Few will disagree that 1969 was a peak year during the muscle car era, but one car often gets lost among the Judges and COPOs and Road Runners: the 1969 Ford Torino GT. It lacks nothing — looks, performance, or rarity — compared to competitors, but somehow it lags behind in popularity. Our featured car shows this is not warranted.

The Torino GT can trace its existence to the introduction of the 1966 Fairlane GT. The Fairlane was all-new for 1966, and the GT was a new performance model that was advertised as being the recipe for cooking tigers (a reference to the GTO). However, the only engine available — a 335-horsepower 390 — was not up to snuff compared to several other performance power plants in the market. Strangely, for 1967, Ford downgraded the GT, making a 289 two-barrel the standard engine, and the now-optional 390 lost 15 horsepower on paper. Ford made an attempt to offer its mighty 427, but for some reason, it was not available with the GT model, though one seems to have been built among the 230 installed in regular Fairlanes.

Ford redesigned its mid-size series for 1968 and introduced a new name to sit at the top: Torino. It replaced the Fairlane 500/XL, though the Torino didn’t play the role of buckets-and-console model like the XL did. The successor to the Fairlane GT was the Torino GT, which continued offering a standard small-block but was available with up to 325 horsepower via the 390; a 427 was promised but didn’t materialize, though the new 428 Cobra Jet appeared in its place in April. Inside, you’d find a newly standard bench seat. The hardtop and convertible were joined by a fastback, which ended up being the most popular body style of all.

The usual model year updates for 1969 included new taillights (for the hardtop and convertible) and grille, new stripe for the fastback, and the introduction of a new 351 Windsor small-block that helped Ford with its performance stature. Another thing that improved Ford’s stature was the introduction of the Fairlane-based Cobra, available as a fastback (now marketed as “SportsRoof”) and hardtop. Developed to do battle against the Plymouth Road Runner, the Cobra came with a standard 428 Cobra Jet, with a ram air version available as a new option across the board among 1969 Fairlane/Torino/Ranchero models.

Both versions of the Cobra Jet could be equipped with the Drag Pack, a new, optional package with a more durable reciprocating assembly, 3.91 or 4.30 gears, and upgraded equipment, including external oil cooler, “Le Mans” connecting rods, crankshaft, flywheel, flexplate, and harmonic balancer with counterweight, among other items.

While Torino GT sales were robust — almost 82,000 built among three body styles — don’t forget that most were low-performance small-blocks. When it comes to the Torino GT convertible, 2,552 were built. When you factor in the Q-code 428 Cobra Jet (which is the CJ without ram air) and an automatic transmission, only 11 were built. Additionally, only 16 Torino GT convertibles built with the CJ featured the Drag Pack.

Even among those rarified cars, this one stands out as it was used as a pace and parade car at Mosport Park in Clarington, Ontario, Canada (if you think a pace car with 3.91 gears is strange, you’re not alone). After a year of duty, it was bought by a local drag racer named William Griffin, who kept it for several years before it went through several more owners before ending up sitting in a garage for over 20 years. Joseph II and Angela Micklos found and bought the car, sourced NOS and date-coded parts, then handed it over to Jason Billups of Billups Classic Car for the perfecto restoration you see here. This Torino GT made its debut at the 2025 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals.