Chevrolet Caprice vs Ford LTD: the full-size rivalry

For two decades the Caprice and the LTD were the top full-size cars of America's two biggest brands, and the Caprice was born as Chevrolet's answer to the Ford. Ford's LTD arrived for 1965 as the plushest Galaxie 500 and cost about US$3,500. Chevrolet replied in the middle of the same model year with the Caprice Custom option for the Impala four-door hardtop, which added US$200 to a car listed at US$2,742.

Both became separate series for 1966, and both grew, shrank and changed role over the following years. Their wider families are listed in the Chevrolet catalogue and the Ford catalogue.

Chevrolet Caprice vs Ford LTD: engines, downsizing and sales

Big-block years

Ford sold the LTD only with V8s, from 289 to 428 cubic inches in the first years; a 1965 test cited by Curbside Classic gives the 390 four-barrel 224 kW (300 hp gross). In 1974 the 460 replaced the 429. Chevrolet offered a wider spread. The base Caprice of 1966 used the 283 V8 with 145 kW (195 hp gross), and the 396 Turbo Jet produced 242 kW (325 hp). The solid-lifter 427 L72 of 1968 produced 317 kW (425 hp gross), the strongest engine any Caprice received. All figures before 1972 are SAE gross ratings, so they flatter the engines compared with later net numbers; our power converter handles the kW and hp arithmetic.

Size at its peak

In 1971 the Caprice gained a 3,086 mm (121.5 in) wheelbase, and by 1976 bumper rules had made the sedan about 5,660 mm long. Ford's big LTD of 1969–1978 shared its platform with Mercury's full-size cars, and together the two brands sold about 7.85 million of them. The LTD added a convertible for 1971 and 1972; Chevrolet moved its big convertible to the Caprice Classic from 1973 to 1975.

Downsizing: Chevrolet first

General Motors shrank its big cars for 1977. The new Caprice lost up to 395 kg, its axles moved closer together, to a 2,946 mm (116 in) wheelbase, while the magazine Motor Trend chose it as its car of the year. Ford answered two years later: the 1979 Panther-platform LTD lost about 380 mm of length and over 315 kg compared with the 1978 car. Engines were modest by then: Chevrolet's 305 V8 delivered 108 kW (145 hp), while Ford's standard 302 V8 (5.0 litres) gave 101 kW (137 PS) in the version sold in Germany in 1981.

Different endings

Chevrolet built 2,881,871 Caprices of the 1977–1990 generation, against 758,513 Panther-platform LTDs from 1979 to 1982. For 1983 Ford moved the LTD name to a mid-size Fox-platform sedan, which ranked third in American car sales in 1983 and 1984; the big car carried on as the LTD Crown Victoria. The LTD ended after 1986. The Caprice stayed full-size, received the 194 kW (260 hp), 447 Nm LT1 V8 in 1994, and the last one left Arlington, Texas, on 13 December 1996.

Police and collectors

The Caprice 9C1 of 1986 became a standard police car, and in 1990 it swept every one of the six Michigan State Police test categories. The rarest LTD is the LX of 1984–1985, a sporty sedan powered by the 5.0 V8; Ford confirmed 5,287 were built. In the 1996 model year the base Caprice sedan listed at US$29,045.