My first car was a 1964 Ford Fairlane – so I’ve always had a soft-spot for it. Fairlanes weren’t the sportiest offerings during Ford’s “Total Performance” era, though the 1966/67 GT and GTA with their S-Code 390’s put up a pretty good fight. But things took a much sportier turn in 1968 with the introduction of the Fairlane Torino, and its 428 cu in “Cobra Jet” engine option. Here is just my take on the three generations of Torinos and how I’d rank them.
Rank #1: First Gen; 1968/69. Fitting a pattern in much of autodom in the 1960s/70’s, I find the initial model the most attractive – it’s fairly clean and lean without a lot of unnecessary curves or add-ons. The “Sportback” is my favorite – combine its good looks with the iconic FE series 428 engine, in either regular or “Super Cobra Jet” tune, and you get a clear winner.
1971
Photo by Vauxford
Rank #2: Second Gen, 1970/71. Like its stablemate Mustang, the Torino grew in size and weight. The wheelbase added an inch but overall length was up by six inches, and it was 100 lbs heavier. Ford stylists ginned up a new body that seemed to try to combine elements of Chrysler’s “coke-bottle” and “fuselage” styles. This generation seems to be the most popular with Ford fans, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I think it looks ponderous and “heavy”, especially in the rear. The four-door version looks even worse. It also was the first time a “Brougham” package was offered – and we all know what that means. It did, however, come with three versions of the stout 385-series 429 “Thunder/Cobra Jet” engine, the top one pushing out an under-rated 375 hp. Super Stock and Drag Illustrated in their test of a Torino Cobra equipped with the 429 SCJ, C-6 automatic, and 3.91:1 rear gears were able to run the quarter-mile in 13.63 seconds at 105.95 mph.
Rank #3: Third Gen, 1972/76. Yes, things got worse as time wore on. Ford must have liked the bulges as they grew in size. Then they updated the front with a huge open mouth grille, which I assume they thought added an air of distinction. But they changed their mind just a year later and replaced it with a nondescript front incorporating a five mph bumper. Obviously we have to mention the “Striped Tomato” as Hutch referred to it – one of the stars of the Seventies TV series Starsky and Hutch. I always had to suppress a smile when it showed up – an overweight, low-compression, under-suspended Torino as a “hot rod” – really? Rockford’s Firebird Esprit would run rings around it. But this was the mid-70’s, so it is what it is, or was…
Since we’re talking Torinos, I guess we shouldn’t exclude this one…the IKA Torino manufactured in Argentina from 1966-81. As it’s a version of the attractive Dick Teague-styled Rambler American, I’d put it ahead of the Ford Gen #3 model.
So, what’s your favorite Torino?
That green Gran Torino sportsroof remind me of the one from Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino.
While we’re at it, we could mention the song played at the end of the movie. 😉
Big fan of the ’72 Torino, very distinctive. IIRC, GM was to issue the Colonnade Chevelle/Malibu in ’72, but due to the strike, it was delayed till ’73. I would image the ’72 Torino was the intended counter punch.
This Torino served as the basis for the Ford Torino Elite which became the platform for the ’77 thru ’79 Thunderbird & Cougar.
My first car was a metallic bronze-brown ’75 Torin-boat that sported a 351W with miles of smog plumbing and a penchant for burning through its EGR plate. I prefer the ’72 from this generation, but my favorite Torino is the first generation.
Our own Vince C’s ‘72 Gran Torino for the win.
It even has its picture on the Wikipedia page about Torinos in that generation of Torino’s section…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Torino#1972
Thanks Rick, I appreciate the shout out! The picture is probably from about 2006. I have since restored the grille to be correct colours (Dad blacked it out in the mid 70’s).
I may be biased, but it is my favourite year as well. I absolutely love driving my car. It is such a satisfying and fun car to drive. Unfortunately, it just went for it’s long winter nap. Here is a recent photo from the last week on it’s last drive of the season.
Love the grille improvement. Period accurate for a Ford. While not sporty, my first car, the ‘73 LTD had nearly the exact same egg crate grille. Even the LTD emblem was in the same spot as your Torino emblem. For the LTD, I was not a fan of what they did to the grille in ‘74.
You could say your Dad was ahead of his time blacking out the grille, as that is all the rage now. I like the look sometimes, like on my wife’s CX-5, but I gotta draw the line at blacked out wheels. Show me the chrome, Baby! (Or at least shiny aluminum).
Some car writer at the time according to the Wikipedia article I linked said at the time the Gran Torino grill for ‘72 looked like the mouth of a killer whale. I often say my wife’s CX-5 has a baleen for a grille, and now I can’t unsee the similarities. No wonder when I finally drank the Kool Aide and bought a CUV, I picked that one… it had a ‘72 Gran Torino vibe and I never knew it….
Maybe since my wife’s favorite movie is JAWS, we should rename her car the “ORCA”. 😂
I think I would rank them much as you did. The original version in its fastback body style looked wonderful. It was perfect as a plus-size Mustang for those who needed a bigger car than a real Mustang. Outside of the fastback, though – these were dull and the interiors were not great.
The 70-71 has risen a lot in my opinion in recent years, and looks great in almost every body style. The sedan is the weakest, but it is better than the sedan version of any of the competition. It is best as a convertible, IMHO. But the interiors were really weak. And the rust. My God, the rust.
The 1972+ was an objectively better car in almost every way, with its full frame and much more solid and substantial feel. Sadly, it was saddled with Ford’s deadly combination of bloat on the outside and wheeze under the hood. I don’t really love the look of any of the body styles on this generation.
Agreed, the original Torino fastback was superb and certainly looked the part of a big brother to the Mustang fastback. Always appreciated how the upswept beltline at the rear quarter windows continued across the roof as the upper edge of the rear glass, IMO the only proper way to execute that styling approach.
