Remember your first car and how you couldn’t afford to have it down for anything longer than an weekend at most? Sure, you had dreams of swapping engines and all sorts of stuff, but in reality you had to get to school, get to work, get home and do it consistently, otherwise your wallet got squeezed, you had to ask your folks to save your hind end, and you were now stuck with the task of putting the heap back together just for the privilege of returning to the cycle. So, if you have pulled together the cash to get a car, and you don’t desire long down times due to mechanical issues (and big repair bills as well), wouldn’t it make sense to start with the best option you can? Of course. But maybe you just aren’t willing to get into a twenty-year-old “late-model”. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a ride with character and age, it just means that you have to be picky about what you buy. If you ask us, we’d be looking for the cleanest late-1970s ride you can find, since there is still a chance that you can find a well-cared for original…which is where this 1977 Ford Ranchero comes in.
The Ranchero might not appeal to muscle car types, but the LTD II-based Ranchero comes off more like a truck than older Rancheros or El Caminos, so look at it like a legit pickup instead of a coupe utility and you can see the positives: mildly worked 351M, C6, air conditioning, the plush interior of a Brougham epoch Ford, and the unmolested looks of a mostly original paint car. The baby moon wheels aren’t original, but the wheel selection could be so much worse. For $4300, we’d just make sure everything is in tip-top shape and drive it as-is.
Craigslist Link: 1977 Ford Ranchero
wasn\’t the LTDII the smaller fox based car, or was it the grenade based..
The 77 ranch iirc was off the full sized wagon..
The LTD II was the renamed Torino. There was the Fox-based Granada and LTD, but their closest ute relative are the couple hundred Ford Durango prototypes out in the world.
The day for these cars, are coming, and soon! You’re going to start seeing the better examples, at major auctions in the coming years.
There are less of these on the road, then people realize. Many, have been run to death, or cannibalized for other projects. Especially that 351, and it’s rearend gear.
Swap out those grandpa baby moons for some nice BFG RWL’s and a set of Magnum 500’s….Add duals and maybe an intake and carb…good tune up and fluid exchange…sort out the little odds and ends on the front end and brakes and DD that mofo…I have a soft spot for this particular model year Ford LTD……
All the above plus a respray in metallic black with a black interior.
I had one of these for my first car!!!
If anyone buys this, I have a soft black tonneau cover still sitting in my garage from one, the same year and everything. You can have it for free.