What can you say about a car unknowningly introduced literally months before the world it was designed for came crashing down? You have to feel for the poor Ford Torino Sport, aware that it was designed with sensibilities attuned to a different time.
It’s especially sad when this particular car might have been a rather fully sorted example of a long line of underrated muscle machines from underdog Ford. The third-generation Gran Torino Sport had but a few weeks to enjoy basking in the sun before the storms set in, and if not for an appearance in a famous movie, I’d venture to guess that almost nobody would have even remembered that it ever existed at all. We need to revisit this Cobra Jet-powered coupe and discover how special it really was.
Challengers Make Way For Cordobas
Exactly when the so-called “malaise” period of American cars ended is a subject of much debate; some say as early as 1982, while others extend the period all the way up to just before OBDII in 1995. However, almost everyone agrees that the 1973 introduction of 5 MPH front collision standards, increased emissions controls, and the first oil crisis is when the dreaded malaise era began. If you look back on the cars of 1972, you’ll see that it really was the last hurrah for the remaining muscle cars.
Plymouth’s Roadrunner had its final year of production before the uglier ram-bar bumpers and conventional nose prevailed, but the most famous last gasp was probably GM’s mid-sizers, including the “alright alright alright” Chevy Chevelle Malibu SS454. This was the last year of the iconic fastback body style before being replaced by GM’s 1973 “Colonnade” series of cars, which many commenters over the past few weeks have expressed their contempt for.
Ford’s second-generation Torino had only been on the market for two years at the end of 1971 and included the vaunted GT model that was arguably the first to truly challenge GM’s A-body juggernaut.
For 1972, however, Ford introduced a brand-new Torino that, in some incarnations, looked like a car designed by people who had no idea what 1973 had in store. Hell, they probably really didn’t have a clue since things would hit so fast and heavy so soon after.
Before The Clock Strikes MalaiseNight
First of all, on the third generation Torino Ford seemed to miss the memo that was going around much of the Big Three at the time that said fastback cars were dead. Everyone was going to notchbacked “personal luxury” style two-doors, but Ford still offered a “SportsRoof” version of its mid-sized coupe with the new 1972 generation, the lineup of which included the Torino, Gran Torino, and Gran Torino Sport, the last of which we’ll concern ourselves with here.
The 1972 Torino also packed some big changes in that it switched from unibody to a body-on-frame design that was offered for the first time in two different wheelbases. This meant the coupe models sat on a shorter wheelbase that allowed designers to take advantage of making a proportionally better product; certainly, it was an attractive and muscular-looking thing with a Coke-bottle flanks flaring at the rear.
Ford did get on the bandwagon of moving mid-sizers to more luxury-oriented buyers, and thus the “Cobra” models were dead for 1972. Thankfully, the Gran Torino Sport replaced that legendary model and featured a slick hood scoop and optional ram-air option.
Also shocking is how the 1972 Torino appeared to have been designed with no regard for the upcoming bumper regulations. The large eggcrate grille in the oval opening up front obviously stood no chance of passing the 5MPH no-damage crash regulations scheduled to arrive a few months after the car bowed, and the thin rear bumper with small recessed taillamps looked to fair no better.
Gran Torinos could be ordered with a variety of V8s, though oddly enough, the largest engines were not the hot tickets. The 302 and two-barrel were the smallest offered, while at the other end of the spectrum were the two-barrel 400 and four-barrel 429. Those largest examples were actually designed to be lazy, low compression, low revving motors with ample torque but no “performance” aspirations.
No, if you were a surviving muscle car fan, the only motor choice for you was the four-barrel Cobra Jet 351. It might not have been the biggest displacement, but Ford let it breath though a special intake manifold and exhale through dual 2.5-inch exhausts for the maximum horsepower of any ’72 Gran Torino. With a modified camshaft and 750 CFM Motorcraft carb, this Q-code engine produced 248 horsepower, a figure that isn’t as bad as it sounds when compared to earlier cars since Ford switched to SAE net instead of the insane gross numbers from earlier years. The thing could still move; Car and Driver tested a 351 CJ, 4-speed Gran Torino Sport SportsRoof with 3.50:1 gears and sprinted it to sixty in a quick 6.8 seconds.
The body-on-frame design obviously played a part in the reviews that lauded the ride of even the “competition suspension” versions of the Gran Torino. This was noted as a big improvement over earlier sports Torinos that seemed to follow the often-lambasted American attitude of reducing roll and pitch by stiffening things to the point that a car had essentially no suspension at all.
Ford sold over 90,000 of the Gran Torino Sports, but a mere 2,091 were built with the 351 Cobra Jet and a 4-speed manual. In some ways, considering the times, I’m surprised that many left the factory so equipped before the Ides of 1973 set in.
So, was it all just a one-year flash in the pan of a last gasp? Well, not quite.
Do It! Do It!
As the first true malaise year began, the 1973 Gran Torino would not get away unscathed. The 5MPH front bumper regulations required a heavier-looking, more conventional front end with a “ram bar” and traditional grille that seemed a bit at odds with the fastback body. I also prefer the far better integrated hood scoop on the ’72.
In the rear, the clean bumper sprouted rubber protectors to withstand the 2.5 MPH rear collision standards.
Surprisingly, the Cobra Jet motor was still on the options list with only two less horsepower than the year before. Sadly, the ’73 somehow tipped the scales at several hundred pounds more, which further dulled the performance. Car and Driver tested a similar car to the Cobra Jet they’d run the year before and found the run to sixty taking nearly a second more.
Regardless, that’s still fast for the heart of the malaise era. The GranTorino was still a nice-looking car that the buying public seemed to gravitate to; 1973 was a rare year when the Gran Torino outsold the Chevelle/Malibu by over 100,000 cars, again likely due to the public’s general dismissal of the Colonnade style.
Despite strong overall sales, the number of customers who opted for a Cobra Jet equipped Torino Sport continued to dwindle. Sources vary, but only around 1,120 to 1,486 of the Q-code coupes were sold in ’73, and it’s suggested that a mere 197 came with the four on the floor.
Famously, the one in the show was so underpowered that to get wheelspin they geared it so low that top speed was around 50 MPH. The stars reportedly hated the looks of the car almost as much as they despised driving it. It’s hard to believe this car was fundamentally the same as the truly sporting initial 1972 model.
The Gran Torino soldiered on until 1976, when it was transmogrified into the “mid sized” LTD II that was built through 1979 and oddly offered alongside the new Panther-body “full-size” LTD that was smaller on the outside, had more interior space, and was generally a far superior modern car.
In all, a rather sad but inevitable end for Ford’s last traditional pre-Fox-body mid-sized car. The ’79 LTD II needed a bumper sticker that said “I used to be cool.”
“What the Hell Does Everybody Want With My Gran Torino?”
No, the third-generation Gran Torino coupes might not be held in the highest regard by Ford collectors, but that just makes the earliest examples more affordable for the rest of us.
Today, good examples of the first 1972 Gran Torino Sports with the Cobra Jet sell for an average of around $24,000; don’t be picky about what V8 is under the hood and you could get one for far less. Ask for a low-mileage perfect creampuff or restomod, and you could be looking at $40,000 or more, but those are rare to find. The mint-colored, mint-condition one below was listed a while back.
Many are equipped with the vinyl roof, which I’m not nuts about, but could tolerate as long as it isn’t covering hidden rot.
The Mustang-style console and bucket seats are rare and desirable options, since most came with column shifters and bench seats.
Full instrumentation with a tach was optional, though the for-sale example shown here had a rev counter stuck to the steering column.
The asking price for the one above was around $37,000; I don’t know what it sold for, but the text in the ad is sure quick to point out that if it were a similar year SS454 or Road Runner, you’d be looking at an asking price of at least $15,000 to $25,000 more.
You don’t let cushy Buick Regals taint your opinion of the Grand National, do you? Well, in the same manner, don’t let the Broughamtastic or cartoonish “striped tomato” Gran Torinos of the later seventies blind you to the legitimate muscle car qualities of the earliest third generation cars. You might worship the 1970-71 examples, but the ’72 is physically and visually more compact, more spacious inside, and offers a better ride and handling balance than the earlier car.
Despite the appearance as a hero car in a Clint Eastwood film, it’s still a pleasingly elusive car. Looking back, with the imminent approach of the gas crunch malaise era and “personal luxury car” craze, there was no logical reason for Ford to offer the Cobra Jet-powered SportsRoof third-generation Gran Torino at all. The fact that it somehow slipped past the product planners in Dearborn was a small miracle. The fact that it’s still sort of slipped under the radar of price-hiking MecumBoomers is a small victory for enthusiasts with limited cash. Is it the last Ford muscle bargain?
Top graphic image: WorldWide Auctioneers
The post Why Ford Killed The Cobra Jet Torino Just When They Finally Got It Right appeared first on The Autopian.
