(first posted 8/16/2017) Brougham fever was virulent in 1966 at Ford, and the results speak for themselves. Who needs rear side windows anyway? Despite the fact that switching to a four passenger format in 1958 was the key breakthrough for T Bird sales, Ford knew that many lovers of the ’55-’57 T Birds were never quite resigned to that fact. So Ford kept placating them in ways to make the Flair Bird look more like a two passenger car, like this 1966 Town Landau. Convincing?
The previous effort was the Sports Roadster, essentially a fiberglass tonneau cover over the rear seats with built in headrests, available on the previous generation Bullet Bird. It sold in very modest numbers then, but there’s more than ever nowadays.
For 1966, Ford offered the new “Town” hardtop as an alternative to the traditional hardtop, which didn’t exactly have much of a rear side window to start with. I found the new roof style jarring and inharmonious in the fall of 1965 when I first saw it. The huge C Pillar and that curve in the trailing upper edge of the door glass just didn’t work for me. It still doesn’t, but then I hadn’t yet come down with Brougham fever. Well, I never did, for that matter. Maybe because I was a foreigner, and had natural immunity?
The vinyl roof and fake landau bars of the Town Landau worked even less for me.
But I was a sucker for the T Bird’s interior, and had been ever since I first saw a Bullet Bird shortly after arriving in the US in the fall of 1960. I absolutely loved it. Frankly, the Overhead safety Panel was a lot more sizzle than steak, with a quartet of warning lights. That’s ok; at least the T Bird hadn’t succumbed to Brougham Fever on the inside; yet. It was still early 60s style, with thin, sporty bucket seats and lots of bright work and space-age influence. That all changed quickly starting in 1967; ’66 was the last year I could still muster some enthusiasm for the T Bird’s interior.
It’s hard to think of a more appealing interior; the ’63 Riviera comes close, but I have to give the nod to the T Bird.
But back on the outside, that Town Landau just doesn’t cut it. And this one is sporting that same color combo that afflicted 83% of every car coming out of Detroit between 1966 and 1970. The effect is to make it look much less exclusive.
Brougham Fever’s first symptoms invariable manifest themselves on the roof and C Pillar, and the Thunderbird is no exception. Poor thing; it wouldn’t recover until 1983.
I think the T-Bird lost its way until the retros came out in the early to mid-’00s. There were periods in the ’70s when the model was not much more than a tarted up Torino. Of course, that was the ’70s when cynicism was Job 1 across the U.S. automotive industry.
I’d still take one, anyway. I love this vintage of Thunderbird.
While I really liked the hardtop of 1964, 1965, and 1966, I really liked the Town Hardtop of 1966 and still do. To me, it just seemed to work. The large C pillar gives the rear seat area a sort of limousine look, but still sporty. The horizontal Tbird emblem and the long lower chrome strip on the C pillar matched the horizontal body side sculpting lines – especially when the fender skirts were installed. The top of the roof was also very slightly bubbled on the Town Hardtop, which somehow contrasted and looked nice with the linear body lines. I did however, miss the chrome treatment of the rear interior air exhaust vents under the rear window (although chrome would have clashed with the Town Hardtop’s roof lines). I also missed the interior changes that did away with the bright garnish molding trim and very cool looking aluminum trim on the door panels – both eliminated in the 1966 Town Hardtop. I much prefer the top to be metal vs the Landau’s vinyl and Landau bar. Below is my 1966 Town Hardtop, a car that I dreamed of owning when I was in High School.
Count me in as another fan of the ’66 Town hardtop. The S-bar and vinyl of the Landau do not help the styling one bit.
I think that Ford was very clever in releasing the Thunderbird Landau. Some people liked it, some didn’t, but there were other Thunderbirds for those who didn’t. As I see it, they were laying out a look for people to get used to because they knew that they were going to introduce a 4 door Thunderbird in 1967 that used the vinyl roof and Landau bar to hide the cut line for the back door.
I had one about 30 years ago.One of the best cars I`ve ever owned.Only drawback was the blanked out rear side windows. I`m claustrophobic, and I couldn`t even sit in the back seat of my own car! But that spaceship interior……ooooh baby! I had a `64 Riviera ant the T Bird`s interioir was light years ahead of it. This was the last good year for the T Bird. After this model, the `67s and later just never really did it, especially the four door, but thats another story.
In the late fifties and early sixties T-Bird fans always hoped for a sporty T-Bird, a reborn small two seater after the small mid fifties 2 seater Birds, perhaps Paul, this Sports Roadster TV ad was a way to placate that wish, but the Landau Bird described in the ad really pointed the opposite way, the ultimate planned way, to the future production 1966 Town Landau. Ultimately Luxury trumped Sport as the T-Bird’s future, because as bank robber Willie Sutton once said, “That’s where the money was”.
