Photos from the Cohort by roshake.
The topic of old large American cars found in Europe is a recurrent one here at CC, and this pair found in a Budapest garage adds to the collection. On this occasion, both are pure malaise-era Brougham concoctions.
We begin with this ’75-’76 Ford LTD, crowned by one of those very 1970s fixations; roof variations –something Ford was very adept at during this era. And what we’re looking at this time, according to Dearborn’s brochure language, is a “2-door pillared hardtop”. This one must be the entry-level of this body style, as it has no vinyl top and seems relatively sparsely trimmed.
Yeap, the ’70s. Endless landaus, with all sorts of opera windows and so on. This “pillared hardtop” being one of the most perplexing variations. And why do these windows not even align? Should you know, it’s a variant that already got its own rant at CC a while back.
I won’t necessarily be as harsh, but there’s much about this concept that baffles me. But after playing with so many roof variations, one can see that Ford was running out of ideas by the time this was conceived.
Yet, if one must find the reasoning behind Ford calling this a “pillared hardtop”, their thinking was explained in the comments section of that previous post: “In 1970s Ford-speak, a pillared hardtop was a car with a center pillar but with frameless window glass. Starting in 1971, 4 door models came as a sedan, a hardtop and a pillared hardtop that sort of split the difference. At some point, the sedan and hardtop went away… and the pillared hardtop was left through the 78 models.”
I’m honestly not sold on the idea, but leave it to marketing departments to pull such stunts (leaving us to sort it all out, and baffled, ages later).
Let’s move to the other malaise-era car that appeared photobombing in the previous shot. A ’76 Cadillac Eldorado, the last year of production for full-size convertibles. And this one is only missing a pair of horns on the hood to complete the “Boss Hogg” look.
Yes, the pinstripes and add-ons in this sample are gaudy on top of these already gaudy designs. But what can you do? 1970s American cars have a way of bringing that on people, as tons of period customizers showed. And give these guys a break… after all, that LTD pillared hardtop is still pretty much stock. Then again, how to top Ford’s 2-door “pillared hardtop” conception?
Related CC reading:
CC Capsule: 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible – Fill’Er Up With Happiness
I’m thinking back to my recent encounter with the sedan version of that LTD. That body style had less tricks, so resourceful owners had to add their own. In that case, a Mercedes diesel swap.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics/curbside-classic-1978-ford-ltd-landau-diesel-swapped-hipster-bait/
Maybe I’ve just never noticed before, but I don’t recall ever seeing a (Ford) car with a side window like this. It could be that those older Fords never appealed to me or maybe it’s truly that I’ve never seen one till this picture.
I love seeing these pictures from Hungary. An LTD like that would be an exciting find anywhere, but seeing one in a Budapest parking garage makes it extra-special. Looks like the LTD still has New York State inspection stickers on the windshield.
Also, I like the old blue Skoda (I think) in the background. There’s not too many random parking lots in the world where those two cars might be found in the same row!
In 1975 my father bought a new Ford Ltd Landau 2 door similar to this one. I was surprised he bought a 2 door, as all of his previous cars had been 4 doors. He explained that he was going to get another 4 door, but one look at this “beauty” and he was hooked. Go figure.
It was silver and in three years all the paint disappeared, typical of silver cars of this era. The 400 V-8 was pathetic, with no acceleration and lousy fuel economy. But it was big, comfortable and roomy, all the important stuff to him. I thought it substantially inferior to his previous 1969 Ltd, which was better screwed together and its 390 had far better drivability and acceleration.
I’ll wager that LTD once had a vinyl roof, which only accentuated the odd window arrangement. 1974 was the year the opera window hit big mainstream coupes, after debuting on the ’71 Eldorado and ’72 Mk IV and selling a gazillion MC, GP, Regal, Cutlass Supremes in ’73. I guess the Galaxie kept a framed-glass sedan for fleets and cops.
It looks like someone did a good job replacing the bumper fillers on the Eldorado.