1972 Ford Torino from North America - Comments

Head gasket blown twice.

Engine rebuilt once.

Heater core replaced once.

Stock radiator was a joke, way too small.

Brakes replaced many, many times.

Replaced card twice, rebuilt car twice.

U-joint broke once.

Parking brake cable broke at about 310,000 miles.

Rear springs sagged after 20 years, replaced.

Really almost everything replaced at least once except the transmission.

First the good.

The automatic transmission is amazing. One fluid and filter change in 32 years of service with 320,000 miles! That's it!

Car is strong. It's been hit hard by many other idiots in modern cars. It has totaled two cars and damaged at least three others with much less damage to itself.

The 351 Ford V-8 is a great engine except for gas mileage. Good power at all RPM. Parts easy to come by even today. Easy to work on due to simplicity and huge engine bay.

No smog checks required.

The Bad.

Terrible bad weather car. Side and rear vision is zero due to fogging. Rear/side vision is always terrible due to huge side pillars. A small car can be invisible in that huge blind spot.

Rear end fishtails like mad in wet weather.

I think the 1972 Ford Torino is a beautiful car and my aim is to purchase one. The 1972 seems much better looking than its predecessors or the models which came afterwards.

I think what makes the car beautiful is the fish-mouth grille because it makes the car look unique. Secondly, the sleek fuselage styling which was the ubiquitous design for cars of that era is made the car good-looking. Fuselage being characterized by a long bonnet and short deck.

The 1972 Torino with close scrutinization, does resemble the Jaguar E-type due to its long bonnet, low body and short deck.

Sadly, there are not many 1972 Torinos left today since most have been sent to the crusher. The reason is because the 1972 Torino is not a collectors car like the Camaro or Mustang due it being a bread and butter mid-size car.

However, with sufficient luck, I will find one, my price range is up to $15,000 and for that money, I am sure I can find one in excellent condition.

For $15K you could buy 2 or 3 '72 Torinos in excellent condition!

I love mine, I have a 1972 Gran Torino Sport with almost all original parts. Sitting at only 89,000 miles, the body is still in... well only decent shape. I've put quite a bit of work in it already, didn't have a lot of luck with the carburetor when I first got it (351C 2V) so it's got a new performance intake and 4bbl carb from Edelbrock. It's in desperate need of exhaust since it's not getting too much air in, and not enough OUT. Common mistake I see in a lot of cars nowadays. I did have a "quick fix" and cut the old muffler off and put a shorter one and a dingy fake Flowmaster can on it, providing SUPER sound, but it's in need to DUAL and some headers. The C4 tranny is in decent shape and needed the fluid changed BADLY. It didn't want to stay in gear at first and has a harsh shirt to reverse from park. Rust is slowly taking the car over, but I'm working on rectifying this. The dash pad is cracked and the door panels need some loving. Handles like a battleship, so the suspension has quite a bit of sag and the 14 x 6" wheels are a joke, so those are going to be upgraded very soon. I love the car though, it was given to me by my Grandfather when he passed away in 03, since I was only 18 years old at the time, I didn't really have a lot of money to just sink into it, so I'm starting to really covert the car into a much better ride. Doing a resto-modification. For those who aren't familiar with this, it's a restoration mixed with some modifications. Small upgrades that hop it up to keep up with nowaday cars. Examples are bigger, better brakes, bigger wheels and wider tires. upgraded radio since the simple AM radio just doesn't cut it. I'm not going crazy with it, but the single speaker is making me sick to my stomach, so I wanna through some SMALL maybe 6" door speakers in and some 6x9's in the rear panel, btw, that was replaced. The tires are dryrotted and money prevents me from replacing those yet, so it'll just be a full tire and wheel replacement. RUST RUST and more RUST under the blown radiator. Only engine problems right now is it has blown head gasket and valve stem seals need to be replaced, all else is looking spiffy!!! www.cardomain.com/id/chris72foru if anyone would like to check the actual vehicle out!

Hey, I'm the guy who wrote the original review. All I can say is I still have my '72 Torino, and last week when I drove it three different cars full of people stopped to talk to me about it, and two of them wanted to buy it! Definitely buy or hold onto these cars, because there are not many like it left on the road these days! In fact, Hemmings Motor News had an article about '72-'72 Torino in their March '06 issue.

