Pat L., you’re killin’ me. Where you find all of these great, unique vehicles is beyond me but I want all of them and that’s not a good thing. Have you seen my latest IRA statement? I know, not good. This 1979 Ford LTD two-door sedan is posted here on craigslist in Indianapolis, Indiana and the seller is asking $4,800. Here is the original listing – thanks for the tip, Pat! (and for catching the pre-publication editing mistake, Bob!)
Ford’s LTD two-door and four-door sedans could be had in this almost police spec look without a vinyl top and big body side moldings and other fancy touches. I love the look of this car right down to the tiny-in-2022 blackwall tires. I’d probably go one step further and just remove the wheel covers. If you’re going undercover, why not just go all the way?
Now that’s a bumper! A design guru had no part in making this car meet the 5-mph bumper safety standards, they must have used engineers for that. Still, for such a plain-looking car, they’re perfect. This was the first year for the third-generation LTDs and they were made until 1982. Their Panther-based platform was over a foot longer than the Fox-body LTDs that came out in 1983. This is a big car, a big, square car. But, I think it fits its era and genre perfectly and I like the plain-Jane look to this car.
The exterior looks almost perfect other than a missing turn signal light in the grille, but I don’t see any rust, dents, dings, scratched paint, or anything else wrong with the exterior, do you? The interior, however, needs a bit of work. It’s loaded with power windows, seats, and locks which is fantastic in my world. The driver’s seat portion of the front split-bench seat clearly needs help and I can’t quite tell if some trim pieces are missing around the power window switches and the dash or not. The added gauges to the left of the steering column would go away within the first five minutes of my ownership. If by-God idiot lights were good enough in the late-70s, they’re good enough now! (crickets) (ok, maybe I’d keep them) The stereo, however, would indeed come out ASAP.
The engine is, I think, Ford’s 302 cubic-inch V8, it was the standard engine on the LTD in this era but a 351 was an option. The 302 would have had 129 horsepower and 223 lb-ft of torque. It propelled this 3,600-pound car to a 0-60 time 50% slower than a Prius but who cares, this car is cool. Spoiler alert: I own a Prius for my business road trip car, but I would much rather have this LTD despite the fact that it gets 14 mpg on a good day. Have any of you owned a third-gen LTD?
There’s an engine in there?
The 2 doors make good looking Pro/Street cars,in my opinion.
Swap the cam and intake for a 4 bnl and get more power and better fuel mileage . Dual exhaust and you have a cool cruiser. Just my 2 cents
Edzactly
And My 2 Makes 4
This one has the single headlights, which is rare. The two door looks a little outta place, but I would enjoy it. Yeah, wake the motor up and enjoy the ride.
I had one in maroon with matching landau top and interior. My uncle always teased me and asked if I considered it in red because of all the maroon. Unsure why Ford used monochromatic color schemes so much. Was a nice car, but had to ditch the factory Venturi carb because the car just wouldn’t run right. Once we swapped that out, it was fine.
The VV was a good carb when it worked. Problems with the diaphragm and problems with the choke enrichment rod sticking were two of it’s defects. I believe the 79’s had 14 in. wheels and tires, which looked very weird. Later models had 15 in. rubber.
A measly 129 hp, unbelievably anemic.
Nice car, fix front seat , breath some life into that poor engine, needs doubling in horsepower
What I find interesting about this car is that, despite being an LTD and that it is fairly well-equipped, to me it comes across as rather…. plain. Kind of the full-size version of a throw-away car. Maybe it’s the color or the base wheel covers or the blackwalls or the engineer-would-love-it square styling.
I agree, maybe fix the seat, try to wake up the engine, and enjoy a different ride for not much money.
It may be an LTD-S, the fleet version. The dash image is cut off before the S badge on the far right, so it’s hard to tell. We had them at the company where I worked during this era.
Carb, dual exhaust, decent shocks, and a cop rear swaybar, would be money well spent.
My college girlfriend had one of these in light blue so it looked even more like a cop car. I always wanted to make a fake cardboard radar gun to mount on the dash.
When we would go through the Adirondacks before we would leave I would turn the LTD hood ornament 90 degrees. It would put it at an angle and she wouldn’t notice until we got going. It would drive her nuts. She would have to pull over to fix it.
Sometime around 1974 in Ford US HQ.
Ford US Executive, “We need to downsize the LTD, something new, exciting.”
Ford US design team, “Here you go, a 7/5 scale of our new Granada.”
Ford US Executive, “Brilliant!”
Ford US design, “Wait until you see the Torino/LTD II/ Thunderbird, it’s 6/5 scale!”
Ford US Executive, “Approved!”
The square era of Fords at least maintained a corporate identity throughout the line.
No wonder how shocked the public was when the Taurus came out in 1986.
The 86 Taurus was just Fugly! Evidently not everyone felt that way because they sure sold well.
I was thinking something similar, but in the context of how the 1978 Fairmont was styled.
And in hindsight, we can see how the 1983 T-Bird and 1984 Tempo were the first excursions out of the square era, with the 1986 Taurus being the full trip.
“Carb and a set of headers”…..ha….
