But while the Chevy B bodies are still seen fairly regularly (even after over 30 years), these have largely disappeared. These sold at rates very comparable to the 77-78 Impala/Caprice. It is really interesting to me how these cars and the contemporary Chevies diverged. HOWEVER…when the first “box panther” coupes arrived and the GM B bodies, the Impala coupe especially, those two were at the top of my fantasy list! Over and over, seeing these and other boats from back then just makes me just that much more secure in our choices of cars from AMC and in the ’80’s to the late ’90’s, Chrysler products in that we made the right decisions. Think small! Fairmont! My father-in-law loved his. No, I don’t miss these tanks regardless of who built them. Wifey kept her 1970 Mustang convertible until she quit work in preparation for the arrival of our first child in ’79. Ford just divided that space with a slightly narrower B pillar and TWO pieces of fixed glass! Double the sin!īy this time though, I had abandoned any love for the full-sizers after the 1968 models and went Malibu-and-smaller and went tiny to our Gremlin after I got rid of my ’76 Chevy truck shortly after we were married. Off-the-cuff memory tells me that Ford was kind of late to the party when Chevy dropped the hardtop coupe in 1975(?) and replaced the quarter window with a very thick B pillar and a very large piece of fixed glass. I have always wondered if these cars did well in places like Texas, or just in Cattle country in general, because let’s face it, much like my grandparents’ 1976 Mark IV, there is a lot of Meaty goodness here, and I would imagine that Texans, with their affinity for all things big, would have devoured these.īeef, it’s what’s for dinner.
Both cars lasted a long time, despite looking rather battle weary as the years wore on. There were two of them in my extended family, a rather plain 1975 coupe that my grandparents bought for my aunt as a teenager, and my other aunt had a 1977 sedan with the same interior as this one but in brown and cloth.
These were pretty decent cars in their day. I didn’t get to have a look under the hood, but I’m guessing it would most likely have a 351 under there.Īs much as ol’ Henry didn’t want it to happen, he did see the writing on the wall and in 1979 we saw the birth of the Panther. The vinyl on the seats was still very much like new. I noticed that it has the automatic climate control, power options, tilt and cruise. This car would be considered a midrange model, in that it’s a step below the Landau model, but has a nicer interior than the base.
I was disappointed to find that the LTD hood ornament was replaced with a Marquis ornament, but I guess it could have been worse… After looking it over though, it’s obvious that the Ziebart rustproofing did its job. I can tell it has been repainted at some point in its life, and the vinyl top is no longer vinyl. So for today we will say it’s a 1978, the last year for the big LTDs.Īll things considered, this car is a real survivor. There were no year identifiers on this particular car that I found for sale on US 23, just south of Tawas City, MI back in June. After walking around this one I would have to agree. Many years ago I stumbled upon an old copy of Motor Magazine that my grandpa had and in it they referred to Ford as “Home of the Whopper”. When GM introduced the downsized B bodies in 1977, Henry was determined to hold on to the old ways and keep his cars big. The idea of smaller cars drove “Hank The Deuce” crazy. ( first posted ) Henry Ford II was in many ways, a lot like his grandfather.
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