I agree the '72 model year is the best looking to me, since it doesn't have those huge, ugly, heavy, shock absorbing bumpers. Plus the horsepower gets less, and the weight gets more the "newer" the car is.

Ya, the stock Ford carb isn't the greatest, so I replaced mine with an Edelbrock. My dash cracked, too, but I live in Southern California and it gets hot here in the summers. A lot of Torino, mine included, seem to rust right behind the front and rear wheels. If you can afford it, Edelbrock make some nice aluminum heads for the Windsors.

I had to replace my springs, too. 30 plus years of supporting a heavy, cast iron V-8 is enough to compress any springs. I bought a '73 Thunderbird with a 460 cid engine which I stripped for parts for my Torino. I swear when I pulled the engine on that monster the cars bumper rose almost to the level of my nose without all that weight. Try moving a C6 tranny by yourself someday!

You can definitely upgrade the sound system in these cars easy. The sheetmetal is already cut for 6"x9's in the rear deck, and 6 1/2" speakers in the door.

Check out my car at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/524422 and you can see what my car looks like with all the modifications.

I have a 72 Gran Torino Sport myself. I have owned it since 73. It had 13k miles when I got it. Its still all orginal except for the wheels. It has a 351c two barrel. It badly needs more air, both intake and out go. A set of 4 barrel heads, and a nice 4 barrel carb and some headers would do just fine. I love this car. Its my first real car to own. Got it when I was 18, now am 51 and still love to drive it as much as I did when I first got it. I am starting to redo the whole car from the ground up. Now that you can finally get the laser stripes, finally. It rides really well, with all that weight, it has to. I am only guessing, but I believe I have had mine to atleast 130 mph. In the early and late 70's out ran lots of mopar, buick, chevolets. Would just give that old cleveland enough gas to stay beside them, wave and then pump the peddle to show there was still something left and just leave them. Great feeling!!

I own a 1972 Gran Torino Sport with a 351 Cleveland engine and C6 automatic.trans. I have owned this car since 1976 and I have about 95000 original miles on it. You guys have made comments about the original carb on these engines. I remember when I first got the car it had the original motor craft spread bore 4 barrel carb on it. That thing leaked like a sieve and was impossible to fix. Shortly after I lost my patience with it, I went out and got a Holley 600 cfm carb for it and all of the problems went away. I am now restoring the car to original condition as close as I can reasonably afford. It has been garage kept for about 25 years, but has never been parked on a mat, only a concrete floor. I understand that if I put a rubber mat of some sort under the car it will keep the rust down. Any thoughts out there?. I remember also when I first got the car it drove kind of funny and I had to press the gas halfway to the floor to get it to go anywhere. Then one day I got mad when I was behind the wheel (kids do stupid things) and I punched it hard. The car took off like crazy and practically put me in the the back seat. I concluded after I calmed down that it must have had a high stall speed converter in it. Upon removing the transmission, I found that it did indeed have a small, high stall speed converter in it, and as I remember it was a Ford original part. I traded the converter in for a stock converter because at the time I was using the car for everyday transportation. Is this converter now a rare Ford part? (Just out of curiosity). I ask because I have not heard of anyone having this type of torque converter in any Ford product for a lot of years.

Hi, I'm the original poster. No, I've never heard of a stock Ford high stall torque converter in a C6. But, ask the experts here they are GREAT: http://www.network54.com/Forum/260730/

I've never heard that parking your car over a rubber mat will help prevent rust, but I can't see how it would hurt, either. Since it sounds like you keep it in a garage, that's a darn good start!

I still have my Torino, and it still draws lots of attention when I drive it. I've actually put a bid down on a S&H replica Torino, but I don't know it I'll actually get that car. In my opinion, and this is far from scientific, my '72 Torino is a much better car than the '76 I'm thinking of buying. The '76 is significantly heavier, with the shock absorbing bumpers front and rear, and the power b.s. Also, the 351M engine it had felt totally gutless due to all the extra smog crap - of course it was a totally stock engine with 100,000 miles on it, too. The car handled like crap, but I think that's due to the rear being jacked up so high you can't see out the rear window. It sure looked cool though!

