Now even more Limited! Part Deux

NOW EVEN MORE LIMITED! PART DEUX

Look at this majestic beast holding back the mobile homes. I drove past this thing and was pulling a u-turn before I even registered what I'd seen. I'm glad I did because the proud owner came out and was all too happy to show it off!

This is a 1979 Ford LTD II in what I believe to be Light Champagne. Some people claim that LTD stands for Luxury/Trim/Decor along the lines of Gym/Tan/Laundry but I don't see much in the way of luxury here. What I do see is the Baroque styling of the Malaise Era. 

Something about the face of this ride looks extra ridiculous to me. Maybe the fact that it looks like the wide eyed smile of a close talker. 4 stacked square headlights brace that massive egg crate grill, all held in the parenthesis of the jutting fenders. The ocean liner sized bumper completes the image. Almost every other American car had downsized at this point, and this was the final year for the colossal Ford. Even the LTD had downsized; this is the LTD II! It's almost like they wanted to accentuate the scale it on its way out.
*You can tell it's a '79 because out of the 3 years total only this one had a hood ornament.

Let's get right in there and see the engine shall we? This is the rarest glimpse for a blog that relies on found automobiles; a perk of meeting a retired owner looking to sell his ride.
Under all that wiring lies a 302 V8 engine with a 2 barrel carb. Optional choices consisted of 2 different 351 V8s (the Windsor and the Modified). There was a 400 available for the first 2 years but it had been pulled by the time this beast was built.

Here is our hero in all its glory. The LTD II was the lowest price series in the Ford lineup, and this was the base model. As was common in the past this model barely made it into their sales literature. Every other LTD II had a small opera window between the rear door and the rear window; only the bare bones edition had solid metal. To have the faux spoke wheel hubcaps on this is ironic.

Here's a glimpse into the sparse interior. Bench seats front and rear come standard with a fold-down armrest if you're not shuttling 5 passengers. There is a radio of some sort but that's about it. Crank windows and manual locks keep it frugal. Of course the inside is entirely BROWN.

For the first year this car was popular as GM had downsized everything but the Cadillac Eldorado (which was for an entirely different demographic frankly). People still holding on to the big car ethos turned to Ford. Then Ford introduced the Fairmont line in '78 which lured away potential LTD customers. Finally in '79 this was it! You could either buy a massive Lincoln or the LTD II for this final year. When 1980 came around the LTD II was never actually replaced. Now it's getting rare.
I mean, who has this car anymore? To think the Taurus would be introduced a mere 6 years after this was sold new illustrates how behind the times this ride really was.

Sweet LTD II badge.
I once had a '76 LTD 4 door that was almost identical to this car. It was unexpectedly comfortable and the ride height was upright and tall. I'd say it was a deal at $250! Ran great - delivered pizzas with it.

Well that's it for the last gasp of big car America. Someone will always collect a special edition, station wagon, convertible, or luxury model car but who saves one of these stripped down rides? Regular folks is who. This was roosting in a small trailer park outside of Scranton, PA. This is red blooded steak eating America where people proudly bought sluggish Fords instead of more practical and efficient Japanese cars. This is a ride for those who never have a problem parking and change their flag every year. Not gonna lie - I'd love to cruise around in this slab these days, stacked square headlights and all. If you were so inclined they go for peanuts (I think his asking price was $3,000 but it was perfect in and out). Parts are so widely available and this is as easy to work on as a bicycle. Why not?

Burnt Umber Slab

LIMITED; NOW WITH EVEN MORE!

I was ambling along the central PA countryside when I noticed this massive slab and its 4-eyed grin looking back at me. Somehow parked in the lot of the newest looking building in the area this thing begged to be featured.

This is a 1978 Ford LTD II Brougham in Bright Red with a Light Camel landau roof. This thing effortlessly runs the Malaise ticket checking off every late '70s cliche box off the list. Massive yet underpowered 2 door car? Check. Landau roof with opera windows? Check. Brougham? CHECK.

This is the era of "to hell with your aerodynamics" slab design. Look out over that hood to the windshield so far away.

The LTD II was a 3 year only offering from Ford that was somewhat overshadowed by the Thunderbird which was similar in scale but with a storied nameplate. The name is a bit goofy when broken down because it basically means "limited, the sequel" which isn't very limited at all!

This angle gives a better idea of what it took to get a 5mph crash test bumper on a 4,000lb+ car. You could easily rest a 6 pack in front of each set of headlights while tuning the strangled and neutered V8 under the hood. If you had the base 302 engine you could eventually coax this thing up to 103mph the day it left the factory. If you ponied up for the 351 the top speed went up to a frightening 108mph! Fear not speed demons; there was the mighty 400 V8 available too with a top speed of 113mph.

Performance wasn't the point with these rigs though. If you loved your living room couch or Lay-Z Boy this could float you in comfort to the bowling alley. Hard cornering would send this listing like the Costa Concordia, and emergency breaking meant a loud and screaming nose dive with skid marks hundreds of feet long. Buy it for the optional CB radio folks, lean back and relax!

The absurdity of these proportions does intrigue me though, as it does for all its siblings. The Mercury Cougar and Ford Ranchero were identical (though of course the Ranchero had the El Camino style pickup bed). The LTD II was a direct replacement for the Ford Elite which was really this same car with a single round headlight on each side and a bit of a raised rear hip a-la Coke Bottle styling.

Who am I fooling? I'd love to drive around in this yacht. The window shapes alone are worth a few grand and the landau roof looks right at home. The wheel covers are a horrific abomination that need to go asap. Even the plain black steelies under that faux-chrome plastic would be better.

This window treatment stopped me in my tracks. Brougham in script is factory correct, but that rose? Is that an aftermarket add-on or is this some special rose edition Brougham?

I love how this car makes a mockery of the recent parking space dimensions! There is a 2 foot section in the rear where nothing will grow due to the shadow permanently cast by the rear hanging out, and the car just continues onward from the front of the painted stripe so far that it looks cartoonish. Still, if this is your thing these cars remain plentiful and cheap. The very last thing this car can be called is innovative so almost all parts are usable from at least a decade of Ford.If you're not in a hurry to get anywhere, like overly plush luxury, and live somewhere where parking is available I encourage you to grab the nearest $2,000 and take your pick!

From the 1978 brochure: "Very personal, very formal, the very picture of style"

"VERY PERSONAL, VERY FORMAL, THE VERY PICTURE OF STYLE"

Ah yes, the wonderful state of Oregon shares the automotive fountain of youth that California is so famous for. For the most part weather goes from sunny to drizzling to rain and back to sun. For this reason it's not uncommon to find museum perfect cars that aren't really collectible or desirable but just happen to remain in great condition by default. Here is one of those finds:

This is a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba in Spinnaker White. This is the next-to-last gasp for bloated, bejeweled personal luxury. Even though this is a Mopar product is shares several of the malaise-era styling cues with its competitors. We see the stacked square headlights for the first time on the '78 Cordoba but they'd already been on the Monte Carlo since '76. The vinyl landau half-roof with small fixed opera windows had been bandied about from the end of the previous decade. The formal grill with its stand up hood ornament is missing from this ride, but it had one at birth.

Adding the stacked square headlights (which from here on will be referred to as SSH) was a controversial move within Chrysler. Sure it was a popular styling cue but some of the design team pointed out that it made the car look heavier than previous years even though the bodies were identical. Really anything Chrysler did at this point was a hale Mary as the company was circling the drain financially. Lee Iaccoca was hired by Chrysler while today's feature car was still sitting in a dealership to save the company from ruin. Indeed Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection in December of 1979 and would've faded away had it not been for a government bailout in tandem with the introduction of the K-Car.

Here we see the silhouette of many rides from the era. The Dodge Magnum, Charger, and Plymouth Fury of this year all essentially used the same body as the Cordoba in '78. In addition completely unrelated rides such as the Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, and Cutlass looked so close that you would be forgiven for mixing them up.
That long hood contains a somewhat neutered 400 "Lean Burn" V8 good for 190 horsepower and a top speed of 119mph. On the highway you could coax 20 mpg but in the city it rated a dismal 13.

Those massive rectangular taillights are so close to the ones on the Pontiac Grand Prix that I'm surprised they weren't called out on it. That rear quarter panel is sporting a classic whiskey dent where you almost made it around that post but followed through even after you heard some crumpling.

The safety compliant bumpers hang off this beast like chromed park benches but at least they give the illusion of integration due to the overall bloat.

In '79 they had an option package for the Cordoba that renamed it the 300. Much remained the same but the grill was replaced with one that sported a huge crosshairs target as opposed to the standard mesh. Given the history of Chrysler at that moment it now seems that the car was sitting in the crosshairs itself, ready to be executed by Iaccoca and so many K-Cars.

Sweet sweet luxury! Tiny opera windows, vinyl landau roof, gently illuminated opera lights on that fat padded band that's obviously there to hold all that luxury together. I would like to take a moment to give a shout-out to that smart pinstripe in its travels around the window opening. Also, look how trashy that plushness is peeking out through the opera window. SO PLUSH.

Cordoba broke out every personal luxury cliche in the book, right down to nonsensical gold medallions on the flank. Everything about this car says Too Much Chest Hair on Display.

The long hood short deck trend was in its most extreme throughout the 1970s. The Cordoba has a few things going for it despite its scale; those large wheel openings, especially in the rear help keep it from seeming too overweight. Also, the slight curve on the main windows as well as the rounded body line that wraps around from the bottom of the side windows under the windshield save it from the total angular severity that the '80s would bring.

The little item above each headlight pod is a fiber optic lens connected to the turn signals so you can see when a bulb needs to be replaced.

This is the look of something resigned to its fate. By the time the '79 models hit the showrooms the era of the large personal luxury car was over. The entire industry was in agreement. The last huge Cadillac Eldorado rolled out of Detroit in '78. The mighty Lincoln Continental Mark IV would also be reduced drastically after the 1979 model year. This creamy white slab may have been among the hundreds that languished on dealership lots long after the next year had arrived just begging for an owner. These days if you're into period piece excess you can pick one up pretty cheap. The mechanicals are pretty basic and parts are widely available, so you could do worse for a weekend cruiser.