I have a confession to make: I thought the rarest Ford Torino ever built was the Gran Torino made famous by Starsky and Hutch. I was wrong. So wrong that I owe every Ford historian a firm handshake and an apology. The actual rarest Torino rolled off the line in 1970, two years before Ford even bothered to introduce the Gran Torino nameplate. Only 90 examples were ever made. It was called the 1970 Ford Torino Twister Special, and unless you were shopping for a Ford in the Midwest during the peak muscle car years, you probably never heard of it. I hadn't. Now I can't stop thinking about it. 🌪️

What on Earth Is a Torino Twister Special?

The Twister Special was built for the Kansas City ordering district. Some reports say it was exclusive to dealers in and around Kansas City, Kansas, but the district served other cities and states as far away as Arkansas. Exact locations are murky. What we know for sure is that Ford made 90 of them, and they were intended as promotional pieces, or halo cars, more than actual sales models. It was created alongside a Mustang Twister Special, which is another glorious slice of Midwest-only weirdness.

Ford's big idea was simple. You would hear about this Ford Torino Cobra down at the local dealership, a machine that delivers 370 horsepower and can do zero-to-sixty in just six seconds, and you would say, 'this, I gotta see.' And you would go. And you would probably buy a wagon instead because your spouse was standing next to you. But the Twister Special was the bait. Only 30 of the 90 came with a 4-speed manual transmission, which means the other 60 were for people who liked their tornadoes with an automatic. No judgment. Okay, a little judgment.

It Drove Like a Tornado, Apparently

Driving a Torino Twister Special was described as a 'unique' experience. That is car-guy code for 'hang on and pray.' The car didn't have power brakes or power steering. Getting behind the wheel felt a bit like throwing a harness on a twister and trying to ride it like a horse. It literally drove like a tornado. I have never driven one, but I have driven a go-kart with a stuck throttle, so I feel qualified to nod knowingly.

Here's a quick spec table based on the mass-market 1970 Torino and auction listings. The Twister Special hasn't been extensively tested because, well, there are barely any left. But it likely showed improvements over even the best-equipped Torinos, thanks to a Rochester four-barrel carb and a 3.50 Traction-Lok differential.

Looks That Only a Midwestern Dealer Could Love

The Twister Special didn't just drive like no other Torino. It looked like no other Torino, either. It came standard with a rear spoiler and a lip spoiler. It had a cartoony Twister Special logo sticker on the back right and left panels, which is basically the Tasmanian Devil to the Plymouth Road Runner's cartoon Road Runner. It had the usual Cobra branding on the doors and the rear. It had a louvered rear window. And it was painted in a flashy Calypso Coral red that screamed, 'I am a promotional gimmick, and I am proud of it.' I would drive one to the grocery store just to watch people squint.

Where Did They All Go?

At present, only 29 of the 90 Ford Torino Twister Specials are accounted for. That makes it one of the rarest production muscle cars in the world, with less than a third of the original run still known to exist. The other 61? Gone. Poof. Maybe rusting in a barn. Maybe turned into a refrigerator. Maybe they are all in a secret Kansas garage, and nobody told me.

There are the usual reasons why these cars don't pop up on auction sites often. Muscle car owners in the 1970s loved to drive fast down dirt roads. They put a lot of wear and tear on their engines. The fact that any V8 produced from 1965 to 1975 is still with us today is a miracle. But the Torino Twister Special had an extra problem. As a gimmicky promotional car, it had very low resale value for the early decades of its life. While neighbors were buying brand new Ford Torino GTs, then Torino Sports, then Ford Elites that replaced the whole lineup, Twister Special owners were getting zero offers on their super-rare muscle cars. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

That meant owners had no reason not to customize them to the point where they weren't worth selling off. They had no reason not to scrap one for parts once the transmission was shot and their buddy's sedan needed a new alternator. Ouch. Every time I think about that, I have to lie down.

How much did the Twister Special cost new? We don't know. The exact MSRP isn't listed in any readily available Ford material, and auction listings won't say. A brand new 1970 Torino Cobra would cost you $3,270 to start with, so all we can estimate is more than that. In 2026, $3,270 sounds like a down payment on a mediocre used hatchback. Sigh.

These cars don't hit the market frequently enough to connect the dots, crunch the numbers, and give you an average sale price. But a listing posted on Mecum as part of the Indy 2024 Lot S32.5 estimated something in the range of $160,000 to $180,000. In 2026, I assume that number has either doubled or become irrelevant because nobody wants to sell. A car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but the scarcity of this piece of Ford history is impossible to deny.

Replicas, Diecast, and Barn Finds

As of 2026, searching for replicas and reproductions of the Ford Torino Twister Special turns up zilch. Nothing. M2 Machines produced a 1/64 scale toy model of the Mustang Twister Special as part of their Auto-Drivers line. They also produced a 1970 Ford Torino Cobra Custom that a skilled hand could modify to look just like a Twister Special. But the Ford Torino Twister Special remains so hard to find that it won't even turn up in diecast form on a list of rare and expensive Hot Wheels toys. That is a special kind of obscure.

If there's one cool thing about 61 of the 90 Ford Torino Twister Specials seeming to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, it's that there are still awesome barn finds to be made. You might never get the chance to hunt for buried pirate gold, but there are thousands of cars like the Torino Twister Special out there just waiting for someone to dust them off and bring them roaring back to life. 🌟

If you've got an uncle who used to tear it up at the quarter mile, a grandpa who sold cars in Minnesota for a few years back in the day, or a grandma with a wild streak, be a good niece, nephew, or grandkid. Help them clean out their garages, sheds, and backyards. Who knows what you might find? Maybe a Twister Special under a tarp. Maybe a nest of raccoons. Maybe both. Either way, wear gloves and bring a flashlight. 🔦

So that's the 1970 Ford Torino Twister Special: 90 made, 29 accounted for, zero power steering, and one very confused modern car enthusiast writing this. If you see one, call me. I'll bring a trailer, a bad back, and a wallet that is probably too small. The rarest Ford Torino ever built isn't the one from TV. It's the tornado you never heard of. 🌪️🏁