No, I’m not trying to get you all to buy American cars located down south. But this was too much of a good CC find to pass up. And unlike other occasions, I doubt I’ll come across it as it’s somewhere out in the boonies of El Salvador. So, let’s check this one out. And I promise I’ll stick to a California Craigslist page next time I do a CC For Sale post.
Last Saturday I decided to share a local CC for sale, as it was a rare Oldsmobile 4-4-2 convertible. I believe that this find is just as rare, but not by being created as an exclusive product. Instead, because few of these regular wagons have survived. And this one, while not showroom-perfect, is quite the time capsule.
What we have here is a 1971 Ford Torino 500. A direct import to El Salvador, sold by Autosal. Ford’s local dealer back in the day. According to the ad, the odometer reads a low 31,000 kilometers. Shifts are done via a 3-on-the-tree. What mighty mill lies under the hood? The standard 250CID 6-cyl. engine. Good for 145HP and 0-60 in 12 secs.
And yes, that 6-cyl. looks mighty lonely in that engine bay.
I’ve no idea how this one has survived so long looking so intact. Particularly over here, with none of the strange add-ons the locals love. Other than the tinted windows. But that’s understandable, this is a hot country. If there’s no A/C in there, trust me, those tinted windows help.
Now, let’s take a look inside…
Wow, that’s quite the time capsule!
The ad mentions the car is near Chalatenango, a town in the North of El Salvador, a good hour and a half away. I’ve thought of visiting, driving around, and seeing if I get lucky and find it. You know, the usual CC car-stalker routine. However, the looks of the car make me think this one is nicely stored, and I would just be wasting my time.
And talking about Chalatenango, I would think the car has been there for years. Its condition suggests its use has been driving short distances in the small town.
The bench seat, the plasticky dashboard, and the black vinyl upholstery, all are just taking me back to the 1970s right now. Flashback or PTSD? Probably the latter. Looking at these photos, I can feel my sweaty kid legs sticking to the vinyl seats of our 1978 Datsun F10.
This additional shot shows that the car has gone through at least one respray. I suspect the seats have been redone at some point, and if so, I want that shop’s phone number. Otherwise, the door panels and trim look pretty original to my eyes.
And well, those floor mats! Talk about an item from the past!
In my previous 4-4-2 post, there was a slim case to be made that buying from here and shipping might make some sense. I doubt that dubious case could be made with a basic 1970s station wagon. In this case, one of about 23K built for that year. However, should anyone want to see the original listing, it’s HERE. No price is given.
Further reading:
Cohort Outtake: 1970 Ford Torino 500 2-Door Hardtop – Modest, But Not Timid
Something looks odd with the back wheel in relation to the wheel well.
Maybe the wheel base is different for the sedan versus the wagon.
Or could it be the lens on the camera doing tricks.
Same with the front wheel. It’s as if the body were placed on a too-short frame,
which of course, is impossible since it’s a unibody. BTW those seats look original to me.
If they have been redone, whoever did it is an artisan. Even the vinyl grain is correct.
Something does look weird regarding the wheel vs. wheel wells, that was my first impression too.
Looking for a decent side view on the interwebs, this is closest I found (Wikipedia) and it’s not that great… but doesn’t seem to suffer the same problem.
Agreed about the upholstery; looks 100% original to me. Given the very low miles, that’s not really surprising.
1966-71 Falcon and Fairlane/Torino wagons shared a body, with Falcons having a 113″ wheelbase and 1970 Torino wagons 114″, the extra inch likely being ahead of the firewall. Non-wagon Torinos had a 117″ wb and Falcon sedans 111″.
It’s an artifact of the camera lens, almost certainly a phone camera. These lenses tend to distort/stretch the image on both sides. The front wheel shows the same effect. In fact the whole body looks somewhat distorted, and the front and rear overhangs are exaggerated.
Yes. It looks like someone used the 0.5 (even wider angle) setting on their iPhone camera lens. It’s a ridiculous way to shoot anything. Just back away so you can use a more normal focal length, and then crop a bit if you want to fill the frame with your subject. That last pic by the way with the doors open displays the same kind of absurd distortion.
The wheels look a bit on the small side too, like it’s rolling on 12-inchers. Another artefact, I guess.
0-60 in 12 secs.
Hmm; where did you get that from? Having become a bit of an obsessive about six cylinder performance, that number seems decidedly optimistic, given the heavy station wagon body and the smog controls that were in effect by this time. I’ve compiled a bit of a database on six cylinder 0-60 times (for a possible upcoming post) and the only two cars that have been that quick was a light ’65 Rambler American with the new two-barrel 232 six and a barebones (light) ’67 Camaro with the 250 six. I’d estimate this one at about 14-16 seconds.
I agree with Paul, 14-16 seconds is definitely more realistic for this setup. The 302-2V in a wagon might have done 12 secs or so.
Yes, that’s a typo and comes from a different model. I’ll cross it out for now and will update later tonight.
Brings back memories of a GF whose parents bought one just like this in 1971, but with the 302 V8 and automatic.
I thought that the low, long and swoopy front end looked fine on the Torino coupe, but looked rather jarring bolted to that station wagon body, which was essentially unchanged from the 1966 Falcon and Fairlane.
I think the station wagon roof is taller than the coupes and sedans and even Ranchero, the Wagon seemed to get the short end of the stick with the restyle. It looks like all they did was make few front doors to match the 70 front clip, and the only change to the body structure was moving cowl vents/wipers under the hood. The 70-71 refresh was pretty thorough but the wagon really showcases it being a stopgap refresh between the 69s and 72s
There’s a weird charm to it but I have an affection for Torinos, yet compared to the GM A body wagons I’m amazed Ford sold any of these.
Ours was blue with blue vinyl interior that a Vegas summer would make searingly hot, no luggage rack, automatic (Mom was incapable of leaning a standard and then got too old to worry about it) and a 302.
Yes, there was a huge overhang. My Dad still chuckles with me about how it’s a miracle us kids survived without concussions or major brain injury from the bare metal behind the back seat and on the in n er surface of the tailgate. If you go in the way back, be very aware of your surroundings and the car stopping and accelerating.
Glad to see this, could you possibly imagine modern-era Ford making the front end look completely different 4 out of 5 consecutive model years?
These things were horrid rusters and disappeared from northern climes decades ago. That dash shot reminds me of how grim the interiors were on mid-sized Fords of the late 60’s-very early 70’s – even by standards of that era.
I always liked the looks of these (on the outsides, at least). Some decent sized tires would do wonders for this one’s appearance.
My father bought a similar 1971 Ford Torino wagon like this one in 1977. It had 29,000 miles on it when he bought it. It was the 250 straight six with a three on the tree. It had no power steering and wasn’t that easy to drive. The engine blew and it was replaced with another 250 Six by the local Ford dealer he bought it from. We drove it until around 1982 or 1983 and it had the typical Ford rust on it and also the paint job on it was showing primer in places. I guess Ford paint jobs weren’t too good in that era. The car was a light blue with a dark blue interior. It was basic transportation. I liked the late 1960s and 1970s Ford Fairlanes and Torinos better than the later 1972-1976 ones. My great aunts had a 1975 Gran Torino which seemed very bloated and heavy compared to our 1971. Their 1975 was far more luxurious but you felt like you were sitting low in a bathtub when driving the 1975.