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58k Miles: 1984 Ford LTD Wagon

These were confusing times at Ford with changing platforms and rebadging old names on new designs, but I guess that’s the name of the game in the car business. This 1984 Ford LTD wagon can be found here on craigslist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The seller is asking $3,000 for this one.

It was confusing even for the car owners themselves. The seller has this one listed as a Ford LTD II which it isn’t, and they also refer to it as a Country Squire, which I don’t believe it is. After Ford evolved the LTD onto the Granada platform, which was based on the Fox platform, the Country Squire moved to the LTD Crown Victoria full-sized platform.

That is one great bumper sticker! This car, if it’s truly a Minnesota car, should be checked out for rust pretty thoroughly, it’s showing up on the edges and there could be hidden rust elsewhere. I love the black steel rims and dog dish caps on what would have been a reasonably high-end luxury wagon.

The seller is the third owner and they bought it in 2015 from the second owner who bought it from an estate where it had been sitting for 14 years. The interior looks nice from what we can see of it in only two photos. The seats both front and rear look good and bucket seats in a wagon are pretty cool. The seller has done a lot of work on this wagon, including adding new tires, a new exhaust, new coilover shocks on the rear, and they have replaced all of the brake lines and hoses and also the fuel lines.

The engine is, I believe, Ford’s Essex 3.8L/231 cubic-inch V6 which would have had 120 hp and 230 ft-lb of torque. The seller says that it won’t win any drag races but it’s great on the freeway which is where this car should shine. They also mention the Fox platform connection and being able to bolt on Mustang parts. Have any of you owned a fourth-generation LTD?

Comments

  1. Avatar Dwilson

    For all purposes this car was commonly known as the LTD ll. Owned 2 sedans and it was not a bad car over all. Had 1 v6 and 1 lx v8.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Miguel

      This was not called the LTD II. That car was a version of the Torino.

      If anybody buys this car and the reverse lens falls off, which they do all the time, I have new reproductions for sale.

      Like 11
      • Avatar Miguel

        Actually after thinking about it, this car took over the LTD moniker after the big one went strictly with the Crown Victoria name.

        Like 6
      • Avatar Mike

        I had an 86 mercury marquis sedan with the 3.8 not a bad car also had its counterpart 82 granada wagon

        Like 0
      • Avatar ben

        Need info on your reverse lens… I need some.. what about the window hinges??

        Like 0
  2. Avatar That AMC guy

    I’ve always thought the front clips on these cars have a kind of home-made look to them compared to the original Fairmont.

    Like 5
  3. Avatar J_Paul Member

    Back in high school, a friend’s dad had the sedan version of this, in baby blue. One day, while bragging to us about his Ford, he said that it had “the style of a Lexus.”

    Needless to say, that became a running joke for a very long time.

    Like 8
  4. Avatar angliagt Member

    A Mustang front clip lines right up with this body.

    Like 6
  5. Avatar Fred W

    The parents had one in the 80’s, a sedan with V-6. I actually liked their previous ’75 Granada Ghia with 302 V-8 better.

    Like 2
  6. Avatar JOHN Member

    That thing has sleeper written all over it, a drivetrain swap is in order. A turbo’d LS swap would be killer and affordable… sorry Ford guys!

    Like 6
    • Avatar Phil Tenney

      How about a coyote out of a ford pickup and not make a bastard out of it.

      Like 6
      • Avatar JOHN Member

        A coyote would be cool, but the plethora of LS engines and the aftermarket support is beyond comparison. Then there is the cost…

        Like 0
    • Avatar Phil Tenney

      John this hobby is not about cost

      Like 4
      • Avatar Bakyrdhero

        i guess for some folks money is no object. Then there is the rest of us..

        Like 2
      • Avatar Car Nut Tacoma

        I agree. Not all car enthusiasts have unlimited amounts of money coming in. Most of us have bills to pay, some of us have families with children to care for.

        Like 0
      • Avatar JOHN Member

        I know that well… I currently have 4 “muscle cars” from 1965-1970, and the last time I tried to count/remember how may cars I have owned, it was around 125 and I’m sure there were more. I agree with you completely, it isn’t about the cost, I’ve spent plenty. It is about the enjoyment I receive in a successful restoration, successful fabrication, making things work again, etc, etc. I believe in the hobby, alway have, I’m 67 years old, and no signs of slowing down. I am completing a mid-engine conversion on a 65 corvair right now. I simply suggested that you could build an LS converted vehicle for way less money than a Coyote. As time moves on, and more and more Coyote engines become available, the prices will drop!

        Like 2
  7. Avatar CCFisher

    It’s not a Country Squire, but the woodgrain option was referred to as the “Squire Option”.

    Like 4
  8. Avatar Dovi65

    We owned an 82 wagon like this but without the Squire package. What was confusing was that it looked like a Granada, was billed as an LTD, but the only badges on the car were simply “Ford”

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Jack M.

    The 3.8 litre V-6 was a pretty thirsty engine, very little penalty in moving up to the 5.0 litre V-8.

