975-ish. Not just young Baby Boomers for ‘love vans’.
I suspect that one reason why the mid-sized wagons didn’t sell better is that the Torino body had remarkably bad space efficiency. I wouldn’t be surprised if a compact Dodge Dart had more interior room than a Torino sedan — even though it was much shorter and narrower on the outside.
Despite Tom mentioning at the start of the article that the Torino was a smaller option to the LTD Brougham, after looking at the pictures of these barges while reading through, your comment referring to the even-larger cars came as a shock! While I don’t mind some of the cars from this era (73-on Gran Torinos don’t quite fall into that category), I really couldn’t see myself owning one.
My parents bought a base ’73 with a 302, fecal brown with auto, a/c, and nothing else.
It was slooooow and got 12 mpg regardless. Dad always drove it like he hated it. He sold it in ’81 with 123k on it. Mechanically it was never an issue, but it did get a good case of tin worm. And it didn’t snow that often were I grew up.
Wasn’t it fecal brown metallic?
I remember when the Gran Torinos were introduced, they seemed to outsell the plain Torinos by 30 or 40 to 1. But what a silly name is Gran. It always sounded so affected.
I agree with your take on “Gran”. Although Gran was a hit for Ford, it was a bust for Plymouth that tried to take the VIP upscale around 1971 or so with the Gran Coupe and Gran Sedan. I think that they sold about 23 of them. They did a bit better when they went to Gran Fury, but still – it was sort of a mixed metaphor: an angry outburst, but a really classy one?
The VIP disseapeared after 1969, they tried the Gran Coupe first in 1970 with a plain Fury I 2-door sedan who seems to worked well in the 1st year and some sources said it was a “1970½” model. Then the Gran Sedan was added for 1972. The “Gran Fury” did better when he get to the “Dippy” M-body compared to the R-body and the C-body Gran Fury.
Here some pics of a Fury Gran Coupe http://www.powerful-cars.com/php/plymouth/1970-fury-gran-coupe.php
Plymouth also offered a “Gran” trim for the Barracuda, at least in 1970 and 71.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Plymouth/1970%20Plymouth/album/1970%20Plymouth%20Barracuda-04.html
Many 70-71 Gran Cudas are now ‘Hemi Cuda’ clones, or worse, being passed off as real ones!
Well, kind of like how the once proud Galaxie 500 name was reduced to ‘nearly as plain as a Custom 500′ by 1974. The Torino trim was bare bones as a 73-75 Chevy Bel-Air.
Gag. Retch. Puke.
Detroit at it’s absolute worst.
I am surprised that we’ve not yet had a CC on the mid-size, mid-70s Ford Gran Torino.
My bile output isn’t fast enough.
According to an anonymous source, Paul has done a handwritten draft, but has locked it for safekeeping in a lead-lined box in the Black Hills of South Dakota. If this Curbside Classic piece is ever released and converted to electronic form, its destructive power might cause such damage to the internet as to have implications involving national security, if not the second coming.
I hope Carmine appreciates that the one, single nuclear-level Curbside Classic does not involve a GM car.
The CC Secretary of Defense has spoken well!
I heard that one particular CC on the mid-70s Torino is so toxic that it’s being stored at Warehouse 13
Going back to when “S&H” was on the air, it was annoying how ‘casual’ car people would go nuts over the ‘Striped Tomato’. Now, younger fans ask if the Gran Torino was a ‘popular muscle car’? No.
The 68-71 Torino Cobra or GT, yes. The 72-76 was Ford’s ‘colonnade’ upsized middie car, for cruising. The Gran Torino in Clint Eastwood’s movie was same thing, not a true ‘muscle car’, but a vintage ride.
This article shows the true story behind the Torinos, they were mid sized daily drivers, with luxo options. S&H car provided a false image.
Have to disagree on the “false image” as a lot of these cars were used by law enforcement at the time, primarily by detectives, just like in S&H
I thought part of that was that Ford continued to offer the 460 for law enforcement fleets for some time after big flock engines had been banished from most other midsize cars.
