#1  
Old 08-31-2019, 10:34 AM
JimFB400HO JimFB400HO is offline
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Default '75 Ventura - A trip down memory lane

I was going through some old photos and found this one of our '75 Ventura.

I purchased it new in 1975 for $4,217. I added the 260 V8, PB, PS, AT, and a few other options. That V8 was a very good engine in it. Got 11 years and 204,400 miles out of it.
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  #2  
Old 09-02-2019, 04:11 PM
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Lightfoot Lightfoot is offline
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Cool.
What color was it? I can't quite tell, but it looks like it has the 'cross hair' trim on the parking lights.

I got my '75 Ventura in late 1982 with 102,000 on it, and vowed to keep it until I rolled it over 200K. I hit that goal in Sep 1989.
Mine was a 260 with 3-speed on the floor. It had factory A/C but I removed the compressor to make it easier to get at the spark plugs. That 260 didn't 'pull' very hard but I loved it for the long range fuel mileage.
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Old 09-02-2019, 06:04 PM
JimFB400HO JimFB400HO is offline
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It was called Ginger Brown. I like the color of yours more now.

I don't know what crosshair trim is so I don't know. It was called the "Custom Coupe" but I believe that only added upgraded wheel covers, steering wheel and interior. I still have the window sticker and could check that.

I think the only bad thing about the car were the Firestone tires. All of them shredded over time, often at the worse (and dangerous) times. Two failed on one vacation. I had put on the spare for one and the second started coming apart before I could get to a dealer. All had wear only in the 30-40% range. I traded a few letters with Firestone at the time telling them how bad they are. Finally, Firestone ended up recalling about 20 million radials and then they agreed to reimburse me for all the costs I incurred.

  #4  
Old 09-02-2019, 10:57 PM
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My Ventura was originally Caramel Beige. I knew of a guy that would do all-over paint jobs for a reasonable price. So I saved my money for a couple years so I could have it changed to something more eye appealing. I still remember the excitement of mulling over the the possible color combos in the months before I took it in.
I wanted it to look like one of the popular late model sportsman racers of the era.
Green has always been my favorite color, so I picked out a shade as close as I could to match Dick McCabe's trademark race cars.
I liked the way the rock shultz set off the lines of the Ventura, so I had him re-coat that.
It was just a simple, lacquer re-color with minimal masking & no trim removal, but I was happy.
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Old 09-02-2019, 11:51 PM
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I was looking for an example of the 'cross hairs' parking light trim, and lo and behold, I came across a photo of my car before I had it painted green.
This was the only photo I ever took of it in it's original color. It was a few months before the color change.
I submitted the picture to Ventura.com. I found that print in a drawer and scanned it to a floppy disc the year before.

The photo in the first post was the only pic I took before I got hit in the driver's side and tore out a chunk of sheet metal in front of the back wheel.
I have a few picks of the damage from that somewhere.
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  #6  
Old 09-03-2019, 12:20 AM
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I remember the Firestone Radial 500 recall very well. I was hired at a Firestone dealer right when that got underway, and demounted quite a few tires in exchange for new 721s.

My Ventura was a Custom hatchback. I think the stainless rocker trim may have been a part of that package. I had bucket seats to go with the floor shifter. Probably the same color as your interior. (buckskin)

I think the 'cross hair' front parking lights were only found on Sprints or SJ models.
attaching a pic to show what they look like.



Last edited by Lightfoot; 09-03-2019 at 12:30 AM.
  #7  
Old 09-03-2019, 03:10 PM
JimFB400HO JimFB400HO is offline
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The green you used was better than the beige.

No, ours did not have that cross hair chrome. I checked some of our old photo albums and after about 6-7 shots with the car in them, one had just enough of the front to see it was not there.

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