    Like 2
  10. Avatar Rube Goldberg Member

    Yeah, big car lovers, like my old man, HATED these cars, “where’s the rest of it”?, they’d say. I liked the smaller cars, and these were just hum drum everyday cars, that I can’t believe someone hung onto. They were favorites for demo derbies and monster truck shows. Tell you what, I sure liked these better than compared to what was next, that Taurus abomination and the end of car interest for me..

    Like 1
    • Avatar FordGuy1972 Member

      I’m a big fan of station wagons, my current ride is an ’07 Dodge Magnum, and I’ve had several wagons since my first, an ’84 Olds Cutlass Ciera Cruiser. This little Ford wagon is a cute but fairly mundane example. They were popular, the LTD was the third-best-selling car in the U.S. in 1983–1984. I’d want to check this one out underneath for rust before I pulled the trigger, though. These were available with a 5.0L Windsor V8 which would be a good upgrade for the under-powered V-6.

      I’ve also owned an ’89 and a ’99 Taurus wagon as well as an ’05 Sable wagon. These were all great wagons, especially the Sable which had just about every option offered in ’05. They must have been attractive cars as Ford sold over 7 and a half million of them. Pretty good for an “abomination.”

      Like 5
      • Avatar Miguel

        I bought a new ’97 Taurus wagon. I thought it was a neat looking car.

        Like 1
    • Avatar JoeNYWF64

      I can imagine dad’s opinion of today’s “big” 4 door only cars, with a trunk lid that’s what, 2 feet long lol, made for parking spaces today that are barely long enough for a 1st gen camaro, the shortest of pony cars back then! & certainly not wide enuf at all for the big ’70s guzzlers. lol
      Just realized, Taurus was the start of 4 door only for Ford.
      Oddly, there was a 2 door camry in ’94 i think but they were only 2 or 3 % of sales & were quickly discontinued.

      Like 1
      • Avatar Bakyrdhero

        I was behind a fist generation Taurus just yesterday. It was interesting because I almost never see them anymore here in New England. From the rear I could make out the earlier Ford design cues coming from maybe a fairmont or even a maverick. I never noticed that before. From the front I thought it still looked like a fresh and stylish design just like the first one I saw in 1986. Love them or hate them the Taurus was a big deal.

        Like 1
  11. Avatar g Wentzell

    Our family had two of these, both company cars for my dad.. The first, a 1983 sedan with the inline 6 (200 c.i.d.), color: root beer brown. It was a great car. The back seat was silly small, and it had that stupid horn and the end of a stalk off the steering column. The lease was unusually short, my dad was trying to buy the car for me since I really needed new wheels, but the company wanted $6,000.00. No deal. Since that car was so well liked, he chose a 1984 with the V6. It was crap. The car would suddenly accelerate without warning – and would just keep going faster. I drove it one night when this happened after I exited the interstate. The demons took over, I flew through two stop signs and was only after I slammed the car into ‘park’. It stopped. The same car shifted into reverse one afternoon while my mom stopped to retrieve a smashed mailbox. The car sped, in reverse, narrowly missing my sisters Mazda 626, the open drivers door hitting my dad in the head while trying to stop the thing (he had to go to the emergency room for stitches) the car kept going, ran through the neighbors yard missing the fence but hitting several small trees, then slamming into a tree throwing the trunk open on impact along with the torqued drivers door. The car, its rear end wedged into the tree, was STILL ACCELERATING in REVERSE! It dug itself into a hole before I could get in and shut it off. It was repaired and apparently, the exorcism worked.

    Like 5
  12. Avatar Miguel

    In case some of you don’t know, this style of LTD was available with a 4 cylinder engine. I know, it was crazy.

    Like 3
    • Avatar chrlsful

      4 cyl, i6, bent6 and bent8 all in a fox waggy at one time – oe…
      how? K member change, the 1st & last 2 used the same, the i6 wuz different…

      Like 0
  13. Avatar Bakyrdhero

    My Mom has an 85 Escort wagon. We went to a friends house in Tennessee in 1986 and they had a brand new one of these. Same colors also. Compared to the Escort this thing felt like a luxury wagon. I liked it so much I got car sick and threw up all over it in the 100 degree Nashville heat on the way to Dollyworld…good memories lol.

    Like 5
  14. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    I remember this version of the Ford LTD. I love the front end look of this year. I find it more attractive than the more upright grille used on most LTDs of the same vintage. I’d buy this LTD wagon if I didn’t already have a car.

    Like 3
  15. Avatar CJM

    Family owned two of them. A wagon and a sedan. Good cars. 3.8 had plenty of power with the EFI and was reliable. Avoid the 2.3 4 cyl at all costs! Nice big deep well trunk on the sedan. Spacious cargo area on the wagon. A nice upgrade of the Fairmont platform offering increased refinement and creature comforts though I prefer the earlier 81-82 Granada and Cougar FOX bodies which were also Fairmont upgrades.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Gay Car Nut

      I used to know someone who had a Ford Fairmont wagon.

