1970-1971 Mid Size Ford and Mercury Body Codes

There seems to be a lot of terminology floating around about body styles for the 70-71 mid size Ford and Mercury vehicles; 2 door sedan, formal roof, fastback, etc.  Many of the compatibility programs like the one used on eBay adds to the confusion.  For example, it does not differentiate between the 2 door sedan and 2 door fastback.  Here I go using inconsistent terminology!  To get the right parts for your car, it is important to know your body style.  I will use a real example.  I had a customer with a 2 door Torino that needed the chrome trim that surrounds the rear window.  The problem is there are two versions of 2 door Torinos with different rear window trims and he was not sure which car he had.  To solve this dilemma, we can go back to the Ford terminology for body styles or "body codes"

The third and fourth digit of your VIN is the body code.  The following is a breakdown of the body codes:

1970	1971	Body Code	Configuration
X	X	01	Montego 2 door hard top
X	X	02	Montego 4 door sedan
X	X	06	Montego 4 door sedan MX
X	X	07	Montego 2 door sedan MX
X	X	08	Montego station wagon
X	X	10	Montego 4 door sedan MX Grougham
X	X	11	Montego 2 door sedan MX Grougham
X	X	12	Montego 2 door hardtop MX Brougham
X	X	15	Cyclone 2 door hard top
X	X	16	Cyclone GT 2 door hard top
X	X	17	Cyclone Spoiler
X	X	18	Montego Station Wagon Wood rail
NA	X	25	Torino 2 door hard top
X	NA	26	Falcon 2 door sedan
X	NA	27	Falcon 4 door sedan
NA	X	27	Torino 4 door sedan
X	NA	28	Torino 4 door sedan 500
X	NA	29	Torino 2 door sedan 500
NA	X	30	Torino 2 door sedan 500
X	NA	30	Torino 2 door hard top
X	NA	31	Torino 4 door sedan
NA	X	31	Torino 4 door sedan 500
X	NA	32	Torino 4 door hardtop
NA	X	32	Torino 4 door hard top 500
X	X	33	Torino 2 door hard top Brougham
X	X	34	Torino 2 door hard top Fastback
X	X	35	Torino 2 door hard top Fastback GT
X	X	36	Torino 4 door hard top Brougham
X	X	37	Torino GT convetible
X	X	38	Torino 2 door fastback Cobra
X	X	40	Falcon Station wagon
X	NA	41	Torino Station wagon 500
X	X	42	Torino Station Wagon
X	X	43	Torino Station Wagon Squire
X	X	46	Ranchero
X	X	47	Ranchero 500
X	X	48	Ranchero GT
X	X	49	Ranchero Squire

I obtained this information from the Hollander interchange manual.  It is also available in the Ford Master Parts catalog.  As you can see, the codes are not completely consistent between 1970 and 1971.  I hope this gives some insight into the various body configurations of the 1970-1971 mid sized Fords.