1978 Ford Country Squire

Seems like an unusual color combination. I don't recall seeing that many black Country Squires.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:715d98d2-eb04-4cd0-9157-50573bbecb91

Location: Seabrook, NH
Price: $12,900
Seller: Benjamin Bright

Seller's description
Re-live the golden age of American road trips and family adventures with this quintessential family cruiser! This 1978 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon is well maintained and in all-original condition. Initially owned by a church, and then stored for many years by a collector, this west coast wagon has only 53,565 original miles and is a true time-capsule!! 400ci V8. Runs, drives, shifts, stops 100%. MAGIC Tailgate functions and rear automatic window works. Brand new tires and recent exhaust repair. No leaks or issues, minimal rust (one spot on pass door, some surface corrosion underneath), mechanically sound – I wouldn’t hesitate to take this across country. Paint & panels show chips, fading, and wear, but body is extremely clean and straight with only two small dents. Interior has new plush red carpeting, blue-tooth connectivity to original radio, and is in overall great shape. AC has been converted and blows cold. NH Safety inspection is current. This iconic wagon turns heads and gets MANY compliments wherever I go! SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY!! No Trades/Low Ballers. AS-IS private sale - cash, wire transfer, or bank check only. Can assist with shipping arrangements. If this ad is up the wagon is still available so please don’t ask!

SEE 100+ PHOTOS & VIDEOS HERE:
https://thecoastaldrifter.wixsite.com/1978countrysquire/post/1978-ford-ltd-country-squire

 

Neat combination, the 1977 brochure car was black with a red interior. This has a 400 with cruise, but as far as I can see AC is about the only other option. It has an AM/FM, but no front door speakers. Kinda interesting order. Has correct rear speakers, but the speaker fades were usually done through the radio knobs and not a dedicated speaker switch. Would love to see the Marti on it. It’s got a few things, but looks pretty good. $12 k might be in the wheel house, but because it’s black, I bet it photos better than it may look in person. You can’t cheat black.

 

This car is also on ebay.

I have two black Country Squires -- a '68 and an '85 -- both with red interiors. Black was more common in some years than in others. I think I've seen pictures of two '69s, and I've seen one '70 in the flesh (the metal?), but I'm not certain it was original. I've seen a black '72, but it too may have been a repaint. Black became more popular in the '73 - '78 generation and even more so in the Panther chassis cars.

The reason there are no door speakers and an underdash fader knob is that the radio is an AM/FM Mono. The stereo unit had a sliding balance control below the station preset buttons, and the fader was one of the outer knobs. It has the rear seat speakers, which were an option for the mono radios. Stereos had 4 speakers standard.

No power windows, no power door locks, no power seats -- all of which had become much more popular in this generation of Country Squire. It does not have the Landau Luxury Group. It has a left door remote control mirror, but the right door mirror is an aftermarket non-remote unit.

This was obviously ordered and not bought off the lot. Whoever ordered it knew exactly what he or she wanted.

The underneath looks very clean, especially for NH, but I wonder why the frame rails are blue. Probably worth the price for the buyer who wants or can live with the unusual selection of options.

 

After my post I did look up the radio options and saw the mono available with the rear speaker options like that. I guess I just had never really remembered seeing one in person. Don’t know how much more the two door speakers would have been, and the ‘71-‘72 had the speaker knob on the dash next to the on off knob. It is an interesting car, and growing up in the Midwest you didn’t see a ton of black cars, as salt and black doesn’t make for a good combo if you like a clean car from November to May. Black cars are beautiful, and I know Ford had used black brochure cars for many years in the ‘50’s - ‘80’s. Agreed that I think I have seen more panther body black Fords than in previous platforms.