Someone Just Paid $47,500 for a '72 Ford Torino Station Wagon

0 0 Editorial Team October 16, 2018 Edit this post

By Joe Lorio, Car and Driver

In case you were wondering about the power of 1970s nostalgia at the moment, consider that someone just paid $47,500 for this 1972 Ford Gran Torino Squire station wagon on the vintage-car auction site Bring a Trailer; with the buyer's premium, the total works out to $49,875. We strongly suspect that would represent a world-record price for a Gran Torino station wagon, but we're not sure records are kept for that model. In any event, it's roughly three times the price of the only other Torino wagon ever to sell on the site, a '71 Squire that brought $16,750 back in April.

Considered as a '70s piece, this wagon makes a strong case for itself. It's finished in Yellow Gold with wood-grain siding. The vinyl interior, in Ginger, includes a rear-facing third-row seat. The tires are period-correct whitewalls, and there's a roof rack on top. Big American station wagons like this were a cultural touchstone for a generation of kids. They rolled around in the wayback riding to Cub Scouts or swimming lessons and fought with their siblings for their rightful share of the vinyl bench seat on long family vacations. Later, as rusted hand-me-downs, these wagons served as first cars for many, imparting lessons in power oversteer and the importance of knowing how to ask friends for gas money.

This particular '72 model had more than just '70s fever working for it, however. It also had rarity. Although tens of thousands were produced, nearly all were used up and thrown away. This example, by contrast, somehow remained undriven and perfectly preserved for more than four decades. It has covered just 451 miles and appears to be in as-new condition. By that standard, it is almost certainly the only brand-new '72 Gran Torino Squire extant—and, likely, the only 1970s station wagon of any make and model that is still in-the-wrapper fresh.

The seller offered the car on behalf of a client who collects vehicles that are "unicorns," and this wagon certainly is that. The buyer, in his comments on the site, said, "I thought I would have to pay a lot more!" He also claims he's going to have his new Ford GT finished in a paint-to-sample color that exactly matches this wagon. In that case, his Yellow Gold GT will be another unicorn.