Where do old ’70s Fords go to live? Apparently, nearby canadiancatgreen’s streets, as his shots suggest at the Cohort. For starters, a ’74 Gran Torino Elite. Yet one more Dearborn-Brougham in an ever-growing roster of such models through the ’70s.
Here’s what to me is almost peak Ford-Brougham: the ’77-’79 Thunderbird. The same neoclassical themes, with a more contemporary chiseled look. Along the Lincoln Mark V, they sold like hotcakes.
Whenever Broughams appear, a very brief recap is of use to younger folk. The ’68 Lincoln Mark III and ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix ushered an era of retro-inspired designs, with long hoods, vertical grilles, and blade-fenders that recalled the ’30s. It turned out, the ’70s were ripe for automotive nostalgia. In Dearborn, the term was originally called ‘forward thrust,’ as this 1971 Car And Driver article shows.
The Granada-based ’75-’80 Mercury Monarch was a sign the Brougham concept was about to reach a period of diminishing returns, and the even more cynical Lincoln Versailles was just around the corner.
Since it appeared next to the Gran Torino Elite, here’s that Dodge Demon up close, right next to a Beetle. The Demon was almost the opposite of Brougham, with the humble ’67 Dart serving as its foundation; and offering a sporty vibe. And the Beetle, that’s the ultimate anti-Brougham. However, it’s actually a 1930s design, and we may as well finish on that note.
For more Brougham:
Curbside Classic: 1976 Ford Elite – Highfalutin’ Hash
Curbside Classic: 1977 Ford Thunderbird Landau – Her Name Was Lola
That’s a Dodge Demon
It’s funny when terms don’t catch on, “Forward Thrust” became “Bunkie Beak” to most people paying attention. It’s like when George Costanza was trying to earn the office nickname T-bone but ended up CoCo the monkey after an arm flailing fit after a coworker got it.
Yes, that’s a Demon. That corporate-sibling dyslexia of mine making yet one more appearance.
The Dodge dealer in my home town had a blue /black top, “Demon” in the center of the showroom Looked so good from the highway!
McDonald Motors , with all the shiny new “Vdubs” was right across the road too!
“Days of yore”!
Just saw that clip, hysterical.
Or when Howard Wolowitz was dubbed “Fruit Loops” by his fellow astronauts when his Mom told him his favorite braekfast cereal was ready while he was on a video conference with his fellow astronauts on “The Big Bang Theory”, LOL!
Always a lover of Great American Land YACHTS and having owned several, I believe that Ford has far ahead of the competition in the 70s and 80s (with the exception of RWD FLEETWOODS and RWD Fifth Avenues) in the OTT excessive luxury of these monuments to the GREAT AMERICAN Luxury vehicles. Glorious time of Devine Decadence never to be seen again! LINCOLN was the last to offer a traditional American luxury sedan. Now even those are gone. My 2007 Town Car is the last gasp of those Glorious Monuments which made the driver feel that he was indeed KING 🤴 of the road. 🏰 👑.
Jeeezus! As Ronnie Raygun said: “there you go again!”
I love the big ’70s boats too, but give it a rest, we hear this over and over and over again! We get it. Enough already! Sheesh.
As Randerson said, time to give this a rest! Try saying something different for a change!
Well, for Randerson and 210delray, nothing is forcing you to read his comments. Just scroll on by, and let the man reflect on his days of yore.
Yup.
That’s what I do, and highly recommend. I don’t even read them; an automatic skip.
OOH ~ OOH ! junk VW Beetles !! .
Plus that sweet Dodge .
-Nate
I’m ordinarily a Ford guy, so you’d think I’d prefer the Elite, but you’d be wrong! That Demon has potential, depending on what motor is in it. Demon’s were just posers with a Slant-Six under the hood, but a 340 Six-Pack could get up and go! More fun on the street with a four-speed manual, but if I were going to take it to the local drag strip I’d prefer a 727 Torque-Flite automatic and a 9.25″ 4.10 Sure-Grip rear end!
