1977 Ford LTD Country Squire

400 V8.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/4253972721.html

 

Very honest of him to admit that the 77,XXX miles is more likely 177,XXX.

 

The price is right, love the cloth front seats and rear vinyl.

 

This one seems to have a problem with the outside wood grain trim moldings (rails).... Kinda funny that a lot of wagons we see here have one problem or another. One wagon might have bad Di-Noc, but the rails are OK. Another has clear coat peeling, but the Di-Noc is OK.

 

"great old van"???? I thought these were station wagons?

 

My experience is that unless you keep after them religiously, the decal on the rails will start peeling. This seems to be true of all makes.

For me, this issue on this car would be the brakes. I wouldn't want to try driving a car this heavy without power assist on the brakes, and Hydroboost can be a little pricey to repair. Still, $2500 might not be too bad at all, if you didn't have to pay too much to transport it home.

Also, I'm not sure that the mileage isn't 77K. I couldn't pick out anything in the pictures that would convince me that it's really 177K, although there weren't enough photos to have a lot of confidence either way. I would expect the engine to be pretty tired by 177K miles, though. If it runs strong and still has decent power, that would be another piece of evidence favoring the lower mileage.

All in all, for anyone who's close to Kansas, this might be a decent deal. If I were in the market for another one and were in the area, I'd be checking it out.

 

We have learned that GM in the same era had the option of a cloth front seat and vinyl rear, we have seen a few now. Did Ford have this as a option also? Never seen a ford like this unless the front seat was replaced/reupholstered :confused:

KK??, you seam to be the best at finding/knowing this stuff?

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think those front seats are correct for that car. Notice the "seat belt holders" on the seat backs. Those cars did not have those originally.

I am still wondering when they started calling these "vans"?

"This is my daily driver when I'm not on a motorcycle. 3rd owner, 2nd owner only had for a couple of months.

400ci engine so a stroked 351 and automatic transmission. Mileage shows 77xxx the previous owner says its accurate, but most likely needs a one added in front of that number. Drives great. Tires are good and has original hub caps. Has brand new shocks all the way around, new battery, new starter. AC works but could use a recharge. Heat works as well. Great old van, definitely very Clark Griswoldy. Drove it to Indiana and back last summer with no issues. Great reliable old car. I no longer haul all kids friends with them so don't really need the wagon any longer. Has new hydroboost for the power brakes and new lines, but I can't get it to bleed properly so only manual brakes. Power brakes is the only issue with the vehicle.

Asking $2,500 or would consider a trade in another old car or truck with a straight six in working order.

Call or text 913 nine two seven 0646 Thanks"

 

Yeah, I'm thinking the front seat came from another vehicle. For one thing, the upholstery pattern doesn't match the rear. If Ford offered cloth front/vinyl rear, they would at least have similar patterns. Also, I'm not sure the front is even cloth. During this period, Ford had something called 'Dura-weave' vinyl upholstery. The front seat looks like that stuff.

 

Interior upholstery ideas were totally optional for '77 Country Squires!

 

I think '72 KE is right. These seats look like they came out of 2-door car.

They don't look like DuraWeave to me. That had a rough looking texture (I had '75 CS with that trim). If you compare to the brochure JWDTenn posted, the KC car looks more like regular cloth, which was not offered in the CS (DuraWeave is actually a knitted vinyl). And the back (2nd) seat would have the same upholstery -- I've never seen or heard of a '70s CS with different material on the front and back seats. The DFRS, by the way, were always vinyl, regardless of the material on the front and back seats.

Anybody else notice the rear of the seatbacks on the 2nd seats? Is that carpet or a beach blanket glued on?

 

That front seat definitely does not come from that car. Not sure what it is from, but it is almost certainly a 2 door, as 4 doors don't have the seat belt guides.

 

I think I've found a match to the upholstery. It's from the '78 LTD Landau model, standard upholstery called "Ardmore knit cloth and vinyl", shown on this page in blue.....

 

Those do look like the same material! Until I seen this, I was going to say perhaps they came out of a Thunderbird or something, but now I think perhaps they came out of a 2-door LTD Landau.

 

Here is from the '77 LTD brochure... it was optional on the 2dr LTD as well... the lower pic shows it in the '77 4dr LTD... so the 2dr should have had the seat belt guides, so I bet the front seats were out of a 77-78 LTD 2dr. Like Krash has already shown from the wagon brochure, this is "Ardmore" interior.