The Ford LTD was born in 1965 as an extension of the Galaxie 500. The idea was to move part of Ford’s full-size line-up into the luxury car arena. The move was successful and the LTD was soon followed by the Caprice over at Chevrolet. These cars sold well over the years, peaking at 550,000 copies in 1973 alone. This 1974 LTD may only have 28,000 miles and looks like a survivor-quality automobile. Located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, this 1970s land yacht is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,000. Thanks for the tip, “Lothar… of the Hill People.”
Second-generation LTDs (1969 to 1978) would be the car’s biggest sellers and there seemed to be no end in sight – until the 1973 OPEC oil embargo refocused buyers on more fuel-conscious vehicles. Largely unchanged from 1973 to 1974, LTD sales dropped by 45%. The only noticeable difference was that the rear bumper which was now designed to accommodate 5 mph punches. The roofline on 4-door models now had thin B-pillars making them stronger in case of a rollover, yet the glass in the doors remained frameless.
Few details are provided about the seller’s car. Could it have the low mileage indicated or has the odometer flipped over? Is the paint and interior original to the vehicle? This all could be as the Ford presents well in the photos that we are afforded. We don’t know which engine resides under the hood, but a 351 cubic inch V8 is likely, although several options were available. As you would expect, the transmission is an automatic.
If you’re in the market for a 50-year-old car to take to Cars & Coffee, there are likely plenty of other choices out there that would attract more attention. But if your goal was to present a family-style sedan the way they used to build them, you could probably do worse. Just pull up any old Quinn Martin crime show on TV from the 1970s and you’d see lots of LTDs like this one.
When’s the last time anybody saw a 74′ LTD on the road ?
1976 in my driveway. My Dad had a powder blue LTD which matched my tux for the prom perfectly. Unfortunately I pulled some stunts that year and was grounded so I had to take Mom’s Polara instead.
I generally love these huge early/mid 70s barges except the LTDs. They looked like a cinder block on wheels. Add that drab brown or green and I thought them downright ugly. GM and Chrysler at least gave their barges some style and flair.
Love that upholstery! This seems like a really nice example, but I gotta say… this is one of the cars on which Ford’s big “girder” bumpers really detract from the looks. Necessary, but very poorly integrated, much like the Mavericks of that era.
Surviving 50 years – love it!
In ’78 I worked on the assembly line where these were made, Fern Valley Rd assembly plant in Louisville, Ky.
Very tough and taxing job but paid 3 times the minimum wage at the time.
Quality control not at a peak there but durable cars. Kentucky State Patrol used (gold color) these in the 70’s but with the 4 barrel, 460 cube mill and numerous suspension, brakes and frame upgrades.
More than 28 K on that engine !
Worth a look.
Right on Torino. These were cool cop cars 🚔 460-4V 🙌
Mine was just like this. It won 2 demolition derbys then the motor went into a 76 Ford pickup.
…might be better marketing to pick a dry day to take the photos?
i had a carbon copy of this LTD as a ‘beater’. Paid $100 for it. It burned enough oil to kill every ‘skeeter in the neighborhood and everywhere else I drove it to. Best part was after several thousand maintenance -less miles, I sold it to the scrap yard for $25. Bang for yer’ buck !
Barnaby Jones….a Quinn Martin production….starring Buddy Ebsen
My old dad had a ’73 he picked up in August 74 when we came back to the US from Germany. It had the exact interior as this one, although it had a dark brown exterior. The engine was a 400 that sucked gas but could haul ass in comfort. I took my driving lessons in that car and learned to keep it between the lines on the narrow rural roads in eastern Illinois. It was also good for parking – enormous seats!! Dad drove it for 5 years and turned it over to my younger brother to drive in college. It rusted horribly and sometime in 1981, it was sold it to a scrapper.
At least it’s good on gas
It’s the same color as Detective Lt. Mike Stone’s (Karl Malden) and Inspector Steve Keller’s (Michael Douglas) Ford Custom 500, as they drove around the “Streets of San Francisco”, but you know both TV cops and real cops drove the low buck, base models of full-size cars, in Ford’s case, the Custom 500, complete with steel wheels and “dog dish” hubcaps, not the top trim level LTD with full wheel covers! The city procurement rules and the taxpayers would never stand for the cops driving the high end trim levels!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mijBMpnS3a4
These were nice looking at the time and so is this example. However, it lacks power windows, locks seats and the trim is not very upscale. It’s just large.
28K or 128K, probably doesn’t affect the price of this one too much.
Very nice condition, I doubt you’ll find too many left looking like this.
Same chassis as the Lincoln
Might need to detail that engine if we’re to believe this is a 28k mile car.
Had a 72 LTD, comfortable, absolutely bulletproof. Sold it and bought a brand new Chevette. Biggest automotive mistake of my life. I still hate that Chevette forty years later.
Barnaby Jones would be happy to drive this Ford sedan
It’s rare if only for what it doesn’t have. No a/c in 1974? Must have been ordered by some cheapskate.
No, A/C was still a relatively rare and expensive option in 1974. Our first A/C equipped car appeared in our family just four (4) years earlier, because it was my Dad’s company car, and the company finally began ordering cars with A/C for the sales staff, so they didn’t sweat in their suits when making sales calls! If my Dad was buying it with his own money, like most people back then, A/C wouldn’t have been on the option list! IIRC, the first car our family bought with A/C was my college ride in 1978, a used 1972 Opel 1900, with dealer-installed A/C.
I would guess that A/C was not a popular option in New England until well into the 80’s, and even then, probably because it became standard equipment around that time.
Right you are, Boss!