I'm one of the original posters about the 1972 Gran Torino Sport. I'm doing some reconstruction on the vehicle just here within the past few months. The 351C motor has been pulled and a new 650 4bbl Edelbrock carb and intake manifold has been installed, new points, plugs, wires, and radiator are being installed in the process. I'm having the hardest time with the radiator support being rusted out. Can't find any others that have it too. So, new battery was put in a we're doing some welding to get it sitting pretty. I have new carpet to install and the seats have been pulled out and the carpet is ready to go in. Looks super! I just need some floor padding to reduce noise and install the new fan for the A/C & Heater.

I have a 1972 Ford Grand Torino in excellent condition and I love it so much I bought a 1975 Ford Elite, akin to the Torino. Best the two cars of my 13.

Mary and Sam

Sweetwater, TX.

I would have to agree with most of the comments except for the one about being able to purchase two or three show cars for your 15K budget. (I wish it were still true, but, I seriously doubt it.)

I would also like to point out that the handling characteristics of these cars, while crude by today's standards, was very much on par with the technology of the day in 1972. I owned a 1973 Torino with a 352 W, but, I don't think anyone ever referred to it as "gutless" while I owned it. However, it was probably not quite stock, either. Not only are these cars built like battering rams, they have nearly bullet proof drive trains that can be easily modified ("tuned") to suit the needs of the owner. For example, if you are unhappy with your gas mileage, install a slightly higher rear end, and go easy with your right foot. If you are more inclined to want performance, go with the original, or even a lower geared rear end, different cam, intake, carb combination until you are happy with the overall results. As was pointed out in the original review, these cars are easy to work on, even if you don't own/have access to a lift. (No engine computer diagnostic system is required, either.)

Even though the prices are not quite as low as one reviewer implied, you can still find decent examples at reasonable prices. However, as rare as these cars are becoming, I would be reluctant to use one as my daily driver. (Technology has really come a long way since 1972 for a daily driver. I find that I really appreciate the creature comforts that come with more current models, not to mention the general improvements in overall reliability, drivability, and economy. But, most of all, parts and sheet metal are much easier to come by for later model cars than for something that will soon be 40 years old.)

Good luck with your project. I will look forward to seeing you at a car show with your 72 Torino someday.

Go back and reread the comment. Did not say "show cars", said "excellent condition" as in, not 100 point restorations but not total or even semi-total rust buckets. Early to mid-70's garden variety Torinos have not taken off in value yet. You can still find decent drivers for well under $7K-$8K if you bother to look past the overpriced crap out there.

I once had a 72 Gran Torino Sport. 3 or 4 years after getting married my wife assertively asked me to park it else where. I parked at a friends who said he would look after it. Well three years later he had stripped it and sold the parts.

Anyway, it had the two barrel cleveland and an FMX. I swapped it for a 4 barrel cleveland and a c6 I acquired from a retired police car I bought at an auction. This tranny did have the stall I noticed once it was installed. (to answer an earlier question) The 4V cleveland is just incredible... the intake and exhaust ports are huge... The only modification I made was to add headers and dual exhaust after changing the tranny and engine (of course I had to chop and balance the drive shaft because the C6 is longer than the FMX.) Oh yeah I did take the larger radiator out of the police car and installed it too. It allowed me to run my timing a little more advanced and keep things cool in the summer.

With the 3.5 gear and the stall converter that cleveland would pop out of the whole with decent acceleration but still have something left for top end. I believe 140 mph I reached a few times.

One of these days I'll get my hands on another '72...4V cleveland...C6...3.5 gear... crager SS wheels...60s on the back and 70s on the front...I'm salivating now!! Love your GTSs guys... sharp cars...I'm envious!!

Hello All. I just got my '73 Gran Torino home. My donation to my daughter's automotive schooling. I have never been a real "car guy", but have always loved the Gran Torino.

I have a question: Are all the 351W-2 engines classified as 5.8L?? When I look at ordering parts, they ask and I don't know. It's nowhere in the original paperwork or owner's manual.

Mine is a 4 door, A/C.

Thanks for your help. Xz.

I owned a '72 Torino (NOT the Gran Torino, but the Torino model; different front clip). I preferred the front end of this car to the Gran Torino. Rare car. I can't even find pictures of one.

I got a Green 72 Torino as my first car in 1982. The 72 Torino front grill was the uglyest car ever made. I changed it to the Gran Torino front end and added the Gran Torino Sport hood. I still have it... it has sat for over 20 years now.

I plan to have it street ready by the end of the winter. The original 400 will be replaced by 850 HP 460.