Talk about a long, large 70’s green dream machine (and a two-toned green paint combo at that), then check out this well-preserved 1978 Ford LTD II Sport with the optional Sports Touring Package. It is quite the time capsule with 70,677 miles on the clock. The dealer selling it believes they’re original and based on the overall condition of this Ford, I’d have to agree. Currently residing at Dave Brown Classic Rides in Guttenberg, Iowa, this ’78 LTD II Sport is for sale here on eBay with a listed price of $13,900.
The original window sticker shows this LTD II was purchased new at John Wagener Ford of Maquoketa, Iowa. Being around in the 70’s, I remember more two-toned paint combinations being offered and I thought most of them worked pretty well together as this one does. The Light Jade Glow Metallic and Medium Jade (one of five “striking” Sports Touring Package color combinations) presents very well here, and let’s face it, that’s a lot of paint.
Believe it or not, the LTD II 2-door hardtop at 215.5″ in length was considered Ford’s “intermediate-sized” offering. In fact, Ford’s sales literature position the LTD II line as “The trimmer, sportier, mid-size LTD at a trimmer price.” Based on the many supplied photos, the rest of the Sport’s exterior – the bumpers, chrome grille, trim, tinted glass, dual sport mirrors, and 14” Magnum 500 wheels – also present well on this well-preserved time capsule.
The 70’s were a colorful decade, and unlike today, green cars usually came with green interiors (along with a fair share of green plastic trim and lots of faux wood). This Sport has front bucket seats with a center console, the sports instrumentation group, power steering, cruise control, air conditioning (which has been converted to R-134a refrigerant), a floor-mounted automatic transmission shifter, and talk about the 70’s, this baby has an AM/FM stereo radio with a Quadraphonic tape player. Except for some wear on the driver side green carpet and the center console armrest, the Jade vinyl seats, door panels, dash, steering wheel, and rest of the cabin looks to be in very good condition for a 45-year-old car.
The hood on this LTD II is almost as long as an aircraft carrier, but not quite. Although several engine options were available in 1978, you’ll find a 5.8L 351-cubic inch V8 powering this Sport. It is paired with a SelectShift Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission and also has power front disc brakes and a heavy duty handling suspension. I remember when the LTD II lineup (which included a 2-door, a 4-door, as well as a station wagon) was introduced in 1977 and it was a bit of a head scratcher. Especially the 2-door coupe which shared much of its profile (and even most of its instrument panel) with the more prestigious and very popular downsized Thunderbird. So what do you think of this green-on-green-on-green time machine?
So, if you were in the market for a big Ford two-door coupe in 1977-79, and the T-Bird wasn’t your thing, how about an LTD II? For me, the big bumpers coupled with the stacked rectangular headlights wasn’t the best presentation, but…. when equipped with the Sports Touring Package, they ended up looking good. The two-tone paint, Magnum 500 wheels, Sports Instrumentation, buckets, console, and floor shift made for a nice package.
This one looks to be in good shape. And, not only is it green, it’s two-tone green!! It would work fine as a cruiser and you wouldn’t see yourself any time soon.
Thanks Ron.
Always liked the style of long hood short deck cars.
2 of my favs r the 69/70 Cougars and the rear end of my 2012 Challenger looks VERY similar to that Cougar rear end!
I think I’d be spoiled by the great handling of the modern heavy Challenger though to enjoy driving this LTD II much.
Be fun to take to car shows though, can’t remember last time I saw one on the road.
I had a four door 77′ LTD deuce – with a 302. Bought it with relatively low miles (about 70K) Green on Green baby for 900 bucks – it had some minor rear qp damage. I have to say it was one of my worst rides back in the day. Just an anemic turd that my friends affectionately called the “one way LTD” due to it’s propensity for breaking down. Being a broke ass 18 year old certainly didn’t help in me taking care of it. I often wonder what at 351 would driven like.
Probably the 351 would have been better.
My family had a 1973 Gran Torino (same car, different contouring on the exterior) with a 351 Cleveland…and while it sucked gas (8 mpg) and wasn’t overly powerful, it was trouble-free. We got over 110,000 miles on it, and that in a day when that was rare.
Sounds like yours had been hammered by a previous owner – just mash the pedal at every light, and check oil every year. You know the type of owner.
I had a 351 powered ’78 4 dr. It looked like a cop car! A $800 special. Once I put new gas tank straps and an exhaust system on it. (They BOTH fell off, at the same time, pulling out of a concert, with 6 people in her! It ran like a champ. I had it up to about 110mph racing a clapped out 442 one night.
My Dad bought a 78 LTD II in 1984 with the 351. They got into this from a 74 Maverick, strangely enough. I have never been particularly about Motorcraft but that car would move! I thought the coolest thing about it then was the moon roof. Here I am trying to find and price models in decent condition in 2023.
Buy this one and you can once again enjoy that collection of quadraphonic tapes that are collecting dust.
Strangely cool car. No doubt that you would have the only one at any Cars and Coffee in North America. I am really sorry we bought a used Subaru Forester last week for our son to take to grad school. He would would been Big Man On Campus in that bear. Somebody make me an offer on the Subaru quick!!! I might still be able to change some minds!
