I’m still trying to catch up with Ralf K’s Cohort postings. Here’s a couple of related ones, inasmuch as they both have the same rather unusual door configuration. Here’s a well-worn ’69 Thunderbird.
And a ’64 Continental. Needless to say, these four door T-Birds couldn’t hold a candle to the Conti. Even in nice condition.
You are correct saying that, but the tbird is far more exclusive. for every 30 contis you see you may see one tbird…………………………maybe. I’ve always been the one that goes to the left if everyone else goes to the right. i’ll take the bird!!!
++1
Last I ever saw a 4 door Thunderbird was about 1984. Very rare I am sure. But, being a life long fan of Thunderbirds circa 1957 to 1970, and the 1978/79, I was almost in tears when I saw the first 4 door when they came out! To me it was sacrilege! I would have been less upset I think if they made a 4 door Mustang station wagon with a roof rack, and fake wood grain sides! Now, in my golden years, I really wouldn’t mind having one 🙂 Go figure
I shot this ’68 T Bird some years ago using the Blackberry I had then. Seeing this ’69 made me realize that the 4 door model of the bird must be quite rare. Unusual about my find is that the license plate indicates it is still registered to the original owner, or at least the person who owned it in 1973 when Ontario first switched to the three letter – three number system.
Here’s a 1960 Thunderbird with an original owner’s N.J. license plate! The 1960 plate is still legal and binding, and the car is still on the road. The series started in 1959 with AAA-000. Could be the oldest license plate in use on its original car.
Spotted in Boonton, New Jersey, 2017.
Wow!! That’s actually really impressive. I’d love to hear tales of adventures from the owner about when this car was new.
Side view…
This view highlights my dislike for this generation Thunderbird, it looks like a typical late 60s/early 70s sedan from the side. A jet intake nose, a still nice interior(at least on the early ones) just can’t overcome the growing anonymity the Thunderbird had from this generation and through the 70s. Though, I do appreciate the novel touch of hiding the door cutline under the landau bar. Problem is I despise landau bars regardless.
The Tbird was so odd in he heirachy at this point, from my point of view the 58-66 not only stepped on Mercury’s toes, but we’re straight up Lincoln like – they were the in the niche the Mark III would be, before the Mark III – but then the 67 comes along and now it’s trying to ape the Continental? It just didn’t translate, it was gauche fighting sophistication. Both styles can stand up on their own, but not together, and it compromised this whole generation, and the Thunderbird nameplate as a whole. And by the time the Mark III actually came out soon after it obsoleted the Thunderbird completely, the revived Mark series picked up exactly where the 66 Tbird left off.
They’re almost in the market segment a Lincoln Capri or Premiere would’ve been in had there been one after 1960, competing against the Cadillac Series 62.
The sad thing is that the 4 door Bird is both better looking and more interesting than the 2 door Bird.
Ahh, the Thunderbird and the Corvette. Both were products of the same time, and both tried to fulfill the same niche originally. Both ended up upsetting the apple cart for the respective companies, too. The Corvette, in my opinion, should have never been a Chevrolet.The same could be argued that the Thunderbird should not have been a Ford. Chevrolet and Ford were the low price brands. Neither car was really a low price brand car. The Corvette would have been a good choice as an Oldsmobile or Buick, even a Cadillac, as it was not really in line with the rest of the Chevy lineup. A Thunderbird as a Lincoln, or at least a Mercury, would have made more sense, price wise. Had neither been assigned to the low price brand, how much more would they have been developed, and how might they have served the other brand? That said, at least GM kept the Corvette on target. Ford treated the TBird as the catchall for whatever was in vogue at the time. I guess that is why the Corvette is still alive and the Thunderbird is only a memory.
Hmmm, never thought of it that way, but you do make a logical point. Thanks.
The Thunderbird started out with a Ford dashboard, steering wheel, headlight surrounds and tail lights, which also defined some of its shape. The ’57 restyle used ’57 Ford tail lights and similar fins slanting out above them. So it started out as definitly a Ford and when it turned into a 4 seat car continued on as a Ford. And Ford all along used the Thunderbird as a halo car to sell the reguar ones –
Thunderbird V8 power etc.
