(first posted 7/20/2014) Elite (n): The most powerful, rich, gifted, or educated members of a group, community, etc. Synonyms include upper crust, intelligentsia or nobility. When Ford chose this name for a new car in 1974, it must have been affixed to a truly special and desirable automobile. Or not.
If we were to head for the sidewalk and ask random passers by to list the names of all of the mid 1970s Fords that come to mind, we would be awash in LTDs, Mustang IIs, Pintos, Mavericks and Granadas. Would anyone remember the Ford Elite? Probably not many.
Chevrolet’s introduction of the 1970 Monte Carlo marked a trading of places for the two biggest brands in America. Although Chevrolet had been the perennial top seller, it was Ford that had identified and exploited market after market, causing Chevrolet to react like a punchdrunk fighter. The personal luxury car (1958 Thunderbird). The basic, simple compact (1960 Falcon). The intermediate (1962 Fairlane). The pony car (1964 1/2 Mustang). The popularly priced luxury sedan (1965 LTD). Aside from whole models and segments, the 1960s at Ford saw other innovations like the station wagon “doorgate”, the early popularization of disc brakes, reversible keys and convertibles with glass rear windows.
That was the established order in the 1960s: Ford would innovate and lead, while Chevrolet would respond a year or two later, usually (if not right away) building a more competent (if not more inspired) version of Ford’s better idea.
It was into this world that Chevrolet introduced the Monte Carlo. Suddenly, for the first time in over a decade, Chevrolet found a new niche: Personal luxury for the masses. Chevrolet mined this niche very well, too. By 1970, Ford’s Thunderbird had dwindled in popularity to about 50,000 units annually. The Monte Carlo nearly tripled the Bird’s volume in its inaugural year.
The Monte Carlo caught Ford napping. By 1972, the Monte was approaching 200,000 units a year and clearly could not be ignored. The new Gran Torino was not enough to put a damper on the Monte, and when the new ’72 Thunderbird failed to hit 60,000 units, it was clear that the Thunderbird was still hanging out at the supper club while the crowd was heading for the disco. Something more would be required. The Monte Carlo must have been a bitter pill to swallow for the company that had invented both the personal luxury and the intermediate segments a decade or more earlier.
Ford’s Anti-Monte would not arrive until midway into the 1974 model year. We have all occasionally had to try to make something appetizing for dinner out of whatever odds and ends may be in the pantry, and this is how Ford cooked up the Elite. First, the company started with a ’74 Cougar XR-7. Fool a bit with the opera window and add a new grille flanked by big single sealed beams, and there it was – the 1974 Ford Gran Torino Elite. At least Ford beat the Cordoba by six months.
The conventional wisdom is that the second generation Monte Carlo was a runaway success, while the Elite was a poorly selling stopgap. The conventional wisdom is pretty much true. In roughly half a model year (1974) the Elite sold under 97,000 cars while the Monte Carlo’s full year production was a bit over 312,000.
The Elite may not have lit the world on fire, but it certainly sold better than the Gran Torino Brougham coupe, of which Ford only managed to sell about 26,000 cars.
The pattern held for 1975 and 1976 (when the Gran Torino badges were stripped from the car, now just known as the Ford Elite). The two combatants settled into a pattern for 1975 and 1976, with the Elite selling at about half the rate of the Monte Carlo (1975: 123,372 to 258,309, 1976 146,475 to 353,272).
The Elite did its job – it held the fort until reinforcements arrived, which came in the form of the new 1977 Thunderbird. Although the new Bird was nothing more than a heavily restyled Elite, there was still some magic left in the Thunderbird name, because it sold over 300,000 units in its inaugural year, a figure not far from what the Elite sold over its entire two and a half year life cycle. Although the ’77 T-Bird was a big improvement, it was still about 100,000 units short of the hugely popular Monte Carlo.
But back to the Elite. I still remember the first one that I saw. One evening in early 1974, the national news was on TV and there was a story about auto sales, which were in the tank during the recession that started that year. The background video was from a Ford assembly plant. I suddenly realized that the front end of the cars being assembled were unlike any of the Gran Torinos that I had seen at my local auto show a month or two earlier. I checked my stash of literature, and nothing from Ford with those big single headlights. Only later did I realize that I got a sneak peek of this car that night on the news.
