Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know of anyone who has purchased a brand-new car and explicitly went for the ultimate no-frills model. Not one. I don’t know anyone my age who bought a brand new vehicle and opted for crank windows, for example, even though there are still vehicles you can buy with them. Manual transmissions seem to throw most non-car people when they are confronted with them anymore. “What, you mean I have to shift it myself?” they ask, as if you told them to go get their milk fresh from the cow instead of the jug in the refrigerator. Truly stripper-level cars go to fleet buyers, rental car lots, and overseas to markets that just want four wheels and an engine. 
If you go back a few decades, though, you might be lucky enough to find an example of a car or truck that is relatively base. You might find no power steering, or no power brakes. Go old enough and you might find a pickup truck with a manual transmission and a column shift. But this 1978 Mercury Zephyr just might be the most basic car we’ve ever learned about. Engine: 200ci six cylinder, the good old Falcon six. That’s one of two options we can find here…the base engine was the 2.3L four. Transmission: three-speed manual. Yeah…a three-speed Fox body of any kind. Finding a manual trans Fairmont/Zephyr is impressive enough, but a three-speed? That extra gear was just one too many, huh?
The car is low mile and super-clean, but we just can’t get past the options list, which doesn’t include power steering or power brakes. It did come with one other option, though: air conditioning. Anyone who has ever sat on Ford vinyl seats that have been in the sun for a good amount of time understands the motive behind that purchase.
BMT…Tough to sit here in 2019 and judge people back in 1978 for driving a car with a 3 speed. It does have air…!
So is it for sale ?
Yes, it’s for sale on Bring a Trailer: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-mercury-zephyr/ The bid’s up to $1,200 as I post this.
Thanks for doing McTaggart’s job for him! Nice car!
Why would the great mctaggart post all the info come on
Yeah, no…just putting stuff up together in the middle of the night after working all day for you. Don’t mind me.
Honestly, the link should have been up there. It must have deleted when I started loading photos.
First government car ever assigned to me was a 4-door forest green Fairmont with 4 on the floor. That was 1985. Had it for a year until it was replaced by a K-car.
The old farmer that lived next door when I was growing up had a 62-63 GMC Apache 3/4 ton that was THE most basic truck I’ve ever know. When Bernie bought that truck, you had two heater options. One was a forced-air, coolant-heated like we’re all familiar with. The other was a pair of flaps in the firewall that you opened via a dash lever, allowing air that had been warmed by flowing past the rad and engine to make its way into the cab. Bernie ordered it with the second version.
We live in Alberta.
I also knew a guy who owned a few Cornbinders that he ordered sans radio. But they did have proper heaters.