As was the style in its day, in the present day’s Good Worth or No Cube Torino affords bench seats entrance and rear for full six-passenger seating. Let’s see whether or not or not this basic Ford is priced to place it on the again bench.
Folks don’t normally fist-bump automobiles, however primarily based on the feedback, yesterday’s 2003 Infiniti M45 actually deserved one. A sizzling V8 engine, first rate presentation, and modest $6,400 asking value all performed within the M45’s favor. In consequence, it earned a stellar 86 % Good Worth win.
Like yesterday’s Infiniti, in the present day’s 1968 Ford Torino is a V8-powered mid-sized four-door saloon. In contrast to the well-equipped M45, nonetheless, this Ford is considerably parsimoniously geared up—roll-up home windows, handbook transmission, and an instrument panel with extra fool lights than dials. It additionally has a smaller engine than what was listed in Ford’s promotional literature of the time, making for an fascinating story.
Ford had redesigned the Torino and its platform-mate, the Fairlane, for the 1968 mannequin yr. Manufacturing received underway within the late summer season of 1967 however was halted by a 68-day UAW strike occurring over September and October of that yr. Ford had designated the 200 CID six because the Torino’s base engine and the 302 CID V8 as its entry-level V8. Nevertheless, when manufacturing resumed within the fall of 1967, Ford was confronted with the necessity to lower prices throughout its whole lineup, and having an sudden abundance of 289 CID V8s stacking up on the firm’s Windsor, Canada foundry, it determined to fit these into the Torino as an alternative of the bigger 302.
The decal on the air cleaner beneath this automotive’s hood reveals it to be a kind of switcheroo 289s, with the two-barrel engine making 200 (gross) horsepower on this guise. Maybe nearly as fascinating is that this automotive’s transmission which is a three-pedal handbook with “three-on-the-tree” column shifting.
Every thing else concerning the automotive’s mechanicals is fairly mundane, with a brief and long-arm coil-sprung entrance suspension, leaf spring stay axle rear, and drum brakes throughout. There may be an aftermarket A/C system plumbed in, however the advert doesn’t say whether or not or not that even works, and the engine shot doesn’t permit us to see if there’s a belt on the compressor.
Yet another fascinating issue on this Ford’s favor is its styling. This was the primary yr of Ford’s tackle the “Coke Bottle” fashion that turned common within the late Sixties, and it’s wildly profitable on the Torino.
The earlier mannequin’s slab sides and stacked headlamp nostril gave strategy to a recessed grille and refined curves that kick up simply forward of the rear wheel arches, giving it the traces of the enduring soda pop bottle laid on its facet. Together with that may be a semi-formal roofline on the 4 doorways that provides to an total long-nose/short-trunk aesthetic.
This one, in arrest-me purple with a black-painted roof emulating a vinyl high, seems to be in nice situation and seemingly in want of nothing. The vendor claims minimal rust, and none is clear within the footage. Metal wheels with fake wire covers intensify the fashion, as do the white-wall tires.
The cabin is fairly Plain Jane, though it does have that A/C unit hanging down beneath the sprint. There’s additionally an add-on gauge of some type above that. Transferring greater, there’s an AM radio, dash-mounted ignition, after which 4 giant gauge pods. Laughably, these are largely empty. Ford provided the choice of a tach and clock within the Torino, however this automotive is provided with neither. As an alternative, there’s one pod with the speedo, one other with the gasoline gauge and temperature warning lamp, a 3rd with lights for oil strain and charging, and the fourth a clean dial apparently serving as a relentless reminder of the unique purchaser’s cheapness.
Apart from cracks within the steering wheel and a few lumpiness within the molded plastic of the “security sprint,” the inside appears to be in nearly as good of form as the outside. In keeping with the advert and backed up by the sprint image, the automotive has 102,056 miles beneath its belt. Really, the odometer reads 2156 because it solely has 5 principal barrels, and we’ll simply should imagine the vendor that it has solely rolled over as soon as. We are able to additionally take them at their phrase that the automotive comes with a clear title and a passing grade from the state security inspectors. The asking value is $10,950.
How a lot would possibly you spend on a automotive like this? It’s a basic that appears to be turn-key and comes with a few fascinating options and a few historic significance. Might that be price $10,950 to some Ford fan? Or is {that a} stretch for a automotive that, at its coronary heart, is pretty mundane?
You resolve!
Harrisonburg, Virginia, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!
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