Ford made a lot of variants out of a single, basic car in the eight years from 1972 through 1979. Torinos, Montegos, Cougars, Thunderbirds, LTD IIs, and this Elite. Although the Elite never really did much for me when it was new (the 1977-79 Cougar XR-7 was my fave at that time) this car has grown on me as time has passed. It is a curious mixture of the voluptuous early ’70s and the squared off and tucked in late ’70s all in one car. Somehow, it kind of works, in its unique way.
It has been eons since I have seen one of these in the midwest. These cars were extremely susceptible to infestation by rust mites, which was generally fatal. (You can always tell a case of rust mite infestation by the trail of iron oxide droppings.) This was not one of Ford’s better eras for quality, and most of these were long gone by the time cash for clunkers came around.
Mrs. JPC and I were on the way to a movie early one evening last summer when this particular example gave my retinas a big old slap. How deliciously 1970s, white vinyl upholstery, green vinyl roof and all. And how long has it been since we could buy tires with that inch-and-a-half whitewall? Weren’t those briefly popular around 1980 or so? This one lacks the Gran Torino badges, so it must be a 1975 or 76. I couldn’t tell the difference then, and I still can’t. Let’s call it a ’76 – Ford made more of them that year. In any case, it is a beautiful example of a now-uncommon car. I cannot recall the seller’s asking price, but I remember that that it was a bit stiff.
When getting ready to write this piece, my son Jimmy saw these pictures and started regretting his Grand Marquis purchase. I reminded him about gas mileage in the low teens and he felt better. I always thought of these as bloated, wallowy barges that drove more like ships than cars. But for today’s kids, no such thing has ever existed in their memories, which gives the car a certain cachet.
Ford did a pretty passable job taking a lot of leftovers and cobbling together a decent stew. It was better than it had any right to be. And after another thirty five years at the back of the fridge, it’s actually kind of appetizing. If you like stew.
This car, to me, was one of the prime examples I use when I talk about Ford’s “trip to bizarro styling land” that seemed to go on, with a few exceptions, for about 40 years. I thought the Monte was ugly, but it was light years better than the Elite. The Cordoba was ok looking, the best of these cars, but none of them appealed to me at all.
When I think about the Elite, I think of the 6’8″ 500 (at least) pound truant officer at my old high school, who drove a white over gold Torino when I was in school, and a white over bronze Elite when I moved back to Toledo in 1982. I used to see him all over the South end of town, looking for kids that had skipped school, and who had dared to escape to the many nearby fast food places during lunch. I was one of those kids who left school at lunch for BK or McDonald’s, passing on the fine foods the cafeteria ladies cranked out. I don’t know why, but he never busted me for it, even when he caught me at the drive through line. You could always spot him if he was ahead of you, as his car had a huge lean to it, for obvious reasons.
when I was hanging around used car lots in the mid 80s, all the GM products looked nice, while the Ford and Chryslers were always shot. mostly mid to late 70s cars at the time. then, I wouldn’t drive anything but GM. things change, now I only drive panthers. as a teen, elites were almost invisible and the LTD II was completely invisible. what you did see was downsized t-birds.
Nice article and very nicely preserved Elite. I’m a Ford guy but I never “got” this car – I thought it bloated and ugly, poorly assembled and full of cheap materials.
What also helped the ’77 T-Bird sell was Ford promoted “It now gets better MPG!”, to counter the new Chevy B bodies.
“For the price of a new Impala, you can get a T-Bird!”
A car that didn’t need to exist. Essentially Ford put themselves in the position of selling two different Torino coupes, which were probably the majority of where its sales came from.
We had one of these briefly when I was a kid. It was the same flax over gold like in the last ad copy pic. As I remember, it was cheap and clean, and we were looking for a 2nd car for my mom. One of her friends had a niece who was a bit of a problem child, her dad confiscated the car from her for whatever reason and sold it to us. I remember it was reliable, but a gaudy looking barge. Seemed like my dad passed over a really nice Roadrunner in favor of the elite since he knew who owned it, the RR was more of a gamble. Id have bet on the bird!
