My 1972 Ford Ranchero GT Classic Muscle Car

My 1972 Ford Ranchero GT Classic Muscle Car!

This was a beast of a car! Was it cherry? No, but it was tough as nails!

First off, I grew up in an area that is known for classic cars.

Right next door was Auburn Indiana, which hosts the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Festival and the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum (which is in the same building that many of the motors and chassis for the old Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs, that were all over Hollywood back in the day, were built). Though I have less interest in muscle cars these days, it would be quite hard to have not gained some affinity for them during my childhood.

As a kid, I would go to the ACD show every year to look at the cars. People came from all over the world to buy at the auction. Between this and the local county fair, these were pretty much the highlights of life in rural Indiana.
As most kids of my time, I grew up loving the Corvette. While it’s still a cool car (for an American sports car) I did indeed grow out of that.

As most kids of my time, I grew up loving the Corvette. While it’s still a cool car (for an American sports car) I did indeed grow out of that.

I can remember seeing the El Caminos and the Rancheros. The Ranchero was built first and ultimately inspired GM to create the El Camino. I always thought that the El Camino looked tough while the Ranchero looked dorky.

Well, in 1972 I was proved wrong!

Racheros were built on the Torino chassis, in 1972 they had the Torino’s “fishomouth grill” reminiscent of a jet intake (shown in first photo) and rear side contour lines. This made the Ford Ranchero finally look mean! When I was introduced to this monster I had no choice but to buy it.

In ’73 they still had the rear lines but redesigned the frontend to meet federal standards for frontend impact protection. All the sudden they began looking dorky again. In my opinion, 1972 was the only year the Ranchero GT’s actually had the muscle car look (only my opinion of course).

Considered a coupe utility vehicle, the Ranchero was the ultimate in redneck cars! You got your coupe sports car that can burn rubber and has no place for kids, while still being able to haul stuff around in the back as it were a truck (also with no place for kids lol).

This one has the Ford 460, a monster of an engine! It also had air conditioning, a feature rarely added to big blocks of the time. When it idled, it was a low rumble like a slow deep bubbling from a massive aquarium. When revved up, it became quite difficult to talk inside while driving lol.

Many of the engine parts were painted the classic “Ford Blue”.

The handle for the tailgate was on the inside and not outside. I thought this added a sense of class not commonly found in American muscle cars.

The interior of this mean machine was mostly aftermarket. The seats sat so low I could barely see past the hood lol. Personally, I found it a little unsafe but somehow worth it!



It had a small compartment, I believe was called a smugglers box behind the seats. Not hidden mind you, more of just a square hole for tools. No pics of it though.

This thing had air shocks that you could pump up and get it to jack up real high in the back for carrying heavy loads or just looking mean I guess.

The paint was Euro Style (no chrome). Personally, I’m a fan of chrome when it comes to classics, it’s just how I was raised I guess. However, the way this came out was pretty nice!

Barely any rust, even under the door area which is nearly unheard of here in Indiana!

This car was M-E-A-N, MEAN!! A real bad-ass! It took no shit from anyone! If it saw you on the street, all it would do is grumble, roar, then disappear!

Well, that’s a look at what used to be my 1972 Ford Rachero GT.

I hope you enjoyed.

Thanks for reading!
Michael David