Starting in the late 1950s, GM, Chrysler, and also Ford each produced luxed-up sub-models of the full-size autos offered by their entry-level departments. GM’s Chevrolet Division had the Impala, Chrysler’s Plymouth Division had the Fury, and Ford offered the Galaxie. As soon as that trend got truly rolling during the 1960s, proletarian American vehicle purchasers desiring to flaunt their enhancing riches really did not require to go up from a Chevy to a Pontiac, a Plymouth to a Dodge, a Ford to a Mercury; instead, they might sneer down at the jealous Biscayne-driving Joneses next door from the snazzy confines of a brand-new Caprice. An overwelming flurry of design names and also trim degrees confused everyone for a while, however the LTD ended up being the king of full-size Ford sedans during the middle 1960s and also came to be comfortably developed in its throne throughout the adhering to years. Below’s the auto that lived at the top of the LTD pyramid in mid-1970s America: a 1976 LTD Landau Pillared Hardtop Sedan.
By this time, the course distinctions that once divided each firm’s car departments had started to obscure, compromising Alfred Sloan’s “Ladder of Success” system (in which a GM customer would start with a Chevrolet and then go up through Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and also Buick prior to finally ruling the world– or at the very least the Accounting Department– from behind the wheel of a brand-new Cadillac). As soon as the Malaise Era obtained rolling as well as every marque obtained secured right into it own internal-prestige arms race, you began seeing (as an example) Caprices with fatter cost than Olds 88s. The Ford Motor Company’s version of the Ladder of Success never had as many distinct actions as GM’s (the unfortunate Edsel was an effort to move a Buick-style marque between Mercury and also Lincoln), so few rips were lost in 1976 over today’s Junkyard Gem selling new for a lot more than its allegedly higher-zoot Mercury Marquis sibling.
Just as Chevrolet had five different Caprice versions for 1976 (the Impala name had experienced an awful downgrading already, currently being used to designate the really least expensive big Chevrolets), Ford split up the LTD line into three levels: base, Brougham, as well as Landau(by this point, all U.S.-market full-size Fords meant for private clients were LTDs, while the old Custom 500 name went on cop cars and also taxicabs). The LTD Landau Hardtop Sedan was the most costly new four-door car an American might buy with Ford badges in 1976, with an MSRP of$5,560(concerning$29,625 in 2022 bucks). It definitely was a Landau, with the padded-vinyl C pillar that name suggested at the time (though a 19th-century landau carriage was extra like a complete convertible ), however this “hardtop”really wasn’t any such point; there are skinny but noticeable pillars in between the front as well as rear doors. Ford fudged this by periodically describing it as a”pillared hardtop”in its advertising products, so that’s the nomenclature I’m making use of here. This was the Golden Age of over-the-top, French-cathouse-style car interiors out of Detroit (as well as, even
more gloriously, outof Kenosha). This cars and truck’s interior still kept a few of its vinyl-and-fake-wood glory by the time I obtained below. It appears to have the Landau Luxury Group alternative bundle, that included split bench seats “meticulously tailored “in “100%nylon luxury knit Kasman Cloth which has the look and feel of cashmere “and also added 472 bucks($2,515 now
)to the price. It was feasible to overdo ’76 LTD options till you were paying almost as long as you ‘d have actually spent for abrand-new Continental. The Landau got power front lights covers, much like the magnificent Lincoln Mark IV, and the taillight settings up obtained these cool-looking chrome decorations on the back-up light lenses. My very own family has a respectably
deep background with the full-sized Fords of the 1960s as well as 1970s; the very first car I remember riding in was a 1967 Ford Custom two-door sedan with a 289 and also three-speed handbook, as well as my grandfather happily drove his big-block-powered 1968 Ford LTD coupe until Minnesota rust dissolved it. Being a lifelong Ford man after an unfortunate postwar dalliance with a new Crosley, my grandfather promptly acquired a brand-new ’77 LTD to change the’68. Power was method down for mid-1970s Detroit V8s, as designers battled to adjust to
ever-stricter discharges and fuel-economy regulations with the clunky engine-control innovation of the moment. This 4,394-pound auto has a 351-cubic-inch(5.7-liter)V8 ranked at 152 horsepower, which needed unleaded gas to prevent the damage of its new catalytic converter. If we were to apply this auto’s power-to-weight ratio to its 2022 equivalent( which I’m going to say is the Explorer, though a situationmight be made for the Edge), that would certainly result in a new Explorer that struggled to drag its huge bulk down the road with just 176 equines. To be fair, this 351M engine (not-too-distantly related to the 351 Clevelands of earlier Mach I Mustang popularity)did make pretty good torque: 274 pound-feet. 1976 LTD buyers might update to bigger(as well as thirstier)optional V8s, including a 400(6.5-liter)with 180 horsepower as well as a 460(7.5-liter)with 202 hp. An automatic transmission was conventional equipment; if you wanted a U.S.-market Ford sedan with a manual transmission that year, the most significant one you might obtain was a Granada with an old-fashioned three-on-the-tree( the unassociated European Granada had a correct four-on-the-floor manual as its only available transmission that year). You ‘d think that a car this luxurious would certainly have consisted of a radio and also air conditioning at no additional cost, yet that had not been the instance for a lot of lower-priced marques during the 1970s. The single-speaker AM radio you see here expense 78 bucks ($415 currently), though it might have been a (slightly)less costly dealer-installed unit. The A/C cost an additional$486, a lot more than the optional 460 engine would certainly have cost, as well as the matching of$2,590 in 2022. Next time you start getting the idea that car bargains were far better in the old days, simply think about the amount of formerly-optional attributes we currently obtain for no additional price in even the most inexpensive brand-new cars and trucks. There have been Ford car dealerships with the Cavalier name in numerous locations around the nation, so all I can say about this cars and truck’s origin is that it possibly wasn’t marketed new below in Colorado. The original door tag was illegible, so I had not been able to look up the Ford sales office that prepared first shipment. The college stickers originate from around. I assume this automobile was well-traveled during its life. Much better mileage, bigger trunk, more towing
capability, as well as far better basic attributes than the Impala!