Which Torino?

My first hot rod when I was in HS was a 1970 Torino Cobra: 429, 4 speed, drag pack, bias plys, power nothing, center console, and bucket seats. Man what a car! I occasionally think of getting another one.

I actually owned a '71 Cyclone which is the Merc version of the intermediate. I loved that car. They are somewhat harder to get unique parts for but they are growing in popularity and the mechanicals are pretty much the same as Mustangs in design and in many cases the same. If you have a family they are also WAY bigger in the back seat. I say if you like it buy it! StuK

I always liked the Ranchero that had the Torino front end. Those were pretty hot lookin rigs. Kate

| > Anyway, the other day this guy drives up to autozone (as I was pulling up | > in the minivan) in a '71 Torino. Beautiful car!!! I've been looking to get | > within the next year or two a '69 or '70 Mustang sportsroof, but having | > seen the Torino up close, I love the look. (He had a 302 in that | > particular model.) | >

| > Any opinions on the Torino? I'm sure that - like a Cougar - they'd be less | > pricy than a comparable Mustang, but I know little about them. | >

| >

| > -- | > kai - kai at 3gproductions dot com | >

|| || | > "friends don't let friends use windows xp" | |

Which years were those? I know which one you're talking about... early

70s maybe?

SVTKate wrote:

The Ranchero started (re)using the Fairlane/Torino as the platform in '67. It was originally based on the Fairlane in the late 50's except for the brief time ('62-66 IIRC) that it was based on the Falcon and was quite fugly. In the mid 70's it was an obese ugly POS IMHO. You know there's a problem when the hood is almost as long as the truckbed.

I own a '68 Ranchero 500 and it is my daily driver. The options package from what I can tell is drawn from the Fairlane line and not the Torino. The interior appointments on a Ranchero 500 were drawn straight from the Fairlane interior. In fact the door panels even say "Fairlane 500", not Ranchero. The thing that ticks me off the most is when people ask me if it's an El Camino, even though it has FORD emblazoned on the hood and the tailgate. The other one that ticks me off is "El Rancho". "NO!" It's not a burrito sauce thank you!

The El Camino always looked good, IMHO, however the Ranchero rarely looked good. The '57 looked great and then you have to jump more than 10 years to get a good design again, and even then it only lasted until about '72 when they got bloated and ugly again.

An idea I've had for a few years was to turn my Ranchero 500 into a Ranchero Talladega. However, finding the correct nose pieces would be nearly impossible. It would look pretty cool though, IMHO.

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 16:26:07 -0700, filesiteguy rearranged some electrons to form:

I've had mine since 1978...it only left me stranded once in 180,000 miles. It's not a daily driver anymore (can't take the 10 mpg!). See some photos of it below...

I can't tell you for sure, but my best guess would be early 70's They just looked RIGHT. Agressive nose that fit the style of the vehicle.

Here is a small summary

The one I like is the 72

Kate

| > | > Anyway, the other day this guy drives up to autozone (as I was pulling | > up | > | > in the minivan) in a '71 Torino. Beautiful car!!! I've been looking to | > get | > | > within the next year or two a '69 or '70 Mustang sportsroof, but having | > | > seen the Torino up close, I love the look. (He had a 302 in that | > | > particular model.) | > | >

| > | > Any opinions on the Torino? I'm sure that - like a Cougar - they'd be | > less | > | > pricy than a comparable Mustang, but I know little about them. | > | >

| > | >

| > | > -- | > | > kai - kai at 3gproductions dot com | > | >

|| || | > | > "friends don't let friends use windows xp" | > | | > | | >

| >

|

Yech, No offense, but I hate that fish snout. I like these...

first is a '71 the second is a '68 similar to the one I own.

No offence taken :) I definitely like the 68. If I were going to park one in my driveway, I'd have a hard time choosing between the 57 (most likely choice) or the 63. The 57, because it's purty, and I was hatched in 57. The 63, because I just like that style allot too.

Kate .

| > Here is a small summary | >

| >

| > The one I like is the 72 | | Yech, No offense, but I hate that fish snout. I like these... |

| | The first is a '71 the second is a '68 similar to the one I own.| -- | Scott W. | '66 Mustang HCS 289 | '68 Ranchero 500 302 | '69 Mustang Sportsroof 351W | '97 Cougar 30th Anniv SE 4.6L | ThunderSnake #57 | | |

I have a buddy redoing a 73 Grand Sport. I'm pretty sure he would tell you a Mustang would be cheaper. There is a higher volume of Mustang parts in the aftermarket. Now if your looking for true original parts that might be another story. Every since that stupid Starsky and Hutch remake was made the prices were driven up for parts. Its pretty easy to win all the Ebay auctions with movie money in your pocket.

MadDAWG

i had a 73 grand torino... 302, automatic, power steering, it was my first car with power in it.. real nice car to drive, but in that year gas went from 35 cents per gallon to over $1.00 per gallon or close to it.. the car only got about 8-9 miles per gallon.. the worst year for gas mileage in a car.. they, the car manufactures were just hit with the pollution control stuff and never knew how to do it right... it took a few years for the gas mileage in these cars to get any better.. but if i remember right the car was pretty heavy... somthing like a full size car for weight.... the 70-71-72 were not as bad on the gas mileage... and gas was just 35 cents per gallon at that time....