My first car was a 1974 Elite. I was fortunate to have one that was not a standard eath tone. Mine was Red with a white half top & red interior. I remember it being a decent car compared to what else was out there. I also remember everybody thought it was a Thunderbird, I finally got sick of explaining what an ‘Elite’ was.
I few years ago I acquired a rust free 1972 Montego GT with a banged up nose, I seriously considered putting an Elite front end on it, just to make the Ford guy scratch their heads.
In July of 1982 my dad, a Chevy guy, bought one of these for my mom to use as a “winter beater” to take me to my new Catholic school, which had no bus service. It was silver with navy blue Luxury Decor option interior in vynil, power windows & criuse, & full instrumentation. Being a first run ’74 model, it had no catalyst; 400 2bbl, single exhaust. Dad reversed the air cleaner lid in attempt to fix what he deemed was an airflow problem. Car sounded so cool like this, just like Ryan O’Neal’s stolen Galaxie 500 in the 1978 flick “The Driver.” I loved this car the way only an idealistic bonehead kid could love it. The fact it was fitted with a set of aftermarket slotted mags similar to Starsky & Hutch only made it that much cooler to me. My dad hated those wheels, hated the whole car, really, but it was a bargain at only $900. I fell even more in love with this brute when I inherited it to drive to high school. Got my first speeding ticket in it just weeks after getting the keys. I remember the steering felt as though it was connected with a rubber band, & Dad surmised the car had been in some sort of frontal collision in its lifetime because no matter how many times you aligned the front end, it would routinely chew up tires. Fuel economy was as bad if not worse as the 460 I had in a Mark IV I owned six years later. Handling was very scary; it swapped ends on me three times, one of those times taking out a split rail fence, with no damage to the car. Despite all this I loved it to death; styling to me was beautiful. Loved those big twin hedlights in the square chrome bezels, & those unique parallellogram opera windows. Too cool. Really miss it. Mom sold it out from under me in 1991 in a scam that was epic in proportions, where I ended up with her still-mint ’76 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu 2-door. A nice car, but not as plush or fast as my beloved Elite. She said it wasn’t a safe car for me. I’m still a little mad at her to this day for doing that, & I still miss that irascible behemoth of a car.
Amongst the 20 or so cars that I have been involved with between growing up and my own adult life, three stand out…all Blue Ovals but only one actually had one. That was a ’95 T-Bird. Platinum with a green interior (black interior trim). Very fast…very forgiving. The second is our 1967 Country Squire wagon. Except for the wood trim and wood panel paint, it was all red. It could tow a mountain and comfortably seat 8 (not to mention a full size sheet of plywood if all.of the seats were down). And finally the first car I really sank money into. A white, 1976, Ford Elite with a gold vinyl roof, gold trim, and gold interior. By the time I got it in 1981, someone had two-toned the paint with the bottom of the fenders and doors painted gold and added opera lights. Was it a boat? Damn right it was and I loved it. By the time I finished with her I could make that girl walk and talk. Wider tires, rebuilt the 351 Windsor .030 over with 9.5 comp ratio (I did not dare to go higher with only 93 octane), stiffer shocks, shift improver, you get the gist. Never quick off of the line but that car could fly. Buried the speedo on a regular basis. While it never made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, I did have a legendary run from Virginia Beach to South Baltimore that too just over 2 hours and 20 minutes. Could it corner like it was on rails or get 30 mpg? Don’t be silly. But it was big, it was fast, and it turned heads.
Wow. What a thrill to come across this website this Sunday am after 24″ of snow dumped on the NE USA Fri-Sat, it can wait. My folks bought a 1974 Gran Torino Elite, white with a tan landau roof, it was a used car, I remember when I saw somewhere it’s $4,000 price tag, I thought we were the S$^T! While I was to young to understand a lot of what everyone talks of here I knew I was soon getting my DL, I had me a job at Weis Markets, and could pay that insurance. I passed my DL test, using this car, on my 1st try even though I parallel parked like 4′ from the curb. But what I immediately learned was that I loved a V8, what power, even when the AC kicked on the power remained. I never wrecked, I kill my 1st animals, 2 birds in a single clip, and then 2 baby raccoons in a single clip. And yes, this puppy drank gas like tomorrow wasn’t coming. Soon, after rejecting the other car, a Mercury Comet, I bought my neighbors ’72 VW Super Beetle, sending me down another car trajectory until about 1989 when I bought me a ’87 Ford Mustang GT, and then a ’91 Mustang GT LX, my last V8. The last I saw that GTE was in 1981, it’s tailpipe had broken off and black soot covered the rear. When I saw my folks at Christmas that year the GTE was gone, replaced by a ’79 Olds Custlass Supreme, a pretty mint green w 1/2 rear landau, small block V8, but I’ll let that one for another time. I have fond memories of that ’74 GTE, but now, at 51 years and knowing so much more about life I certainly understand what they were trying to do and why it didn’t work.
