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In 1979, Ford did what 2 years earlier they’d claimed wasn’t a good idea: downsized their full-size vehicles. When GM downsized their full-size lineup (including the LTD’s rival Caprice Classic) to mid-size exterior proportions for the 1977 model year, Ford scoffed, claiming such a smaller full-size vehicle would turn off buyers. LTD & Mercury Marquis ads boasted the “road-hugging weight” of their larger vehicles, but in what many consider a foreshadowing of what was coming, Ford offered the LTD II, a refreshed Torino with LTD-like styling to appease those who might prefer the smaller full-size feel. Shocked by GM’s sales figures proving their move correct, Ford finally introduced their downsized full-size lineup for the 1979 model year, touting the all-new 1979 Ford LTD as “a new American road car engineered for today’s driving”….