The ’61 and even the following Squarebird continued the tradition. When they went to body on frame the deal was thrown away. Like the Continental over the years, it was watered down to a nothing but a name.
While the Thunderbird had Ford DNA and mostly used Ford parts, so did every Mercury and Lincoln. As such, it would have not been a stretch for this to have a slightly different grille and taillight treatment and have been called a Mercury or Lincoln. Ford never really had different engineering teams for all lines, and Edsel was a slightly later attempt at what would have branched the company into 2 styling and engineering divisions, Ford and MEL (Mercury/Edsel/Lincoln) with different bodies and engines. GM had more defined separate engineering and styling teams for each marque even though they may use similar bodies and components through the 60s. Remember that the Y Block was used in all FoMoCo lines, while Olds, Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac all had slightly different engines. Had the Corvette been sold as the Oldsmobile F-88 or Pontiac Bonneville Special, as prototypes were made of each, it may have taken on a much different life. Maybe not better, but one never knows. I think the same may have been had the Thunderbird been a Mercury or Lincoln. As a Mercury, it would have brought more folks into the showrooms of L/M dealers, the higher price would have been more justified, and it may have lasted a bit longer. What ifs are fun to contemplate….
I have to disagree with you. the corvette would not be araound today if it had been anything but a chevy. chevy has always been the everything for everyman car. the 1932 chevy’s are considered by most to be the most beautiful cars of the low priced three in that era and they borrowed styling cues from………..Cadillac. the first chevy was more expensive than most of it’s contemporaries. and most full size chevy’s hit the mark when they were low priced but looked like they could compete with cars of much higher prices. to say that the vette should have been an olds or caddy or pontiac is very short sighted as to what chevy became after 1955. likewise the tbird would not have survived as a 2 passenger vehicles(are you forgetting the misserable bean counters) i have always liked chevy’s and especially when they offered cars that gave the working class man a car that looked and felt more expensive than it was. the caprice of 1965(as an option) and the 66 as the top line chevy was an undeniable hit. very few people with the means to buy a Lincoln would go for a tbird. but those who could buy tbird may move up to a conti. and ford made the tbird a total luxury car(more so than chevy did with the personal luxo king monte carlo) i like that chevy and ford would cross into their big brothers territory without chalenging them. and i repeat……the vette would not be around today if it would have been anything but a chevy.
Here’s a ’69 T-Bird sedan without its vinyl roof covering, showing just how the rear cut-lines work.
The chrome trim coming off the rear door looks awkward to me. The round accent in the center doesn’t help
That’s the fake landau bar. It would look slightly better if the vinyl was left on.
That looks really nice!!!
I always felt these T-Birds were butt-ugly. Can’t hold a candle to that ’64 Conti.
I’d take the Continental over the Thunderbird any day (especially the convertible Conti!).
But I don’t dislike the Thunderbird.
Ignoring brand names … and trying to ignore vinyl tops and landau irons … this TBird isn’t too bad. But to someone of my generation, who remembers when bullet Birds were exotic and stylish, especially convertibles, any 4 door TBird is just wrong.
When Ford killed the convertible Bird they were looking to replace it with another niche model. I have experience with two suicide door Lincolns, my Dad’s 1963 and my 1966. Entry and exit from the back seats is very easy and convenient. My Dad later had a two door ’69 Lincoln and I must say that I preferred the sedans more. The doors were shorter and easier to handle, noticeable on this heavy car. And four doors just suite a classy Continental best! I remember finding a four door Bird for sale at a gas station in the mid 90’s. I found the rear seats as inviting as my old Lincoln. Sporty it wasn’t, but sporty had flown the coop years ago! It was this specific car that got me thinking about owning an old car again. This lead to my Buick Riviera era.
