Ford P4 Landau and P5 LTD

By: Guy Allen, Photography by: Alastair Brook

Date: 07.05.2023

Here's the recipe: Grab your V8 GT driveline and build not one but two big luxo brues - 50 years on, owners reckon they nailed it

It’s 1973 – a half century ago – and Ford is launching a bold new luxury car line: the P4/P5 Landau and LTD. It’s a more ‘Australianised’ entry into the sector. We’re talking of a time when the locally-assembled Galaxie was being retired.

The inclusion of the Landau was perhaps the biggest surprise. It was done at the insistence of legendary Ford exec Bill Bourke, who had moved from Australia to an international post by the time the car was released.

Would you like two doors or four?

In the excellent reference book, Ford Australia – The Cars and the People Who Built Them, authors Michele Cook and Douglas Wallace wrote:

"Bourke’s influence had prevailed. He had always hankered after a luxury two-door, with the XB/ZG range he got it. Ford went upmarket again with not only the Custom and Fairlane 500, but now with the LTD; the four-door P5 LTD and on Bourke’s insistence, a two-door P4 Landau.

| Read next: Ford P4 Landau review

Can’t believe 50 years have passed since its launch

"The P4/P5 LTDs were designed as though they were bespoke vehicles.

"Leather, carpet and woodgrain was everywhere…"

However the series was built on more than emotion – this was after all a business. David Ford, who was in the company’s product planning department and became its Chief Engineer, was interviewed for Shannons’ Design to Driveway series (Vol 3, by David Burrell): "There were impending changes to local vehicle content rules and import tariff regulations and when combined with exchange rate fluctuations it was clear production of the Galaxie was in question.

Distinctive concealed headlights

"I calculated we should be able to create a long wheelbase car with a huge rear seat package and replace the Galaxie.

"We obviously could not afford a totally unique design but I thought we could use the Fairlane as a base…"

And the Landau? Brian Rossi, Ford design manager, commented in Vol 2 of the Design to Driveway series: "The Landau was fairly straightforward. Given the cost restrictions we decided to make the rear quarter windows smaller to ensure it looked visually different to the (Falcon) coupe."

| 2023 Market Review: Falcon XA-XB GT/Landau/Goss/Cobra

Big V8 does the grunt work

Author Burrell in the same book notes: "Ford executives thought that the Landau would progress into a second series in line with the LTD and by January 1973 the design team had developed a prototype. It carried the P6 ‘Rolls-Royce’ style grille and squared-off rear fenders."

With some 1385 units sold in three years, the Landau struggled to justify a second generation and was dropped. The LTD meanwhile saw 7003 produced from 1973 to 1976.

Wheels magazine featured both the P5 LTD and P4 Landau in a release story for its August 1973 edition. The headline said it all: "Look out Mercedes, here comes Ford’s opulent twins."

Ford targeted the Mercedes-Benz 280 series and Jaguar XJ6 in its sales material, seeing an opportunity for aspirational sales. The extra room afforded by the long wheelbase of the LTD (up from the Fairlane 2946 to 3071mm – or by five inches in old measure) was ‘spent’ increasing room for the rear passengers, facilitated by longer doors and a modified turret. This was a practice coincidentally used by Benz across the years, when turning an SE model into an SEL.

Inside, the designers threw everything at these cars to make the owners feel good. Options were minimal, as they came equipped with pretty much anything you could hope for – acres of plush upholstery, a truly stunning instrument ‘cockpit’ for the driver and a centre console boasting a row of ancillary controls that gave the whole thing an aircraft feel. Even today, that environment has owners hooked.

| Buyer's Guide: 1976-1979 Ford LTD P6

Aussie designed and built. A great first effort

The big difference between fittings for the LTD and Landau (aside from the legroom and number of doors!), was the rear seat. In the LTD, you got a nicely-sculptured bench with a drop-down centre armrest, while the Landau was strictly a four-seater with rear buckets.

Let’s not forget the hidden or ‘pop-up’ headlights, behind twin doors. It was a feature more familiar to USA Mercury owners of the period than Australians and was controversial among staffers involved in the project. Today, owners love them as another feature that make the cars distinctive.

This was a whole lot more than a dress-up exercise. Under the panels you scored a driveline similar to an XB GT, with a 2V 351 V8 (claiming 290 horses), FMX auto transmission and nine-inch diff. That lot was pulled up with what was for the time a premium set of four-wheel disc brakes by PBR with ventilated units on the front.

Wheels mag ran a test of the Landau in January 1974 and commented: "Handling is easy with power everything and it’s a simple car to drive. Roadholding with the big rubber is also excellent, considering the Landau’s intended role and we doubt if it will get customers into trouble. In most circumstances it’s a mild understeerer that simply goes in the direction in which it is pointed."

V8 almost looks small in there

Of course you paid premium prices for all this gear. A fully-optioned Landau would set you back $7450, an LTD a few hundred more, while an XB GT hardtop auto was more like $5600. A lot of money for the luxo pair, but still only a little over half the cost of the rival Jaguar or Benz.

For the time, the P4/P5 pairing offered big bang for the buck, which seemed to become a bit of a theme for Aussie cars across the decades. And 50 years down the track, they seem to be making a whole new generation of owners very happy…

BLAIR GIBSON - 1975 LTD

Vinyl top screams premium

You might be familiar with this scenario: Blair admits to buying a project car and, some way down the track, realises he’s bitten off a whole lot more than he wants to chew. It was soon off-loaded and he went hunting for something that was ready to roll.

"It’s a mid-1990s resto and has held up extremely well. I bought it from a guy in Langwarrin who did the work and was a mechanic. He did the engine, winder motors, everything…then he didn’t drive it much.

Velour and wood trim, classy

"When I first saw it, there was not even a stone chip, but an inch of dust on top when we opened the garage. I saw the tail-light lenses first and know how rare they are."

For him the whole LTD thing started when he was a kid. "As a child, friends of ours had a P6. I fell in love with the controls on the console as it looked like an aircraft.

Aussie designed and built. A great first effort

"And then I loved the cockpit feel of the P5, the dash is just awesome. Those two things and the pop-up headlights do it for me. It’s unique – no other car had them and they’re an Australian car."

CHARLIE SCICLUNA - 1973 LANDAU

Distinctive concealed headlights

"I bought it in 2020 from Canberra and couldn’t really drive it because of Covid. It was painted Port Wine when I bought it, and then I pulled the carpet and discovered that wasn’t the original colour.

"The vinyl roof was peeling from the back and, when you lifted it, there was rust – let’s find a panel beater. I stripped it down to a shell, they gave it back to me eight months later. Wild violet was the original colour with a white roof. There were six made in that combination.

"I went through the whole lot mechanically. Every nut and bolt. Restored or new old stock. The engine is now a 393, still matching numbers, and I’ve kept the original crank, rods and heads.

"Why a Landau? They were unique. I like the dash and controls on the console and the pop-up headlights. They nailed it.

"I took it to Mildura last year for a hardtop anniversary and it drove fantastic."

Charlie with his pristine Landau 

The G-G Limo

What you're looking at is most likely the LTD dedicated for the use of former Governor General Sir John Kerr, who was in the office 1974-77.

It’s owned by John Tsatsakis, who is in the throes of nailing down its history and bringing it back to its former glory. Hopefully we’ll get to bring you the full story some time in the future.

John is involved with the Ford P5 and Landau (Australian) Facebook group and was generous enough to arrange the owners and cars for this story.

He and others are working on an event to celebrate 50 years of the series, set for June 24 in Melbourne. Join the group for updates.

From Unique Cars #477, April 2023

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