Could be a real 340 car, its a 72 based on the side markers and has the correct for 1972 340 hood scoop. I don’t think Citron Yella was available in 1972 though, and the matching wheels and 340 call outs are all wrong though
In all my years of garage work, I never once saw a 340 Six-Pack. Even the 340 was rare.
True. These were still budget cars, and even the more upscale Duster and Demon twins were rarely equipped with the top engine choice, mostly because of the cost. If they had a V8, it would more likely be a 318 two-barrel, or very possibly a 340 four-barrel, rather than the hideously expensive 340 “Six-Pack”!
I am almost certain the only cars that ever came with the 340 six pack were the Challenger TA and AAR Cuda, and if there are Dusters and Demons running around with them the intake system was bought over the counter.
Correct-The only turn-key A-Bodies with 340-6s came from Grand-Spaulding Dodge courtesy of Mr. Norm.
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“Nostalgia”, ah, that’s what they were aiming for.
I actually don’t mind the “bunkie beak”, but the whole concept of “forward thrust” is simply confusing and silly. What? Does it only go backwards? But maybe the silly award goes to the line in the Car and Driver caption — “Those who know their rococo prefer the new Mercury Cougar over any other leading brand.”
As they say, what does that even mean?
I’ll confess..I do like the Mercury Monarch.
Ledo did an excellent job of weening Americans from “big is better” to “brougham in a compact is good”!!
However, $5,999 CD is a bit much when converted to USD at $4,559. Can’t read the details in the sign, but would hope for a V8.
My brothers “75 Torino” didn’t have a vinyl top; was the same ‘green out/white in” as the “Elite”, in the lead pic.
That car was soo comfortable/quiet.
Think it was a “351” though, made it soo light in the back. Slightest bit of rain, gravel, snow, the back wheels just “spun”. Had to stay ready for it.
I remember these. I like forgetting about them better.
Swing open the mile wide doors, slide your leisure suit across the crushed velour, turn on the eight track player to the new Olivia Newton John album. Glance forward towards the horizon at your hood ornament perched atop the mile wide hood. Swing wide away from the curb as you float your land barge down the asphalt river. Top off the tank every 300 miles. Ugh.
Yeah we have it much better now, swing open the door full of tedious power accessories, slide your yoga pants across the vegan leather, glance towards an abyss of nothingness that only the adaptive cruise can identify the ends of, atop a lifted pseudo sedan chassis for a commanding road view of everyone else’s tailgates with tinted glass. Drive right over the curb on the $300 piece low profile tires and gash the alloy wheels as you feel every bump and imperfection in the pavement of the sport suspension the esc system is working in tandem with to keep it from tipping over. Crossing your fingers every night charging it in the attached garage you DIYd the 240v wiring yourself after watching a YouTube how-to on the dash iPad display.
Ugh indeed.
Two great back-to-back Streets of San Francisco chase scenes involving a Mercury Montego, and a Ford Gran Torino. With the Ford coming off far better, than the Merc.
Thank you for that video 🙂
I think it was Streets of San Francisco (and to a lesser extent, The FBI) that constitutes the basis for my love of Fords of that era. I know really nothing about them other than what I read here on CC, but those nights around the TV in the mid-70s watching Michael Douglas and Karl Malden thrash them around San Francisco did it for me. I cared nothing for (e.g.) the non-Ford cars they were chasing…like that dull little Datsun.
It occurs to me that whatever baddie it is that Lt. Stone is chasing in the second sequence in that clip (driving a ’72 Torino if I’m not mistaken?) looks a lot like one of our recent Presidents.
Oh, and of course Capt. Oveur driving the Ford Pickup with camper at around 5:09.
Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?
I was too young to notice as a small kid, but the series regularly had serious car continuity issues. In the same scene, Keller and Stone could be seen driving a ’73-era LTD, followed by a ’71-era LTD, then back to the ’73-era LTD. They obviously recycled driving scenes, through the course of the series. Episodes from 1976, with say a Monza or Volare in the background, would have them later seen driving their ’71-era LTD.