      Like 0
  16. Avatar Little_Cars

    I almost hate to admit this, but my summer job away from college was as a courier in northern Virginia. We had a whole fleet of these wagons, 84-86 all corporate blue with full wheelcovers and nothing else. After 3-4 months of battering that thing with large leather satchels and other atrocities the car grew on me. Really handled well, was the perfect size wagon for the job, and seemed to be pretty thrifty on fuel. I remember I was the only temp who took his ride home with him at lunch and often washed it for management. Otherwise these blue wagons wouldn’t present the company in a good light. This color, wood siding and poverty caps to me screams “old man driven only to the hardware store.”

    Like 2
  17. Avatar Bruce Fischer

    Too small.Bruce.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Mike

    I like the “Bail out Studebaker” bumper sticker. That alone is almost worth the asking price.

    Like 5
  19. Avatar bone

    Everyone talks about the mid to late 70s cars being awful, but to me the early 80s cars for the most part were the worst ever – these rebadged Fairmonts , K cars , Citations, Omnis ,Champs ,Escorts , etc…,even the foreign cars were poor.
    Under powered , unreliable , shoddy workmanship, uninspired designs (ugly) , you name it. I know it was the dawn of computers , front drive , and major gas savings , but theres a reason you see so few cars around from this decade. I’ll bet there are more Pintos around than the 80s economy cars

    Like 3
    • Avatar Car Nut Tacoma

      I agree. I grew up being told about both decades of cars. I was way too young to drive in the 1980s.

      Like 1
      • Avatar Bakyrdhero

        Perspective plays a part in things I think. Growing up in the eighties, my Mom had a 74 Dodge Duster. I remember it as smurf blue, ugly as sin and uncomfortable. It had a slant six and was reliable, but rotted out to the point where she couldn’t even sell it in the state of NH. She then bought an 85 Escort wagon that felt like riding in style compared to the old blue heap. The Escort lasted her 11 years and lots of happy memories. Fast forward all these years later and which car would you rather have?

        Like 2
  20. Avatar karl

    My father , always a Ford man since his first car , a ten year old 29 Model A ,bought one of these wagons new . It was smoke grey with a maroon interior and it was the biggest piece of junk that he ever owned . After nearly 50 years of owning and driving Fords , that car turned him off from them and he never bought another one .

    Like 3
  21. Avatar chrlsful

    ideal !
    good company, right model, perfect size,
    fox-bodied (Granada – ’93 stang).
    5 oh or 5.8, up grade breaks, suspension, exhaust?…

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Little_Cars

    @chrlsful Granada was not the Fox platform, Fairmont was. Granada was more akin to the Maverick than anything else. Lots of interchange with earlier Ford platforms. The first-generation Granada retained the same chassis as the Maverick. Later on, the Granada nudged the Fairmont wagon off the market.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Chad F

      first, googel it you’ll see…
      I wuz surprised too.
      2nd all same wheel base (w/in an inch or 3)

      Like 0
    • Avatar chrlsful

      use the google, ck it out, you’ll find the grande-ah wuz the 1st fox.
      or
      measure the wheel bases, C the motors’n transmis…
      Most of us who follow the mid sz fords see it that way (’78 – ’93 when U include the last 7 yr stang). I seek to swap the whole interior frm ’93 stang into an ’83 LTD waggy…

      Like 0
  23. Avatar Stevieg

    Little_Cars, in 1981 Ford switched the Granada name to the fox chassis. I had one & liked it, although I feel they shoulda kept the name plate on the old chassis.
    Mine had the 3.8, I would have preferred the 3.3 inline 6, but like I said, I still liked it. 2 door, dark blue, wire hubcaps, & a really loud factory stereo. All a 20 year old kid in 1990 needed lol!

    Like 1
  24. Avatar Car Nut Tacoma

    There’s nothing wrong with small compact FWD cars, but not everyone needs or wants a small car. Some people like old-school rear-wheel drive cars. And that’s fine.

    Like 0
  25. Avatar chrlsful

    Thnx 4 da posts-back~

    this wuz a RWD and mid size (100 – 108 inch WB), not small (“…small compact FWD…”) abt ’80s Wolwo wagon size, bigger than a Chevy II or Dart waggy, C.Nut.

    I too prefer the 200/250 or 4.2L Stevie. I have one (250 freshly machined) for the ’83/6 LTD/Marquis or the Fairmont if locating one…

    Wanna put in the AOD w/a shift kit, 5 lug, 15 inch wheel, Bilstien “St or Strip” suspension, disc up frnt, etc…

    Like 0
  26. Avatar Ronald

    I bought the Mercury version of this LTD, a 1984 Marquis Brougham sedan, brand new in 1984 for $9,999, with the 3.8 V6. It was loaded with power everything. A really comfortable car, luxurious car..Burgundy metalic paint and a very luxurious Burgundy cloth interior.. I kept it for over 5 years with no problems, just regular maintenance! I did wish that I had the optional overdrive 4 speed automatic, mine was the 3 speed automatic, as gas mileage was not so great on the highway.

    Like 1
  27. Avatar chrlsful

    Thnx Ronald !

    https://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/1984/1886630/mercury_marquis_brougham_sedan_3_8l_v-6_automatic_overdrive.html

    Enjoy,
    if any1 hasa LTD/Marquis WAGON like this for sale hit me up at my email by puttin the ol ” aol.com ” behind my ‘name’.

    Like 0

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