Dumb Question, but Here I Go Anyways...

[packman]

Why are there so many performance parts for the LTD (like the one in trwp72's sig pic; first pic)? I don't know anybody that has one of these and certainly nobody around here with a modded LTD. I guess because they share the same platform as the Fox-body Mustangs, but why would they make hi-po specific parts for these cars? Why does Ford call our cars the "Crown Victoria LTD?" Okay, end of rant. I was just getting frustrated trying to find radiators and suspension pieces for the CV and finding only 83-86 LTD parts.


Packman

[Nathan in MI]

I think it's just because anything that fits an LTD will also fit a Mustang, so when they make Mustang parts, they also mention that it fits LTDs...they aren't being made specifically for LTDs, they just happen to fit.

[Tiggie]

Here's the complete story:
The Victoria originated in 1930 as a sport-luxury Model A Ford tudor sedan. The Victoria had a shorter roofline than the typical tudor and a slanted windshield with no sunvisor. Put a Victoria next to a regular tudor and the Victoria will looked chopped. That is why many were turned into street rods, they came with a mild chop. The Victoria was built through 1934. It was never a great seller due to the high price tag and less space than a normal tudor.

The Victoria name re-appeared in 1951. Again with the roofline theme, Ford took a typical tudor body for the basis and changed the roof. This was Ford's first pillarless hardtop. The rear window was also wraparound, another first for Ford. This was Ford's midline Sport-Luxury mobile, with Crestlines on notch above. The Victoria was a hit due to it's unique styling and decent price. As a matter of fact, Crestlines were discontined after 1951.

The name "Crown" Victoria originated in 1955. It was basically a Fairlane Victoria two-door with a different roofline. A large band of stainless steel ran over the mid-section of the roof and the B-pillars were more swept back. Regular Victoria's still didn't have B-Pillars. This continued though 1956.

1957 brought about more change. There was no more Crown Victoria. There were now Club (2-Dr) and Town (4-Dr) Victoria's, but they weren't really a model. The model was a Fairlane. In other words, there was never a car made with a "Club Victoria" nameplate. This style of nomenclature continued into 1963 (switching to the Galaxie line after the Fairlane became midsize), after which it was dropped.

Now for the LTD. It came about as it's own model in 1967 as Ford's premier luxury ride. In 1966, I think it was available as an option package on Galaxie's.

This brings us to 1980. The Crown Victoria LTD comes from the trim package available for the LTD from 1980-1982. As you probably know, it was the most luxurious of the bunch. The "Crown" appeared on the roof, along with a 1/2 vinyl top (regular LTD's with vinyl tops got full tops, except two-doors which all got 1/2 tops).

From '83-'91, they called it Crown Victoria LTD because they needed something to call the car and Crown Victoria was a recognized nameplate. Most cars came with a "crown" anyway. The LTD part stayed until 1992 when they went to Aero's (which don't have a Crown oddly enough).

[cld783]

In the middle in the 1984 model year, Ford introduced a performance LTD called the LX. It came standard with the high output 5.0 L CFI V8 engine, four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive, 600 lb-in front and 270 lb-in rear coil springs, front and rear sway bars, 10 inch front disc and 10 inch rear drum brakes, and a 3.27:1 rear gear ratio with a Traction-Lok differential. The LX model was the only LTD to have a center console with a floor-mounted shifter for the transmission, and a tachometer in the instrument cluster. Roughly 3,260 LXs were produced from mid-1984 to 1985. The Mercury version of the LX was the Marquis LTS and was available only in Canada in much smaller numbers.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_LT...rth_America%29

[over2tonsofFun]

The only LTD that shares the mustang platforms Fox body is the Midsize LTD 1983-1986. The Fox body is a unibody design while the Crown Victoria as well as other panther platforms have a full perimeter frame.

Tim