My first car was a 1976 Elite. It was originally that pastel yellow that was popular at that time. By the time I purchased it in 1987, it was repainted a bronze color. It was a huge car, my personal land yacht. It was blessed from the factory with a 460 and moon roof. Unfortunately, it had a 2.75 gear ratio, which meant it would do 140 mph at about 2500 rpm, it just took about 45 minutes to get there. Years later I put a 3.50 posi pumpkin in it and made it much snappier. It was not a desirable car, but I made some fond memories in it.
My first car was a 1976 ford elite, baby blue, I got it in 1978. The back seat was so big you could have a party in it. I took the transmission out and the 351 Windsor out, put another auto transmission with a shift kit and a 351 Cleveland in it with a 3/4 lift cam. ran 11’s in the quarter. Loved that land yacht. I would love to have another one.
A friend has a 1976 Ford Elite car, we want to sell it but her father thinks it is worth $6,000 but it is in poor shape and not running. Any clues on value? Where is the best place to sell it?
My first lease car was an 75 Silver Elite red interior and I couldn’t wait to return it to the dealer. Back then it was a 2 year lease but I returned it in 18 months. When taking the family on vacation I had to remove the spare tire to gain trunk space, they should have put storage under the hood it was big enough. The interior room wasn’t any better and my kids hated the back seat, no rear windows. The tires were another problem, I lost two within a week, just blew a hole thro the side as if some one had shot them. The second week I had this car the rear driverside panel peeled about two thirds to expose the tan undercoat, the dealer wouldn’t fix it said it was my problem, looked like hell but remained that way till I return it. I traded up to VW Rabbit because it had more interior space and way better gas mileage. Looking at the one featured brings back memories but no nostalgia
Still have my 1976 purchased new – triple black running a 460, never wrecked and garage kept for almost the entire 40+ years.
Per the Marti Report, it’s one of only 74 built in that configuration and it’s a California car so I suspect their are very few or those 74 still out there.
After Hurricane Sandy hit, my friend Larry Bailey found his Ford retractable sitting in 5 feet of water……..after the insurance company paid off the car, it was crushed………in it’s place Larry picked up a totally mint 1976 Ford Elite……….triple black..an amazing car. When Larry “motivates” around Monmouth County, New Jersey he never fails to get dozens of “thumbs up” from all that pass the car by. The car has a warmed up 351 Cleveland with a modern AOD trans.
I had a “76” yellow and black Ford Elite back in the day. Absolutely a great running car, except for the “rust mites”. Just ate the car up. I had that car 18 years. Had good luck with it.
When these came out, I wondered if Colin Chapman got any money from Ford using the Elite name on this barge. Though honestly the second generation Elite wasn’t much better than the Ford.
In the spirit of saying something positive, I will say that I never knew the ’77 T-bird was a descendant of the Elite. The Bird was a decent looking car, a bit more in tune with competing against the likes of the Monte, and perhaps the Grand Prix.
I knew someone who bought an Elite, maybe 1975. They were so proud, it seemed like that was all they could talk about – their new Elite. To me it was just a fancied up Torino, competing against the Malibu and the Charger. I didn’t get it, and quickly tuned these cars out. Ford apparently got the same idea not long after.
Some cars are great examples of their time, and if there’s a car that says, “malaise”, it’s the seventies Torino Elite, a car that wasn’t very good at much of anything, including style. GM (and even Chrysler) were going gangbusters in the intermediate-sized PLC demographic with the good-looking (at least with round headlights) Monte Carlo and Cordoba. But Ford, with this monstrosity, didn’t seem to have a clue.