I meant ‘false image’ being the ’75-’76 Gran Torino called a ‘muscle, performance, sporty car’. Even actor Paul M. Glaser said the car was a ‘boat’. “S&H” added sound effects of a more powerful motor, and car novices think it’s a “hot car”, still.
You are right. The Chargers on the Dukes of Hazzard at least had some credibility as muscle cars in the day and people actually wanted them. These Gran Torinos had zero credibility. I am of that age and I do not recall a *single* person being excited over a Gran Torino after 1972. And certainly not as a performance car.
The only “muscle cars” left between 1972-81 were the Firebird Trans Am and Camaro Z-28.
The GM Colonnades, meanwhile, generated whatever excitement was left in the intermediate segment after 1972. Ford was knocked back to a very distant second place, and Chrysler was almost shut out of the field entirely. Chrysler only stayed in the game by restyling the old Plymouth Sebring/Dodge Charger to look like a Monte Carlo and promoting it with campy Ricardo Montalban commercials.
If the producers of Starsky and Hutch had chosen, say, a 1975 “small” Plymouth Fury or even a Chevrolet Malibu instead, and painted it red with a white stripe, our reaction would still be the same.
If the producers wanted to choose a brand-new intermediate that was cool and different (if not necessarily fast), they probably should gone with a 1974-75 Hurst Oldsmobile.
Judging by the cars used in various television shows at that time, however, Oldsmobile was not actively trying to place its cars on shows.
Aaron Spelling Productions was contracted with Ford to provide cars for their shows. So they picked the infamous car from stock and added the stripes.
When the 1977 LTD II was introduced, Spelling stuck with the Torino instead of a new ‘LTD Striped Tomato’.
There is a Fifth Gear test of the S&H Torino vs the DoH Charger that should be on y/tube etc, while the Torino is not hotted up as much as the Charger let’s just say it does not give a good account of itself
For the record, here’s the movie car, a ’72, from IMCDb. I always thought this was a great looking car, especially that big scoop grille.
A commenter there points out Eastwood drove a ’73 Torino in Magnum Force, the second Dirty Harry movie.
Now Get Off My Lawn!
One other issue with Granny Torinos was the hoods had low spots were water would sit, and then cause rust spots.
And I agree about the ‘Ford Colonnades’ being junked often in 1979-83 period. They just didn’t hold up as well as GM’s colonnades. Or even Ford’s own land barge LTD’s.
It’s interesting that you refer to these as the “Ford Colonnades.” When the 1972 Torino debuted, it outsold the Chevelle/Malibu, the first time that had happened since the latter debuted in 1964.
The 1968-72 GM intermediates, so beloved today, were looking tired by 1972.
The 1973 GM Colonnade cars, so reviled today, regained the ground that GM temporarily had lost to Ford in this critical market. Although it was the Cutlass Supreme that would ultimately topple the Torino, not the Chevelle/Malibu. GM followed Ford in offering more bloated intermediates.
These cars sold well for 1972-73, but then took it on the chin in the fuel crunch, and never really recovered. The Torinos were sandwiched between two cars that were better buys – the Granada below and the LTD above. As others have noted, these cars were really cramped inside in relation to their generous exterior dimensions.
It also didn’t help that the intermediate market was swinging toward “personal luxury” coupes, and every GM division except for Cadillac had a version for customers. Both Ford and Chrysler were caught short by the success of the Monte Carlo, Cutlass Supreme, Grand Prix and Regal. Hence, the scrambling to bring out the “Gran Torino Elite” halfway through the 1974 model year.
In retrospect, I wonder if the failure of these cars to hold their own against the GM Colonnades was one of the reasons why Henry Ford II became disenchanted with Lee Iacocca. These cars have his fingerprints all over them, but they didn’t age well in any sense. The bodies weren’t very durable, and the overstyled, cramped body dated very quickly, especially in the wake of the first fuel crunch. By 1975, a Colonnade Olds or Buick sedan still seemed modern, but a Torino sedan looked bloated and out-of-date (same with Mopar intermediate sedans).
