The 1979 Ford Wagon That Quietly Killed America’s Big-Block Land Yacht
Here’s a business word you’re probably familiar with, downsizing. In the business world, it generally means “to fire employees with the intention of decreasing the size of the business, closely related to layoffs.” Well, around the late 1970s, the American auto industry, particularly Ford, was doing its fair share of downsizing as well. Except, in its case, the industry fired its biggest engines in the name of efficiency, on top of its share of traditional personnel layoffs on occasion. Either way, it was a tactic of pure financial survival, and certainly not voluntary.
The Golden Age of Suburban Wagon Runabouts
From as early as the days when American automobiles stopped having podded headlights and horns that went “awooga,” station wagons were the best way to carry large numbers of people and lots of stuff in the pre crossover SUV days. For decades, when automakers often used the same platforms to offer sedans, coupes, drop-tops, and sometimes even pickup trucks, station wagons were little more than a larger, more bulbous body riding on the very same chassis as everything else.
Diversification in the lineup did eventually arrive, but so too did a new generation of station wagons running the very same engines as the first generation of muscle cars. On the GM side of things, famous fare like the Chevy Chevelle and the Oldsmobile Cutlass (Vista Cruiser) both had wagon variants with the same big 396 and 455-cubic-inch powerplants that made their sports coupe counterparts household names. Over at Chrysler, the much beloved B body enabled its wagons to pack the same 383s and 440 Super Commandos as a Charger or Challenger, but under softer names like the Plymouth Suburban or the Dodge Custom 880.
Meanwhile, over at Ford, its in-house breed of station wagon was afforded the same 385-series big block V8 as icons like the Torino, the Thunderbird, and the Galaxie. In those applications, the 385 V8 was a high-torque, low-RPM monster that acted more like a modern diesel or EV than a high-horsepower screaming muscle car engine. To that end, Ford had the brilliant idea to allow the mack daddy of the line, the 460-cubic-inch 385 V8, real estate under the hoods of its wagons. With optional faux wood paneling on the outside, acres of vinyl and shag carpeting inside, and enough space to carry at least seven people, plus all their junk. It was a fabulous system, and an equally tempting one at that, but it wouldn’t last much past the mid 1970s.
CAFE Standards Bring an End to the Fun
We all know the story: the EPA was founded by the Nixon administration in 1970, a global oil crisis hit in 1973 for reasons not remotely related to the US auto industry, and the first muscle car wars came to an unceremonious end at roughly the same time. All the while, newly implemented corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards made sure the era of unmitigated smog-slinging big blocks would never come to pass again. So far as Ford and its station wagons were concerned, it heralded the end of what was a pretty sweet deal at the moment.
At the time, Ford’s flagship wagon was the LTD Country Squire, a vehicle that had become synonymous with suburban luxury and long-distance road trips across the country. In the years before fully-loaded F-150s and Expeditions took that very same market segment, the Country Squire was the ultimate aspirational Ford vehicle for families. It could tow 7,000 behind itself with remarkable skill, assuming the 460-cubic-inch 385 was checked on the options list, it could sprint to 60 in just under ten seconds, despite its immense 5,000-lb weight and 121.0-inch wheelbase, and the ride was so cushy, you would be forgiven for thinking you were riding in a Lincoln without if you taped off the blue oval badging.
Suffice it to say, a seemingly endless list of regulations and federal nannying meant this winning combination wasn’t going to last. The final year of this era arrived in 1978, the same year that EPA emissions standards doubled down in the name of cleaner air in tightly congested urban environments. For the iconic 460-cubic-inch V8, it was effectively lights out for the whole operation. By then, archaic emissions equipment had already rendered the engine a burnt-out shell of what it used to be. To anyone even remotely paying attention, it was clear a big change was on the horizon. Yet, even industry insiders were shocked at just how profound the changes would become in 1979. Suffice it to say, it was a night and day difference, and not exactly for a happy reason.
1979 Ford LTD Country Squire: Half the Car it Used to Be, and Roughly Half the Engine
Ford’s answer to a surge of federal compliance laws that were surely stifling turned out to be a long term gain for the company, but oh boy, did it ruffle some feathers when it first hit American roads. Dubbed the Ford Panther platform, the chassis was a staggering 1,000 lbs, or a half ton lighter than the outgoing model, complete with a 114.3-inch wheelbase, nearly half a foot shorter than 1978. Yes, the new LTD was lighter, more aerodynamic, and by all accounts a more practical vehicle to live with, but do you think Ford’s faithful gave a rat’s behind about any of that at the moment?
If your answer was heck no, well, that sentiment still resonates today. When customers shuffled through the front door of Ford dealers expecting a burly muscle wagon running two to three gallons to the mile, their reaction to this pipsqueak running a 302-cubic-inch small block, or a 351-cubic-inch Windsor motor under the hood must’ve been similar to being poisoned. Yes, a 5.8-liter V8 motor was considered small in those days. Evidently, it’d take just a bit longer for Americans to fully come around to Japanese econoboxes with engines the size of pencil sharpeners. If you can believe it, the 302 and 351 made 130 and 142 horsepower, respectively.
Knowing this, you can see why a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord suddenly looked like a pretty good idea by comparison. Yes, the Panther platform underneath was practically bulletproof, as its use in taxi cabs and fleet service across North America could attest to. Still, that initial shock at such profound change must’ve been a pretty tough pill to swallow. Five or so years later, Ford would introduce its first minivan as an alternative to the relative disappointment of the third-generation LTD, the Aerostar. A rear-drive unibody platform with full-length frame rails and a slide-open passenger door, the Aerostar was a direct counter to Dodge’s Caravan. Suffice it to say, it was a far more practical option than even the smaller LTD Wagon.
The Birth of the Panther, The End of an Era
With one final fourth generation from 1983 to ‘86, the final Panther-based Ford LTD left the production room floor on December 13th, 1985. Just under two weeks later, the ubiquitous Taurus was unveiled, and the redesigned Crown Victoria riding the same Panther platform was shown to the world a few years later in 1987 for the ‘88 model year. By then, the wagon’s place on American roads had fundamentally changed. Minivans were the new kings of American families, and by the 2000s, that title belonged to the crossover SUV.
Today, American OEMs offer precisely zero family wagons, and haven’t since the 2020 model year when Buick axed the Regal TourX. Meanwhile, the Panther platform lived on via the Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis, and the Ford Crown Victoria for another 26 years, only finishing production in late 2011. So then, it wasn’t all bad by any stretch, but try telling that to someone in 1979. If you tried, they’d probably be inconsolable. It’s like a century-old family corner deli being replaced by a private equity ghost kitchen, would you take that lying down, most people we know sure wouldn’t.
Sources: Ford, autoweek.com
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