11th Sep 2004, 02:11

My dad has a Gran Torino FB, I learned to drive in it. Surprisingly, though it is big, it is fairly agile :-)

30th Sep 2004, 06:32

I'm 16 years old and my parents bought me a '72 Gran Torino! This thing is a beast. It is a fix-er-upper, but I don't care at all. I've put a few hundred dollars into it by installing dual flow-masters and fixing the heater/ac in it. It runs very nice and the interior is almost perfect. The outside is OK looking.. It could use a new paint job and a new back bumper.

10th Oct 2004, 15:38

We have a 1972 Gran Torino. My husband bought it in 1983 when he was in high school.. it has a 429 with about 625 horses, c-6 auto and a 9 inch. It has 114,00 orig. miles on it, (we obviously played with the engine a little bit). This is a great car that will eventually be passed onto one of our 3 kids later on in life (probably after we are both gone). My husband often jokes that he would get rid of me before her and I laughingly say the same about him.

6th Feb 2005, 18:21

My grandfather owned my now owned 1972 Gran Torino Sport with 351C engine, and what's left of the beautiful blue. There weren't many problems, just the usual old car effects. Rust began to set in to places I was hoping that they wouldn't. Small spots began to appear near the bottom of the doors and bottoms of the fenders. I have rebuilt the engine surprising while it only had 88,000 original miles on it.

I just turned 18 when my grandfather died and willed it to me. I'm currently restoring it using the "Dear Born Classics" website and catalog. I encourage any current restorers to use this website and/or catalog.

The car has been sitting in the weather for quite sometime, at least 25 years or so. As soon as it was officially in my possession, I put a cover over it and garaged it as best I could. The paint has been trashed mostly from the weather, and I'm having plenty of trouble finding the original laser strips. Battery tray and apron were rusted, some of the engine bay, but most of that has been replaced and fixed. The original spare tire is in the back, and the trunk is in decent condition. Most of the emblems are intact and in decent shape also. Cracked dash and poor speakers, and the only real problem besides the paint.

Great car, very agile for size, and rides like a Cadillac. With plenty of power, it's any speed demon's dream.

If anyone would like to see the car, check out my non-profit website at www.cardomain.com/memberpage/551413.

Thanks, and keep up the good work everyone!

2nd Mar 2006, 10:29

My memories of my Dad's 1976 Ford:

-It looked a bit like the Starsky & Hutch car... same red colour, except ours was a 4 door and had a white vinyl roof (the S & H car was a 2 door, red, with a white stripe on each side). It was one of the few sporty looking 4 doors cars available at the time.

-The 351 V8 had good off the line power and was reliable. Not much top end power or reserve power at highway speeds

-the 3 speed auto was reliable for the time. It always made a mild ticking sound when in 2nd gear. When we got rid of the car, it wasn't shifting very well anymore (after 90,000 miles)

(note that we used this car to tow a 3000 pound trailer and it had a transmission cooler installed)

-The carb was better than Ford's other carbs - like the 1972 LTD we had that had chronic starting problems, and didn't have the choke switch problems of the 1982 Grand Marquis we had.

-stalling in cold weather

-front passenger side window came off track while on vacation. Had to disassemble door and manually pull up window.

-air conditioner was unreliable and made funny sounds until it failed completely

-one of the front right tie rods broke

-gas tank got punctured when a rear tire blew

-the heater blower had to be replaced

-rust at the base of the doors, at rear quarter panels and under the rear seat

-a water leak developed at the top of the windshield seam

-used a ton of gas by today's standards.

2nd Mar 2006, 15:43

My family had a 1972 Gran Torino wagon with the ever-popular wood grain package. Car got about 9 mpg overall (including winters), rusted like mad, fake wood panelling went white, and that one speaker AM radio was the icing on the cake.

After rust consumed the car my parents traded it in on a 1976 Toyota Corona Mark II wagon, a significantly better car in all respects.

30th May 2006, 11:11

My '72 Torino ("Thunderpig") got 6 miles to the gallon, went like stink, and was 40% rust. It was the fastest (and ugliest) car I've owned yet, was dead reliable, and didn't seem to mind the indignities I heaped upon it during my misspent youth.

I loved that car. 8v (

10th Jul 2006, 13:38

My wife's all time favorite car was the metallic Gold 1974 Grand Torino coupe I bought her in '76. The car was big, smooth, fast and plush. We kept the car for 12 years and it was trouble free and solid as a rock. I did the first brake job on it at 80,000 miles. It had well over 100,000 on it when we sold it. These things were built so well that in 10,000 years some archaeologist will probably find one in the ruins of an old garage and drive it home!!

21st Jan 2007, 16:42

I had a 72 Gran Torino sport. Red with Black top, psychedelic strip across sides. It looked super fast, but was not really very fast because of its weight. Had a 351 windsor. Had cragers and headers and thrush mufflers. White leather interior. I bought it around 75 or 76 with 30,000 miles for $2650. One of the meanest looking cars in town, but my 69 mustang I traded in on it would have blown it away. Wish I had them both back now.

24th Feb 2007, 11:20

I had a 1972 red Ford Grand Torino Sport----black roof, white interior, laser stripes... sold it around 1976----it had 34,000 miles... (NJ)...Why didn't I keep it!!!

5th Jan 2008, 12:58

I never owned a 1972 Torino, but I liked it; it had that mean styling. My friend once owned, a 1968 Torino GT 390 v8(fastback) that car was fast. I have an idea, let's all write to Ford and ask them to build a two door, rear wheel drive, Torino that looks like the 1972 Torino. Come on, tell all your friends to write. Are you all sick of seeing 4 door muscle cars, Suv's, and trucks with hood scoops on them? Well I sure am! We can all make the difference by writing to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, for car ideas. Keep the letters clean be and nice to them. It doesn't matter what muscle car we drive, we all share that passion of cars together. Aka Carlito Carleone.