Big Mal tests LTD

In our Luxury Muscle piece we mentioned that Ford’s LTD Silver Monarch limousine, as released in September 1976, had been given an exclusive test-drive by no less than Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Peter Robinson, editor of Wheels magazine at the time, nominated this as the most memorable story he had written during his period at the magazine.

So what did Big Mal think of the car proposed by Ford as the one the Australian PM should have been using instead of that unpatriotic white Benz 450 SEL (previously chosen by Whitlam)?

The answer is in the December 1976 edition of Wheels.

“For 23 minutes, early one September morning, Australia’s Prime Minister drove the LTD around Canberra and talked cars,” writes Robbo, almost in disbelief that this had actually happened. The test began when the PM decided to try out the back seat.

Malcolm Fraser is a giant of a man and even inside Australia’s biggest locally-made sedan his head scraped the roof. He seemed disappointed by this.

Next he jumped into the driver’s seat and again found it cramped. He had to slide the seat back as far as it would go to adopt his preferred straight-arm style.

Then he fiddled with the air-con but nobody could work out a way to regulate the heater. So with the temp on maximum the PM and his three passengers departed The Lodge, turned left at Adelaide Avenue, then left again into Hopetoun Circuit. He gave it some stick but with four adults on board and the air-con raging he noted that performance wasn’t as sparkling as he thought. Nor was he impressed by the power steering.

“It’s not as light as I thought it would be, but  it’s still an easy car to drive,” he told Robinson in the back seat.

From then on the LTD was largely forgotten and the PM preferred to chat about Lancias (Fraser is a noted Lancia fan) until he returned to the Lodge and passed the keys back to Robinson.

“It’s quieter than the old car,” he summed up. “It’s rather a nice car.” But Robbo sensed that he was being polite.

He knew that Fraser simply wasn’t an LTD kind of guy.

“I’m sorry Ford, but he won’t be spending his money – as opposed to the taxpayer’s money – on an LTD,” writes Robinson.

“Not while there are Lancias in the world.”

Big car for Big Mal

As it happened, Prime Minister Fraser’s next choice of government vehicle was not the Ford LTD, nor an imported Mercedes, but a special 1976 CL Series Chrysler Regal, stretched by around a foot to give the extra tall PM room to sit in comfort.

This car was produced especially for the PM at the Chrysler factory at Tonsley Park in Adelaide, supposedly built in secret because of the unions’ hatred of Fraser’s policies. Rumour has it that Chrysler workers sabotaged another Regal thinking this was the one intended for Fraser.

Apart from the added length, this special vehicle included a 360ci V8 instead of the normal 318, and a 727 TorqueFlite transmission with stick shifter. It also had a second set of air-con controls in the back.

Fraser used the Regal from 1977 to 1979. Apparently he liked the car so much he later bought it for his personal use.

And, amazingly, it survives.

John Blackley, a Melbourne motor trader, bought it in the mid-1980s unaware of its history. He planned to strip it for its parts but when he realised its significance he decided to keep it. It was featured in 2003 in Eddie Ford’s Restored Cars magazine (Issue No. 161). Photos taken by Trevor Mein.