1979 Ford LTD 302 V8 or 5.0

Summary:

A great classic that doesn't break down!

Faults:

The transmission need work at about 75,000; cost me $200 and some beers that afternoon.

The seats needed to be replaced in 2009 after normal wear and tear. The car 325k miles come on all car seats are bad after that long.

General Comments:

Great car. The 302 is strong. I have taken good care of the engine with all the regular maintenance and it has not been needed to be rebuilt. I was in a slight accident and the passenger fender was dented and then after 5 years rusted out. I just replaced it two months ago.

The handling is great, compared to other cars of the early 80's and late 70s.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th February, 2009

22nd Feb 2009, 19:06

You had the same car for 30 years? I hope you know that makes you an automotive deity.

May the spirit of Bunkie Knudsen be with you in all your travels~!

8th Jul 2020, 18:45

Uh, OK. Bunkie Knudsen was president of Ford for only one year, and by the time this car was built, had been gone for 10 years... but whatever.

9th Jul 2020, 12:57

Some gripe but didn’t even have a license then. If you are happy that’s the important thing.

1979 Ford LTD 5.8L 351W

Summary:

Great performance, and a great chick magnet

Faults:

The only problem that we have had with the car is the carborator was poorly designed and all I had to do was rebuild it, at 100,000 miles.

I had to replace the top and headliner about 5 years ago.

General Comments:

I had to rebuild the front end at 130,000 made all the difference in the ride and handling.

My LTD has the only working original A/C system that I know of. Everyone that rides with me gets frozen to death.

The 351 Windsor was a rare engine in this car because of the gas crunch of the late 70's. My LTD is a two door version. Not too many of this left.

It doesn't burn any oil either I have always put Mobil 1. The only thing performance wise that I have done is added a K&N performance filter.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th April, 2004

14th Jul 2004, 18:03

Yeah this thing is a magnet for chicks all right.

The kind who take either credit cards or cash.

1979 Ford LTD S 5.0L 2bbl

Summary:

Unstoppable

Faults:

Due to serious abuse and improper maintenance (previous owner):

- Transmission.

- Bad U-joints.

- Carburetor.

- Brakes (rotors/pads).

- Rear main seal.

- Head gasket.

Minor Stuff:

- Dome lamp would cause the fuse to blow.

- Headliner came down.

- Exhaust leak (easy fix).

- Heater only blows on highest setting.

General Comments:

This car is proof that it doesn't matter how many miles are on the car.. It's how hard those miles were driven. I bought it from my girlfriend's dad, who acquired it at 27,000 miles the year before; his grandfather being the original owner.

I considered this car to be a classic, since it has the rare front end design that the basic version LTD's in their early years had (2 seal-beam headlamps rather than 4), and only had 39,000 actual miles. Also, it didn't have the Crown Vic badge like most of these, it's just an "LTD".

The car was in need of a new transmission since the guy had done numerous neutral-drops and blew the tranny. He drove this thing hard. I swapped the tranny from my other '79 LTD I wrecked, and man what a smooth ride.. it drove like brand new, smooth and powerful.. the 302 isn't the quickest off the line (unless it's in a Mustang), but passing someone was never a problem. This thing drove like it had just came off the showroom floor.

I added Cragar wheels and the car looked sweet. Unfortunately, the guy I got it from treated it like crap, and a car can only take so much. Problems began surfacing one after another, and I slowly fixed these one at a time as I continued to drive the car.. The car handled this very well, but after all the abuse, it couldn't take much more. I'd wrecked my Chevy, and after paying for a tranny swap and new carb. that I put in myself (the re-manufactured Holley failed), my bank account was cleaned out, so I continued driving on bad U-joints (lucky for me, the drive shaft didn't drop!) and bad brakes (hey it still stops on a dime), but the head gasket today is what did it in.

I planned to keep this car forever, but I am in way over my head now, and will be forced to part with it.

I've owned 4 of these cars so far (one I wrecked at 40MPH and it STILL got me around for a year), and none have had anywhere near the problems this one has (but they didn't drive quite as nice either), so I chalk it up to neglect, and can only imagine the great car I'd have, had it been maintained properly and treated better.

I highly recommend the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, because they are safe (crash-tested by myself LOL), easy to work on, comfortable, and deliver great performance. Plus you can get em pretty cheap at a used car lot, and they are usually very reliable. Can't beat that.

I plan to buy another one as soon as I have the money, but this time I'll make sure I get detailed maintenance records along with it.

By the way, this thing STILL starts right up and runs like it always did, even with the bad head gasket. These cars are awesome, and I'd sink every cent I own into restoring this one if I could, because it's worth it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th September, 2003

4th May 2004, 17:57

With all due respect, the LTD you own (used to own?) is neither especially rare nor valuable. That 2-headlight front end was only used on the low-line "S" model which was intended primarily for fleet sales; most wound up as taxis or police cars which is why they are rarely seen today. All of the LTD's used the 4-headlight front end starting with the 1981 or 1982 model year, which is also around the time they started calling them "LTD Crown Victorias" to distinguish them from the smaller Fox-chassis LTD which replaced the Granada.

If you want an LTD from that era which might have some collector potential, look for one that has the Crown Victoria appearance package option, which included a wide stainless steel molding over the top of the roof and a two-tone paint job, like the classic Crown Vic's from the 1950's.

26th Nov 2006, 22:21

Actually, the two headlight front end was used on base model LTD's sold to the public. The 4 headlight was used in 1979 on Landau's, then later called crown victorias beginning in 1980. 1982 was when all LTD's went to the 4 headlight look.