For $2,500, This 302-Imbued 1983 Ford LTD Wagon Is A Light Sleeper
Has there ever been a platform quite so Lego-like as that of Ford's Fox? Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe LTD has a lot of pony parts bolted on making it – in the words of its seller – a sleeper. The question will be, is it price something that you wouldn't mind waking up to?
Old Jags are like that old college frat buddy of yours: they just can't seem to stay out of trouble, and sometimes they smell bad. One way to try and mitigate the malarky is to dump some major bits and replace them with more reliable substitutes. That was likely the impetus for yesterday's 1982 XJ6 which had a an LT1 plunked down where Sir William's legacy once resided.
That, and an over-all pleasant presentation – save for the steering wheel, woof! – was not enough to account for the seller asking twelve grand, and that Jag slid silently to the Crack Pipe curb in a 77% loss.
Dropping a Chevy mill into a Jag sedan isn't brain surgery, but what if there was an even easier way to mix and match parts across cars – say with a universal platform shared between them – that made the creation of whatever combination you wanted as simple as falling off the proverbial log? Wouldn't you be interested in that log?
Being a member of the Fox family, this 1983 Ford LTD is just such an amalgamation, and it rocks a 4bbl-topped 302 backed by an ever-so desirable T5 stick. Oh, and did I mention, it's a wagon too?
Now, just to make sure everyone's up to speed here, this is the Fox-based LTD which debuted in 1983. Prior to that Ford had applied the LTD moniker to vastly bigger cars and some that were slightly bigger but saddled with a II at the end of their name.
This LTD benefits from its foxy relations as pretty much anything from its Mustang, Fairmont, Granada, Mark VII, or Aerobird siblings will usually just bolt into place. Also, bodywork like doors and glass are a straight pull from the Fairmont/Zephyr wagons and hence should be plentiful.
Light on pics and description, this wagon seems to have been imbued with the Fox's best bits. Along with the Explorer-headed 302 and 5-speed comes SN-95 front and rear suspension and wheels that might be off the MkVII. The ad notes that the car "runs good," and that both the head and taillights work as they should. Bonus, right?
With only two pics offered – damn 16-gig iPhones! – there's not much to go on visually here, and the seller does claim there to be some rust in the rear quarters. But hey, that's why God invented Bondo right? I think it was on the fourth day, right after necker's knobs. There's also an issue with the fuel sender which probably means dropping the tank to fix, and that's no fun.
Aside from that, it has new brake pads, plugs, and an oil change in its favor. Plus, the seller notes that the headliner has been eighty-sixed to provide max headroom.
Many, many of you will shy away from this car based on the tired mantra of avoiding other people's projects. Geez, you probably never kiss girls with cold sores either. Look, if you're going to play with cars in this age range, they're pretty much all going to have been someone else's project at one point or another. The question of course, is what should this project cost.
The ad asks a modest $2,500, and as we all know, that's chump change for a runner. How long will this one keep running? Why is the seller putting it on the blocks? Who knows? What we need to know however, is how you vote on that $2,500 price for this LTD wagon. What do you think, is that a screamin' deal? Or, is it just not foxy enough?
You decide!
New Jersey Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Westcoaster for suggesting we stay on the '80s crazy train, and BenLikesCars for the LTD hookup!
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