Image Gallery 1983-1984 Ford LTD

1984-1985 Ford LTD The new midsized Ford LTD was introduced for the 1983 model year, a body redesign of the prior years Ford Granada. The FOX platform on which the 1980-1982 Granada and the 1983-1986 Ford LTD was shared with the slightly smaller, and lower cost Ford Fairmont, that had been introduced in 1978. The Fairmont had been available as a police package from 1978 to 1983, with the newly restyled LTD taking over for years 1984 and 1985.The LTD would be replaced in the retail market by the 1986 Ford Taurus. As the LTD nameplate had been used on the full sized Ford sedan the year before (renamed LTD Crown Victoria), many refereed to the midsized LTD as the "Baby LTD". (2) The police package LTD with a 165 hp, 302-ci EFI High Output V-8, shared with the Mustang SSV of the same time period, and commonly known as the 5.0. It made was the highest performance four door police car in 1984. (1)  While the Ford LTD Police Package had excellent performance, it major weakness was it's brakes. Severe brake fade would occur after heavy use (pursuits). The City of Santa Monica, California sol all of their 1984 Ford LTDs after one year due to poor brakes .(1) The large Los Angeles County, California Sheriff's Department selected the LTD at it's patrol vehicle for 1984. Other users of the LTD included the Washington State Patrol, Florida Highway Patrol, Cook County IL Sheriff's Department, and the Philadelphia PA Police. The major change from 1984 model to the 1985 model was the grill, the Ford blue oval moved to the center of the grill from the top of the grill. 1984 and 1985 were the only two years for the LTD Police Package, the retail version of the car would continue until 1986. It's replacement, the midsized Ford Taurus, would gain a police package several years later in 1990.

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