One way or another, those 1958 to 1966 T-Birds had a look of personal luxury vehicle and they were. Then they ruined it, as far as I’m concerned, by enlarging the vehicle into a tank. My cousin’s father has a 1959 T-Bird loaded. White interior, white exterior and a nice ride. Great cars for the looks and some features, too. I think that in 1958 they introduced a sun roof option. The last production American vehicle with that feature, that I remember, was the De Soto taxicab prior to 1953 with the “Sky View” feature for the passengers seated in the rear.
The sun roof option was offered for 1960. I believe it was gone for 1961.
“Then they ruined it, as far as I’m concerned, by enlarging the vehicle into a tank. ‘
Agree wholeheartedly.
I love the Flair Birds in any iteration, but the regular hardtop really does have a sleekness to it that was lost on the “Town” versions. That giant C pillar makes the whole car look so much heavier and less agile, and with the addition of the vinyl top treatment and Landau bars it just adds even more bulk and weight to an otherwise beautiful design. To me it looks like an afterthought that clashes with the original design ethos.
I remember how these severely low slung and overweight cars bottomed out all the time.
I loved them growing up but I now see them w/ a more jaundiced eye. It looks like all were JC Whitney Editions w/ all the gimmicks troweled on.
I submit the 1963 Grand Prix had a nicer interior and exterior.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8422/7849010660_69ee4d03cf_b.jpg
1963 Grand Prix interior:
No question about it, that is a beautiful interior!
Agree. I’m a huge fan of the 63 GP. One of the classics.
I´ve pictured one of this last year in Salt Lake City, UT, but it was in a dark green shade. Very beautiful car.
I agree that Ford really nailed the interior of these Flair Birds. They look high quality (even up close), even though I’m sure they are not.
Agree with others on the Space Age interior of the Flair Bird. That ‘thermometer’ speedometer, along with the tilt-away steering wheel (which was technically an option but I don’t think there were many that came without it), were the essence of personal luxury.
Although I like the styling of the ’65 better, I’d have to go with the ’66 for the upgrades (disc brakes and 428 engine). I’d pass on the Landau but take a hardtop or, better still, a convertible.
I didn’t know the town hardtop could be had without the vinyl and landau bars, every one I ever saw with that roofline has them I absolutely despise landau bars, they belong on a hearse, not a car. I don’t particularly mind it as presented in the brochure though, in fact I may prefer it just out of obscurity.
Other than that, Flair birds used to me my least favorite classic Tbird’s when I was a kid, my ranking was bullet – 2 seater – square bird – flair bird. Now they’re my favorite, the chiseled bodylines, the wide taillights, and of course the interiors – which may have been the primary factor for my change of heart – all speak to my sensibilities more than the rest. 66 was the best year IMO, the thin Mustang like front bumper and full width taillights really completed the look.
As a kid I liked these a lot in comparison with everything newer. But I can see now that I prefer the traditional hardtop on this style.
I still see something to love about the interior of the 67 that had not yet succumbed to full-on brougham. But that 64-66 interior is really hard to beat.
Wow CC effect, the Packard post WRT “Drunky” got me to looking for some of his movies online today. And I find this!
Another that didn’t know there was a town hardtop that was available without a vinyl roof and/or landau roof bars….I can’t recall ever seeing one.
This always struck me as Ford trying to get one more year out of a rapidly aging design. Perhaps instead of (re)using the triangular rear side windows for one more year….or no windows, they might have tried using a rectangular side window.
And I also consider this “no rear side window” look the beginning of all the domestic carmakers throwing those wide roof pillar designs with their teeny “opera” windows at customers….as if rear side windows were an accessory and not a near necessity.
Just a thought: imagine this car with a rear side window treatment like that used on mid 70s Impalas and Caprices.
Personally I think this roof style works better with the skirts
And the regular roof works better without them.
Yes, I’d want to be able tom open the rear windows.
First, I love this example, it is gorgeous, and the owner can be proud. The color combo, while fairly common in its time, still holds up very well today.
Having owned a ’63-’65 era Riviera (’65), and test driven a few Flair Birds, I’d give the nod to the Buick as technically the better car on several fronts, including the interior. The Buick, with copious wood veneer, was Danish Modern to the Thunderbird’s…..lounge lizard? The rear seat is fantastic, but perhaps it’s kinship with Matt Helm’s 1966 Mercury Colony Park has influenced me too much. And, GM was generally ahead of Ford with AC integration and the GM Tilt Steering wheel made more sense than Ford’s Swing-Away. The demise of Swing-Away after 1966 speaks for itself. The Riv’s dash design was also more cohesive, and while console mounted power window controls are cool, the armrest mounted controls on the Riviera’s deluxe interior were also more functional.
