Unmolested, untouched original 73 Gran Torino Sport Garage FInd!

1973 Ford Torino Description

Here is a very original and unmolested Ford Gran Tornio Sport that has spent it's entire life in the Austin TX area. It's a little weathered and showing wear and tear of a 46 year old unrestored car but has great bones. It runs and drives out good and the bone stock 400 starts up with a couple of pumps and purrs like a kitten. It also has good options with the 400, power disc brakes, factory AC, and bucket seat interior.
I bought the car recently on a nostalgic whim having owned one similar to this back in my college years in the mid seventies. I have come to the realization that I don't have the room or time to do this car justice and needs to go to a good home. I'm not sure of the total number of owners but the first owner of the car purchased in new in December of 1972 according to the owners warranty card. Included with the car is some good documentation including the warranty card, repair receipts, oil change records, etc. It appears he owned the car until the mid-nineties. The car has sat in a covered garage/carport for many years and off the road for most of the last 20 years and is pretty well preserved with 85% of its original paint showing.
Here is my assessment of it's current condition and general needs:
Body/Frame- With mostly original paint, there is nothing to hide. The car is very solid and mostly rust free but does have a couple of issues to address. The floor pan is good with the exception of a 4 by 4 rust hole on the passenger side right below the heater core where the floor and firewall meet. The trunk appears perfect and the frame is solid with no apparent rust through. There is some minor rust in the rear bottom corner of the drivers door. It is not rusted through on the outside but a little crusty where the skin wraps around the door shell. Other than that I didn't find anything else. There is evidence of repairs made along the way. The most obvious is evidence of bondo in the lower portion of the driver door. I removed the interior door panel to see what was there and there is no rust here but there was a panel about 3 by 4 welded in. This should clean up pretty easily. Apparently the driver side quarter panel was replaced at some time. My guess is that it was done a long time ago since there is a sticker still on the inside of the panel with a factory Ford D2 part number on it. I have included a picture of this. The car for it's age feels pretty tight and the doors open and shut like new with no sagging. The rear valance has been pretty well abused and could be replaced. The sheet metal on the car is in very good condition with no door dings or dents to repair and shouldn't take much to get it ready for paint if you choose. It has the original and correct size Magnum 500s including the spare.
Interior- The seats are original and decent with the exception of the drivers seat. All of the plastic interior panels are in excellent condition. The dash pad is cracked in several places and needs replacing or could use an overlay. It needs new carpet and a headliner. The dash and interior lights are not coming on and I suspect it's just a fuse. Haven't gotten down there yet to look.
Mechanical- As stated earlier, the car runs well and is very smooth and torquey. Previous owner pulled the gas tank (this will need to be replaced as it is all gummed up) flushed the lines and put in a temporary fuel jug in the trunk and replaced the battery and it fired right up. So to answer your question "can I drive it home?" the answer is obviously no. It will go as far as that little 5 gal jug will take you! The brakes do work but they are very touchy and pedal will go soft. There is a new master cylinder on it so maybe they just need to be properly bled. I have included pictures of the engine compartment and while it is dirty, you can see that it is untouched. Everything is there including the all the AC components and even still has the belt on it! AC does not come on but the clutch is free and turns. I wouldn't be surprised that it would work with a flush and charge.
Summary- While not the prettiest color for 73 and needing a little attention here and there, this is a great old car that is very solid and would be an easy project to tackle. If I were to keep it my plans were to address the brakes and go though all the mechanicals, flush and replace fluids, revive the AC and start driving it. For a few hundred bucks for carpet, dash pad and drivers seat and some detailing the interior could be made to look like new. Restore as you drive! I do have a reserve on the car but I am open to offers if you want to contact me through eBay messaging. Good luck and feel free to ask questions!