It will need cylinder heads and pistons also if that 129 HP stated above is correct. Sounds like typical smog garbage.
had 78 LTDII w/302 thin velour seats,dual squares etc it was a great daily driver for 6 yea5rs
I see a funnel stored against the firewall either it goes through oil or trans fluid quick enough to keep the funnel readily available. I like the car especially appears to be rust free. I think I would consider a mustang ho 5.0 87 up produced 225 hp and there are a ton of mods to boost that figure. I don’t like all that loose hanging wiring for the stereo with the battery in the trunk. Yet with some attention fix the seat replace the missing signal lens and grill lamp put some bigger fatter tires with black steely rims and poverty caps you could have a cool ride for not a ton of money. I really like the color.
New tires. New dual exhaust. New radiator. New front seal and pump on transmission.
An early Panther, a rare 2 door. This unit is a blank slate for the many upgrades that are possible! I like this a lot, I’ve owned 3 Panthers, excellent platforms!
It ain’t easy being green.
These only came with variable venturi 302. I took a 67 351w and dropped it in. I got a cop speedo and suspension from Ridge Road Auto wrecking. It was a dark red-brown metalflake. I had Cleveland police stop me just to see the car.
If someone were looking to build a “sleeper” or q-ship type of ride this could be it. Lots of work to accomplish the mission, but then, it’s not like trying to shoehorn a 427 in a Chevy Vega along with all the other necessary mods.
Yes kids, 129 horsepower was the norm in this era of cars, if you were lucky. The idea of a smog crippled engine trying to meet CAFE and EPA standards And perform like cars from the ’60’s was a lousy fairy tale. Then again,
this car was not about blistering speed.
I like it because it’s different-a green, bare bones two door sedan with
possibilities. And as a plus it’ll stand out in a sea of silver,gray,black
SUV’s that all look like eggs with wheels.
Had an 84 Police Package with the 351, acceleration was underwhelming, but had the cool 140mph Speedo and factory auxiliary Oil Pressure/Volt/Water Temp gauges way over in front of the passenger seat. Put a Sun Super Tach 2 on the steering column, got it to nearly 200,000 miles when I replaced it with an 89 Caprice 9C1
Years ago I came upon one just like this car same color and year with the three o two engine with a hi fi stereo dual exhaust full hubcaps radial tires.i tried to finance it but my credit wasn’t quite good enough yet to finance it.
Tell Keith that he can keep all of the ridiculous stereo gear and offer him 3K. Body looks nice, so throw in some HP and you’ll have something special.
“…Have any of you owned a third-gen LTD?…”
no, have the 4th, a fox wagon.
“…go one step further and just remove the wheel covers. If you’re going undercover, why not just go all the way?…”
yup poverty caps, may B the steelies w/a cop like chrome axlenut dust cover? beauty rings? Minimal at anyrate, I like the fleet look. Esp in white on red (green or blue ok too). A double pin stripe (1 red, 1 blue) down the shoulder w/displacement on frnt or rear fender (paint) right in the stripe.
I like this car. Forget the stereo….sell it separate if i got the car. I have had good luck with those Kumho tires myself. Cool to me that they are 14s. It says it has duals…..so thats done. I could de-smog it and help it out as a daily driver. Sure is refreshing to see and a/c belt still on and without the phrase of it needs charging. LOL. I say thumbs up to this car. I also say thumbs up to Barnfinds and the staff and writers!!! I read Barnfinds with my coffee every morning. I drool and dream over alot of the finds. Thanks to all and to all the great comments i read daily too. Love all of Howards comments.
A set of FoMoCo Magnum 500 wheels which were optional on both the LTD deuce and Ranchero GT in 1979 would look outstanding on this green machine. Then swap out the 302 for the 351 the top mill option that year.
A friend had one of these, only his was a 4 Dr. It was black, with a tan interior and top. His also had the Magnum 500 style wheels.it was a sharp looking car. He dumped the VV carburetor for a Holley 2 barrel and put dual exhaust on it. His was no where as near well equipped as this one. He had crank windows. Straight bench seat, and no A/C. A really plain car, but he loved that thing. He probably had it longer than he ever had any other vehicle. Eventually his wife was rear ended with it and the insurance company wrote it off.
It could be an interesting vehicle, my only concern would be the engine. There was one additional engine available on these. The 4.2 later (255 cu. In.) underpowered disaster of an engine. I once test drove one with that engine. It was a snail. The 255 wasn’t really powerful enough even for the Fox Body cars. It was really a mismatch in the Panther Body cars.
It’s an interesting vehicle, all that light green is a turn off for me. Still, it’s a 2 Dr, somewhat rare even when they were new. Different tires and wheels, intake and carb if it’s a 302 and dual exhaust. Then a different shade of green, perhaps 2 tone it. It could be an interesting car and get someone into the collector hobby relatively cheap. I hope someone will go for it.
I had the honor of seeing this car for sale in person. The owners name was James, this was July 2022. We met half way between where he lived and where I lived. It made it to our meeting spot but the transmission gave up and leaked all of the fluid out. He said he’d take 1500, we declined. I bought a 1972 LTD and 1979 marquis 2 door a couple months later. I wondered what happened to this car, I still have the old pictures of it lol.