Thankful for November

In order to know where I am, you need to know where I’ve been.

For me, the idea of the wagon has been instilled in me at an early age. The first one I can remember is a 1972 Grand Torino. Crap brown in and out. My dad bought it in 74 and sold it for scrap- due to rust- in 76, but I have fond memories of riding for hours in the back, playing with my Tonka trucks and matchbox cars in the cargo area. That wagon- and Ford- left such a bad taste in my dads mouth, that he, to this day, has owned neither another wagon, or Ford.

One sexy beast, when it wasn’t rusted out (not ours, just a random internet pic)



I, on the other hand, have owned numerous vehicles from various manufacturers. Corvettes to Olds 88’s; Audi to VW; and BMW to Mercedes and others- but there was always something missing.

Enter late 1992. Went to trade my 318 for a car with A/C (Texas gets HOT in the summer) and there it was. Pretty, white with blur interior. Not sure after all these years if it was a 91 Olds or Buick, but I remember it had the vista roof! Anyway, I brought it home to show the wifey. She asked one question, “how much?” $13,000. OUCH! For a Specialist I the Army, that was more than a years salary! NOGO. Took the car back and got her a 90 Taurus wagon instead for ½ the price- which I traded in 10 years later with 188K on the clock. I found a 78LTD wagon with the 351M which I abused for 3 years and sold for $100 more than I paid for it.

More to the point, I loved that wagon so much, that when it came time to retire, I knew what car I wanted. The search was on.

I looked at all kinds of wagons. Too rusty; clean, but too expensive; leather; or just plain wore out.

I found a 96 MAB with wood locally- for sale- $3500, but when I went back to get the number, it was gone. Showed up at the local Volvo dealership a week later for $7500.

Then I came across this one. A 96, MAB, WB4, AND a tow pac? I drove down to Jacksonville to take a test drive and knew that “this is the one”.

This is the pic from the Craigslist ad……



When I bought this car, I had no idea of the potential it had. I can’t remember why, but I needed something and found ISSF. Then I saw what these cars could be. So the mods began. They had to start small and free as I was still making payments on it.

When I got it home:















First mod was to tint the winders:



then paint the home plate:



That didn’t take long, so I removed the “home plate” and added the Home Depot CAI, did the TB bypass….







All was good until I went to my first Wagon Fest. That’s when I, and my son, discovered the “type” of person that owns these cars- friendly, and willing to share knowledge about what mods work; and more importantly, which ones don’t.

Al of the mods, save for the HD CAI, were either free, or at an extremely reduced price. Nothing- and I mean NOTHING is new. Every mod in my car is someone else’s unwanted stuff.

Rear power mod:



And then I came across these Imp SS wheels. Tore up all to hell, but cheap.



a little experimenting and a couple of days later……



The difference was dramatic to say the least:





Other mods taken over time….

2.5" Frankenstein exhaust:





SSRI



Fuel rail covers and a can of paint:





Added some donated chrome pieces


and as she sits now…



Not bad for a daily driver that I put 19,000 miles a year on if I do say so myself........


Soooo, anyone have a set of Street trends tinted headlights they want to part with cheap??

Great story Robert! You do have nice wagon..and it keeps getting nicer as time goes on!

Chris

Nice story, great pictures--shows all the progress you have made over the years.

Tom C.

Great story, Rob! I can't beleive that Torino went from assembly line to crusher in FOUR years due to rust!!!! Cars've come a long way.

Nice story. You've done some great work on that car!

(I still want it!)

Thanks for sharing Robert! You certainly have come a long way with your wagon, looks great too!

Good writeup Robert. Good job on the wagon. The early 70s was the start of the "rusty Ford" debacle that ended up in a class action suit which almost put Ford under. Throw in the Zippo Pintos, the LTDs with the electrics that lit up and its a wonder they ever survived. They were just flat out terrible cars. My nieghbour went through 3 LTDs in two years (the frame on the first one rusted out so bad in the first year it broke a frame rail, the second and third lit up in his driveway with the key off???)

The good part of this story is that they actually gave him his money back after the third one as long as he agreed not to join the class action suit. He then went out and bought one of the first Cappy wagons with the 5.7 diesel. That man was a real bear for punishment.

By the way, is that a leaky tranny cooler I see in the last pic?

Bill

Thanks guys.

Bill, what you spy there is "the last known photograph of the 3rd leaking radiator from radiator.com" will replace under lifetime warranty.

Crovo, you still can't afford it

I just did the math, I will have put more miles on this car in 4 years, than the previous owner (born in 1928!!) did in 10

Thanks for sharing your story Robert. TONKAS,I still have mine.

This forum is in fine hands with you and the other Mods, simply due to the true passion for your cars. Lorne.

Very nice write up!

This is one of my favorite wagons here

Dad owned a 69 Torino. I came home from the hospital in that thing. Black on red interior, 302. He got rid of it (rusty), and went to a 75 Malibu. It was all GM from there on...

I'm sure that Leafs puck was costing you performance. Anything that says Leafs is a poor performer!

jayoldschool wrote:

I'm sure that Leafs puck was costing you performance. Anything that says Leafs is a poor performer!

Any idea how hard it is finding a hockey puck in Georgia in July??? I take what I can get..... as I said, nothing is new. All donated, scavenged, bartered, and in some cases *acquired with implied permission*

Robert, that's a beautiful daily!

One side question/comment: why the blue loom holding the inverter wire? It really draws a lot of attention away from the rest of the engine. When I ran the stereo amp wires in my cars, I did them in solid black and no one has ever noticed they are there.

Nice story, nice guy and nice car.
Looks even better in person (well the car anyway, lol)

Nice write up!