The automotive landscape was once rife with land yacht wagons from the Big 3 automakers, which seemingly had a lock on building long roof models for the American family. This has since changed dramatically, of course, with classics like this 1989 Ford Crown Victoria LTD Wagon now in short supply in survivor condition like this. The LTD has a mere 32,294 original miles on the clock, likely making it one of the lower mileage examples on the market today. While it doesn’t have the fake woodgrain trim that seemingly defined many of the family vehicles from this era, it does have a long list of factory options. Find it here on eBay with bidding at $4,650 and no reserve.
If you think it’s odd to see one of these wagons without wood cladding, you’re not far off. Many of the estate-bodied Panther cars were Country Squires, which came with the requisite wood paneling, but there were also so-called “S” and “Deluxe” models that came with different levels of equipment (or were intended for fleet use.) One unifying factor of these different trim levels was the lack of wood paneling, so despite looking relatively naked by the standards of the day, you could spec a Panther platform wagon without it. This example looks to have a laser straight body with no evidence of rust or other damage.
The interior is a treat, with handsome oxblood surfaces, door panels, and carpets, and certainly looking like a vehicle with under 40,000 original miles. The dash sports fake woodgrain trim, so you do get a dose of simulated wood if you’re missing it on the outside. The door panels have wood-style inlays as well, which also look quite fresh. Another clue as to the potential spec of this Crown Victoria LTD is the lack of rear jump seats that would have had the rear-most passengers sitting across from each other in a Deluxe or Country Squire model. The S trim didn’t have the side-facing seats stowed in the cargo bay as options, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well-optioned.
The Crown Victoria came equipped with the venerable 5.0L V8, which literally has decades of life left in it with such low mileage, assuming it’s been maintained. The seller doesn’t mention any history of fluid or belt changes, so the next owner may have to address those updates if maintenance records don’t exist. The wagon does come with a few options, including a roof rack, power tailgate, and tilt steering, and the seller notes it retains its original factory radio and owner’s manual. Panther platform vehicles are modern classics, and this one looks like a winner with low miles and no reserve.
As a big fan of long roofs, this car looks superb! What fun it would be to add lettering for a coroner’s office, as so many other Panthers were fleet vehicles.
End of an era, right here. In the 80’s, airplanes were still falling out of the sky, and wagons were the choice of many families road trips. By the early 90’s, these had all but fallen out of favor, and in 1991, the last year for the big wagons, I read, it was the poorest selling car, with only 4,000 wagons produced, and after ’91, it ended a 41 year run. Nice car like this could very wll be the last car you’d ever buy and the way it’s going with all the “retro” crap, I can see it now, “All new for 2026, the long roof, 9 passenger wagon, at your Ford dealer today”,,Great find.
Hello Howard, remember the 70,s when the nut case,s were high jacking planes to Havanna? I like this car till I saw under the hood. With all the junk .You can,nt see much of the motor and a small 302. Unless it was low geared. Its not much on power when you need it. Maybe that,s why it only has 40,000 miles on it. Might be ok for flat land,but in the mountains it wouldn,t have much power. I hope you have a great Merry Christmas how .Great reading your writing of your experience too.
Always loved the Ford wagons you could camp in them, haul things in them, great if you had a girl friend :) I am a retired Mechanic use to load my tool box’s in the back so easy, Ford WAS ALWAYS my choice, and still is, they were dependable great drivers, miss the good old days when a car was a joy, I know everything is upgraded now but noting fun
What a great car. Why waste $55,000 on a POS Explorer when you can have this?
They’d probably reply – “But there’s no 28 air bags,
no screen on the dash,no electronics interface/connections,
and it wouldn’t impress the neighbors like an overpriced/over-
sized SUV would”.
All are reason I’d take this instead.
Or “But, I need to TOW.”
(a lightweight boat maybe twice a year, forgetting entirely that this wagon can likely tow as much as what one would normally attempt to do with the Explorer.)
(not to mention that the rest of the word regularly and safely tows all sorts of things with cars…just like Americans did before it became more profitable to make us all buy pseudo-trucks for no otherwise good reason.)
for about $5500? Hell yes! lol
What a great presentation. This seller gets an “A” for adding so many detailed pictures showing all the little blemishes…and considering this has been around for 31 years, there are not many things to nit-pick. If I had room to park this beast I’d be bidding!
I thought by the late 1980 the LTD moniker was dropped and they were all just Crown Vics. I guess I am wrong. Or Wikipedia lied to me ha ha
I think after the Fox body LTD debuted, every Panther was badged as “LTD Crown Victoria,” and the LTD was dropped with the aero restyle in ~’92.
