The Torino is kind of like the Taurus in that it’s a popular Ford nameplate that never really crossed the bridge to legendary status. Even their killer muscle cars from the late-1960s/early-1970s are pretty much D-listers with collectors. This is not TopSpeed hating on the Torino, and in fact, we love the 1970 429 Cobra, but it’s a fact that they are not among the elite classics. A second-gen Dodge Charger or Chevrolet Chevelle SS draws attention and fills fans’ hearts with joy, but a Torino, no matter how cool, doesn’t elicit much of a response at all beyond, “What is that?”
Much of the reason for this is that the Torino couldn’t get out from under the Mustang’s mighty shadow. Introduced mid-model year in 1964, the Mustang wasn’t just a success, but a genuine sensation and even a revolution. Ford couldn’t produce them fast enough and sold millions of pony cars, which in turn established them as American icons. Here’s the thing, though: in the early part of the ’70s, the Torino actually outsold the Mustang. While this unexpected fact isn’t going to turn the Torino into a million-dollar auction car, it is a quiet victory for an underappreciated ride.
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The Obscure Origins Of The Ford Torino
One of the reasons why the Ford Torino never really made an impression like other muscle car nameplates is that it got off to a confusing start. In 1968, the Torino was an upscale trim of the Ford Fairlane, and then in 1970 it became its own model, with the Fairlane being its entry-level subseries. A Mustang is a Mustang, but for everyone who isn’t a Ford wonk, it’s not clear what a Torino is, at least at the beginning. The next thing that hindered its rise to the top of the muscle car heap was its clumsy roll-out. Ford envisioned it as a competitor to the Plymouth Roadrunner, but it wasn’t firing on any cylinders.
1970 Torino 429 SCJ Power and Performance
|
Engine |
429ci Super Cobra Jet V-8 |
|
Horsepower |
370 HP |
|
Torque |
450 LB-FT |
|
Transmission |
Four-speed manual |
|
0-60 Time |
5.8 seconds |
|
Quarter-mile |
13.99 seconds |
|
Top Speed |
136 MPH |
The Roadrunner, introduced in 1968, was designed to be a no-frills street machine, with awesome power at an affordable price. The 1969 Torino Cobra was an upscale ride, which already doesn’t put it in the same class as the Roadrunner. The Ford came standard with a 335-horsepower 428-cubic-inch V-8, which was slightly more powerful than the Plymouth’s entry 383, but the Roadrunner had 440 and 426 options that cranked it up to 425 horsepower. The Torino Cobra retailed for $3,183, but for $2,896, a better-performing Roadrunner could be had. The Hemi Roadrunner was a 13-second car, while the Torino Cobra had a 14.8-second quarter-mile time, which wasn’t good enough in 1969.
Second-Gen Torino Spices Up The Appearance
In 1970, the Torino was redesigned with a classic muscle car Coke bottle body style, which is undeniably sizzling. The two-door fastback SportsRoof was just as eye-catching as a Charger or Chevelle, and Ford worked out the sub-par performance by offering much better engine options. The top V-8 was the 429-cubic-inch Super Cobra Jet, which, when combined with the Drag Pack performance package, generated 375 horsepower. The ’70 429 Super Cobra Jet was the first Torino that could run in the 13s, which was the standard in the Golden Age of American Muscle. If you didn’t have a 13-second car, you didn’t have a muscle car. It’s as simple as that, and Ford finally gave fans a legit ride.
Torino Talladega Takes Its Enhanced Styling To The Track
Something that should have, but didn’t, raise the profile of the Torino was the Talladega, designed for NASCAR. It was basically a Torino with a five-inch tapered front end extension, which made it more aerodynamic. It was so successful on the track that Dodge went overboard, copying it with the crazy nose-coned, wild-winged 1969 Charger Daytona. To homologate the Torino Talladega for NASCAR competition, they built 743 for sale to the public. They, however, don’t command the multi-million-dollar auction prices like the Charger Daytona, with the highest-selling Talladega crossing the block for $132,000.
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Torino Vs. Mustang: A Genuine Ford Showdown
As was stated earlier, the Mustang was a champion right out of the gate, with gonzo sales. Combining the 1964½ mid-year launch with 1965 sales (they are all 1965s), Ford sold 680,989 pony cars in its first year of production. In 1966, they moved another 607,568 units, and sold an astonishing 2.4 million cars in the second half of the 1960s. That’s almost half a million cars sold per year, which is both unprecedented and unrivaled for a sporty vehicle. In 1970, however, Mustang sales were slowing down. They were still doing six-digit volume, but far under the high bar standard they set for themselves.
1970–1973 Sales Comparison
|
Mustang |
Torino |
|
|---|---|---|
|
1970 |
191,239 units |
407,493 units |
|
1971 |
151,484 units |
326,463 units |
|
1972 |
125,813 units |
496,645 units |
|
1973 |
134,817 units |
496,581 units |
Despite its inauspicious beginning and role as a second-class citizen on the street, the Torino pulled off a miracle in 1970 by more than doubling the sales of the all-mighty Mustang. 1970 was still an awesome year for the ‘Stang with the aggressive styling of the fastback Mach 1 and the raging performance of the Boss 429, but for whatever reason, buyers stayed home on this model year, or maybe even converted to Torino fans. Though the first-generation Mustang would continue for another three years, 1970 was the last great year in terms of style and performance.