GM and Ford were supposed to go head to head with new bigger mid size car for 1972. But the fall 1970 UAW strike kept the ‘muscular’ GM cars on sale another year, much to the delight of collectors today.
And yes, by ’75, the Torino was out of style. Never mind “S&H”, it was a lame duck. The LTD II restyle was a flop. But the T-Bird name and style was a huge hit.
According to David Halberstam, HFII’s complaint was a broader one: That for all the new products Ford introduced during the seventies, market share remained pretty static. (Which fits what you said above about competition from the Granada and LTD.)
I’ve been waiting for a Torino CC. When my parents went car-shopping, my mother usually had the upper hand, and in 1975, when they were looking for a replacement for their ’68 Impala SS hardtop (which was aging and not really suitable for two growing boys), my dad first tried to talk my mom into a late-model VW Bus, but she was having none of it…so we ended up with a plain-Jane, blue, basic, non-Gran 1973 Torino wagon with a 351 (for the “pickup” she liked) and automatic (because she wouldn’t drive a stick, which was a failing of the Bus). Aside from those features, it was largely a stripper–AM radio, vinyl bench seats (thankfully it did have A/C), rubber floor mats, etc. We think it had been a corporate fleet car. It didn’t even have trim on the doors that would have avoided the pattern of dings that gradually formed up and down its sides. About a year and a half later it threw a rod. On Mother’s Day. As we were leaving church to take her out to brunch. Probably the worst overall vehicle my parents ever owned, but they kept it eight years, until she picked out a 1981 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon with the 260 V8.
My mom died when I was in high school, and I miss her of course, but her car-shopping prowess–that left a lot to be desired.
When I saw the picture of the base 1974 Torino in Green, I thought it was an Australian or British model. I never knew there was an alternate front end like that! The Gran Torino was obviously the overwhelming sales leader. I actually kind of like the simpler front end on the base car. Overall, these are overwrought and clumsy to me, though, especially in comparison to the GM Colonnades. But, I have a big GM bias!
Aha! Turns out I’m not the only one to have that problem with misidentifying these: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1973-australian-ford-fairlane-zxglq-fu-found-in-eugene-that-thing-got-a-femi/
I’m biased, I love big ’70s american cars, anyway in red w/ white vinyl looks pretty sharp to me !
Agreed, Francesco! Regardless of the car’s many less-than-redeeming qualities, the featured CC example is a sweet-looking ride.
Everyone should read A Savage Factory by Robert Dewar to fully understand just how much effort went into making ’70s Fords as crappy as possible. I think part of the reason why the Torino was less popular than the ‘full size’ is that the full size cars were made in a factory with marginally better quality control- I think the Torino was made in Lorain and the LTD was made in St Louis.
I remember these from my childhood in Kansas City in the 80s. They were popular with the Santa Fe railroad employees who used them as ‘work cars’ due to the fact that they were cheap and nobody cared if they got rail dust on them when parked in the switching yard. The quintessential ‘work car’ for the blue collar worker. I think this was the class divide in the states- upper middle class men would use their ‘good car’ for work and a cheaper car- usually a Chrysler Minivan or A body wagon for school duty.
Menawhile even well paid blue collar guys like my dad would drive a hooptie to work and leave the nicer car at home. Whenever my dad’s work car was in the shop, my mom used to make him park half a mile away from the rail yard in Argentine so the ‘good car’ wouldn’t get rail dust on it.
From the late 80s on, I never saw one of these moving under its own power until in 1998, when I saw a ’73 Squire Wagon in white with woodgrain for $300 on St Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Even having lived its entire life in Louisiana, having only experienced two snow showers, it still managed to rust on the lower quarters. My mate bought it and it was occasionally reliable, except for the usual Ford starter solenoid that failed repeatedly- most memorably in the French Quarter at night, just before the streets had to be cleared for the washer trucks to clean up the debris. Torinos are not easy to push, or steer without power steering for that matter. Sadly, the Torino was killed by my mate’s idiot roommate who drove it back from Houston and didn’t bother to stop when the oil light came on. It was promptly replaced with an immaculate 1976 Dodge Aspen in a really strange bile green-yellow colour that was totally rust free- even the front wings were original and without the plastic liners. The first year Aspen, at 22 years old, was 100 times better than the Torino as a means of transportation. That pretty much sums up the Torino.
