1976 was the high point in station wagon sales for the U.S., at almost 980,000 in sales, about 10% of the market for that year. In case you were wondering, minivan sales reportedly only make up about 2% of the U.S. car market today. This 1976 Ford LTD Country Squire is listed here on eBay in Dunedin, Florida, there is no reserve, and the current bid price is $8,256.
We looked at a Mercury Marquis the other day and I wondered if it was the longest American car, I should have said regular factory sedan. But, even this 18.8-foot-long Country Squire is shorter than that Merc, I never would have expected that. Mercury made the Colony Park wagon, but even that was shorter. This car looks great in the overall photos, but it isn’t perfect by any means.
The seller says that he bought this car from the second owner, a gentleman who bought the car from the original owner’s estate and moved it to Idaho from Kansas, where it had been a family car and then parked sometime in the 1980s. The current owner/seller brought it back to life by putting a lot of money into things, like the fuel system, some engine work, reviving the AC system, etc. There is still more work to do on a few things, such as tracking down the vacuum leak for the hidden headlights, and a few other things, but it looks like a nice, solid car overall.
Ford offered the seventh-generation Country Squire model to the LTD family in 1969 and until 1978, at which point they were downsized and added to the Panther platform. This example has a mix of features, having power seats (which “doesn’t move”, according to the seller) but not power windows. The nubby fabric seats, which Ford called DuraWeave, look nice in the front and back and the cargo area can haul a lot of stuff, including people.
The engine is Ford’s 460-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had 202 horsepower and 252 352 lb-ft of torque. The engine runs smoothly now that they had a new pushrod and some rocker arms installed, and please read the seller’s description, it’s as long as a dictionary and has a ton of information regarding what has been done to this car. Any thoughts on this big Country Squire?
I once barfed in the back of one of these.
252lbs of torque? You sure about that?
Good eye, Mike, sorry for the typo, it’s 352, not 252. One accidental slip of the finger can wreak havoc here.
Thanks Scotty. Our family didn’t have wagons, so I don’t have a nostalgic connection. But today, I think the full-size wagons from the 60’s and 70’s are cool collector cars.
This looks like a pretty good example. It has had lots of work but has other things yet to sort out. The seller has provided lots of detail. He even notes the “mini car show” phenomenon– read his write-up.
My sense is that having a less-than-perfect wagon isn’t such a bad thing. Makes the trip to Lowe’s more do-able, along with using it to take the grandkids to the park.
That’s a sweet looking CB under the dash too.
980,000 in 1976 ??? No wonder I was able to pick so many of these up in the early 1980s for 50 bucks or less – I was 50+ demo derbies back then, and nearly all were full size wagons
According to Ford’s own claims the Pinto wagon outsold their full-sizer (which was #1 in its’ class). They used “the wagon that outsells them all, big or small” as a Pinto wagon advertising tagline in 1977-78.
Lovin’ every minute of this beast!
460, hmm passes everything but a gas station. Hated working on these, Ford, like all the American makes, really took a nose dive quality wise in the seventies. Might make a good tow vehicle. Good luck.
GPC
Yeah, and the 70s imports were any better ? wheezy underpowered engines, cheap plastic interiors and wafer thin metal that disintegrated in damp weather. They rotted away at least as fast as Chevy Vegas !
Dodge tried to revive the wagon with the Magnum….with hemi dying soon…why not revive it again!!!???
I had a 1991. The last year for the boats. I even took it to the local track in New Hampshire. Best time I got, 17.2 in the quarter mile. Stock! Hated to get rid of it. 278,000 miles and still running. Rust over came it. Love the big wagons………
Dad was engineer at Ford ’57-95 so we had a chance to drive/lease/buy a variety of rides over the years: We had this Wagon in ’76, new, with the 460 /Holley 4 barrel/ dual exhaust and its incredible amount of room. Ran really well and pulled our camper fine, of course.
Previous wagon had the weak 400 which I got 6 mpg when I borrowed it from Dad.
Busy underhood and ’70s quality was often lacking but this Baby made it 47 years!
Brings back good memories – I love it !
Good Luck!
Good lord 37 years. God bless him. I’ve been working that long but not all for the same employer.
I had a 74 and a 79. Both had 351w’s and were reliable family cars. Also used the 79 to tow our Fairmont drag car & trailer. That’s 9000 lbs total rolling down the road. Tough as nails until a furniture truck hit me. Still drove it away but sadly that was the end of ‘Big Red’.
I ran into a old hippie looking gentleman while pumping gas in Springfield, TN back in the summer. He was driving the identical twin of this vehicle, if not the same car. Driving it across the country and getting about 12 mpg. He said the attention he received at stoplights and stops was worth it. I snapped a photo attached.
Love the old Hippie photo,thank you. I’m an old hippie
The hippie was uptown not downtown, his LTD was a top of the line Landau due to the hidden headlights. Last new sedan my Father owned, learned how to parallel park with this beast. My Father drove it until the fender skirts rusted off and I gave him my Tempo. The front wheel drive kept him from getting stuck in the snow. I pushed him enough times with the LTD out of snowbanks, usually dressed up nice until he spun the tires and all the snow, slush, and mud ended up all over his teenage son. Hell, I would gladly do that now if he was still around. Miss him everyday.
They both look to have hideaways but the one for sale looks like it has the doors open.
In the text, it says that those need to have the leak sourced out.
When I was two, my Dad bought our first wagon; a brand new ’63 woody Ford Country Squire with black paint over a red interior. In ’66 he sold that to my God parents and replaced it with a new, ’67 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. When u started high school, he traded the Olds for a ’73 CountrySquire. From the Oldsmobile on, the wagons were always my Mom’s cars aa my Dad explored the personal luxury segment for himself. The ’73 Country Squire became the car that I started to drive in and. I’ve always been grateful that I started on a car rgat big because it prepared me for, just about anything else ! After that Squire. my Mom’s tastes moved toward the import “estate wagons” and she went through quite an assortment; VW, Volvo, BMW and her last car was a Subaru Forrester
Auction update: this one sold for $8,600.23!
gotta be one of THE Best day’s selections (lookin at today’s ‘cover page’) plus great write ups. U guys went upa level in the publication world today, esp since the changes ahfew yrs ago w/the increased automation on site.
Just wish this behemoth wuz da ’83/6 fox-bodied, dwn szed waggy (I have) as now U got something that can handle…
I would rather have one of these than any SUV