Non-Mopar Wagon I Picked Up

Jon O.

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I originally posted about this wagon wanting to pass on the original tires to someone's perfect car. 75LandYacht inquired more about it, and I figure others might be interested too.
It's a 1978 Ford LTD Wagon, started out life as a "promotional" car. Used by Ford to send different places to show off the new cars for 1978. Therefore it has a ton of options. Digital stereo radio, digital clock, remote mirrors, factory built in cb radio, cruise control, 3rd row seats, a tail gate that opens both directions, tilt steering wheel, and power door locks interestingly combined with roll up windows. At the end of 1978 it was given to a Ford executive near Detroit. He hardly used it. Not a fan of wagons, and he also had a 78 Torino that got the bulk of everyday use. It was taken on road trips/vacations, and every once in a long while used to haul something. It has 52,000 miles. Most of them put on at the beginning of the wagon's life. Most of the last 35 years have been spent sitting in the climate controlled garage, only driven a few times a year if at all. In 2009 he loaned it to a friend he used to work with who needed a car, and then it resumed it's wait in the garage. I bought it from his friend after he passed away. Came with the original title dated January 1979, and the waranty card. I was told "this car has never broken down, if you lived in California I would follow you out there to prove it." He must be right because every part is original and says Ford on it. A lot of parts have factory chalk marks on them. Everything works like new, and that includes the polar bear toe-freezing air conditioning. It runs like a brand new car and you can't hear it. I have to rely on dash lights to tell if it started, its that quiet. It has a 2.47 rearend and a Ford 351m smog engine, so it goes 0-60 in about 4 minutes, but there is nothing else to complain about.
 
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These pictures were taken before I scrubbed the carpet and seats. It had an unfortunate ambitious mouse at one time that made a hole in the carpet, and an ambitious grandson that buffed half the paint off of the hood.
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Damn, that is one nice Country Sedan (Squire had the woodgrain, Sedan did not). And loaded, too! I haven't seen that factory radio in anything but one LTD four-door my neighbor bought new in 1978. Very high-end in its day, for certain!
 
I had a '78 Gran Marqui with the same drive train. They were dangerously slow.

I dunno about that. My driver ed car was a 1976 Ford LTD Brougham with a 460, and that had no problem at all reaching 100 mph (my instructor was asleep at the time!).
 
My parents had a 73 Colony Park wagon. 49 state version 460, C-6, L78-15 tires and BarcaLounger style seats in the first row. It had auto leveling rear shocks and a tailgate washer that retracted the tailgate glass, washed it inside the tailgate and brought it back up. Worked ok.

120 mph it could go.
Nice acquisition!
 
My parents had a 73 Colony Park wagon. 49 state version 460, C-6, L78-15 tires and BarcaLounger style seats in the first row. It had auto leveling rear shocks and a tailgate washer that retracted the tailgate glass, washed it inside the tailgate and brought it back up. Worked ok.

120 mph it could go.
Nice acquisition!
Thank you. An early 70s colony park is what I was looking for when I found this one. This one doesn't have a rear washer, but it does have air shocks that you can raise or lower for heavy loads with a tube in the engine compartment. Not exactly sure how they work. I guess you just add air with a pump. It has a sticker that says "minimum 20 psi maxumum 120 psi"
 
Thank you. An early 70s colony park is what I was looking for when I found this one. This one doesn't have a rear washer, but it does have air shocks that you can raise or lower for heavy loads with a tube in the engine compartment. Not exactly sure how they work. I guess you just add air with a pump. It has a sticker that says "minimum 20 psi maxumum 120 psi"
My parents wagon had a vacuum operated compressor that ‘leveled’ the car. The vacuum operated compressor was noisy, with a thunk, thunk when it was operating.
 
I bought a 71 Buick Estate Wagon (a twin to below) to do dedicated service as a high speed freight train for runs in winter weather to haul all my ski stuff to northern New England.
It was unstoppable.

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