That said, if I were to go back to owning another car in this class, the Flair Bird would be at the top of my list. It is a fantastical FoMoCo product, perhaps the logical successor to the gadget laden Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, with a lot of ’60s style thrown in. How wonderful is that?
I’m with Paul that the traditional hardtop works better, and these cars never quite look right to me without the fender skirts. If a vinyl top ever worked on a car, these cars may be the best. It would not be the full mid ’60s luxury experience without one.
Getting back to Mr. Helm…………
The Swing-Away didn’t really go away after ’66, it was just integrated into the tilt column so it both. It did go away for good after ’69, not compatible with a column mounted ignition, at least not at a reasonable cost, evidently.
The Swing away was a great idea before someone came up with the competing idea for a tilting column. It was simply necessary for reasonable entry and exit from my 61 TBird because of the wheel’s closeness to the seat cushion. But the tilt column proved to be both simpler and more useful.
Half a century later, the wheels seem comically tiny for such a heavy car. Only slightly disguised by the white side walls.
Wonder if T-bird has a higher than average percentage of customers among jetliner pilots.
The ’66 is on my bucket(seat) list, but preferably in pale yellow with a white top and a 390. And when the top is down, who cares if the c column ate the b column.
I saw that exact car in town yesterday (excepting a 428, I asked the owner as he drove next to me). I like the regular hardtop roof best, but this was still a beautiful car.
Changing lanes and parking one of these must have very difficult with the giant blind spot caused by the C pillar and no passenger side rear view mirror.
Not nearly as bad as a new Camero.
Even the older Camaro’s were hard to see out the back of. Mine was a “95”.
That’s what I noticed. The only chance you had for merging to the right would be to floor it to pass whatever might be lurking over your blind shoulder.
Absolutely, especially if the car had a black interior like mine.
I’m not objective as back in the day our 65 Thunderbird truly was a COAL for me. Our car was quite simple – beige over an all beige interior with no vinyl top. I still think the 65 was the cleanest of the 64-66 T-Birds and it was a great model year: sequential turn signals and front disc brakes were introduced. You could sit in the “cocktail lounge” rear seat and see out and roll down the window. I love the 63 Grand Prix, especially the exterior styling, but I sure don’t see the interior as truly unique as was that of the 64-66 T-Bird.
I did not like the changes for 66 then and still don’t as I was never a fan of the town hardtop style, nor did I care for the busy wheel covers, full-width taillight, or upholstery pattern on the 66. In the following years I pretty much lost interest in Thunderbird as the car became less and less distinctive and the Lincoln Mark series replaced it as Ford’s prestige coupe.
I submit my 1966 Town Landau in Silver Mink. A rich light color also used in the interior. This is a “Q” code (428ci.or if you prefer, 7 litre) V-8. Have always liked the ‘Flairbirds”.
A blind-quarter, four passenger coupe was meant to evoke the pre-war coach-built faux cabriolet classic, to a degree even the blind-quarter convertible victoria classic. It was considered among the most luxurious body styles then. It wasn’t an unexpected style to re-appear on the T-Bird, Ford revived the vinyl roof with landau bars decorations on the Landau hardtop for 1962. A blind-quarter version was simply the next step, apparently a very profitable one too.
My bucket list car would be a ’66 convertible with the tonneau cover. OOOOH! Those full width sequential tailights!!! 🙂
i never liked the Town Landau (and Town Hardtop) designs when they debuted in 1966. Much prefer the Hardtop with the quarter windows. Agree that the Flair Birds had one of the coolest interiors of all time.
Ugh, those ludicrous “landau bar” things on the sail panels. The panels would look even more ungainly/chunky without them, I suppose, but nevertheless: pukeworthy!
In a way, these last flare birds remind me of the ’61-’62 Corvette or the ’77-’78 Fury/Monaco: As noted above, trying to get those last years out of a design that time had passed by – the smoother grille, that curve in the roof Paul sharply noted.
But the interiors were gorgeous, and these were the last Birds that could really make a claim to be a luxury option.
New for ’66! Ford Padded C-Pillar!*
* comes standard with small Thunderbird attachment, not sold seperately.
Execrable.
Though I have to say again from the non-US perspective, the very overdone-ness of it, the extravagance of the huge, low n’ wide 2-door car generally has a glamour ’60’s technicolour appeal. I’d watch movies made from the time, and the characters would just turn up in these machines as easy as you like, so much milk and honey that this was mere transportation, not a thing to be gawked at and commented upon.
