1967-1971 Ford Thunderbird
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The Ford Thunderbird is an automobile built in the United States and sold in the North American market. This article covers the fifth generation of Thunderbird, produced between 1967, facelifted in 1970, and replaced after the 1971 model year.
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Changes from previous generations
This fifth generation saw the second major change of direction for the Thunderbird. Having moved from being a two-seater quasi sports car in 1955-1957 to a four-seater personal luxury car in 1958, 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 (as a 1965 model) 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 substantially cheaper. 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 emphasise the "luxury" part of the "personal luxury car" designation. Other companies had already done the same; Buick's Riviera, in particular.
Mindful of the company's problematic experiences with the 1958 Lincolns, 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.
The convertible, increasingly a slow seller, was dropped. Instead, the company introduced something new to the market segment; a four-door model ("Fordor" in Ford parlance). Perhaps to emphasise the Thunderbird's closer ties to the Lincoln marque as it moved upmarket, the rear doors were backward-opening suicide doors as on the 1960s Lincoln Continental.
Styling
The 1967 styling would be 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 became so 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.
1967
1968
1969
1970
Ford-Thunderbird-'70.jpg
1971
References
- Automotive Mileposts on the 1967 (http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1967selections.shtml)
- Automotive Mileposts on the 1968 (http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1968selections.shtml)
- Automotive Mileposts on the 1969 (http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1969selections.shtml)
- Automotive Mileposts on the 1970 (http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1970selections.shtml)
- Automotive Mileposts on the 1971 (http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1971selections.shtml)