1971 Style Wars Goes To The Torino
In 1971, the Mustang got a refresh that was anything but refreshing. The once badass pony car got an extra-long nose and lost all of its aggressive lines, becoming the weirdest-looking first-gen version. This was the style of the “Eleanor” car from the classic action flick Gone in 60 Seconds, so it had some camp credibility, but it was nowhere as cool as a ’69-’70 SportsRoof. Compared to the Pinto-based Mustang II that came in 1974, the “big beak” first-gen was positively gorgeous, but still a major let-down. Meanwhile, the Torino was as cool as ever, including its monster 429 Cobra V-8, and, again, it more than doubled the Mustang’s sales.
Closing Out The First-Gen Mustang
1971 was the last great year of the classic muscle car era, as 1972 ushered in the Dead Horsepower Age of detuned engines that would plague American performance well into the 1980s. With a less-than-optimal body style and weak engine options, Mustang sales slipped in the final two years of its first generation.
In 1972, the Torino received a slight style update, which was nowhere near as extreme as the ’71 Mustang fiasco. The Torino also saw a drop in performance, but the ’72 was still kick-ass enough to be Clint Eastwood’s ride in the Gran Torino film. Also, for 1972 and 1973, the Torino wiped the floor with the Mustang, selling nearly half a million each year.
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There Is Always A “But” To The Torino’s Success
Torino sales between 1970-1973 were decidedly better than those of the Mustang, but it is something that comes with an asterisk. The Mustang was available in hard top, fastback, and convertible configurations, but they were all the same basic pony car. On the other hand, the Torino wasn’t just a muscle car, but an entire platform that included four-door sedans, station wagons, and even the truck/car utility Ranchero. The Torino two-door muscle cars did not outsell the Mustang, and it wasn’t even close. In 1970, total sales of the Torino GT, Cobra, and special editions like the Twister Special were 68,918 units, versus 191,239 Mustangs sold.
1970 Torino Sales Breakdown
- Fairlane 500 4-door sedan – 25,780 units
- Fairlane 500 2-door hardtop – 70,636 units
- Torino 4-door sedan – 30,117 units
- Torino 4-door hardtop – 14,312 units
- Torino 2-door hardtop – 49,826 units
- Torino fastback – 12,490 units
- Torino Brougham 4-door hardtop – 14,543 units
- Torino Brougham 2-door hardtop – 16,911 units
- Torino GT fastback – 56,819 units
- Torino GT convertible – 3,939 units
- Torino Cobra – 7,675 units
- Fairlane 500 wagon – 13,613 units
- Torino wagon – 10,613 units
- Torino Squire wagon – 13,166 units
- Ranchero – 4,816 units
- Ranchero 500 – 8,976 units
- Ranchero GT – 3,905 units
- Ranchero Squire – 3,943 units
- Type N/W – 395 units
- Torino Cobra Twister – 90 units
Then again, this asterisked stat comes with an asterisk of its own. Adding up all the two-door Torinos sold in 1970, not counting the wagons and Rancheros, it comes to 218,781 units, which tops the two-door Mustang sales by almost 30,000 units. Also, not all Mustangs were big V-8 muscle cars, with the majority of them leaving the dealership with six-cylinders or wimpy V-8s like the 302. There were 40,970 Mach 1s, as well as 499 Boss 429s, and, just for fun, we’ll throw in the 7,013 Boss 302s, for a total of 48,482 Mustang muscle cars sold in 1970. The Torino muscle cars still beat that by over 20,000 units.
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The Silent Legacy Of The Torino
There is no doubt an underground Torino fanbase that may take offense at our assertion that it is a second-tier classic, but that’s a simple fact. Hopefully, they understand that we are on their side, that a ’70 Torino 429 Cobra is both an awesome ride and tragically slept on. It defies reality because Ford is the biggest American automaker, and anything they produce comes with automatic recognition. The relative anonymity of the Javelin makes sense, as AMC was a small-time manufacturer, but Blue Oval was and is an automotive giant. The only logical explanation is that the Mustang stole all the energy and glory for itself, leaving nothing left for the Torino.
There’s no point in dwelling on what could have been or what’s fair, as the Torino has an incredible legacy, both as a ripping street machine and a sales juggernaut. The early 1970s were owned by the Torino, outselling the mighty Mustang for four years straight, and nothing can take that away.
Also, the Torino muscle cars will always be positioned above the Mercury models in terms of collectibility and profile. If not a lot of people remember the Torino 429 SCJ, almost none of them have even heard of the ’70 Mercury Cyclone GT, and that was a pretty awesome ride as well. Winning is still winning, even if it doesn’t get a lot of attention.