A recent issue of the magazine Collectible Automobile about the 1972-76 Torino, mentionned they was made at the Ford plants in Atlanta and Chicago and Oakville, Ontario.
I forgot to add, my dad had one of these as his first company car. It was a metallic copper ’73 Gran Torino sedan, bought off the lot at Bob Neal Ford in Rock Island. He didn’t have it long; it was replaced with a new ’74 Capri that was much more his style.
This is the only known picture of it, lurking behind his ’60 356B Roadster:
I really Loved The 70 Torino in Grabber Green when it came out.
These (more than anything else) were what Mk3 Cortinas were echoing as they plied the streets of my childhood… as often as not painted red with white stripes! Nice to learn that the Torino was just as pedestrian a car under it all as the mimic I grew up with
Ah, the Torino. The right car…absolutely the wrong time.
The stylists had it right, with the 1972 debut: aggressive and flowing; Ford understood, or believed, that the mid-size market was driven by STYLE. The full-size buyer would be more conservative; and the compacts were poor-man’s goods; but the intermediate was for youngish types who wanted a little flash in their mass-market rides.
Of course, the bumper law loomed over the horizon. One wonders why Ford went with that original style for a one-year run – they knew the law was coming long before the design was set. Why waste the tooling costs, on a style that couldn’t be made to comply?
The 1973 took a lot of the pizazz out of the Torino in the looks department. And that obviously-heavy battering ram on the front didn’t improve handling any…not that there was any handling to start with. The thing was heavy; slow; ponderous, and numb in driving – but hey! gun-slit windows; flowing hips…and look at that slick rear-end treatment!
…and watch it disappear in 1974. By 1974, all vestiges of the original theme were gone…the bumper-compliant styling maybe appealed to Grandma. The whole Torino by that time looked like an aging matron in a miniskirt – jarring and garish.
And all of this, being marketed right around the first (of many) gasoline panics. I know this because my family picked up a 1973 Gran Torino four-door, in February of 1974…leftover new inventory. Marked down from $4200 to $3200…the dealer was that desperate to move it. In an era when the Japanese brands were sold the moment they came off the truck, and even the dubious Pintos were selling with all the bling the dealers could cram onto them…the Torino was an albatross.
I can’t really poor-mouth the Gran Torino that much…what’s needed is to remember what it was; what it could and couldn’t do. It was an Interstate cruiser, made in Hank the Deuce’s image…big, heavy, quiet, numb controls. It WAS reliable; shockingly so for a car of that era. When we were done with it, in six years, it had a hundred-thousand miles on it. That was rare in that era; and more rare was that it started and ran like new. Garaged, as it was, the paint held its gloss; and somehow the salt didn’t do what it usually did to 1970s Fords.
It also got 9 miles to the gallon, with a 351 Cleveland and Cruise-O-Matic.
That was intolerable then and indefensible today. Granted, it was heavy; but not much more than the last of the Panthers. It was carbureted, but the car traded for it, a 1968 Galaxie, got sixteen.
All I can figure is that the Ford engineering department must have been a very slack place to work. No refinement was expected on road manners…check. Tinworm was an expected malady and in the minds of the time, a way to see increased sales volume…nope, nothing needed there.
But the smog stuff…no doubt Ford’s people were thrilled to find a way to have a smooth-running engine with all that crap on there. But NINE MILES A GALLON? In ACTUAL COST, it cost nearly as much to drive as does a subcompact today….never mind inflation. It’s amazing my parents chose to spend the money on the fill-ups…never mind the savings on the purchase.
It was a car for the times; but those were not good times. Nor was it, in the end, a truly good car.
