The Torino nameplate had been introduced by Ford in the 1968 model year as the most upscale variant of the midsize Fairlane. When the midsize Fords got sleek new coke-bottle fuselage styling for their unibodies in the 1970 model year, the Torino became the primary midsize standard-bearer for Ford, with the Fairlane name now signifying a de-contended strippo Torino.
The hierarchy for the '70 Ford midsize lineup went from the Fairlane 500, through the regular Torino, and thence to the plush Torino Brougham or the sporty Torino GT, and finally to the hairy-chested Torino Cobra.
The GT model came as either a fastback "SportsRoof" or a convertible and could be told apart from its more sedate stablemates by the GT badging, non-functional hood scoop, and little chrome gills on the flanks aft of the doors.
There's no telling what's under the hood of the Vermillion 1970 Torino GT SportsRoof coupe above. Base motor for the GT was the 2-barrel 302, rated at 220 SAE gross horsepower. Buyers could opt for the 351 in 250hp 2-barrel or 300hp 4-barrel forms, as well as the 429 big block V-8 in 360hp Cobra or 370hp Ram-Air Cobra Jet configurations. Transmissions could be 3- or 4-speed manual or the 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic.
The one in the lower photos, spotted at a garage in rural Washington state in late June of 2015 was photographed with a Nikon Coolpix P7000. While it has GT badges in the appropriate places, it lacks the chrome gills and GT hood. It's been re-painted, obviously, so only the VIN can tell us whether it's the real deal or not.
Motor Trend tested a cross section of four Torino models in '70, including a base Torino SportsRoof coupe with the 4-barrel 351 and a Torino GT with the 429 Super Cobra Jet, both with the 3-speed auto transmission.
The 351 car ran 0-60 in 8.7 seconds and managed the quarter mile in 16.5 seconds at 86.6 mph, while the beastly big block GT laid down a 6.0 zero-to-sixty and a 14.4 quarter at 100.2 mph. (Another combination of acceleration times and trap speed demonstrating how the big block cars of this era needed to be babied out of the hole on street tires lest you wind up just sitting there generating clouds of white smoke and noise.)
The SportsRoof version was mighty good looking. The normal roof version screamed "grocery getter."
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's always amazed me what a giant step backwards Detroit styling took from the sleek lines of the late '60s and early '70s fuselage look to the boxy formalism of the Malaise Era.
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