Cars 196760S CarsCars I DRetro CarMcm AutomobileAutomobile AdvertisingAutomotive AdvertisementsAutomotive AdsDb Thunderbird 1967Forward1967 Ford Thunderbird 4-Door Landau. Owned a '68 just like this- it was kind of a mix of a lot of years- obviously not original. The fifth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a large personal luxury car that was produced by Ford for the 1967 to 1971 model years. This fifth generation saw the second major change of direction for the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird had fundamentally remained the same in concept through 1966, even though the styling had been updated twice. The introduction of the Ford Mustang in early 1964 had, however, challenged the Thunderbird's market positioning. It, like the Thunderbird, was a small, two-door, four-seater with sporting pretensions, but it was more affordable. The Thunderbird's sales suffered. Ford's response was to move the Thunderbird upmarket. For 1967 the Thunderbird would be a larger car, moving it closer to Lincoln as the company chose to emphasize the "luxury" part of the "personal luxury car" designation.
Ford chose to abandon the Thunderbird's traditional unibody construction for this larger car, turning to a body-on-frame method with sophisticated rubber mountings between the two to reduce vibration and noise. A new option was four small lights on the ceiling directly above the rear view mirror that lit up for emergency flasher use, low-fuel warning light, door-ajar light, and seat-belt reminder light. The convertible, increasingly a slow seller, was dropped in favor of a four-door model featuring suicide doors. It remained in the lineup through 1971 but never generated substantial sales. The new 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III was based on the four-door Thunderbird chassis, and from that point until the late Nineties, Thunderbirds and Continental Marks were generally related cars, the Thunderbird following the Mark's growth in popularity in the 1972 model year. The 1967 design was radically different from what came before. Ford's stylists delivered a radical shape that in many ways anticipated the styling trends of the next five years.
A gaping wide "fishmouth" front grille that incorporated hidden headlights was the most obvious new feature. The look was clearly influenced by the intakes on jet fighters such as the F-100 Super Sabre, and was enhanced by the flush-fitting front bumper incorporating the bottom "lip" of the "mouth". The sides were the barrel-like "fuselage" style that was very popular during this period. The belt line kicked up "coke-bottle" style after the rear windows, again a styling trait that would prove ubiquitous. Large C-pillars (and a small "formal" rear window on the 4-door) meant poor rear visibility but were the fashion of the time. The taillights spanned the full width of the car, and featured, as in previous Thunderbird models, sequential turn signals. The 1968 Thunderbird saw the introduction of the new 385 series big-block 429 cu in (7.0 L) V8 engines. Like most Ford motors of the time, they were tuned down to 360 hp (268 kW) for insurance reasons. The Thunderbird motors also got special treatment with wedge style heads, making a significant power increase over their conventional headed brothers.
These motors made the cars some of the quickest and fastest ever produced, despite their larger size and heavier body on frame construction. 1968 and 1969 model years saw minor trim changes respectively. In 1970 the Thunderbird was stylistically updated with the addition of a large, bird's beak-style projection out of its grille. Offered in coupe or sports-back models, all 1970-1971 Thunderbirds had prominent angular lines on the hood leading to a jutting tip, that also formed the center of the grill work, that was not a too thinly disguised bird beak. The T-bird for these two years had its most animalistic look that was fairly aggressive in appearance. Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen, the former GM man now President of Ford, is said to be responsible for this dramatic change,. As with the 1967-69 models, the 1970-71 models had sequential turn signals incorporated into the full panel tail lights in the rear of the vehicle. In 1971, Neiman Marcus offered "his and hers" Thunderbirds in its catalog, with telephones, tape recorders and other niceties.
They retailed for US$25,000 for the pair.Classifieds > Classic Cars > Ford > Thunderbird 378 ads foundDisplay only: current | 351 V8 ENGINE , 3-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, FACTORY AIR CONDITIONING, TILT WHEEL . 1961 FORD THUNDERBIRD HONEY BEIGE RUNS PERFECT NO ISSUES 390 W/ CAM. More money has been invested in... 1966 Ford Thunderbird Convertible all original. 428 cubic inch automatic transmission. This car is v... 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible all original. 312 cubic inch motor automatic transmission. Body off frame restored. We sold this car to the current owner 14 years ago. Call our sales team for more information about this car at (603) 818-8511 We take over 300+ picture... 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible (restored), comes with matching red hardtop, white convertible top... 1963 FORD THUNDERBIRD LOADED RUST FREE RED NONE NICER CRAWL UNDERNEATH --RUST FREE PAINT IS A 9 NO D... THIS CAR IS PHYSICALLY LOCATED IN HICKORY, NC * What we have here is a lovely example of a restor...
1962 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster Convertible. Finished in the original shade of Rangoon Red pai... 1956 Ford Thunderbird Convertible Barn Find. 312 V8, manual transmission. Two-seater Thunderbirds have been a staple of the hobby since, well, the very beginning. First generation T-Birds are all about style, and this 1957 Ford Thunderbird does it best with a met... These first-year T-Birds are always in demand, but if you're a true connoisseur, you'll want to make... 1955 FORD THUNDERBIRD CONVERTIBLE/ROADSTER..This Magnificent Southern Estate Classic is finished in ... 1965 FORD THUNDERBIRD CONVERTIBLE This Magnificent Example is finished in Stunning Raven Black with ... First generation T-birds are all about style, and this 1957 Ford Thunderbird does it the best. For many fans of the early Thunderbird, the '57 is the pinnacle of evolution. Learning from the prev... The 1955 Ford Thunderbird was a game-changer. Sure, the Corvette set the stage, but the Thunderbird ...
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