The rust problems were caused by Ford’s reluctance to install the E-coat process in all of its plants. Which is ironic, as Ford of Europe had invented the process in the early 1960s!
Ford’s North American operations were, by this point, firmly in the grip of Ed Lundy’s bean counters. Installing the process in all of the North American plants would have cost a pretty penny, and the bean counters demanded proof that doing so would increase sales or profits. Which, of course, was difficult to prove…and then sales and profits dropped dramatically in 1980, both in response to the severe recession and Ford’s reputation for bad quality.
As for the 9 mpg – 1973-74 was the low point for both gas mileage and performance, thanks to engines strangled by ever-stricter emissions standards. My parents had a 1973 AMC Gremlin with the 258 I-6 and automatic, and it didn’t get any better mileage than their 1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a 350 Rocket V-8.
Regarding E-Coat: Ford was installing it piecemeal; Lundy and the bean-counter boys slowed the installation in various plants but couldn’t stop. According to Halberstam, Lido blew up at Lundy in a board meeting, swearing about the warranty claims on rust, and when the *&%$ were we gonna do something about this @#$%&** corrosion problems!
The last plant, Kansas City, was converted over in 1975. Interestingly enough, my old man had a Maverick from that plant….he didn’t drive it much as he was traveling overseas for years. When my brother graduated from college, he was gifted that car….which even with the limited use of a broke college kid, in a more temperate climate…the car did collapse in nine years.
Rust lost a lot of Ford customers back then. When I think of 1970s Fords, I think of terminal tinworm…often before the damn thing’s paid off.
It’s interesting on CC that mid 70′s cars will nearly get the most posts from users. People put variety of opinions: “these cars were crap”, “I love these’, “l grew up with…” or more facts/figures/clarifications. Fun stuff I think.
My best friends parents had a 72 Gran Torino sedan with a 351 that they bought new.
It had a bad habit of overheating or vapor locking on hot Texas summer days and leaving us stranded in the early 80s. Didn’t help that his 17 year older sister had a habit of backing it into trees. It was gold on gold, and that it seemed to be claustriphobic in the back seat to 8 year old me.
It was eventually replaced by an new 88 F-150 that still hasn’t been replaced.
The Torino replaced a 68 Bug, and itself was replaced by his moms new 79 Bonneville, while his dad took over the Ford.
These Torinos were the right car for the right time, it’s just that times changed quickly after 1972. The 1972 Torino was the FIRST ever Ford to outsell Chevrolet in the intermediate market, and 1972 was a big year for intermediates. Even 1973, it held up against the new GM Colonnade sedans. In 1972, bigger was better, but by 1974 this quickly changed. Plus, I think the styling for the 1972 which was good (especially on the fastback cars), quickly went to not great by 1974. The Torino still sold okay for 1974 (if you include Elite, which technically was a Torino in 1974), but they quickly dropped after that.
Bumper laws and emission controls quickly stretched these cars to be larger than mid 1960′s full size Fords. Performance dropped off, but they still had Ford’s unbelievable smooth ride. And by the mid 1970′s, when the car was only a few inches shorter and pounds heavier than a big and more prestigious LTD. With really no performance or fuel economy advantage, I think most went up to the full-size cars. This was likely the case for the Torino wagons, which were about the size of full-size wagons (they actually had decent room in them, comparable to a 1980′s Crown Vic wagon).
These cars were not overly great handlers stock, but they weren’t any different than Ford’s full-size cars. Ford’s quest for ultimate smooth and quiet rides resulted in overly soft suspension, but this was pretty much common practice in the day. They were smooth and quiet, and that’s all a lot of people wanted then. In fact, the Torino essentially used a smaller full-size chassis that shared almost all the front suspension parts with the LTD. Most parts will interchange and springs, etc were the same rates as those used on some 1960′s LTDs. The rear suspension was a slightly different setup, but Ford basically put a new body on the somewhat updated 1965 Ford frame. I find it funny how critical people are of these cars handling when it was no different than the most full-size Ford of the same era and earlier.
