Few sights are sadder than seeing a desirable and potent classic left to fend for itself, exposed to everything Mother Nature has to throw at it. That has been the fate of this 1970 Ford Torino GT. However, its complete nature and list of factory options make it a potentially desirable project for an enthusiast willing to roll up their sleeves. It will require deep dedication, but the finished product should be worth the effort. The GT is listed here on eBay in Crestwood, Kentucky. Bidding has raced beyond the reserve to $7,500, and I must say a big thank you to Barn Finder T.J. for spotting this forlorn Ford.
Ford released its Second Generation Torino in 1970, with our feature car rolling off the line in April of that year. Its original owner ordered it in dazzling Code D Bright Yellow, and the suggestion is it has never undergone restoration. However, that situation will change if it is to return to active service because its physical condition is well past its best. The tired paint is the tip of the iceberg because there is rust in some lower extremities, and the seller admits the front floors require replacement due to similar issues. Years of exposure means there are probably further problem areas, but only dragging it from its current location and placing it on a lift will expose the truth. The new owner will be best served if they consider a nut-and-bolt approach to eliminate its rust issues. The trim and chrome might be salvageable, and the tinted glass seems okay. The original owner ordered this classic with Hideaway headlights, but the doors appear to be missing. One surprise is that the car retains its original Sport Slats because this item typically disappears with age.
The theme of “tired and battered” continues inside this Torino, but there are positives worth considering. The interior is complete, and there are no visible aftermarket additions. Performing a deep clean would be the first step, revealing what is suitable for use during the restoration. The driver’s seatcover is ripped, but the rest look okay. However, the presence of light mold suggests it might be damp, and many items could have developed that unpleasant “swampy” smell. Budgeting for a complete retrim would be wise, although the factory options inside this classic guarantee life on the road will be pretty pleasant once work ends. The original owner ordered this GT with a console, tachometer, and an AM radio with optional twin rear speakers.
The seller supplies no engine photos, but the Marti Report confirms this was a potent beast when it rolled off the lot. Its engine bay housed an M-Code 351ci V8, producing 300hp and 380 ft/lbs of torque. Shifting duties fell to a four-speed close-ratio manual transmission that fed the power to a 3.50 Traction-Lok rear end. Power front disc brakes brought proceedings to a safe halt, but it appears the original owner passed on the power steering option. A ¼-mile ET of 15 seconds looked respectable, but the top speed of 131mph demonstrated it had relatively long legs. The seller indicates the V8 currently occupying this car’s engine bay is a racing powerplant, but they have the original 351 hidden away. They will include this in the sale if the winning bidder wishes, along with any further parts they have squirreled away. It seems it will take little to return this Torino to a numbers-matching state.
Some readers will consider this 1970 Ford Torino GT a lost cause, while others would love nothing more than to park it in their workshop. That sentiment appears to be shared by many because the auction has attracted nineteen bids in under a day. People are clamoring to become the new owner, and the spirited action so early in the auction makes me wonder how it will evolve as the end draws near. I won’t join the bidding frenzy but will be an interested spectator. Will you join me, or are you planning to make a play for this forlorn Ford?
Outstanding in it’s field.
In that first photo, you can see a certain “energy” around this car.
“…the suggestion is it has never undergone restoration.”
Understatement of the year!
🤣
I’ll take the T handle,,,so,,,we have some sharp people here, me not included, does anyone think someone would actually try and restore this car? There’s no question how desirable one of these are today, but this has to be the worst rendition of one, and since cost isn’t a factor, why would someone do this? This was nothing more than some good ol’ boys( or gals) car for beating the crap out of, motor pulled and hauled out to the “power lines” so as not to see that eyesore. Now an alleged 19 bids,,just tells me how phony this all must be.
The guy on motor trend would in a minute. He pulls cars fron fields that trees a has grown through the hood..
That first photo made me think that the car has been out guarding the power line right-of-way. Wonder how many decades it has been doing that job.
Would have been a cool and stunning car in its day.
Rare options like the shaker hood and 4 speed close ratio make it an amazing barn find. I hope someone restores it!
Sold with a closing bid of $8700. Potentially a good buy for someone.
Steve R
Why would you just leave it in a field? I realize it’d take a lot of money and time but if I had it, I’d do it.
Because in 1980 it was a 100 dollar car. These cars were run hard and after a while parked to rust.
This is a rusted field car. A decade back scrap metal went high and these were sold for 200-300 dollars each.
I bought in the year 2000 and old 429 Thunder Jet vert for 400.
I mainly bought to save the scrap and crushed sale.
I put in two pans and a quarter panel. Located a 429 Engine (was missing) etc.
I played with a lil and it went to Oregon.
Again these were daily drivers….
It would be the same as parking a modern 10 year old car with a blown engine in a field. The big difference is now these 10 year old cars are still expensive 😉
You will have at least 40k in a 25k car. Some should be restored, some should be parts cars, this one included
I’m mostly a Ford man, but not a brand snob and I really like the late 60’s- early 70’s Torino. I’d love to have a Torino GT or a Cobra but it has to have a manual transmission. Even if I had unlimited funds for a restoration, I don’t know if I’d choose this one. I’d look far and wide for one in much better condition than this particular car. But it is an original Torino GT with the hi-po 351 and 4 speed, so someone might take a chance and drag this one out of the field. I bet it needs everything, and I mean EVERYTHING replaced to make driveable, let alone repairing the frame and the interior. Poor car sat unloved for what looks like decades.
