Entering the market at the same time as General Motors downsized most of their full-sized cars, the Ford LTD II was known as one of the biggest mid-sized cars, especially the station wagon, which is almost 19 feet long. This first-year 1977 Ford LTD II Squire Wagon is posted here on craigslist in Kalispell, Montana and the seller is asking $2,150. Here is the original listing.
The seller says this woody wagon has “PERFECT patina”, and by using all-caps, they aren’t foolin’. It does look cool and would be guaranteed to draw a crowd any and every time you stopped for gas, but here’s a detailed photo of the “patina” so you can judge for yourself. That’s heavy stuff, almost like the bark on a tree, even though it’s basically a woodgrain decal.
The LTD II was made for three short years, 1977, 1978, and 1979 and then it was gone. My best friend’s parents had a red two-door LTD II Brougham (“Bro-Ham”, as my friend called it) with a white Landau vinyl top and it had almost no road feel or handling ability at all, it just floated down the road and God help you if you had to swerve to miss a deer or something. The seller says this one drives awesome but could use a good detail cleaning and new tires. Only one of those things is surprising, the drives awesome part.
Seat fabric doesn’t get much better than this, and I’m surprised to see a power front bench seat but not power windows. If you look at the seller’s photos, and we always hope you do, you’ll see some surface rust showing up on the only other interior photo, notably on the gear selector. I would sure like to see the underside of this car, but am wondering if $2,150 would be worth a gamble without paying for an inspection. Kalispell, Montana is over two hours north of Missoula and I-80, so shipping costs won’t be cheap.
Kudos to the seller for providing an engine photo! This is Ford’s 400-cu.in. OHV V8 with around 170 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque. The seller says it “runs awesome”, the car is straight and solid, 99% rust-free, and the price can’t be beaten, at least for 2024. Would any of you take a chance on this LTD II Squire?
I’m not sure what to think about this LTD II. As a coupe, they were eclipsed by the very popular reworked Thunderbird. As a sedan, a bread-and-butter family car. As a wagon, I barely remember it. Was it simply overshadowed by the more-popular full-size models, plus in 1978 by the Fairmont wagon? Or am I just forgetful?
This one needs work. I do like that it is a Squire, and the upholstery is cool. Whether it has a future, I don’t know. Maybe the nearby Mavericks have more potential?
Thanks Scotty.
You aren’t the only one – the LTD II seemed to be a second or third tier car when it comes to our memories of those years. And I think you nailed it, Bob – it was overshadowed by the other models you mentioned. I sometimes jokingly tell folks that a model is doomed if Ford puts a “II” after it – Mustang II, LTD II, Bronco II…
Runs awesome? On the flat tire? lol
It runs awesome – doesn’t say anything about whether it moves. Lol
That looks like a factory speaker, and if you look at the pictures, the “missing” speaker grille is sitting on the front seat, next to the two hubcaps!
Can’t beat it for the price, even with the botched speaker install on the door. The late seventies though, such a weird time for cars, styling and engineering.
I’d rather eyeball those two Mavericks in the pics.
I drove one of these, brand new. It was my bosses company car. A plain Jane wagon. Nothing spectacular, but it handled like every other late seventies car. And couldn’t get out of it’s own way, like most of them, too. Luckily for us, the government has quit messing with the automobile industry. Oh, wait…..
By my calculations, that works out to $0.53 per pound.
These were solid, quiet, nice-driving, full framed cars. Not many of these wagons left. Too bad there is no title.
Nose of an LTD II, body of a 1976 Mercury Montego wagon. It’s hard to imagine a time when a car 223 inches long was an intermediate, but here it is, in all its oversized glory. The power seat is odd in the absence of other power accessories.
Manual windows are a saving grace over power windows but a shorty would need a 6 way power seat to look over the dash and down that service for 7 long hood.
With some TLC this could be a good family car for trips etc? You can buy lots of gas for what the payment on your new Suburban is which is not an economy champ.
Respectfully, do you hate your children? Any trip more than 5 miles would be a disaster.
We stopping for ice cream?
Dad- rad hose
We stopping to swim?
Dad- fuel line
We stopping to eat?
Dad- brake line. We’re not stopping.
Memo to the Ford marketing department: Brand confusion is never a good thing! Why did Ford take a popular and well known brand name like Torino and throw it away in favor of the name they used for their full-size cars? Was it case of trying to move the mid-size Torino upmarket? If so, it was a failure on two (2) counts. First, no one looking for a mid-size car is going to believe that a Torino is a more upscale car just because it uses the same name as the more expensive full-size offering. Second, if anyone is confused, you’re cannibalizing sales from your more expensive and more profitable full-size cars in the process! Doh! BTW, I was being charitable when I used the word “confused”. In this context, “fooled” would be a suitable synonym.
As to the car itself, I would rate the condition as “fair”, but without detailed pictures of the frame and undercarriage, I reserve the right to revise that rating up or down. BTW, when advertising a car for sale, would it kill you to wash it with a little soapy water and vacuum out the interior? Just Sayin’.
The Dinoc Faux wood needs help, and that speaker in the driver’s door looks like factory issue, the speaker grille has just gone missing. No word on what factory radio resides in the dash. I’d remove the Dinoc anyway, just to check for rust under the sheet vinyl. I’d just paint it, but keep the faux wood trim for a future owner, should they decide to reapply it.
The last generation of the Ford Ranchero was also built on this platform, and the Ranchero would be gone after the end of the 1978 model year. In both cases, I never cared for the look of the vertically stacked rectangular sealed beam headlights, I prefer the look of the 5-1/4″ round sealed beams used on the earlier models.
The 400 V8 isn’t bad, but this car would be much better if a 429/460 big-block were under the hood! This despite the fact that by 1977, even a big-block 460 struggled to make 150 hp. The usual upgrades would help, or there’s always the option of a crate motor from Ford Performance. 302 Variants can be had in displacements of up to 363 cubic inches, the 351versions can be had as large as 460 cubic inches, or the big block, fully-dressed is good for 572 cubic inches!
I may be making some enemies here and dodging some bullets but the problems began when Ford put their oval emblem on them.
“Do you think that maybe I carried this thing just a bit too far? N’mmm, could be!” – Bugs Bunny
Stick to Puegeots
My dad worked for a Ford dealer at the time and we briefly had one of these as a demonstrator. I think the hood was larger than the room I grew up in.
Styling wise it’s like Ford just kept adding length and ugliness to the front end as the years went by with this particular body. I actually wrote to Ford about the hideousness of the front end of this car and included a sketch about how much better it would look with horizontal headlights as opposed to that laughing clown vertical headlight front end.
Scotty is 100% right regarding deer avoidance. Dad had a 76 Montego wagon and we were off on vacation when a deer jumped in front of the car. He turned the wheel to avoid it but by the time the car changed the directions the deer was already in the grill. Handling is not the strong suit of these land barges.
This one probably is worth getting back on the road if only because there are so few of them left. That is if the underside checks out.
My father had a 77 light blue plain Jane station wagon. Had a 351 sucked gas like a sieve. In the backseat you burned because the exhaust system heat would come through the floor. Ford only made the LTD II station wagon for one year. I’ve mentioned on this website before that Torino LTD two design was a horrible design handling wise from the first year. They came out with that and what 71 or 72. A bad design all the way around. Hard to believe they sold as many Thunderbirds as they did. They handled like crap too.
This car has been sitting outside for an awfully long time and has not seen a road in probably 25 years.