1976 Ford LTD Country Squire

400 V8. A/C, 3rd seat and power locks.

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/c...rd+Models-1405920.xhtml?conversationId=867551

 

Shouldn't power door locks switches be on both front seat arm rests!? Not just driver's side? Also, steering wheel looks wrong for 1976.

What gives?!

 

Love the color but not too sure about the blacked out grill. Looks like the rear bumper may be tweaked down on the right. Looks like rather low option but very clean.

mike

 

Nice looking, price seems high

 

Good eye!

That's definitely a '70 - '74 steering wheel. Also the interior door handles are from a '73, and the emblem on the tailgate looks like it's from a '74 (the '76 emblem would be similar to the hood ornament).

Considering how many photos there are with the headlight covers open, I'd strongly suspect a vacuum leak. There are a lot of hoses and valves to check over to track that down. It'll cost a few bucks to pay someone else to do it, if you can't do it yourself.

It is a low option example for an era when any car this size was beginning to be regarded as a near-luxury car.

$14K? I think half that is closer to the mark.

 

That is a 73 instrument cluster - speedo + fuel needles and clock hands are white, they changed to red in 74. As already stated, 73 steering wheel and door arm rests. Looks like a 73 2.5 mph rear bumper too. Appears to be a 73 with a later model nose but...... But stated vin decodes as a 76 ???

 

That steering wheel looks like the ones in all 4 of my 78 and 79 Thunderbirds. It was the base, not deluxe wheel. This car seem nice, but it is very low optioned! The rear bumper may have been pushed in, which makes it look more like the 73 back end, too, as those dampers did not return to original position, but stated retracted.

 

76 Squire

This car is Over-priced by Thousands! Not even the correct hubcaps.
And there is a lot of mishmash going on here. The rear jump-seats don't
even look correct. Man, where did the seller come-up with that absolutely
Ridiculous price! ......???????

 

Country Sedan is right; that's a '73 instrument panel. It still has separate oil pressure and coolant temperature warning lights. By '75 they'd reduced these to a single "engine" light.

It also has a straight bench front seat. Per the brochure, Country Squires in '76 had a "flight bench" seat with center fold down armrest.

I can't speak to the '77 - '79 T-Birds, especially in Canada, but as of '75 all the LTDs had two-spoke steering wheels with the ends turned down -- as opposed to the earlier "straight across" style seen in the photos for this car. I assume this was for improved visibility of the instruments. According to the brochure, even base LTDs in '76 had the "deluxe" steering wheel.

I think Country Sedan may well be correct that this is actually a '73 with a '76 - '78 front end. There are too many '73 parts on the car for it even to be a '76 with many replacement parts. I hope any prospective buyer checks the title and all VINs on the car very carefully (and I hope they don't even consider paying $14k).

 

Wow!

This car is sounding like the "Frankenstein" of Ford Country Squire spare parts wagons!!!!!!!

 

It also has 1973 seat belts, where the shoulder strap clips into the lap belt latch. Definitely something very wrong with this one. I would hazard a guess and say the headlamp doors don't work, either, as the 73 did not have them.

 

Those are 73 Full wheel (not deluxe) covers.

 

Something strange about this car. I wonder if it is a '73 with a '75-76 clip and titled as a '76? Too many thing about it are screaming '73 model.

 

There are photos on the autotradersclassic website showing the headlight covers closed. Now, whether the vacuum motors (if installed) actually work is anybody's guess.

It's not a '75 front clip. The front marker light/turn signal housings on the '75 LTD Landau/Country Squire have body colored bars separating the segments. This car has the '76 - '78 style marker lights with chrome bars and the '75/'76 hood ornament, so, unless there was some mixing and matching of parts in the front clip, that indicates a '76.

It doesn't look like it would be too bad a car for $2000 or maybe $2500, assuming everything is in order so you could obtain a legal title. Considering, however, I'd advise anyone interested to check it over very carefully, with an eye out for any additional ... irregularities.

 

Pretty nice car, overall. To me, it's most likely a wrecked or damaged car with later bits added to it. Certainly nothing wrong with that, so long as the work was done right and everything works correctly. I think $2,500 is way low for this, as $14K is way high. Where is it mentioned that the car has no title?

The color combination on this is terrific. I like the low-option aspect of this car. For what may well be a "Frankenstein" of assorted parts and parts cars, it's pretty damn nice.

I emailed them about the concerns stated. Notice the '73 speedometer, in mph only! They were mandatory mph/kmh starting in 1975, IIRC.