In 1965, Ford decided to give buyers of its full-size cars a luxury option and dubbed it the Galaxie 500 LTD. Its ride quality and quietness were advertised to be better than that of a Rolls-Royce. The idea worked so well that Chevrolet copied the car later that year on the Impala and called it Caprice. The 1966 LTD was minimally changed as was the rest of the big Fords because the redesign was only in its second year. This example is as nice a mid-1960s car as we’ve seen, yet the seller misses the point by never referring to it as an LTD. Located in Greenfield, Wisconsin, this solid Ford is available here on craigslist for $11,000. Our thanks to Barn Finder Tony Primo for the tip!
The LTD nameplate would enjoy a long life at Ford in one form or another from 1965 to 1986. For the first year only, the full name of the product was Galaxie 500 LTD, but the prefixes were dropped in 1966 and the car simply became “LTD.” Mechanically the same as the rest of the full-size Fords, the cars offered a level of luxury and personal comfort that rivaled Mercury and Lincoln. Buyers bought into the whole idea and in 1966 they built 69,400 copies alone of the LTD as a 4-door “fastback sedan” (aka hardtop). This is compared to 54,900 copies of the less opulent Galaxie 500 in the same body style.
We don’t know much about the history of this 1966 automobile other than it’s been garage-kept, well-maintained, and has a trunk full of documentation and show information. Are the paint, vinyl top, and interior original? Could be, but it took a lot to keep this stuff all up to snuff at just 53,000 miles on the odometer. The car must have been purchased originally for use in the northern states as factory air conditioning is nowhere to be seen.
As you might expect, a 390 cubic inch V8 lies under the hood (chrome valve covers?) and is supported by an automatic transmission. We’re told it performs flawlessly and needs nothing – a turnkey vehicle that’s ready for Cars & Coffee in your part of the country. In the mid-1960s, Ford was in second place in sales to Chevrolet, even after the Mustang was introduced as buyers were scooping up Impalas faster than Galaxies.
Isn’t this the car where they filmed a commercial of a professional jeweler cutting a diamond in the backseat due to its smoooooth ride?
Mercury Grand Marquis. (Also joked on SNL in a 4dr 77 Cougar).
and it wasn’t a “Diamond” cutting….Nome Sane????
Once again nicest one left, please stop saying that.
This is cool Ford cruiser 390-4.. Great price low mileage and it’s bye-bye.. 🙄🐻🇺🇸
Nice LTD. One can understand the solid sales, they were attractively styled and well-trimmed. Even with the beige paint this one looks good.
Aside: some automotive historians date the beginning of the demise of Mercury to the 1965 LTD.
Distributor position belies timing chain wear beyond stated mileage
Distributor position does appear a little advanced but I do not think that correlates to timing chain wear or mileage.
Clockwise turning /advancing timing does not make up for a worn or loose chain, or worn cam gear.
Rough idling and difficult starting are symptoms as are a poor tune on a 57 year old Ford FE.
This car is said to run well and may have a new(er) timing chain.
This is a nice LTD – the costs on these ’60’s big Fords are coming down and nicer ones seem to keep surfacing.
I had a ’67 Ford Custom in ’77 – and it was no where near as clean as this one. It was nice to drive back and forth to college and only repair for the years I had it was a sagging timing chain.
This LTD is priced well in my opinion and really hope it lands in a mature home.
Nice car pity it’s a sedan. In Australia the 1965 Galaxie was the fastest production car that year. CKD from Canada and reassembled here as right hand drive. Only available as Sedans. The coupes are the real beauties
I honestly can’t see how you could call this one the nicest one left? I’m sure there must be better. Oh it’s a nice driver, but far from museum piece nicest of example. Or am I the only one who sees a different shade in the passenger side, where the rear quarter panel looks darker than the doors, trunk lid and front fenders, not to mention the small dimple in the quarter panel near the bumper on the passenger side. I actually know of one that was across the street where I grew up, it was driven by the wife, a school teacher and as a family car as the Dad owned a TR6. That LTD was a nice metallic light bronze with parchment interior, powered by a 390/4brl with dual exhaust, after all the Dad did drive a quick sports car. Sadly both Mom&Dad are gone, but their son, a good old friend inherited it and keeps it in PA, where he’s a Proff. At Penn State Univ. He has added headers and Holley Projection on an aluminum intake manifold, plus rebuilt the C6 trans, but Dad had ordered the car with factory towing package, so it has a lower rear end than a normal cruising type, not sure of the exact numbers, but it has posi, because of all the snow we got in Mass. plus lived on top of a long uphill drive off the main road, that never got plowed. I remember his Dad and mine buy snow tires at the same time on extra wheels, so neither of our families had any trouble getting up the hill. We had a 68 Chrysler Town&Country Beach Wagon 440/4 brl with factory towing package. Nice big American cars!
I’m not a Ford man, but doggone it, this is a sharp car. And I’m glad it IS a four-door!
Check closely for a rusted frame, particularly near the rear wheel wells.
I believe I obtained the best deal of anyone on a 1977 Ford 4 dr,HT LTD. At KH we had one, (burguney with a black vinyl top. After engineering was finished with this test car it was placed into company mail service and this car went from Romulus to Cleveland daily. When it was a year old it had 99,000 miles and it quit running on I 75 in Monroe, Mi. It was towed to the local Ford dealer and the service dept. reported it needed an engine rebuild. The transportation manager offered me this car for $100.00 and I bought it. I told AAA I need my car towed to a friends house. The points failed. I added another 60000 miles to this car. 390 engine but no AC. But in Detroit few cars had AC back then
The car was a 1977 and it had points? Or did you hit the seven key twice when typing out 1966?
I appologize, this was a 1967 Ford LTD. 4 door hard top, dark red with a black vynil top. Had 99,000 miles on it and almost two years old. I believe the 1970’s were just coming out when I bought it for $100.00. I drove it for a year and then gave it to my mother. One of 5 cars I purchased from KH while I worked there.