Not every car deserves to be saved. Some deserve to just be used, abused and fixed up to be abused again, because not every car ever sold was a museum-quality, ultra-rare, whatever the hell model that is the current reason for Barrett-Jackson fawning type. All but a tiny percentage of cars ever made, ever, were meant to be used. They weren’t special from the factory, they just had the look of the period, the performance the factory deemed necessary, and the accoutrements that were popular for the year it was sold in. That’s why you’ll find wild interior colors up to the mid-1980s. That’s why there were digital dashes, 8-track players, wings, spoilers, tape stripes, ground effects kits, and all of the other stupid gee-gaw gingerbread items that made their way onto cars destined to be sold off.

A 1973 Ford Torino isn’t exactly a first choice for a fun car. It’s lucky to make the list, period. The first year of the battering ram bumper, the last year for the nipped tail before the bloated Starsky and Hutch treatment hit, and loaded for bear with smogger Ford power, all it was, if we must be honest, was the midsize car. It was not a muscle car. It wasn’t quite yet full-Brougham, but it wasn’t desirable by any means…if you wanted performance, you were better off hunting a used Torino Cobra or Talledega if you had to have a Ford product. And the years haven’t been too kind to them, really…to this day, a car like this 1973 isn’t going to stir up much feeling in anyone but the most diehard gearhead.

But that’s what makes this Torino perfect: it’s rough and useable. So it needs a transmission to back behind the worked over 400 underhood. Build up an FMX so that it can tolerate punishment…because if you really want to enjoy having this Torino around, you want that level of security. Patch the hole in the back however you need to…rough is fine…and shoot the car one color. I’d suggest primer black personally, but whatever color suits you, run with it. If you find rattle can lime green and like that, hey, have at it! Take some steel wool to those Cragar SS/Ts and start planning for the next set of rear tires. That diamond-pattern interior should probably go…and we’ll wager the carpet and most other surfaces should disappear as well. Trade the thin-rim steering wheel out for something with grip, leave the Hurst Dual-Gate in place, and prepare to enjoy the result.

“But why bother doing any work if you are just going to leave it as a beater?” Here’s why: You won’t be scared of having fun with the car. This Torino isn’t meant for the car show. This is the car you purposefully boot the throttle on when you’re making a right turn just to have a bit of fun out of an intersection with. This is the car that reminds you why you love Interstate on-ramps. This is the car to go scare small children and the elderly with. This is the Torino that should take you back to when you were a teenager, when having fun with the car was the ultimate “getting away with murder” moment. For once, restrain yourself. Don’t restore it. Rag the hell out of it and remember why old cars were so much damn fun in the first place.

eBay Link: 1973 Ford Torino