Beginning within the late Fifties, GM, Chrysler, and Ford every created luxed-up sub-models of the full-size vehicles provided by their entry-level divisions. GM’s Chevrolet Division had the Impala, Chrysler’s Plymouth Division had the Fury, and Ford provided the Galaxie. As soon as that pattern acquired actually rolling throughout the Nineteen Sixties, proletarian American automobile consumers wishing to flaunt their rising wealth did not want to maneuver up from a Chevy to a Pontiac, a Plymouth to a Dodge, a Ford to a Mercury; as an alternative, they may sneer down on the envious Biscayne-driving Joneses subsequent door from the snazzy confines of a brand new Caprice. A bewildering flurry of mannequin names and trim ranges confused everyone for a time, however the LTD turned the king of full-size Ford sedans throughout the center Nineteen Sixties and have become comfortably established in its throne throughout the next decade. Here is the automobile that lived on the high of the LTD pyramid in mid-Seventies America: a 1976 LTD Landau Pillared Hardtop Sedan.
By this time, the category distinctions that when separated every firm’s automobile divisions had begun to blur, weakening Alfred Sloan’s “Ladder of Success” system (through which a GM shopper would begin with a Chevrolet after which transfer up by way of Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick earlier than lastly ruling the world — or not less than the Accounting Division — from behind the wheel of a brand new Cadillac). As soon as the Malaise Period acquired rolling and each marque acquired locked into it personal internal-prestige arms race, you began seeing (for instance) Caprices with fatter value tags than Olds 88s. The Ford Motor Firm’s model of the Ladder of Success by no means had as many well-defined steps as GM’s (the ill-fated Edsel was an try to slip a Buick-style marque between Mercury and Lincoln), so few tears have been shed in 1976 over right now’s Junkyard Gem promoting new for lots greater than its allegedly higher-zoot Mercury Marquis sibling.
Simply as Chevrolet had 5 totally different Caprice fashions for 1976 (the Impala title had suffered a tragic demotion by that point, now getting used to designate the very least expensive huge Chevrolets), Ford cut up up the LTD line into three ranges: base, Brougham, and Landau (by this level, all U.S.-market full-size Fords meant for civilian clients have been LTDs, whereas the previous Customized 500 title went on cop vehicles and taxicabs). The LTD Landau Hardtop Sedan was the costliest new four-door automobile an American may purchase with Ford badges in 1976, with an MSRP of $5,560 (about $29,625 in 2022 {dollars}).
It actually was a Landau, with the padded-vinyl C pillar that title implied on the time (although a Nineteenth-century landau carriage was extra like a full convertible), however this “hardtop” actually wasn’t any such factor; there are skinny however seen pillars in between the entrance and rear doorways. Ford fudged this by often referring to it as a “pillared hardtop” in its advertising and marketing supplies, so that is the nomenclature I am utilizing right here.
This was the Golden Age of over-the-top, French-cathouse-style automobile interiors out of Detroit (and, much more gloriously, out of Kenosha).
This automobile’s inside nonetheless retained a few of its vinyl-and-fake-wood glory by the point I acquired right here. It seems to have the Landau Luxurious Group possibility package deal, which included cut up bench seats “meticulously tailor-made” in “100% nylon luxurious knit Kasman Fabric which has the appear and feel of cashmere” and added 472 bucks ($2,515 now) to the value. It was potential to pile on ’76 LTD choices till you have been paying almost as a lot as you’d have shelled out for a brand new Continental.
The Landau acquired energy headlight covers, identical to the mighty Lincoln Mark IV, and the taillight assemblies acquired these cool-looking chrome decorations on the backup lamp lenses.
My circle of relatives has a respectably deep historical past with the full-sized Fords of the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies; the primary automobile I recall driving in was a 1967 Ford Customized two-door sedan with a 289 and three-speed handbook, and my grandfather proudly drove his big-block-powered 1968 Ford LTD coupe till Minnesota rust dissolved it. Being a lifelong Ford man after an unlucky postwar dalliance with a brand new Crosley, my grandfather instantly purchased a brand new ’77 LTD to exchange the ’68.
Energy was method down for mid-Seventies Detroit V8s, as engineers struggled to regulate to ever-stricter emissions and fuel-economy laws with the clunky engine-control expertise of the time. This 4,394-pound automobile has a 351-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) V8 rated at 152 horsepower, which required unleaded fuel to forestall the destruction of its newfangled catalytic converter. If we have been to use this automobile’s power-to-weight ratio to its 2022 counterpart (which I will say is the Explorer, although a case may very well be made for the Edge), that might lead to a brand new Explorer that struggled to pull its huge bulk down the highway with simply 176 horses. To be truthful, this 351M engine (not-too-distantly associated to the 351 Clevelands of earlier Mach I Mustang fame) did make fairly good torque: 274 pound-feet.
1976 LTD customers may improve to larger (and thirstier) elective V8s, together with a 400 (6.5-liter) with 180 horsepower and a 460 (7.5-liter) with 202 hp. An computerized transmission was customary gear; if you happen to needed a U.S.-market Ford sedan with a handbook transmission that 12 months, the most important one you could possibly get was a Granada with an old style three-on-the-tree (the unrelated European Granada had a correct four-on-the-floor handbook as its solely out there transmission that 12 months).
You’d assume {that a} automobile this plush would have included a radio and air-con at no additional price, however that wasn’t the case for many lower-priced marques throughout the Seventies. The one-speaker AM radio you see right here price 78 bucks ($415 now), although it could have been a (barely) cheaper dealer-installed unit. The A/C price an additional $486, way more than the elective 460 engine would have price, and the equal of $2,590 in 2022. Subsequent time you begin getting the concept that automobile offers have been higher within the previous days, simply take into consideration what number of formerly-optional options we now get for no additional price in even the most affordable new vehicles.
There have been Ford dealerships with the Cavalier title in a number of places across the nation, so all I can say about this automobile’s origin is that it in all probability wasn’t bought new right here in Colorado. The unique door tag was indecipherable, so I wasn’t capable of lookup the Ford gross sales workplace that organized preliminary supply.
The school stickers come from throughout. I feel this automobile was well-traveled throughout its life.
Higher mileage, larger trunk, extra towing capability, and higher customary options than the Impala!