One of the best aspects of Streets of San Francisco, is seeing the city from the early ’70s, and the Dirty Harry era. The long ago demolished elevated double-decker Embarcadero Freeway, can be occasionally spotted in episodes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_480
Another notable mention is Freebie and the Bean where they careened a 72 LTD off the Embarcado right into someone’s apartment. That movie has some of the most hardcore 71-72 Ford thrashing caught on film I think.
Double decker freeways are cool to drive on, it must have been quite a view of the bay back then. Though apparently they’re not the best thing in earthquake prone areas it seems. As I understand it San Franciscans hated Embarcado but it was extensive earthquake damage that finally granted their wish for it to be demolished.
In 1979, I stayed in the Embarcadero YMCA as a just out of high school kid on his first cross-country trip alone. As I recall, it was directly next to the Embarcadero freeway, and I spent the several nights I was there mostly awake watching the traffic right outside my window…thinking of course about all of the TV shows and films I had seen that utilized that road.
The room was too depressing to sleep in (it was quite the fleabag) anyway. But being part of all of that media that I had grown up with was priceless.
I was rather sad when the thing subsequently came down in the earthquake. Sorry of course also for the folks who died in that.
If you ever watched “Ironside; always got the impression much of the street scenes were filmed just after daybreak on Sunday mornings.
Streets were so traffic free quite often.
Don’t forget Steve McGarrett’s Mercury Montegos! “Book’em Dano! Murder 1”
I think McGarrett drove Mercury Park Lane’s and Marquis exclusively on Hawaii Five-0.
Jeff, that Red Torino is a ’73, not a ’72. I do agree with your assessment of the baddie though!
Had to laugh when Leslie Nielsen describes the Fairlane he’s chasing as a “turquoise coupé” (accent on the “e”). Really?
I saw this Demon just on Sunday at a car show. It had quite a few performance mods, and was in great condition.
The Torino Elite catches my eye, but the ’77 T Bird looks even better and was a triumph of marketing, Lido style. First of all, it was “downsized” by switching to an intermediate platform. Second, that combined with some serious de-contenting, lowered the price on the base versions. Third, it benefited from all the mystique and desirability that the Thunderbird had built up since the ’50’s and ’60’s. That is the way to sell cars, though the T Bird was now a Monte Carlo competitor instead of Lincoln sibling.
Probably my most fun job (but one that paid the least) was working as a transporter for Hertz in ’77 and ’78. Of course back then, Hertz seemed to mostly have Fords (at least at our location) with a smathering of other domestics, and a Datsun and Toyota here and there.
So…one of the popular rentals was as you’d expect, a Thunderbird in either year…since I worked at the South Burlington airport, one of our common stops was Dorval airport in Montreal…which of course also meant stopping at the border. I just turned 20 at the end of my stint at Hertz, so driving a late model “sporty” car would set off suspicion, such that I’d always have to open up the trunk (made sure it was empty beforehand, since I otherwise didn’t know what it contained other than the spare and tools). Granadas were also popular, plus LTD II. Even drove a Mercury Cougar wagon (though Mercuries were less common than Fords). Drove Mopar mid-sizers, Dodge Diplomat and Magnum as well as Aspen, and even AMC (Pacer). Fewer GM, mostly compacts like Olds Omega, but a Pontiac Gran Prix (’77 rather than ’78).
At home, my parents had a ’73 Ford Ranch wagon, so I was used to 70’s Fords…though my own car was a ’74 Datsun 710.
I kind of attribute that job to itching my scratch to drive a variety of cars, such that I’ve only owned 5 cars in 49 years of driving thus far. Also, in ’86 I did my most extensive search for a replacement car, and drove many different models, even ones I probably wasn’t too likely to buy (like a MR2, Bertone X1/9, and Alfa GTV6) which also did some of that scratching work; I don’t need to own different cars to appreciate them apparently.