My dad went from a leaky Lincoln convertible to a ’59 “square bird”, traded up to ’64 cream hard top with the rear window when I was 4.
He traded it for ’66 Landau, which was delayed in delivery, and we got a week’s time in the early LTD. No T-Bird, that.
Then the ’66 rolled up, in a new gorgeous maroon color that to this day is a preferred color on luxury marques, It had that padded black landau roof, a precursor to the madness of vinyl roofs a decade later. The interior was remarkably similar to ’64, except I lost my little rear power window, and the ’66 had an 8-track deck. It felt revolutionary to be able to bring your own music on trips. But I remember how it looked at night with all the interior lights glinting off the chromework, and remains the most interesting and beautiful interior of any car we ever owned.
I do remember at age 6 thinking “hearse” when I saw that roofline. After 8 years, the headliner started collapsing, the maroon paint dulled, and wiring issues began to crop up. The post ’66 T-birds went from statements of individuality to fodder for the grandpas looking to trade their Coupe d’Ville. No thanks. Instead, my dad swapped it for a ’74 Camaro Type LT instead that was the most shoddily assembled car we ever had and when cold would stall repeatedly from its heavy pre-catalyst emissions controls. Always looking for affordable style, he was driving a Purple Haze Nissan 240X when he died at age 85 in 2001.
I quite liked the body style of these, and built an AMT model of a convertible. However, now knowing that they were 2 tons, I cannot fathom how a car of this proportions got to be so overweight. A mid 3000 pound range would have made it much more nimble, and responsive.
The sequential turn signals were very eye catching.
During the fifties and sixties car manufacturers touted “road hugging weight” as a plus. The more weight the better, so the car could “hug the road”. It’s amazing what utter nonsense the manufacturers put forth back then, and the consumer believed. An uncle always bought Buicks because of his belief they were made with heavier gauge steel. Efficiency of operation was never mentioned by the Big Three. That was left to the weird independents, like Studebaker and later Rambler. IIRC Studebaker designer Raymond Loewy had a sign in his office proclaiming “weight is the enemy”.
I had this model in dark blue with a black top and black leather interior. One of the best cars I` ve ever owned. But since I`m claustrophobic and fear small, dark places and things like caves , tunnels, closes and elevators, It was impossible for me to sit in the back seat of my own car.
Try the back seat of a “70’s, era “Datsun B210”.. Now that was a “claustrophobic space”!!
The Australian Ford Landau used a similar method with its vinyl covered roof, removing the rear window and increasing the size of the C pillar, the interior on the Landau was arguably the best of any locally made car of that era.
The roofline recalls some of the four-seat cabriolets of old: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet C (left); 1950 Jaguar Mark V Drophead Coupé (DHC) (centre) & 2020 Alvis TB60 DHC (continuation) (right).
Very true.
Also in the late 40s the custom car culture filled rear windows as shown on this 1940 Ford. But I think your examples are more inspiring maybe for the designers..
but the Carson top certainly inspired some people. 1940 Mercury with ’37 DeSoto bumpers, flipper hubcaps and Carson top.
I think you’re onto something with the Carson top analogy. For the time, it wasn’t bad. But the update just doesn’t do it for me.
I’ll take my FlairBird with the standard, quarter window hardtop.
It took me a while to understand that this roof was an actual option. I originally thought that someone with bad taste decided to hack up a roof like that. But then I was living in the 1970s when bad taste came free of charge and not optional.
I was age 12, Dad took me car shopping 1963. He thought he wanted a 1963 Ford 500 XL I wanted the 1963 T-Bird hardtop in the showroom, and that is what Dad bought.
My history with T-Birds is long.. Age six,, beautiful red-hair neighbor ‘Penney’ had a pink 1957 T-Bird and would take me to school top-down. Dad had an affair with Penny and parents divorced 1959, Mom got all the family cars and we moved to San Francisco in our 1955 Olds Starfire conv.. Mom sold the Starfire for a 1960 T-Bird convertible.
I grew up in the backseat of convertibles. without seatbelts.
Moving foreword, my parents remarried each other, the 1963 T-Bird was given to me on my 16th birthday early 1967 .
Again, Dad took me car shopping 1965. Dad thought he wanted a new Mustang, but bought a 1966 T-Bird Town Landau. A few years later the 1966 Town Landau became my car.
I was there, back in the day, and know what it was like to drive a new 1966 T-Bird @ 95 mph.
I currently have a restored 1966 T=Bird conver4tible. Regardless how much money I through at this car, it will never drive like a new 1966 T-Bird.