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The Ford LTD was a car model name that has been used by the Ford Motor Company in North America. The LTD designation is considered by some an abbreviation of "Luxury Trim Decor" and by others as a limited body style classification for the Galaxie. There is evidence that, at least in Australia, it originally stood for "Lincoln Type Design." The original "Car Life" review at the time the first LTD was released suggests that it stood for nothing and was just three meaningless letters. A range of cars wore the LTD badge from 1965 to 1991 in the United States. The LTD debuted as the highest trim level on the 1965 full-size Ford range under the name Galaxie 500 LTD and became its own series for the first time in 1967. The Galaxie name continued for the lower levels until 1974. In 1977, the name was used on two different cars. The full-size LTD continued, but a rebodied version of the Ford Torino was sold as the LTD II. Both offered coupe, sedan, and wagon body styles. This arrangement continued until the standard LTD was moved to the Panther platform in 1979. In 1983, the LTD was again split into two separate lines, with the LTD Crown Victoria remaining full-size and the LTD name placed on a mid-size car based on the Fox platform. The smaller LTD continued in sedan and station wagon forms through 1986, overlapping slightly with the first model year of the Ford Taurus in 1986, the car that became its successor. |