The Ford Elite is a

personal luxury car Personal luxury car is a North American car classification describing somewhat sporty, sophisticated mass-market coupés that emphasized comfort over performance. The North American manufacturers most often combined engineering, design, and ma ...

produced by Ford and marketed in North America from February 1974 to 1976, using the name Gran Torino Elite for its first model year only then simplified to just Elite for the following two model years.

History

Introduced February 18, 1974 as the Gran Torino Elite, it was initially the top-of-the-line model of the Torino series. Although advertised separately, it was titled and registered as a Gran Torino. For 1975 and 1976, the Gran Torino prefix was dropped and Elite became a stand-alone model nameplate. Early pre-production publicity photos for the 1974 model show the use of ''Gran Torino XL'' nameplates.

Sales Competition

Based on the

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, the

mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in t ...

two-door

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

was intended to be a junior model to the Thunderbird designed to compete with the increasingly popular intermediate personal luxury class of vehicles such as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix,

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme is a mid-size car produced by Oldsmobile between 1966 and 1997. It was positioned as a premium offering at the top of the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cutlass range. It began as a trim package, developed its own roofline, ...

Buick Regal The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. Serving as the premium mid-size/intermediate car of the Buick product range for nearly its entire production, the Regal initially served as the divisional counterpart of t ...

, Dodge Charger, Chrysler Cordoba and

Mercury Cougar The Mercury Cougar is a series of automobiles that was sold by Mercury (automobile), Mercury from 1967 to 2002. The model line is a diverse series of vehicles; though the Cougar nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at va ...

. While the Elite was a newcomer on the market for only three model years, sales performance placed it solidly in third for each of those years (respective to the other personal luxury vehicles) with a combined sales of approximately 366,000.

Design

The Elite was a low investment design derived from the concurrent Mercury Cougar XR-7 (both based on Mercury Montego 2-door bodies which originated for 1972) with a mild front end restyling to resemble the Thunderbird with single round headlamps, eggcrate grille, different taillamps with a center reflector, unique twin opera windows and large color-keyed vinyl moldings placed higher on the bodysides. The interiors were identical save for upholstery styles and minor trim.

Discontinuation

The Elite name was dropped after 1976 as the Ford mid-size range was restructured for the 1977 model year. The Thunderbird was dramatically reduced in size and price for 1977 by moving its nameplate to the Torino-based LTD II platform which was the restyled replacement for the Torino. In effect, the Elite continued restyled and marketed under the more-recognized Thunderbird name, and the previous full-sized Thunderbird was discontinued. File:Ford Gran Torino Elite '74 (38665484854).jpg, 1974 Ford Grand Torino Elite File:1976 Ford Elite in Blue, right front side.jpg, Ford Elite File:1974 Ford Gran Torino Elite, front left.jpg, 1974 Ford Gran Torino Elite

Standard equipment

* 351W or 351M

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

, both of * 3-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

* Power brakes (front

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the #Calipers, calipers to squeeze pairs of #Brake pads, pads against a disc (sometimes called a rakerotor) to create friction. There are two basic types of brake pad friction mechanisms: abrasive f ...

s, rear

drum brake A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of Brake shoe, shoes or Brake pad, pads that press outward against a rotating bowl-shaped part called a brake drum. The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press o ...

s). * Power steering * Cloth bench seats *

Vinyl roof Vinyl roof refers to a vinyl covering for an automobile's top. This covering was originally designed to give the appearance of a convertible to models with a fixed roof and eventually evolved into a styling statement in its own right. Vin ...

with twin opera windows, Landau (partial) vinyl top for 1976 model year. * Protective padded body side moldings

Options

* 351C V8 engine, 1974 only *

400 __NOTOC__ Year 400 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...

of * 460

of * Power glass moonroof * Power steel sunroof * Air conditioning with standard manual control or optional Automatic Temperature Control * Metallic Glow paint * Cruise (speed) control * Gauge package with tachometer, oil pressure gauge, coolant temperature gauge, and ammeter gauge * Fuel Sentry Vacuum Gauge - monitors intake manifold vacuum to give an indication of how hard the engine is working, and thus economy (not available with gauge package). * Fuel Monitor Warning Light - as above, but an on/off light instead of a gauge. * Bucket seats and center console (1976 only).

In Mexico and Venezuela

The Elite name was also used in Mexico. The Ford Fairmont was introduced in Mexico in late 1977 as a 1978 model, replacing the Ford Maverick that was produced there locally. The Futura coupe with its distinctive Thunderbird-styled roofline was never offered in Mexico. Instead there was an uplevel 2-door sedan called the Fairmont Elite. It was distinguished from other Fairmonts by its higher level of equipment and vinyl roof. It used the four headlight grille from the Fairmont Futura along with Mercury Zephyr taillamps and rear quarter window louvers. For 1981, the Fairmont Elite switched to the Mercury Zephyr grille. For 1982, the Fairmont Elite was renamed Ford Elite II, which was now offered in two- and four-door sedans. It continued to use the body of the Fairmont with the front end of the North American 1982 Ford Granada and matching rear bumper. The rear continued to use Mercury Zephyr taillamps. From 1983 to 1985, a version of the North American Fox platform Ford LTD was manufactured in Venezuela and marketed as the Ford Granada Elite in uplevel trim.

References

;Sources * * * The Ford Torino Page.
Ford Elite
'. Retrieved on April 24, 2005. * Ford Motor Company.

''. {{Ford

Elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

Coupés Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States Cars introduced in 1974 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Personal luxury cars