This frame design was fairly successful, being the basis of the Torino/Montego’s 1972-75, Cougars 1974-79, LTD II and T-Birds 1977-79. The Cougars and T-birds seem to be remember much more favorably even though they are basically identical cars, with only different styling. Also remember a stretched version of this frame was used for the 1972-79 Lincoln Mark IV/V, and the 1972-76 T-bird.
If you got the car setup properly in 1972 or 1973 (maybe even 1974), they were decent performers. The HD suspension was an improvement (Car Life complimented this suspension on a 1972 Montego), but the best was the competition suspension. With this the car’s actually had pretty competent handling by early 1970′s standards, certainly on par with any of GM’s intermediate offerings. The 1972-74 Q-code engines (351-4V) were also decent performers. They produced about 250 hp (net) which was comparable to the Chevy LT1 in those years. A 1972 Torino would do the 1/4 mile in the low to mid 15 seconds range, which was not super-fast, but on par with many other so called muscle cars (many 1960′s 325hp 396 Chevelles ran in this range). By 1974 the performance had dropped off but now offered a decent 460 (the 1972-73 429 were not great performers stock). By 1974 with 460 or the Q-code, low 16′s were the norm, which was on par with a 454 or 455 GM Colonnade. Suspension was still okay through the late 1970′s but only if you order uprated springs and front and rear sway bars. The late 70′s T-birds and Cougars were decent handlers for their time.
As for a comparison between the GM Colonnades and the Ford intermediates, I have lots of experience with both. They are very comparable, size wise, the GM has a slight edge on handling stock but not by much, the interior space is about equal (front actually pretty good, rear tight). Both cars have been very reliable (the Torino has been owned in the family for 40 years, the Chevelle over 20), and both have decent build quality for the 1970′s. I’d give a slight edge to the Oakville built Ford, over the Oshawa Chevy, but only really in panel fit (both are good for the era). Both have undergone suspension updates and are very competent handlers, on par with a Crown Vic cop car.
The one 70′s GM Collanade that was only bested by the Trans Am and Corvette is the 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am! I have a nice original ’75 coupe that I just had the suspensions redone and it indeed, handles as good as any current car IMO! The steering is a bit light but it is very quick! In comparison, the Driver’s Ed car I had in High School was a ’73 Grand Torino Brougham that wallowed like a duck! This was in Montana and my Driver’s Ed teacher made each of us run that car up to 100mph on the Interstate- he said “if you can’t handle a car at 100, you have no business behind the wheel”! How cool is that!!
My first car (in 1982) was a used 74 Gran Torino 2-door. It was medium copper metallic with a beige vinyl top. It showed 68,000 miles when I bought it for $850. I had been looking at smaller, sportier cars (what 17 year old doesn’t) but this was bigger and I think my parents thought it would be safer. I took it for a test drive at night – and like it enough to buy it.
I should have known something was up when the owner offered to drive it to my parents house the next day and then backed up the driveway so only the driver’s side of the car was visible from our front door.
It was after they left that I realized the right side of the car had been hit and the door had been replaced and repainted to match.
In fact the door key they gave me never opened that door – just the driver’s side!
It had a 351 Windsor and just enough power to keep me interested but mostly out of trouble.
It was a fairly reliable car – starting on even the coldest of days – but it went through front tires frequently – I never had the money to put radials on it – bias-ply only!
I drove it until I was a senior in college then sold it for $250 with about 110,000 miles on it.
My grandma drove a Moby Dick white 1976 Fairlane 500 station wagon (in Venezuela the Grand Torino was called the Fairlane 500). That thing was huge and as a kid I got a kick out of pushing down the front bumper repeatedly until the whole car was bouncing up and down, to the concern of grandma and other onlookers. When I was old enough to finally get my driving license, Grandma still owned the big wagon and I got to drive it many times. I remember its 351 Cleveland V8 was able to hold its own, but just barely, and that its super-soft suspension and light steering made the whole point futile anyway as it forced me every time into a kind of lazy, measured driving style. A natural speed limiter? Still, I hold very fond memories of that great big Ford wagon.