Confusing. Ford’s animal names for their various platforms are just confusing. Do they make any sense to you? This 1979 Ford LTD Crown Victoria is a beauty, and believe it or not, it’s a bit smaller than the preceding Ford LTD was, with a completely different drivetrain and body, yet it shares the Panther Platform. This Crown Vic is listed on eBay with the current bid being just over $2,000, but the reserve isn’t met. This lovely landau is located in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
It’s hard to imagine a car this big and boxy being the latest and greatest but for 1979 this was it, at least for Ford. The LTD Crown Victoria ran from 1980 to 1991 and then the LTD portion was dropped and it became the Crown Victoria, a car that most of us have feared on highways for a couple of decades, at least when we’re speeding. Ha, as if any of us drive over the posted speed limit..
This car is nice, reeeeeeeal nice. 44,000 original miles nice. The details are really crisp with nary a rust spot anywhere that I can see. The 1979 LTD Crown Victoria was over a foot shorter than the 1978 LTD and a few hundred pounds lighter! This car “runs and drives perfectly”, according to the seller.
The interior is gorgeous in green. If you don’t like sage green, or “light medium pine” green, maybe this one isn’t for you. The seats are perfect and this car is loaded, as you’d expect an LTD Crown Victoria to be, with power seats, power windows and locks, AC, and even a CB radio from the factory! It needs work on the headliner and there appears to be a small crack on the top of the dash, but other than that it looks showroom fresh inside. The seller says to fly in and drive this one home, there’s no question that it would be a fun trip.
This hose-laden beast of an engine, or I think there’s an engine in there.. is Ford’s 351 Windsor V8 with a mere 140 hp and 265 ft-lb of torque. It took about a dozen seconds to get to 60 mph in this car but it felt like you were on a flying carpet, I’m guessing. I haven’t driven a car like this in probably a decade but the feeling never really leaves your soul. With a reported 23 mpg on the highway, this would be an outstanding road trip car. Have any of you owned a Panther Platform LTD? What do you think about this one, wouldn’t this be a cushy highway cruiser?
Forest Service green? Nah, not with cloth interior… but it sure looks it at a glance!
It is a very governmental color, but I really like it on this car.
Looks like all the best buys are too far away for me. I’m in Los Angeles.
OMG. I’m usually not a big fan of domestic cars, but I love this one. I might buy it just for the color combo, especially the green CLOTH interior. It would look a bit out of place in my little car collection.
Mint Condition
Well played, sir.
Well played indeed
Good one, Dan.
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I had a 1986 like this but mine was cream color with dark brown interior. It was the most comfortable driving and riding car. I wish I never sold it, they are great road trip cars!
Love em big and boxy.
I always really liked these,& almost bought one.
This also has the 351,which is the one to get for towing.
For $2000,or so,you could buy gas with all the money
you saved over that overpriced vintage pickup.
While I have little if any, interest in this car, they were good cars. Any car that was used as a cop car, is top notch in my book. These cars put many a mechanic’s kids through college, not because they were poor cars, it was just a changing time, and as you can see, they strangled this poor motor to death. This was about as true to Ford’s roots 75 years later. Provide a decent, affordable sedan the whole family can ride in.
Factory CB? SOLD!!
I like it. That ” powerful 351 engine” would likely keep up with a new nissan sentra 4 cylinder
Mine
All original car in first owner 58,000 miles no Winters 351 high output
You still have? I’m looking for the green 1979, but can’t find one for sale.
I miss colorful interiors! (I guess that’s why I bought a Ram 1500 Stinger with bright yellow interior trim.)
I think this is just an LTD Landau, not a Crown Victoria. Crown Victoria was an option package in ’79, and replaced the Landau model in 1980.
You also may want to fact-check some of the comments about the panther platform. It was supposedly all-new for 1979.
You are correct it is an LTD Landau just like the picture of mine Above 1979 … they didn’t add the crown Victoria to the name for a few years
Ah, you just posted this exact car here on October 2nd, remember? Thumbs up to this nice green LTD but thumbs down to posting the exact same car only a few months later. It’s not the first time either. Oh wait, I forgot, you removed the thumbs up and down again….
Look again
Nerdynessy. It’s not the same car.Oh? Look close, same miles, same inspection stickers on the window, same CB, same minty green, you think there are two of these floating around? It’s the same exact car. Somebody just removed the cool bumper sticker and the dealer name from the trunk lid. There is no getting around it.
You got me nessy. I checked the vin and it is the same car. Looks like it sold for $3k the last time around.
Hey, no big deal but I think you know by now, you can’t pull the wool over me. I’m just still a little poed that you removed the thumbs up and down once again so I called you out on the Ford. Come on Jesse, you know how much we like your site but just be honest with us that you no longer want it on your website. Then, it’s up to your readers to decide if they want to stay on without it. It’s obvious that a few readers with too much time on their hands got all unglued over getting thumbs down and could not take it so you pulled it. I’ll say it again and I know that most of your readers do agree with me, the thumbs up and down needs to make a return. The site is just not the same. I, myself, find that I visit the site much less since the change and I know why. My posting has dropped off greatly over the last few weeks. I used to check the site everyday after work. Now, today is the first time in maybe close to two weeks. You know most guys want it back. Oh, thanks for calling me “Nerdy” and not “Nessy” up above. At least you did not put a big thumbs down in your reply to me…. Haha.
Sorry about the nerdy thing. I replied on a phone and it auto corrected. As far as the thumbs, they were pulled down when we updated the server because the plugin broke the site. We are looking at other options, but haven’t had time to get anything going yet. I appreciate your feedback though.
I don’t see the need for the thumbs up or down feature. Some people just get off about that without reading the posts.
I miss the thumbs up or down feature as well. Often I don’t have time to write a comment but can quickly give a thumbs up or down. Anyone that’s offended by a 👎has bigger issues IMHO
Up
I have seen hat car and almost bought it, yes headliner is drooping, on rear deck on one side the finish panel was missing, a gauge was not working I seemed to remember, other little things as well and the dealer refused to fix any of it. We offered about twice what is bid now. For that price now on Ebay I would have to think about
So that’s what one looks like without a radio stack and a shotgun mount. I’ve never seen one “nekkid” before. But I have sure seen a lot of years reading “certified calibration”. Just be sure that the intake manifold is not one of the plastic ones. It costs $1700 to replace a cracked one. But they would glide along at 80 mph for days on end. My son-in-law said they were killer cars — they could bore you to death.
Having at various times owned a 1979 Grand Marquis and a 1979 Ford Country Squire, both were goed riding durable cars. Both were 302s. The Mercury when I got it in 1995 for a daily driver only had 69000 miles and one female owner. Excellent shape, the only problem was the Headliner, They came unglued. It was grey with a bright bordello red interior. A great car.
I bought one of these new. It was a maroon LTD, not a Crown Vic. Beautiful car and a great highway cruiser. Driving it to work every day in town it went through two transmissions and in four years it was using oil. Went back to GM products.
Friend’s mom was a pharmaceutical sales rep when these were new and had the non CV version of this with only single headlamps. Same color scheme and wheel covers but it had a funky upholstery, reminiscent of cilantro and rice. Perhaps the only time I rode in that car was to see Every Which Way But Loose!
The Fox platform actually preceded the Panther. The Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr were the original Fox platform cars and were introduced for the 1978 model year.
I hope who ever buys this car is somewhere warm. They are completely useless in snow and ice. It becomes a giant sled.