1968 Ford Fairlane Torino

The Torino was the top trim level on the Fairlane for 1968 and was given special emblems and trim to help distinguish it from the Fairlane 500. It had a crest on the 'C' pillars of the two-door hardtop and four-door sedans. The other available body style was the station wagon. A Torino GT was also available and the sporty version of the Fairlane 500 series. Power was supplied from a 302 cubic-inch V8 offering 210 horsepower. Other amenities included bucket seats and console, special name plaques, exterior trim, safety and courtesy lights, and Deluxe wheel covers.

1968 was the first year Ford used the Torino nameplate and it would continue to remain part of the lineup through 1976. The First Generation of 1968 and 1969 shared its 116-inch wheelbase platform (113-inch for the station wagon) with the Fairlane and the same unit-construction platform as the 1966/1967 models.

The Torino models were set apart from their Fairlane siblings by the higher level of exterior and interior trim, and the Torino crest on the 'C' pillar. Both the Fairlane and the Torino had an all-new interior for 1968, with a new dashboard with four equally sized round pods positioned around the steering wheel. The first 'pod' housed the fuel gauge and temperature warning lights; the second pod had a 120 mph speedometer; the third pod had the alternator gauge and the oil pressure warning lights; and the fourth pod was blank, except when optioned with the clock.

All vehicles built after December 31st of 1967 were now equipped with shoulder belts for front outboard passengers as standard equipment, conforming to United States safety regulations. The list of upholstery options on the Torino included a knitted vinyl called 'comfortweave' which had better 'breathability' than conventional vinyl and was better suited to hotter climates. The carpeting was color-keyed, and bucket seats and console were optional.

Specification
The standard engine was a 200 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine or with optional eight-cylinder units. The Ford Torino GT came standard the 302 cubic-inch small-block V8. About a month into the production of the 1968 models, a six-week UAW strike at Ford's manufacturing plants sent management seeking cost-cutting measures, resulting in the addition of the 289 CID, 2-barrel small-block V8 as the base V8 engine and the standard unit for the Torino GT. Additional engine options included a 390 CID FE engine with two- or four-barrel carburetors, and a 427 cubic-inch FE V8. The 427 CID V8 was available in factory sales literature, but no Torinos or Fairlanes received this engine during 1968.

Beginning on April 1st, the 428 cubic-inch CJ (Cobra Jet) FE engine became available as an option and was under-rated at 335 horsepower. Very few Torinos were equipped with this engine. Cars so-equipped wore 428 Cobra Jet emblems sourced from the full-sized Fords mounted on the fenders behind the parking lamps.

The standard transmission was a three-speed manual, while a C4 Cruise-O-Matic automatic and four-speed manual transmission were available for an additional cost. The front suspension was comprised of a strut stabilized lower control arm along with short/long controls arms with coil springs positioned on an upper control arm. The back used long semi-elliptical leaf springs on a solid axle. Cars equipped with eight cylinders could be fitted with a heavy-duty suspension which added extra-heavy-duty shocks and springs. The steering system was a recirculating ball system, with power steering available as optional equipment. Standard four-wheel drum brakes or optional power-assisted brakes provided the stopping power.

Body Styles, Styling, and Production
The all-new 1968 Ford intermediate Fairlane and Torino styling were much larger and heavier than its predecessor. In the front was a full-width recessed grille with quad round headlights positioned on the outer edges, with parking lights on the very outer edge and wrapped around the corner, serving as side marker lights and conforming to new 1968 safety regulations. The inner portion of the grille had horizontal dividing bars with a larger dual horizontal bar stretching from the innermost headlights. The word 'FORD' was on the hood, just above the grille. The body sides had a horizontal body crease positioned just below the beltline and stretched from the front to the back of the vehicle. In the back were rectangular taillights positioned vertically in the rear panel, just above the rear bumper. Reflectors were on the rear edge of the quarter panel and reverse lights were in the middle of the taillights.

Body styles included a four-door sedan with seating for six, a two-door hardtop coupe, and a squire station wagon. The GT was offered as a hardtop coupe, a fastback coupe ('SportsRoof' - similar in styling to the Mustang fastback), and a convertible.

The sedan equipped with the six-cylinder engine was priced at $2,690, the hardtop coupe at $2,700, and the squire station wagon at $3,025. The addition of the base V8 engine boosted the price by approximately $100. The most popular non-GT body style was the sporty hardtop coupe with 35,964 examples produced, followed by 17,962 sedans, and 14,773 squire station wagons.

The fastback coupe, priced at $2,750, proved to be the most popular body style on the 1968 Torino line with 74,135 examples built. 23,939 examples of the hardtop coupe were built along with 5,310 of the convertible (much less than the 11,832 convertibles built on the Galaxie line but more than the 3,761 Fairlane 500 convertibles.) The total 1968 Ford Torino line, including the GT, was 172,083 representing nearly ten percent of Ford's total automobile production.

159 purpose-built 1968 Ford Torinos were built at the Lorraine, Ohio assembly plant and shipped directly to Indianapolis to serve Pace Car duties for the 1968 Indy 500. 12 examples were fitted with the 390 cubic-inch V8 engine.

Motorsports
Ford was very successful in NASCAR stock car racing during the 1968 season, with over 20 victories, complementing the company's 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans a year earlier. Among the list of Ford/Mercury's NASCAR drivers included David Pearson who won the overall championship, Bobby Allison, Bondy Long, A.J. Foyt, Swede Savage, Little Bud Moore, Benny Parsons, Lee Roy Yarbrough, and Cale Yarborough. Parsons and Cale Yarborough also drove Torinos and Fairlanes in ARCA competition. Another monumental accomplishment during the season was a 1-2-3 FoMoCo sweep at the 1968 Daytona 500, with Cale Yarborough and the Wood Brothers Racing team finishing first in just over 3 hours and 23 minutes. Less than a second later, LeeRoy Yarbrough finished. Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi, in the J.W. Automotive Gulf-Oil Ford GT40, scored another victory at LeMans, securing a Manufacturer's title victory for Ford.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2016