1974 Ford LTD from North America - Comments

When I bought this car for six hundred dollars, a lot of little things were wrong with it.

I had to replace the thermostat and the housing cause it was stuck.

The interior was in horrible shape, the carpet was ripped and the seats didn't match and were torn up also. But other than that, nothing has gone wrong with it.

The cosmetics are poor - the vinyl top was torn off by the previous owner, and it was abused by him.

The best car you can get! It drives like a dream, it's very smooth and it performs pretty good, even though it's a 6000 lb car.

Once I finish re-doing the interior, this car will be very beautiful! It gets a lot of looks from people cause there's nothing on the road like it. My dad had one when I was growing up, and I fell in love with it until he sold it, and at that time I was young and loved that car, and I wanted it. So I bought this one and decided to fix it up a little.

It's like a living room on wheels - just add a better stereo and some nice wheels.

The car does not weigh 6000 lbs! Between 4400-4600 lbs is more like it. Have a look in the "Encyclopedia of American Cars" for more stats :)

The door tag on my 74 LTD coupe says 5700 pounds. I don't care what some stupid encyclopedia says.

Your door tag refers to the GVWR: that's the weight of the car + it's maximum load capacity in weight, whether passengers or cargo.

That does not mean your car weighs 5700 lbs. The "stupid encyclopedia" is right and you're wrong.

Don't confuse me with the facts!!

I'm looking at buying a 1974 ford ltd Brougham for $2,000 from a guy in my town its got 94,000 miles on it and in the best shape ever would you say it's a good 1st car and also my dad is worried about me getting it as he thinks it will be hard to get parts for it how hard is it thanks Ryan.

Back in the mid-1980's I was in high school, and a good friend of mine drove a 1974 LTD two door, with the 351 - it was kind of a base model, and sort of yellowish-orange with a nice durable brocade interior. What a car!

At the time I was driving a 1982 Ford T-Burd, which was not so great, and the other of our trio of buds drove a nice '77 Pontiac with a 301. We all preferred the LTD for our many group excursions. All these cars were high mileage, but reliable - the 1980s was a paradise for skinflint car buyers.

One time my friend drove that tank directly into a clif - where they'd cut out the hill to put the highway thru.. no damage at all! Actually I think one of the rubberthings on the chrome bumper came off.

That car was dead reliable, and I remember after we graduated he soldit for like $350 to a local 'character' - sort of a man with mental difficulties - who drove it for years afterwards.

To ryan:

Appropriate mechanical parts for any 73-78 LTD are no problem. you can find most of what you need at advance auto parts or auto zone with no problem-and at VERY reasonable cost. some of those parts might be universal (that is, suitable for use on a number of different models), but they will work just fine. moldings, bumpers and the like are scarcer, but probably available online and also at junkyards.

A couple of key points: keep these old behemoths TUNED! that means every 12,000 miles or so. otherwise they will miss and sputter, and that will cost you dearly at the gas pump (at best you'll get 15 around town and low 20s on a trip doing 55 on the highway). remember also to replace the wires when you change the spark plugs. repair records for these cars were above average (lower than average repair incidence). the main weak spots in the 74s were troublesome steering and suspension systems. my 74 had a binding steering gear that squalled annoyingly in turns.

All told, a good, solid old car that will be a good friend to you. what you pay out in gas will be offset by the low cost of maintenance. I wish you well, and certainly hope you get one.