This 1969 Ford LTD Country Squire is listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Princeton, Illinois, it is offered with a clear title. The seller has set the opening bid of $1,750 on this gentle giant, but at the time of writing there were no bids.
In 1969 Ford integrated the Country Squire into the LTD line-up, and so it received the LTD designation into the name. This was also the first year that the 2-way tailgate became the 3-way, as the tailgate could now be swung out with the window both raised and lowered. This Country Squire needs some work, but the base car appears to be solid if a bit rough. The only significant rust that needs real work is some in the bottom of the spare wheel well. Otherwise the body is solid, although there are a multitude of small dings and dents that will need to be addressed. There are a number of external trim pieces that will need to be repaired or replaced if this car is going to present as even a shadow of its former self. Bumpers, tail-lights and the wood trim is all either going to require reconditioning, re-finishing or replacing. Thankfully the grille and concealed headlight units appear to be in decent condition.
The interior is a sea of red, and also represents a lot of work. The dash appears to be complete but the pad is cracked in several places. The door trims look like they will clean-up okay, but the front seat definitely needs a new cover. We can’t see the condition of the rear seat or door trims, but this old Ford is also going to need new carpet.
The headliner is also going to need its fair share of work. It’s possible that it could be repaired with hidden patches, but it is going to be a painstaking job. The remainder of the visible trim looks to be in quite good condition.
The rear jump seats are in good condition. From this angle we can also see that the back of the rear seat looks to be free of rips, tears or sun rot, so that may be one less task to tackle.
Under the hood is a 429ci engine backed by an automatic transmission. The engine lacks a starter motor, so at this stage it does not run. Unfortunately the seller is as in-the-dark as we are on the state of the engine because the starter was removed by the previous owner and has never been replaced. This means that the seller has never heard the car run, but he was told that it ran before the starter was removed. These old engines were pretty robust so there is a fair chance that a bit of tinkering will see it up and running again.
At $1,750 this Country Squire represents a lot of car for your dollar. It certainly needs a lot of work, but if you are the sort of person who is fairly competent with the tools and a spray gun then you could easily tackle a lot of the body and paint issues yourself. While the interior is going to need some work it is possible that it could be made to look respectable with a cover on the front seat, some new carpet and some judicious patching. If that mighty 429 can be revived with little work then you could finish up with quite a cool car at a pretty decent price.
The first picture, left side without the hubcaps, give homage to the Family Truckster. Is that a giant 2bbl? I know Ford offered a 390 with a 2bbl, but I think the least horsepower 429 offered was called a “Thunder Jet” with a 4bbl.
I’ll be going by Princeton, IL for work next week. Hmmm…
Ford listed a 429-2v as an option in 1969, according to this brochure.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Ford/1969_Ford/1969_Ford_Wagons_Brochure/1969%20Ford%20Wagons%2010.html
I had the 429 2BBL in my 1969 XL. It ran very well.
A $50 car as recently as the 90’s. Has potential, but you could be underwater very quickly.
LTD wagon specific parts are very rare. Engine parts is a breeze, but if you need Squire stuff…. well you are in for a treat… Owning a as good as complete ’70 Squire I know. Living in the Netherlands doesn’t help either. But eBay and a real good helpful American friend helps.
It looks like it would be a great restoration project, or possibly a restomod. :)
A project for someone who loves these. I’d hate to see the drivetrain yanked out of it and the rest of it junked. These cars were everywhere when I was a kid. My father loved the tailgate on these, but when he was in a hurry for a car, they only thing they could find was a 71 Chevy Kingswood, with the clamshell tailgate, which he hated.
The clamshell made it really tough to sit on the tailgate…
This would make someone a great work wagon . Once up and running a California wagon with a 429 . Being a California car the frame should be solid which was a big problem with these . I love Ford’s 429 !
No factory A/C makes this a tough sell in today’s world!
Wagons Hoo baby
These wagons are making me think about looking at old folks homes and possibly getting some waltz dancing classes .
Anyone know the number to the alert system on case I fall in the way to my hip truckstrr .
The side of the wagon is getting me thinking about paneling my new house and putting in green shag carpeting 🙃
An unusually optioned one at that. No factory air, but it does have the rarely seen in ’69 tilt steering wheel. One photo from the front shows the wheel in the tilt up position, and the shift lever has a bend in it so your hand better clears whatever position the wheel is in when going in and out of Park.
Mr. Bill, I took a look, and you’re right, that is a very rare tilt steering column. I just noticed and it’s also got a power bench seat, and might even have power windows. More and better pictures are needed. This car might be worth more in parts than what he could get for it whole. I’d love to see it restored, but who knows what will happen to it.
AC was a very expensive option. It was still an expensive option until it became part of the standard package in the late 90s.