Junkyard Find: 1975 Ford Gran Torino
A full-on Malaise Era midsize Ford sedan has just about zero collector value, so the only way one can stay out of The Crusher’s jaws is to keep on running. Here’s one in Denver that finally gave up after 37 years.
The most famous Gran Torino these days is the ’72 driven by Clint Eastwood in film named after the car, but that was a sporty two-door. Likewise, the ’75 in Starsky and Hutch. Then there’s the ’72 Gran Torino wagon depicted in Robert Bechtle’s famous painting, Gran Torino Alameda. As for Gran Torino sedans, the closest thing to a famous example I can think of is the ’73 driven by The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Today’s Junkyard Find is about the closest thing to The Dude’s car that I’ve seen in many years.
This one is a bit battered and the interior is ugly, but I wouldn’t call it used up. It’s not rusty and all the major pieces are there, but who wants to spend any money to restore a ’75 Gran Torino sedan, or even keep one alive?
It will just make us all depressed, discussing the horsepower numbers of the 1975 351 Windsor engine. Torque was pretty good, and these cars weren’t as sluggish as you’d think.
I’ve always thought this era of Ford dog-dish hubcaps looked good.
We’ll be seeing the ’62 Valiant parked near this Ford in a future Junkyard Find.
With scrap cars going for $240/ton in Denver, the days are numbered for machines like this one.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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MOTHER OF GOD. I need those bumper guard rub strips...and I wouldn't say no to a lot of the exterior trim. It appears this has a dash pad with some sort of sewn on vinyl cover. The Lincoln Mark V's has a leather dash pad but they're a different shape, won't fit the 72-76 cars or other 77-79 intermediates. That's what these are. They aren't mid-size cars, they're intermediates. As in halfway between bloated 3400lb compact Granadas and beyond obese 4700lb full size cars. WHERE IN DENVER ARE THESE TWO CARS, I WOULD RISK A DIVORCE SO I COULD GET UP THERE AND PULL BITS FOR A DAY OR TWO???
does anyone where you can find parts for the 75 grand trino? looking for the rear fender trim.