I guess I’ll play devil’s advocate here and say I don’t really mind the T-Bird. I think Black was the color for this bodystyle, though. My favorite Continental would have been the original ’61-’63, or the ’66-’67. Those four door T-Birds and Continentals had a lot more in common than just the suicide doors.
re: Corvette. To understand the Corvette, you need to know a little about the history of a Russian-Jewish immigrant named Zora Arkus Duntov. Duntov, like many that saw the original Corvette, liked what he saw but was disappointed with what was underneath. Not only did he give Ed Cole a complete Engineering Analysis of a performance version of the car, but he also wrote “Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet.” That document laid the foundation for the strategy that Chevrolet has used ever since.
The Corvette was never meant to be a luxury car. It was a blue-color aspirational piece, something real people with real jobs and real salaries could aspire to if they worked hard and saved their pennies. And Zora was determined to give them full value for the dollars spent. From 1955 to his retirement in 1975, nothing happened in Corvetteland without his approval.
Here’s an example of the Black T-Bird I mentioned.
An invidious comparison as the cars are on very different levels in the luxury spectrum, even ignoring their condition. The two-door version of the 67-69 Thunderbird fares better, but I can’t hate on the four-door with its roof gimmick and rear hinges. Made the rear seat passengers feel a little more special. And these are masterpieces compared to the LTD/T-bird that was to come in the Malaise Era.
The Continental pictured is the ’64 stretch and restyle. There was an edict that also applied to the Thunderbirds to go back to flat side windows, which really detract from both cars. I think Ford had some sealing problems with the curved windows. I had a 40 year old ’62 and it didn’t leak water or noticeable air. One of the coolest parts of the original to me was the contrast between the thick vertical doors and flat sided lower body and the curved glass, which had what might have been the steepest tumblehome up to that time. And adding 3″ to the rear doors screwed up the coupe-like look. Oh, and the dashboard is a shadow of its former self also.
Here’s a ’61.
I wonder why nobody but Ford built a suicide door sedan after the early 50s. Was the 52 Studebaker the last one before the 61 Continental in the US? OK, there was the Eldorado Brougham of 57-58.
It is odd how this feature (so identified with high end cars by the 60s) was never copied.
I thought the same thing. Even Lincoln and T-Bird eventually jettisoned this feature. With automatic electric locking and modern engineering any safety concerns would now be moot. Surprised that Cadillac or Lincoln doesn’t try these on their largest sedans.
The Continental is an obvious beauty, but I also like the Thunderbird. My only real issue with the ‘Bird is that the front and rear bumpers don’t align – which looks really sloppy. The rest of it I like.
Great finds and shots by Ralf, as usual.
Just my opinion, but I think the “facelift”(beaklift?) of the 70-72 series competes fairly well with these early 60s Continentals, certainly better than the 67-69 Thunderbird.
Having said that, I think Ford somewhat “lost it” when the 67 model showed up and didn’t get headed in the right direction again until the “basket handle” model of the late 70s.
Having driven a 76 Thunderbird, to me it managed to feel more massive than a “regular”, full-sized Ford. They could have saved money (?) and just dressed an LTD in different sheet metal.
I like the ‘67-‘71 T-Birds, but the Lincoln looked more elegant. I read that the suicide doors were to continue on the 1970 Continental, but a Ford Executive had a bad experience with them in a car wash and put a stop to them.
The Toronado’s styling helped shape the ‘67 T-Bird. The four door Bird was rather forward thinking and a better fit than a convertible in the personal luxury market. Ford sold 5,049 Convertibles in 1966, but nearly 25,000 Fordor Landaus in 1967. The four door remained popular almost 22,000 sold in ‘68, 15,695 in ‘69, 8,401 in ‘70 & 6,553 in ‘71. Of course, the four door’s longer wheelbase was the start of another personal luxury car, the Mark III. Then the Mark IV and ‘72-‘76 T-Bird became near twins.
I would rather have a ‘66 T-Bird or a ‘67-‘69 Continental, but believe that the ‘67-‘71 Glam Bird deserves respect.
There`s one in the Freehold,NJ area that I see on a semi-regular basis. It`s a `68 four door in maroon with a black vinyl top and the rare split bench front seat and the panty cloth interior in black. Ungainly, awkward looking car from any angle you view it, but it`s in very good, straight condition with no body rot. My car guy friends and I always refered to these oddities as ‘Blunderbirds’.