Boy, this brings back some HS memories… mostly bad ones but nonetheless. Not Ford’s finest styling or design job, the Elite this replaced and the ’77 T-bird both looked significantly better. Nice interior however, the Sports Instrumentation dash looked great as did the Comfortweave vinyl seats. Ford struggled more than most with carburation and emission controls, their engines felt weak, had drivability issues and got awful mileage. My ’77 Cutlass ran away from my buddies dad’s 400 T-bird. Once Ford figured out Port FI however, the lept to the top of domestic engines. Cool car for the flashbacks, I’d probably spend 13k on it as you cannot buy much for 13k these days.
Nice deuce Ford w console select-o-matic autoloader. 351 and cool paint🎨 😎
I’ve a pal who has a dark metallic red with white stripes one,he dropped an S-Code 390 in it but left it visually stock and classic.amazing car,probabl my all time favorite malaise era car.
I love the paint scheme as to at least me it makes the bumpers on the car tolerable.I’d cruise it.
These cars were so slow, regardless of the engine option, that they would literally not turn the tire over if you mashed the pedal. A Traction-Lok axle was nearly a non-existent option and rarely seen on any Ford, even the Cobra Jet Torinos a few years earlier. Ford had a thing about not feeling it was a necessary option so they never pushed it, it seems. If you read the Marti Reports listed in nearly every Torino Cobra auction you’ll see that they (almost) all have conventional rear axles. Not that it would have mattered on this car anyway, with a 2.XX rear gear in it. I had a ’78 LTD II “S” ex-Columbus, Ohio PD car that was the worst piece of junk I ever owned. It was a very low mileage car that still looked new but suffered a carb fire and was sold with very minor damage. They, obviously, had no faith in these cars at all. It sat in a garage in Columbus until 2000 or so, when I bought it at a charity auto auction. It was, bar none, the slowest piece of crap I ever owned. It now sits somewhere in Delaware after changing hands a few times. The guy that owns it will never restore it and it’s now rusted away. Still a shame as it was a rare bird, er…turd, I mean.
Extremely rare to find ANYTHING fast in the mid 70s to early 80s.
There’s a good reason why they call this the “malaise era”
Goes perfectly with my leisure suit and white shoes!
Seriously this was one stupid trend that was necessitated as a finishing touch on the combination of slab sides, oversized bumpers and underpowered engines. Didn’t they use colored tape to mask the color borders?
My mother had a very similiar not sport model that she loved to drive. Wouldn’t pass a gas station and had carb issues as referenced earlier.
Great driver though.
I owned a 79 sport. The interior was definitely mid sized. I would love to buy this one if I had throw away money.
Thought this looked really familiar. This car (same VIN) was sold on BAT on 4/5/21 for $7,800. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-ford-ltd-2/
Saw the same here Rob. Bought from Huntsville, TX and taken to Iowa. Sure didn’t keep it long. Wonder if it always was the intention to “flip”.
I had a 78 Thunderbird in Dark Jade metallic. A great car. Drove it until 1992, still running great.
I used to walk by this guy’s (parent’s) house on the way to school in 5th/6th grade everyday and he always had a cool car (68 Cuda was one of the best). One day he pulls into his drive way with one of these but solid dark brown with tan guts. Nothing special, thought he just needed a reliable car for a change (this was early ’80s). By the end of the week it had a fresh set of 10″ (rear) and 8″ (frt) aluminum slots with suitable rubber, and man, it just looked so right. You know how aluminum slots look when they’re new and fresh? Stuck with me to this day.
I had to drive a 4 door 302 V8 version of this as a company car for about three years. I think it was a 79. No gas mileage at all and wouldn’t hit 85 mph if you threw it out of the space shuttle. I hated it and then they replaced it with a 6 cyl Fairmont. Just couldn’t win.
A correct car from the disco era. I hate disco but this is a sweet ride.
Bear with me as I had both a two door and a four door one of these with a 302. They weren’t fast, but we’re not supposed to be. I always liked the styling, but had a couple of things I would have liked to see. Look at the pictures again, and visualize it sitting on nice 15 or 16 inch wheels and a little wider tires, and with both bumpers reduced in size and molded back more under both ends of the body. I think it would have cleaned up the lines to look more sporty and elegant at the same time! Like this one!
A drinking disco buddy of mine had one of these. Same color too ! If he hadn’t totaled it one night i might think it was his. He always drove, or most always. Since most of the disco’s had various drink specials. Like for example, the ViP’s had 50 cent mixed drink nite on Weds nites. $1/beer night was Thursdays. Tuesday’s was $5 for all the beer & pizza you could consume. lol.
He dropped me off one night after one of these drink special nights and it was the last time i ever saw that Green Ford LTD 2. As he drove it thru a garage after missing a turn/bend in the road. He did survive to drink again !
Speaking of drinking, as a teenager my town had these as police cruisers and they were so easy to spot coming our way at night.
It can’t be all that bad, It made it this far. It’s 45 years old now, Pull the engine, FRESHEN it up and Drive it like you stole it, Had a Navy buddy re upped and brought one of these new, He had it about 6 months and voided the warranty. We pulled the engine at the base Hobby Shop and it was one of the sweetest rides on base. Same Color. He got married a few years later and sold it to another sailor who wrecked it three weeks later. Wonder if he’d want to build another one ?
is this still for sale? sam
I know this is an old post, but I had this cars IDENTICAL TWIN right after I got out of highschool. I swapped out the original 351W and FMX for a “nicely warmed over” 460/C6 out of an early 70’s sheriffs car. Once it was able to breath with good exhaust, cam, and intake, it made 20+ mpg hwy, and went like a scalded cat. I miss that car and regret getting rid of it.