I’d put mine as the 72-76 gen.
But then my first car was a 73 Montego.
Of course they, like so many other cars, had terrible space utilization , but overall I thought they looked decent.
Great article.
I would rank these in the same order. The first-gen Torinos were attractive, even lithe in some forms, and completely erased any lingering memories of the awkward 1965 Fairlane. The four-doors and wagons were attractive if not memorable and perhaps better looking than their GM counterparts.
The second-gen models were clearly a belated response to GM’s ground-breaking 1968 intermediates and had similar faults, in that all the design emphasis was on the swoopy two-door models, while the 4-door sedans, especially in post form, are poorly proportioned and unattractive; the wagons actually looked okay.
Ford jumped the shark with the third generation, with bloat and bulk adding nothing of value to what had started out in 1968 as a fairly space-efficient design. I always make allowances for the 1972 models, with small bumpers and the SportsRoof being alluring from certain angles, as Vic’s car above illustrates. However, the overall design aged poorly and became a caricature of malaise by the end of the model run.
I would agree with your evaluation, I feel much the same way as you and the OP.
I have a fair amount of experience with all of these generations of Torino/Montego. My family owned a number of examples of these cars back in the day. Many of my friends owned this era of Torinos as their first cars, and my first car was a 1969 Torino.
I feel the first generation was the best, it seemed the most focused. I think the re-styled cars in 1970-71 still were as focused as the original unibody cars, but the post-1972 cars were a regression, back to fluffly, wallowy cars.
I’ll take the IKA Torina.
I have a hard time not seeing the ’66 Fairlane under the new external skin of the gen 1 & 2. It’s bad enough on the sedans, but the wagon is really egregious that way. It looks pretty silly with that ant-eater front end grafted on.
I have to admit that the styling of the first year ’72 is pretty dramatic and effective, on the coupes (not the sedans). But the ’73 front end spoils it, and the Starsky & Hutch thing is a turn off.
I wonder if the Torino/Gran Torino sedan will gain a bit more love? I saw that video about the 1973 Torino sedan from the movie The Big Lebowski.
https://imcdb.org/vehicle_4920-Ford-Gran-Torino-1973.html
One of my friend’s dad was was an aerospace engineer at a small airplane company here in StL. He was a really nice guy but carried that engineer stigma (my apologies).
That was, until he drove home a brand new Torino (I can’t recall if it were a GT) in the spring of ’68 similar to the top photo. Its coolness factor was amplified by the factory installed Venetian blind on the back window. None of us had ever before seen such a thing!
He instantly lost the engineer stigma among us guys!
My father had a 1970 Fairlane 500 wagon for over 11 years and 200,000 miles, so that is my favorite generation. By 1981, it was horribly rusted, but the 302 still ran great.
The 1969 Fairlane Cobra with its 428CJ engine is fascinating. Thanks largely to Ford’s previous, lackluster musclecar efforts, the Cobra suffered an undeserved reputation, which wasn’t helped by Ford’s intentional under-rating the horsepower. 380hp definitely seems more accurate than 335. The closer Mopar 440-4v was rated at 375hp.
The silver lining was, with the possible exception of the 1970 Duster 340, the 1969 Cobra fastback (which was actually cheaper than the formal roof version) has to be at or near the top of the best bang-for-the-buck, big-block musclecars of the entire musclecar era with an exceptionally low MSRP of $3183. A slower, base 1969 Road Runner 383 was $2945, a difference of $238. That wasn’t exactly chump-change back in 1969, but for your extra $238, you got a lot more car with the Ford.
I owned a ‘76 Cougar, which in my personal and humble opinion, and in the right color and options, is second only to the ‘72 sport as the best looking third gen Torino.
The wagons had a compromise wheelbase between the Falcon and Fairlane, so the long hood was way out of proportion on them.
I’ve always liked the ’68-’69 Torino 2-door hardtop (notchback). That would be my first choice.
I also like the ’72 Gran Torino Sport, especially the SportsRoof body style. The dark green one in the picture above is a real looker.
My favorite is definitely the 1972s, specifically the 1972 GTS SportsRoofs. 1973 fastbacks aren’t bad too, but the rest of the 73-76s are not nearly as desirable for me, especially the broughams. The S&H does have some appeal to me, and I think it looks cool in that overwrought 70’s style.
Second place, goes to the 1970-71s, again in particular the SportsRoofs. I love the GTs with the covered lights, very cool cars. I love the overdone muscle car look of this era.
Third place if the 1968-69’s. I like the SportsRoofs again here, but it just wasn’t as organic as the later cars. The boxy styling just wasn’t as appealing to me on these cars, but I still think they are cool.
For the longest time, the 1972s were like the red headed step child of the vintage Ford world. However, the interest in them has dramatically increased in the last 10 to 15 years, value has increased substantially. This beautiful 1972 GTS just sold for $73K on BAT. This would have been a 15K car 15 years ago.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-ford-torino-sport-sportroof-351-4-speed/
For a specific model 70-71 sportsroof with the hidden headlights is my pick. I’m with Paul on wagons being the frumpiest those years though. For an all around well fleshed out line of Torino variants, I gotta go with 72, sportsroof, notchback coupe, sedan, wagon and Ranchero all look cohesively designed and attractive. 68-69s are extremely boxy and dull to my eye, and the fastback has all the problems the 66-67 Dodge Charger has.
Mine would be the 1970-71, I feel that was the best generation of the Ford Torino’s, honorable mention would be 1972, I’m not the biggest fan of the 1973-76 Torino’s all that much TBH
I’ll take the 1970/1971 Torino….specifically the 1970 Torino Type N/W package.