“HIS VIEW IS THERE AREN’T THAT MANY SURVIVORS – MAYBE 10 PER CENT OF THE ORIGINALS”
As was fashionable at the time, the LTD features a v inyl roof. Not only did it look t he part but it a lso hid a component of the manufacturing. The chassis was cut and shut for extra length by around 12cm and the v inyl cover meant Ford didn’t have to spend too much ef fort tidy ing up t he joins in t he roof. Over t he years, t hat becomes a rust trap.
Those litt le quirks aside, t he big P6 is an impressive bit of k it. As Kevin suggests, it carries a huge amount of humans and gear, while being a prett y handy tow car. The interior is plush and you get t he sense you could travel a long way in comfort.
Performance feels much the way you’d expect wit h t he big la z y V8 up front. It gets away wit hout hesitation and t here’s plent y of poke on tap for overta k ing. There’s a litt le body roll through turns, but not as much as you might expect in t his well-kept example while t he bra k ing is better t han average for t he period. Back in t he late seventies, t his would have felt like a ver y specia l car.
Kev in says he spent a long time f inding t his example and ended up stripping it for a rebuild any way. As a result, his v iew is t here aren’t that many sur v ivors – maybe 10 per cent of the originals, because owners couldn’t be bot hered restoring them once they wore out. That could well be right.
We found a couple for sa le, and the prices weren’t high. Really, t hey looked like bargains compared to something like an upmarket X A through to XC V8 Falcon. The catch would be to f ind something t hat’s not going to end in tears in the body shop, which is where a car like the one you see here – t hat’s a lready been restored – could easily end up fetching serious money.
Would you be happy if you owned one like t his? I reckon so. Just point it at t he opposite side of the countr y and stop when you see the ocean…