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I always liked the Marquis/Grand Marquis equivalents, though. I appreciated the fact that the coupe kept the hardtop look all the way up through the end, although I'm sure at some point they started charging you extra for roll down windows in back, and towards the end they might have made them all stationary.
It's been ages since I've seen either, outside of a car show, but it seemed like the big Mercurys hung around longer than the big Fords did. Maybe they were bought by people with a bit more money, who took better care of them? Seems like dove gray or silver was a common color for the Marquis.
There's a '76 or so LTD that shows up regularly at one of the car shows I attend, in Magungie PA. It's red, and quite luxurious looking.
The big Fords were just that - big. To me they seemed bigger than the Chevys of the era, though that may not be factually accurate. Being Fords of that time, though, they came with Novocaine steering and a super-soft suspension too, so they were not the easiest things to drive. But I liked them anyway because of their interiors and the styling.
The Comet dashboard was exactly like the one in our '74 Maverick right down to the color. I always hated the "cane" parking brake on those - it seemed so primitive. The only difference for '75 is that the spokes of the steering wheel dipped downward at either end, whereas the '74 had 2 spokes that ran straight across. I'm sure the Comet was just as unsatisfying to drive as our Maverick was. I do remember the salesman at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer telling us when we were in buying mode that the Comet used a heavier gauge of steel than the Maverick in the body. That's gotta be sales talk, right?
There WAS a difference that I detected once we bought our Meverick. Right behind the front bumper, the front fenders stopped at about bumper height and there was a small metal panel that filled the rest of the space downward. On the Maverick that flexed quite easily with mild pressure, but the Comets on the lot didn't do that. Of course, given our Maverick began rusting out the minute we took it home, maybe it was already weakened by corrosion.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
IIRC, the Fords rode a 121" wb and the Chevies a 121.5", so they were close enough there. Overall length probably varied a bit from year to year with bumpers and such, but I think the '76 Chevy topped out at around 221". I have an old Consumer Guide used car book that covers 1977-85 (except for cars that were in their last year in '77), and it lists the LTD at "only" 219 inches. That doesn't seem right to me, though.
The Fords had more of a straight-edged, linear look to them, and seemed a bit lower overall. So maybe that made them look longer?
Something about the rear of the Chevies seemed a bit shorter too, at least from 1974-76. Instead of taking on a 5 mph bumper that added about 5 or 6 inches to the overall length, it looks like they shortened the rear deck a bit, and then stuck on the 5 mph bumper, but still maintained roughly the same overall length.
It got replaced by a Volare wagon, a 1977 I think, which was actually a pretty good car but it got hit and totaled by a delivery truck.
Y'know, for $1900, this one looks pretty nice. Unless it's hiding something.
I actually like those pale blues and greens from the 70's, but sometimes it seems like just the slightest variance in hue can make a world of difference. For instance, there's a powder blue that GM used in '75, that seemed extra common on Buicks, that I really love. But on that '78 Grand Marquis, I just don't like its hue quite as much.
On a Grand Marquis, I think a deeper, metallic blue would probably work better with its ritzy, upscale style.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Before you say "you're crazy", these early 50s Pickups are doing some serious escalation in value the last two years.
Upside: Classic styling, big GMC 260 (??) engine, 4-speed.
Downside: 3/4 ton, needs everything done to it. May or may not run. Big question mark.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Just getting cleaned up and running would net you quite a bit, I'd think. No body work or interior work, just the mechanicals. ("Just" being wildly inappropriate, I know).
Edit - looks like tic and I have the same idea!
I'd buy it. I've been wanting a pickup rat rod for a while now.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
S-C-O-R-E for me, but still a gamble.
But I've found that once an old heap actually runs, and can be driven around the block, however badly, that this greatly improves its value to a "dreamer".
50s pickups, to their credit, are generally much easier to restore than equivalent era cars.
When I was a kid, one of my grandparents' neighbors had a '53 GMC, but it was a fairly large, medium duty truck. By the time I can remember it, it was junk. Just a cab and chassis, with the rear axle pulled off so the rear of it was resting on the ground. It might have been a flatbed truck or something similar at one time, but whatever bed it had was stripped off.
I used to like sitting up in it as a little kid and playing truck driver.
Irks me that the dash pad looks great, where mine is cracked :mad:
Any good restoration is off to a great start if the project has "good bones". If you don't have "good bones" on which to build, you got all kinda problems facing you.
I could make that car look 2X as good in a week with soap, water, some varnish, upholstery cleaner and new carpets via UPS.
The seats are problematic, but that's the next stage.
Sometimes bones don't matter too much when you're going to sink 40K into something and get 15K back, as this car could manage.
I love and hate the color. If I had one, would definitely have to be period correct like this
You won't see yourself in traffic
Never became collectible
Neither did this
You're kidding
Odd
Survivor
Yikes
The 70s
And I like that E cab, remember them being $$$$ when new.
The 124 cabrios were around 80K, IIRC - in early 90s dollars.
Hmmm, that make me nostalgic. I changed many a diaper that looked like that car. :P
That Pontiac ambulance.... WTF?! "Runs" Yeah, I bet. Was he talking about the car or potential buyers?
I love that SR22 pickup. I wonder if those are current photos - they look like they were scanned from hard copies, and the truck looks practically new in them. If that's what it looks like today then its not a bad price, honestly.
Overall, you have some real freak shows in western Washington, fin!
The Toyota appears to have a relatively modern stereo head unit, so the pics shouldn't be too old.
Now if it was just something like this...
throw it in reverse and pop the clutch!!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Is the black 4x4 from a TV series...?
A movie?
Enlighten the culturally challenged, please!
-m
EDIT: Back to the future. Never mind.
The Googles, they know.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
PS: The first mass-produced EFI car was the '68 Volkswagon square back.
'84 Cadillac Eldo -- "Will trade for gold ....guns.... Or pot." (That about says it all, doesn't it?)
50 Pontiac Ambulance -- somebody put in an extra "0" on the price.
85 Toyo 4X4 --it's nice but not THAT nice. You can buy a pretty nice, very modern, used pickup for $7500.
'71 Buick "El Grande" ---"only 16 produced!" (And we all know why, too) :P
'77 Blazer Chalet---Aw, we didn't get to see the avocado & mustard interior and orange shag carpeting and the floral seat patterns, with fake walnut appliance trim, aluminum sliding windows and compressed foul-smelling foam padding.
And yet, it still has crank windows. That must have been a real selling feature for a limo back then.
I could see the Toyota eventually selling to an 80s freak, although maybe not near that price.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
But yeah that one on CL is an oddball. With the long wheelbase these cars had in the 70s it seems you can almost squeeze an extra bench seat into the back without having to stretch the car.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
And I love they used a pic of Squints from The Sandlot.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX