Collectibility
The 1960s and 1970s Ford Torino has not quite gained the status of many other muscle cars. Even Ford enthusiasts generally focus on the Mustang, Thunderbird, and earlier full-size Ford models.
The 1970–71 Torino Cobras, the 1969 Torino Talladega, the 1970 King Cobra, the 1968–1971 Torino GT convertibles, and the 1969 Cobras are collectable muscle cars today. The 1972 body style has received notable recent exposure with the release of the 2008 film Gran Torino (featuring a 1972 Gran Torino Sport and Clint Eastwood) and the 2009 film Fast & Furious. The 1974–76 body style was popularized due to the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch, and revived with the release of the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch. As a result the value of the 1974–76 Torinos has risen; still they are not the most valuable of the Torino body styles. However, the limited-edition factory replica Torino will likely be a valuable investment due to the series having a longtime cult following.
The lack of popularity and the low numbers of Torinos in existence today is likely due to the Torino's durability issues that caused low survivability. Torinos had serious problems with chassis and body corrosion as well as having a less-than-perfect reliability record. In areas where severe winters exposed these cars to road salt, Torinos were reported to have major rust problems within the first 5 years of ownership. To further worsen the corrosion problems, 1969–1973 Torinos were reported to have severe paint-peeling problems. As a result, Torinos had the lowest resale value of any of the American intermediate cars in the 1970s used-car market.
Read more about this topic: Ford Torino