Junkyard Find: 1976 Ford Elite
Sajeev Mehta no longer works here, but we still love him and that means I enjoy making his bitter tears flow with stories about discarded classic Ford Motor Company products. Here's one that currently resides at a boneyard in Denver, Colorado.
The Elite was a member of the midsize Ford Torino family, joining the Mercury Montego MX Brougham to create a team of glitzed-up-yet-affordable personal luxury coupes to compete with the likes of the Chevy Monte Carlo and Chrysler Cordoba.
The Elite name started out as a trim-level designation for the 1974 Gran Torino, then became a model name in its own right for the 1975 and 1976 model years.
After that, it was replaced by the downsized 1977 Ford Thunderbird.
I'd documented just a single Elite from 2007 through last year, when I found a gold '75 at the Denver Pick Your Part. The 8-track player from that car will soon reside in Sajeev's 1974 Montego.
The 1976 Elite came with these double opera windows and "odense-grained" vinyl roof, and its MSRP was about the same as that of the Gran Torino Brougham hardtop coupe.
The base engine was a 351 Windsor V8 with two-barrel carburetor, rated at 152 horsepower and 274 pound-feet, and that appears to be the engine in this car.
Thirstier 400 and 460 engines were available as '76 Elite options.
The door tag says that this car was built at the now-101-year-old Chicago Assembly plant and sold out of the Denver sales office. It has Dark Red paint and Red Odense vinyl roof. The transmission is a C-4 three-speed automatic.
The interior looks not too trashed, by the standards of a near-half-century-old Detroit car in a very sunny climate.
There's a bit of rust-through where water pooled in a leaky trunk, but otherwise the body is solid.
There are some expensive options, including the $92 cruise control with steering-wheel-mounted controls ($537 in 2025 dollars).
The automatic transmission was standard equipment, but not the air conditioning. This cost $478, or about $2,792 after inflation.
The clock and "tormented faces in hell" faux-wood dash inserts were included at no extra cost.
With a base MSRP of $4,879 ($28,502 now), this car was a bit pricier than a new Monte Carlo ($4,673) but much cheaper than the $5,392 Chrysler Cordoba. However, a 1976 Olds Cutlass Supreme hardtop coupe with V8 engine started at a mere $4,486, and that car flew out of showrooms.
Styling… like a Thunderbird. Ride system… like a Thunderbird!
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
1976 Ford Elite in Colorado junkyard.
[Images: The Author]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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I would make make choice to buy Chevy because it has big block. I Slavuta love BBC.
The mid '70s were the beginning of several bad years in Detroit. The end of pillarless hardtops, the the beginning of opera windows, ugly bumpers, and detuned underpowered engines. The Ford Elite is a prime example of of this downhill period.