Photo: Vanguard Motors
Seeing a Ford Torino Talladega drive by is not something one would easily forget. The homologation special was made, of course, in limited numbers, hence the chances of that happening are very slim; first because of that, and then because people mostly like to keep them as museum pieces.
The latter is what will probably happen to this Talladega sold not long ago by one of the many dealers in the business of handling such cars. We’re not sure for how much it went (Concours-condition ones usually sell for six-digit sums), but there are more chances of seeing it for sale again than actually on the road or tracks, doing what it was created to do.
The Torino we have here, like the entire batch of about 750 of them ever made, comes from 1969, and it retains all of the original hardware, with the exception of the Magnum 500 wheels, and the BFGoodrich Radial T/A Tires, which we are told are new.
The most important part of the car, the engine, is native to this particular machine. We’re talking about a 428-ci (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet powerplant, tied to the correct 3-speed automatic transmission and a 9-inch rear end.
The car also comes in one of the three colors originally available for the model, Presidential Blue. The interior, too, retains the bench seating and cloth upholstery it had on when it left the factory doors.
When the car was sold, the odometer showed about 65,000 miles (105,000 km), which means at one point it was no stranger to the roads. We only hope to see it in action again, instead of on the auction block; as much as we like cars such as this one being preserved for future generations, selling them repeatedly for an increasing profit is not the way to do it.
After all, the NASCAR-going Talladegas won no less than 29 races during the 1969 and 1970 seasons.
The Torino we have here, like the entire batch of about 750 of them ever made, comes from 1969, and it retains all of the original hardware, with the exception of the Magnum 500 wheels, and the BFGoodrich Radial T/A Tires, which we are told are new.
The most important part of the car, the engine, is native to this particular machine. We’re talking about a 428-ci (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet powerplant, tied to the correct 3-speed automatic transmission and a 9-inch rear end.
The car also comes in one of the three colors originally available for the model, Presidential Blue. The interior, too, retains the bench seating and cloth upholstery it had on when it left the factory doors.
When the car was sold, the odometer showed about 65,000 miles (105,000 km), which means at one point it was no stranger to the roads. We only hope to see it in action again, instead of on the auction block; as much as we like cars such as this one being preserved for future generations, selling them repeatedly for an increasing profit is not the way to do it.
After all, the NASCAR-going Talladegas won no less than 29 races during the 1969 and 1970 seasons.
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