I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one of these single-eyed LTDs, which were only made in 1979 and 1980 (as the LTD S). And checking the brochures implies this one is a ’79, as the ’80’s fender blade lights are solid amber, not white and amber like these. A first year base LTD wagon; despite my lack of fondness for these in general, I’m very happy to see this survivor still on the road.
My lack of fondness? I’ve gone over this so many times, but the original Panther came off looking like a cheap Chinese knock-off of a ’77 Chevy B-Body. As in, back then, not now, as the Chinese have gotten dramatically better at both imitation and styling. One of the worst transgressions was using the same doors as the sedan, and then continuing that plane to the rear instead of tapering it back in. The result is a hugely empty wheel well.
Here’s a closer look at that issue. And those dreadful door frames! Not only do they not seem to fit into the roof, but they’re so heavy and clunky with that second layer of trim on the body. The longer I look at these ill-fitting and poorly designed doors, the less I can believe that these came from Detroit and not Poland. Yuck.
Here’s the original. Pretty embarrassing, given the two-year lag Ford had in coming up with a proper and cohesive downsized design.
There’s plenty more stylistic fodder with which to denigrate the early box Panther; but I already covered that in this post here, our Design Shoot-Out of the ’77 Chevy and ’79 LTD. No need to speculate on the overwhelming winner.
Enough of all that styling stuff; this wagon has long transcended those petty issues. A little tape has helped it do so.
Yes, this survivor has led a long and hard life. And it’s acquired a green door interior panel along the way. That’s not exactly in keeping with the typical old Eugene beater of not having a door card at all.
And what’s on its rear window?
Can anyone identify these, and their purpose? To hold the window in place because of some malfunction?
I wonder what’s under the hood. The standard engine was the “5.0L”302 V8, with the Variable Venturi carb. Are there still fully-functional VV carbed engines on the road? Is this one of them? Or has it more likely been swapped out along the way? For a base wagon, the likelihood of it having the optional 5.8L 351 are not great. But at least the transmission was still the smooth-shifting three-speed Selectshift automatic. No herky-jerky AOD yet.
Whatever it is, it’s still chugging away. And my hat’s off to that achievement.
regarding the tailgate rear window , the contraptions on each top corner appear to be old school hardware store spring loaded screen door catch/ closers. the center mounted piece appears to be epoxied to the pane of glass and uses a flip bail metal rectangular loop to engage with the broad hook screwed into the sheet metal at top of the opening. i have an IKEA extension leaf dining table that uses these exact catches to hold the movable halves together when the expansion leaf is not in place. provides a measure of leverage to pull things tight.
Both of my grandparents had box panther sedans. I always thought that they were very frumpy, thank you for helping me understand why. Regarding the AOD, these were clunky, but noticeably in our 1990 pickup with a 302. The 88 town car shifted smoothly despite the AOD.
Back in the day, some people in the trades, or doing small/light delivery, bought low-end station wagons as sort of the last bastion of the Sedan Delivery.
I worked part time for a guy who did very high end office supply sales and delivery. Around 1981 he bought the most stripped-out Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser one could buy. He’d gone to a Chevy/Olds dealer looking for the cheapest Impala wagon he could find. Instead, they offered him the Oldsmobile for an even cheaper price, as it had been sitting on the lot forever. No idea why the Custom Cruiser was ordered by the dealer that way. Nobody who wanted an Oldsmobile wanted one that was so stripped.
Back in the early 1980’s my employer had a 1979 LTD wagon as a “company/fleet” car. While it didn’t have wood on the sides or any fancy/luxury options, it did have the 351 V8 mated with the 3 speed SelectShift automatic transmission. It was reliable, smooth, and at least relatively powerful. The LTD held up very well despite the abuse it received; being driven by a couple of dozen different drivers on a regular basis.
My employer later obtained a second company car — a 1983 Caprice wagon. While it had a variety of nice comfort and power options, compared to the LTD, the Caprice was a complete dog. The Caprice’s transmission continually shifted back and forth between 3rd gear and overdrive — to the point where our maintenance department put a big warning sticker on the dashboard advising to never put the gear selector in OD unless we were driving on an interstate highway. Especially when fully loaded, the Caprice struggled to climb the many hills in the area without downshifting to 2nd gear.
The ’79 LTD that Car and Driver tested was one of these base models – the first photo I’d seen of them – and I was surprised to learn that most LTDs had the four-eyed face. I prefer the base car’s front clip, which fits the car better and also has more of a ’70s Ford look than the GM-copying front style most of these had.
The Canadian Custom 500 used the single-light grille setup in 1979-80, not sure about ’81 which was its last year.
Who in 1979 expected the Panther platform would still be in use in 2012?
As I’ve mentioned before, I and many Canadians, associate these dual headlight Panther LTDS, with Terry Fox, and his Marathon of Hope. With the inaugural marathon held, from April to September 1980. His run ending near Thunder Bay, that September, as his cancer returned. The OPP police escort cars across the province, were either these single headlight LTDs. Or Impalas. The single headlight noses on these LTDs, shown in the background for several minutes at a time, on the nightly news.
I was in grade school at the time, and would have agreed wholeheartedly with your assessment. The styling on these was weak. Unrefined, too square, and generally quite bland. The exterior cargo area, also appearing too long, and boxy. Underwhelming.
What an ugly old badly whipped dog .
The L.A.P.D. ran these box sedans a few years, I was amazed Ford put out such an underwhelming vehicle .
I wonder if some movie car company might use this in a fire / explosion scene .
-Nate
The separate parking lights in the grille always puzzled me: Did Ford stylists see a need to break up the expanse of cross hatching between the headlights?
At least the Australian 1979 LTD P6 Town Car had style. It was not just a plain box with extended appendages for bumpers at each end, even though it looked like a Cordoba from the front!!
Does it count as the CC Effect that I saw an earlier generation (I think maybe ’73ish) Country Squire on the road last week? Like the featured car, it was an old beater, driven by a scruffy looking guy with a cigarette hanging from his lips. But I appreciated that this 50+ year old car was still on the road.