The Box History to End all Box Histories

[Tiggie]

I have attached a complete history of the Box Panther that I have complied from several sources. I hope that it makes it into the new tech section. I'm working on factory press photos to go along with it. Any help in that area would be nice.

I need you guys to proof read it and tell me what needs changed.

If you have anything you'd like to add, let me know and I'll add it and give you credit.

Do you guys think the production and horsepower numbers should be listed in a separate article?

[p71towny]

Thats some cool shit mang!

[86GmLsCoupe]

This is great. I finally know what the "vent"/holes in the center of my dashpad were for, though my amp is in the trunk. It's a far better location in my opinion.

[Dave84]

i wish i could read it but my word pad keeps saying illeagle operation and closing before it even opends

[Tiggie]

Another thing I thought of - when did they stop using Ford Blue on the engines? My '82 engine is still blue.

Dave, I know how you feel - I was in the same boat sometimes before I got Office. I was stuck there for a minute - it wouldn't let me upload RTF or HTML, so I zipped the RTF format, which once you unzip it, WordPad should be able to open the Rich Text File.

I also corrected a couple spelling errors. My verb tense changes back and forth in the whole work, I need to work on that at some point before the final copy is published.

[Nathan in MI]

That's a great article. I learned a lot reading it. Just a few things to point out proof-reading wise:

--As you said, your verb tense keeps changing. If I were you, I'd just make it all past tense, but that's up to you.

--In the 1979 section, you make the statement "They are deemed the Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis and are not related to the mid-sized LTD II in any shape or form." I think that's an incorrect usage of the word deem. This coulc be replaced with the word christened, perhaps? Just a thought.

--"Literature boasted 0-60 times in 10.2 seconds" should be "of", not "in".

--"A feedback variable venturi carburetor, the Motorcraft 7200" model number is actually 7200VV.

--"Four-door versions ride a 117.3 inch wheelbase, which two-door versions used the 114.3 wheelbase used in the Ford/Mercury line." I think maybe you meant to say "ride on a" instead of "ride a"; correct me if I'm wrong. Also, instead of "which", I think "whereas" would fit a bit better.

--"Also if interest, this year was possibly the last time Ford literature referred to the performance of a Panther-Platform car." should read "of interest" rather than "if interest".

--"The C6 transmission is phased out, AOD is now standard across the board." Use a semicolon rather than a comma.

--"Lincoln changed it naming system to avoid confusion this year." it's, not it

--"The tripminder appears this year." Giving a short description of what the tripminder is would be helpful for those who've never heard of it.

--"The 351W is now standard in the police models, unavailable to the general public unless you lived outside the US." This may be a little bit nit-picky, but they always told us in school never to use the word "you" in our writing. Maybe you could say, "unavailable to the general public except for those living outside the U.S."

--"EEC-VI debuts on the CFI 5.0L (302) in the Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln lines and the engine receives and additional 10 horsepower." Not sure on this part, but wasn't it EEC-IV, not EEC-VI?

--"Less than 4% of this year’s Full-Sized Mercury’s are wagons." No need for the apostrophe in Mercurys.

You may have already changed most of this stuff, but they're just the items that caught my eye as I was reading. Hope it's somewhat helpful to you.

[Tiggie]

Sweet Nathan, thanks for the grammar and punctuation checks - I'll get to fixing that stuff. And you are right, I meant EEC-IV not EEC-VI.

Some info I am looking for right now is on the hood ornaments. When did they change from the LTD hood ornament to the newer style? My '82 has the newer style that was used until '87. Info on the Merc and Linc hood ornaments would be good as well.

Also, wheel information. Hubcaps types, wheel changes, etc. So far I know they redesigned the Wire hubcap in 1988, and changed from a 14in wire to a 15in in the Fords when they got the 15in wheels standard. 1988 also changed the standard full hubcap as well? I also know that '82 was the last year of the LTD red center hubcap that originally came on my '82. What is the story on the Lincoln wheels? Turbines were out from 1980, what about Lacy Spoke's and Wire Wheels? When did they come out and how long did the last?

[Tiggie]

Another thing - the Canada Panthers are largely unincluded thus far. Info on them that is different from the US versions would be great!

[Tiggie]

The roller cam in Panthers appeared in 1986? Or did some get it in 1985?

[boXman]

nvm just saw the zip file, woo!

[boXman]

Another thing - the Canada Panthers are largely unincluded thus far. Info on them that is different from the US versions would be great!

Do you have that they were carb'd thru 1985? 351 was an available option to everyone thru '91?

[boXman]

LTD S was avail in '79 too wasn't it? you have it for '80...

this is good stuff man.

[Tiggie]

Thanks boXman. Where the Lincolns Carb'd to 1985 too? Did the Ford/Merc use the Motorcraft 7200VV like the earlier US cars did too?

I don't have any evidence of an LTD S existing in 1979, but I only had one book that listed specific production models that early. It could have been wrong. If you can find some evidence of one existing, I'll add it in.

I need to cite my sources. I do that before we officially publish it.

[boXman]

Not sure on the Lincoln or what type of carb thing.

I'll look in my '79 brochure and see if it mentions an S. I thought all base LTD's were S's tho

[Tiggie]

This version has the updates Nathan and boXman suggested so far.

Some things I'm not sure of:
- Deluxe armrests, power windows, and locks on '87+ P72's as standard. The ones I've seen in junkyards had them, but that doesn't mean all of them were that way.


Did Ford/Merc boxes ever get ABS?

Two-Tone Paint was offered up until at least 1988, anyone have a specific date after that?