As has been mentioned, it’s quite fascinating how all that changed when Ford dropped the Thunderbird down a size class and renaming what was simply a heavily restyled Elite for 1977 (complete with hidden headlights) and, suddenly, they had a 180 degree turnaround success.
What I think is surprising about that whole program is that they didn’t put the T-bird on the 118″ wb chassis, possibly with the LTD II (and non-XR7 Cougar) being 4-door only allowing them to rationalize away the 114″ Torino coupe chassis.
Chrysler sometimes gets flack for the 1971 B bodies(excluding the Cordoba) being out of touch with the trends but the 72-76 intermediate Ford body was really no better, Those curvaceous early 70s lines look just as awkward as the 73-74 Charger SEs with their wire wheels, puffy vinyl top, button tufted bench seat and slatted opera windows, only difference is those didn’t suffer the extra indignity of sprouting a neoclassical single headlight front end treatment. It would have been even more ridiculous had Ford kept the fastback body, but the regular coupe was still very muscle car coke bottle in profile
Indeed, the Elite’s neo-classical dual headlights were an all-too-obvious copy of the Grand Prix and Monte Carlo front ends. The problem is GM’s stylists were a lot better than Ford’s. Even Chrysler was able to get it right on the Cordoba. The Elite looks exactly like what it is: a Torino coupe with a bad nose job.
I would love to know what went on at Ford design during this period, it’s not as if the company couldn’t make good looking cars, or were on the brink for bankruptcy(yet), full sizers still had a market, the 72 intermediate line was a hit, the Mustang still was the sales leader in the class despite the ponycar market retracting, what was the penny pinching about? There ended up being almost as many model derivatives off of this chassis(body) as the Falcon a decade earlier yet the roots weren’t hidden at all, same body, same dashboard/instrument panel, all tinsel and decoration with only bolt-on panel differentiations. It took them until 1977 to give this car new sheetmetal and even then things like the dash still carried over.
Chrysler by comparison had excuses to be skinflints, They were trailing Ford and GM in sales, the massive investment and subsequent sales dud of the E body program surely left a bruise, their biggest sellers were lower margin A bodies and had tepid at best sales of B body sedans and 74 C bodies to civilian buyers, yet they still managed to give the Cordoba a complete new body, and a brand new interior, AND redesign the standard line Plymouth/Dodge coupe bodies for 1975(albeit with very little differentiation between brands) to be competitive in this important segment.
A company’s problems start at the top, and Ford is no different. So, I’d say it was the growing rift between Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca that was the root of the seventies’ design errors. Iacocca had no problem spending money (mostly on brougham-oriented features), and then cut corners in other areas, and maybe his efforts just weren’t all that terrific during that time. To be honest, the Torino Elite does look like something Iacocca could come up with, i.e., a Monte Carlo fighter on the quick and cheap.
Except for one crucial difference – the 1971 Mopars were sales flops, while the 1972 Torino was initially a sales success. It was the first Ford intermediate to outsell the Chevrolet Chevelle/Malibu since the latter had debuted for the 1964 model year. The Torino maintained this lead for 1973, if I recall correctly.
The subsequent decline of the Torino was as much the result of internal competition – the Elite, as well as the 1975 Granada – as anything else.
That’s what makes it all the worse. With the exception of the front clip and the hood the Elite was no better executed than the Charger SE, yet The Torino line was a strong seller up to this point and should have had the capital to reinvest it into a unique body like the Monte Carlo. The fact that financially troubled Chrysler could do what Ford didn’t with the Cordoba is pretty damning
I agree that internal competition eventually hurt the Torino, but not at the point the Elite came about. It hurt upper trim levels of the Gran Torino, and hurt itself by being so clearly a Torino with extra trim. Using the Montego body was the only differentiator, but it fooled no one.
Good catch on the Elite using the Montego body. I knew it wasn’t original, but couldn’t place where it came from. It truly was a PLC on the cheap. Funny how when the discussion turns to sixties and seventies PLCs, no one remembers the Torino Elite, sort of like ‘The Forgotten PLC’ (and with good reason).
Reminds me of the 1962 Dodge Custom 880 which used the body of the Chrysler Newport with a 1961 Dodge front end.