This car has many desirable parts, factory tach, bucket seats and console, rear window louvers, posi rear end on top of the previously mentioned shaker, manual transmission and high performance engine. Sure it’s rough, but would be worth a look from a Ford enthusiast, especially if the original engine is still present like stated in the ad.
Steve R
I live about 10 miles from Crestwood , will pass on this.
As the old question goes, “Why does somebody let a car like this, get like this”? Maybe too much Kentucky bourbon. I think most of the so-called options on this car were standard, that’s what made a GT, a GT. No nicer muscle car back in the day. Very restoreable, but very expensive, but somebody will
It’s such a shame to see what was once a mighty asphalt beast being reduced to it’s current sad and derelict condition. If the owner would knock a few grand off their asking price, it might be worth taking a chance to someone with substantial funds to throw around.
This is an auction listing, not a buy it now listing. The seller has not set an asking price, the bidders are setting the selling price.
And the old answer is, at the time, it was just a beater, you know that. These were the cars that were gotten cheap, and every owner took turns beating the crap out of it, perhaps under the influence of Old Grandad, but the point is, this is all that’s left. The bigger question is why someone would bother with this. Take the GT specific parts off, and grinder city.
I never had a muscle car when I was young, but I had a lot buddies who did, and yeah, they thrashed them till there was nothing left. In fact, this one looks pretty peachy compared to the ones I saw die a slow merciless death. But those cars weren’t cheap, at the time anyway, they were all $2500-$3000 and only 2or3 years old. The guys that are still alive, are still kicking themselves
Is that a. tree coming up through the drivers floor???
I thought the same thing… But I don’t see any trees next to it.
Appears to be the fallen headliner curled up….
That was my first thought–Hey, it’s a Treeno GT! However, I think that’s the headliner greeting the seat.
When I was 16 my next oldest brother bought a 70 torino, 351C 4V with an automatic, bench seat with that ribbon tach. Now that was a fun car to drive, If I remember right it was the car he got after he parked the maverick. We drove it around for several months until he got it hot and filled the oil full of water. He then bought a complete 70 torino with a 302/ 3speed that didn;t have a title. I pulled that motor and tranny out and put it into the red car. I drove it a little and it was a decent runner. Dennis decided it needed a thermostat and put one in, if you have ever put a thermo in a windsor motor a neat little trick is to make a hook with a wire to hold the thermo in place. He did not know this trick and put it together, filled it with water and took off. When he came back later the car was smoking hot, the thermostat had dropped down and didn’t seal and leaked all the water out, that was the end of that one. Tried to put a 429 into it, had the motor in and wired up and was trying to figure out the exhaust when dad thru one of his classic fits that he wasn;t going to allow me to put that big motor in that car. Ended up putting an FE motor in it with with a 4 speed.
I’m a little suspicious that they don’t have any engine pics. Not even on Ebay.
Those Firestone tires are period correct for this vehicle…and is in accord for it’s long slumber…lol
My 63 GP…when found had a date code of 78…and still had about 8/10ths left on the thread. Found her 6 months ago.
“Tread”
Only reason someone is trying to bid on this is for the parts it has. The posi rear, the 4spd trans, shaker hood, dash with tach plus 4spd console. The rear window louvers, steering column, and maybe, maybe an ok m code block that’s useable. But people don’t yank good running engines out and leave them in sheds. Normally this is done to a hurt motor or one already bored out beyond doing it again and it’s tired.
How much are the parts and vin tags worth to someone with a base Torino in great shape? Someone trying to swap vins and parts to say ” numbers matching Gt shaker 4spd”
I think that yours is the most accurate assessment yet on this once great muscle car. Parts only. Great pity that it was just left in a field to rot to death.
Agree with Eric K. Parts are the prize here. Original louvers, hurst shifter, ribbon tach, console, etc. are almost impossible to find.
I can only guess at what is wrong with the person that would leave a car in a field to rot away to nothing.
Oh, if I had the wallet for that project! A 70 Torino GT CobraJet was the Driver’s Ed car that I drew back in high school!
Hmmm. a couple of years back I picked up a parts car (old Triumph Spitfire) that had been parked in the long damp grass for a few years….you can expect anything iron or steel or perishable in the lower half of the car to be total scrap… so never a viable restoration.
…but some of the larger hard parts like drive-train may be OK if they stayed “sealed” in. I’m not expert enough on this year Torino to know if there are really $7,500 worth of rare reusable parts there?
For shame, for shame, for shame! One of Motor Trend’s choice for 1970 allowed to wither away to well,…….caca.
The reason it’s parked in a field is, that’s where 16 yr. old Brandeen, drunk on Southern Comford, left it in 1976 after finding her fiance Jeb with her cousin Mary joe in the local Motel 6. Unfortunately Jeb, the owner of the Torino, was found dead from a shotgun blast to the groin area by the sheriff who happened to be Brandeen’s father. The case was never solved.
“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”. Or Kentucky lol
Reba….😍
Actually, Vicki Lawrence did it first, in the early 70s, Reba in the mid 80s
Poor thing…
Seen this listed before but it was out of the field. You CAN update your Ebay ad with more pictures.
Just for fun, I think I located the car (using GoogleMaps overhead view). It’s about 300 feet as the crow flies off of a public road, and a couple hundred feet behind a barn and house which are down a lane. Still, a very odd place for the car to be.
Remember people: before anything can become old and valuable, it first must survive many, many years of being old and worthless.
RNR….Does that statement include people? Lmao!
Not sure if that is the headliner or if we need to get to the root of the tree. Since it looks like lots of brush & trees were growing around it