Some guys are lucky enough to find their first car again—after a massive case of seller’s remorse
That’s the story behind this 1968 Torino.
Jerry Sutherland
Jeff Labenovich bought it in the Summer of 1978 because he was looking for his first car. He had a choice between a 1967 Barracuda and the Torino—they were both listed at 700 dollars each.
The Barracuda needed a transmission, so the Torino was his first draft choice—especially since he “grew up around Fords” his whole life. He also knew this car because it came from his hometown since new.
Jeff had to save up for insurance, so the car sat in the backyard until he had the money. He drove the 68,000-mile Torino until 1985 when he bought a year-old Ford pickup.
That’s when things changed dramatically for the Torino. Jeff yanked the motor, put it in a 1953 Ford pickup and eventually sold the roller body.
That was a big mistake because Jeff had an instant case of seller’s remorse. His sister spotted the Torino at an auto wrecker, so Jeff bought his first car back—call it a happy ending.
Jeff looked at it this way:“It had not been put back in driving condition so needless to say I am the only registered owner since 1978 and the only Alberta registered owner”.
The Torino was sent into a 30-year hibernation in a shed until Jeff rescued it once again, He explained it this way: “The years in storage had not been kind to it. If it wasn’t for the fact that it has so much sentimental value and memories attached, it is not a car I would have chosen to get running again”
The Torino showed its war wounds. The rear quarter on the driver’s side was still caved in after one of Jeff’s friends vastly overestimated his driving skills on a wet bridge.
There were other memories left in the car as Jeff explained: “Another memory is attached to the one rear interior panel that is covered in diamond-stitched naugahyde.
“Back around 1979 or 80 my late/great mom helped me do the entire interior in the material. Headliner, door panels were all done. That one rear panel is all that is left of the interior job. I couldn’t bring myself to remove it so it has been left in place in her memory”.
Jeff needed a power train for the Torino and he found it in the form of two mid-80s Lincoln Town Cars. One had a good 302 V-8, and the other one had a great overdrive automatic transmission. Jeff yanked the fuel injection off the 302 and added a carburetor for simplicity—plus headers for better breathing coupled to a 3:89 rear gear.
He was looking for a driver-quality car and he did it by taking on all the work. Jeff discovered his car is extremely rare after he received a MARTI report as he explained: “A couple of oddities on the car is the fact it has a 9-inch rear diff. Everything you read says a small block 68 Torino should have an 8-inch diff in it. I don’t know if this was part of the special handling package the car came equipped with or if they happened to run out of 8-inch diffs when it was rolling down the assembly line, so they just stuck an open 9-inch in it”.
“The original gears were 2:79. The special handling pkg included bigger front sway bar, heavy duty springs and heavy-duty shocks. According to the Marti Report it is 1 of 134 two-door formal roof ‘68 Torinos with this option”.
Jeff was on a tight budget, so he used the bucket seats out of a ’96 Escort and added the console and shifter from a Taurus SHO. The front spoiler and the spoiler are reproduction Mustang pieces.
Jeff wanted to save his first car—he explained it this way:
“My goal was to make a fun driver out of the car and do things to it that I always wanted to change back in the day. The car may not be pretty, that will come with time, but she is fun to drive and creates new memories. Mechanically it has way more new parts on it now than it ever did when I drove it every day. It’s great when people say, “That’s cool that you got a car like your first one” and then I point out that no, this is the first car I bought and is still my favorite car I have owned to this day. She’s not just an old Torino, she’s family.
Jeff Labenovich