Then, maybe the opposite of the 1st gen Dodge Charger and AMC Marlin, both of which used the front ends of regular production cars but with reworked fastback bodies.
Always seemed like a sad car to me. Bodged together from leftovers, with bloated styling, ugly rear side window-ettes, corporate steering wheel, dowdy vinyl seats, ugly wire hubcaps. Just seemed so lame even when new.
Seemed like the Monte and Cordoba did all the PLC stuff better, the Chevy seeming sportier and the Cordoba prettier. This was just a phoned-in player in the Tackyocalypse.
Of course that all means I want one. I’m a sucker for terrible 70s stuff. Playing air guitar to Ram Jam right now in fact.
🎵…ram-ba-lam…🎵
The “personal luxury coupe” thing is easy for me to figure out. All the people who bought muscle cars got a bit older, and didn’t want to be drag racers any more. They made more money and wanted to be more “upscale”. But they weren’t ready for sedans, or little cars..they still wanted ‘cool” but without hood scoops and stripes. Presenting: the long good short deck luxury “sport” coupe. Still an air of power, but grown up. The next big jump, wanting to look like a European, is harder for me to get.
Ford couldn’t catch a break in the Maliase Era. Bloated styling, phoned-in 5 mph bumpers, and excessive front overhang (on an entirely rwd fleet save the Fiesta). GM was still the leader and even Mopar, with reliability about as bad as it would get post-1957, had better-looking product.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/sarah-lotz/
Check out the strippo interior bench seats on the ’77 Torino Bird (4). The nicer models had cool looking interiors.
I don’t think that’s the right link
I remember buying Petersen’s Complete Book of Ford in 1976. Among a lot of interesting stuff there was a double-page writeup of each of FoMoCo’s new cars in ’76 – US models only, of course. Mostly forgettable stuff, except for the Elite – I found it frightfully ugly. What on earth were the stylists thinking?
CC-in-scale wouldn’t build an Elite even if there was a kit. However I do have this Gran Torino….
I had a co-worker, an elderly guy who purchased an Elite. I was not impressed with it for all of the reasons previously stated. I noticed that the dash had a full complement of gauges, which I thought was old for a “luxury” car; when I asked the owner about it, he adamantly stated that “he didn’t care at all for them, nor pay any attention to them!” I might also mention that it was a huge car for such a little guy! 🙂
Good story.
I drove a 1977 Monte Carlo for one day.I really enjoyed the hood and fender lines up front.it was a nice driving car.The fuel mileage ,not so nice.
Would like to see more of the Moparman scale fleet.
During 1979-’80, I had the most plain-jane, stripped version of this Elite, a very rusty ’72 Torino coupe (note not Gran Torino, the one with the plain flat plastic grille). it was cheap $300 car transportation, about four years later, my late brother bought a rusty ’76 Elite and later a friend had the rusty Mercury Cougar version. Only one thing comes to mind when recalling those cars, how they looked and drove: What junky cars!
Malaise overload!
Bloated, wallowy, overweight, underpowered, massively obtrusive bumpers, and frog-eyed ugly. These, and the contemporary Monte Carlos were among the cars I most detested during the mid ’70s. While it is interesting to see a well preserved survivor, I can’t bring myself to actually want one these!
Happy Motoring, Mark
The very first car I ever drove, was a 1975 Elite. It was metallic brown with a ripped vinyl top, a rainbow sticker in the rear window, brown interior and rusted body panels. I was 14. Atlantic Starrs “The First Time When We Fell In Love” was playing on the radio.
I’ve had 2 Torinos 75 & 76 before that I had 2 montegos both 74’s. Same body styles and ran great I could turn the steering wheel with one finger. I am looking for another one. Any one have one For Sale ? Im looking! thank you Steven 2109315073
When “car people” talk about the Elite, I always assume they’re discussing the Lotus version, not the Ford.
The Lotus Elite had the distinction of being “interesting”, if not “good”. The Ford was neither but sold better, in the same way that gallon jugs of low-fat, no-flavor imitation ice cream sell better than Haagen-Dazs
Both showed up for ’74. One of them is still collectible/desirable, if you can afford to keep it running.
I have no idea how two companies managed to share a nameplate. Apparently, the cars were so opposite no-one could confuse ’em.