Looks like a real sweet deal. Oh, those 80s interiors in full size cars were awesome.
I do kind of want this. This appears to have the factory dual exhaust, which if I am not mistaken generally came with the optional 3.55 rear end, which still doesn’t add up to being downright fast but from what I remember it helps. Love those wheel covers, which also came on police-issue Crown Vics of the era.
10 extra HP (160 vs. 150) and 10 extra lb-ft of torque. Doesn’t take but an HCI to make these things sing like Barry White.
I had a white 1988 Crown Vic that was an awesome car. It’s one of only 4-5 cars that I wish I had back.
time warp! beautiful.
That is a really nice wagon in excellent shape. I love the interior color, a great contrast to the white exterior. The 5.0 (or 302 to those of us old enough to remember) is a great motor with just about every part available when something under the hood fails. Lots of life left in this one and overall, this classic wagon looks like it was well looked after. If I was in the market for a classic wagon, I’d certainly consider this one.
Calling it a 5.0 is a lie, anyway.
I’d paint it green, add some woodgrain, customize the lights a little, put a dog leash on the bumper….
One thing about this car. Its better built then today,s throw away vehicles. Alot more money worth hear. Then any new over priced junk in the show room now.,but some people think they have to impress people like they have alot of money. Then when they get laid off of work .They start worrying about loosing their new car or truck. They put themself in that situation.Not me. This looks like a well take car of vehicle and who ever buys it. I,m sure they will get good service out of it and made a wise descion.
Wow, she’s thicccc….
When we were a growing family back in mid 80’s, I purchased a used 1982 Mercury Colony Park station wagon with 45K miles for $4500. We drove it several years through the 1990’s and sold it to my brother-in law. It is now sitting in his field. Makes me want to get it back and get her going again. It would cruise all day at 80 mph while being so comfy in those seats.
Have an 89 very similar to this , except mine has front vent windows, rear jump seats, cloth seats, turbine wheels, pale yellow color and no cornering lights. Bought at a school auction in Virginia for $300
Vent windows are great,plus the other vents in different locations on different makes. I,d rather have them any day .Then air condition. Plus it made it easier to work under the hood..My old 41 Chevrolet pick up has the vent in the front on the windshield and when you opened it. It put a good breeze on you. I wished it had wing vent windows,but it doesn,t. Still if the vent doesn,t cool you off. You can crank out the windshield a good bit. haha Congratulations on your car.
Looks like seller cancelled all the bids and ended auction early.
So much for “no reserve”.
Clarke , Aunt Ednas Dead , You Cant Strap Her To The Roof , LOL
In 1989, I was promoted to Sgt with the sheriff department I worked for. Being the junior sergeant, I had to carry all the SWAT gear in my patrol vehicle. This is the exact patrol vehicle I was given. Of course mine didn’t have all the fancy interior. Even with the 5.0 motor, I was lucky if it would reach 100 mph and when it did, you held in for your life.
I was very happy when the new Expodition’s came out.
Reminds me of my ‘88 Country Squire, which I loved and wish I had kept. Kids still call it the Family Truckster.
An Aussie here. Love these big old battle wagons. Sad to see they have largely gone from the automotive landscape. Love the sumptuous old interiors, so nice to see colours other than grey cloth. I also yearn for the simpler dash boards of decades past, just need basic instrumentation without all the crap LED/LCD Christmas tree light, whiz bang wacko gizmatronicky in modern cars. I would love to own it if I lived in the States but the cost of getting it down here and left hand drive don’t work out, unfortunately. Hope it goes to a good home.
I always wondery why Ford wouldn’t just drop in the 5.0 HO as an option in something like this. They already offered the dual exhaust and lower gearing. Because they wanted this 5.0 set up for more torque? Or to not hurt mpg figures? GM had a pretty strong version of the LT1 in the roadmaster with a lot more HP than the 160 in this
Guessing lack of interest made it too expensive to certify. No one was buying full size sedans for performance in the late ’80s, plus they still offered the 5.8L for police/fleet.
The LT1 didn’t make it into the Roadmaster until quite a bit later — long after the Panther had switched to the modular V8.
There is another low mileage one with fake wood on eBay for $23900! Wow!
Ad deleted by author. However, this is one beauty!! Love the maroon leather seats.. The only thing I don’t like is the small engine in this land yacht. Yank the 5.0 out and put in a 390 Better performance and better gas mileage. If I had the money and place, I would have loved to have had this one.