Only about a month ago, it was warm enough in Chicago to take a walking tour of historic buildings and neighborhoods sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Center (which featured locales all over the city) and do some window shopping. This ’78 Ford Thunderbird was parked in front of one of the more reasonably priced vintage / thrift stores in my neighborhood on one of those two days, and I had several immediate thoughts as I took in this scene.
First, I’m an insurance professional, and when it comes to my work attire, I stick almost exclusively to nice, business-casual clothing bought from first- or second-tier department stores. However, when it comes to clothing to wear on my own time, I often gravitate to stores like Green Element, pictured above (or others in the area) to find that one, really nice, lightly worn shirt or pair of slacks from decades ago that might originally have cost a bit more money, to mix in with other items in my wardrobe.
I buy these garments for at least as much as (and sometimes much more than) a new, okay-looking golf or polo shirt or yet another pair of Dockers. I have spent comparatively more on cool, retro pieces that once carried a fair amount of cachet, because as a matter of my personal preference and when within my means, it’s got to be real. Sometimes, I’d like to have something genuinely classic and pre-owned instead of the clothing equivalent of fast food that will last for maybe a few years before it’s faded, worn, or no longer presentable.
The second thought I had, and it may have been what had been playing on my earbuds at some point during that morning, was that the late 1970s seemed like a glorious time to be alive when I was a young kid. I loved the music, my blue Schwinn, watching “The Gong Show” with host Chuck Barris (who also had a loose, curly Afro like I had in the late ’70s), and perhaps the most famous contestant to come from that show, one Lynda Cheryl Smith, also known as the one and only Cheryl Lynn. She could arguably be considered the first successful singer who had first appeared on a reality show competition (even if “The Gong Show” was often silly), ahead of future American Idol contestants who have had lasting success and relevance, like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood (among a few others).
To abridge Ms. Lynn’s story (and there’s a lot more to it, including her other theatrical roles before appearing on “Gong Show”), her episode of that program was taped in early 1976 (when she may have been but twenty years old), and by the time it aired in the fall of that year, she almost immediately had several major record labels blowing up her (rotary?) phone trying to sign her. She ultimately went with Columbia Records, and went on to record the multi-format success and RIAA Gold-certified smash “Got To Be Real”.
This single was released in August of 1978 (ahead of her eponymous debut album, which also went Gold), and it peaked at #12 (for three weeks) on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart (for one week), and as a double A-side along with “You Saved My Day”, charted at #11 on the Dance Club Charts. We all know this song. I’d wager that most of us at least respect it. It has never left rotation in my active music library.
You might be asking yourself if I’ve sneakily really written this essay about music, throwing in a few pictures of a car as a ruse, but there is a connection here. The seventh generation Ford Thunderbird, in production for the ’77 through ’79 model years, was based on the same mid-size platform as the new-for-’72, body-on-frame Ford Torino / Mercury Montego. Later cars based on this platform included the midsize Ford Elite and Mercury Cougar XR-7 personal luxury coupes, while the substantially larger sixth-generation (1972 – ’76) Thunderbird, a near-twin to the Lincoln Continental Mark IV, also remained in production. For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to focus my initial comparison on the Ford Elite, which was an upscale Torino variant with a lot of Cougar in its body panels, and also basically the same size as the seventh-gen T-Bird that would follow.
The Elite was a decent seller, with the initial run of ’74s (officially the “Gran Torino Elite” for that year only) moving 97,000 copies, followed by 123,000 for ’75 and another 146,000 for ’76. Sales of Ford’s midsize personal luxury coupe were trending upward, which was a good thing. The issue was that the Elite was never any sales threat to Chevrolet’s juggernaut Monte Carlo (with 312,000 sold for ’74; 259,000 for ’75; and 353,000 for ’76). Even ’70s-underdog Chrysler was moving significant numbers of their beautiful, “small” Cordoba, with 150,000 units sold for inaugural ’75 and another 120,000 for ’76. To this last comparison, Ford was a much larger-volume make than Chrysler, and the Cordoba carried significantly higher base prices than the Elite (6% for ’75, and 10.5% for ’76). In the meantime, the full-sized Thunderbird was selling in numbers that averaged roughly 51,000 units from between ’74 and ’76.
1977 Ford Thunderbird illustration courtesy of www.oldcarbrochures.com.
Then, model year 1977 happened. Ford’s significantly refreshed and restyled midsize platform gave birth to both a new LTD II as the replacement for the Torino, and also a new downsized Thunderbird. We all know how this panned out, as it has been written about here at Curbside Classic. The LTD II sold okay for its first two model years, before sales fell off a cliff for ’79. The Thunderbird, though, positively exploded on the sales charts, selling an average of about 318,000 units over this design’s three model years. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the base price had dropped by over a third from ’76 for the new ’77 models, even if the newer base cars were decontented compared to the previous generation.
I liken this to when famous fashion designer Halston had made a very lucrative deal with department store J.C. Penney in 1983 to design a line bearing his name (“Halston III”) of affordable clothing, accessories and perfumes. Suddenly, women across the United States could afford something by Halston(!), who had been (up to that point) one of the designer darlings of the high fashion world.
That whole thing didn’t end well, but the Halston III line’s initial success could be compared with the reception of the downsized, ’77 Thunderbird – suddenly, many who had always wanted but couldn’t afford one could now slide into the driver’s seat for reasonable money. (For the record, a few of the times that I’ve typed the word “downsized” when composing this essay, I’ve had to chuckle, because these Thunderbirds measured close to 218″ from bumper to bumper and most weighed over two tons.)
Back to the tie-in with Cheryl Lynn and what is arguably her signature song, it could be said that while the LTD II might have been a nice enough car in some forms, the majority of buyers said, “Nope. It’s got to be real,” and chose a Thunderbird instead. My mind now wanders to the late ’70s, when I might have been peddling around on my burgundy tricycle in my family’s driveway, with “Got To Be Real” or its follow up, “Star Love” (note our featured car was nicknamed the “Star Bird”) thumping from the speakers of this very Thunderbird (or one just like it) when new, while it passed our driveway. Goosebumps.
While never my favorite throughout my teens or twenties, the styling of this generation has grown on me substantially over the past few years. I love the accessories on this particular example, including its Cragars, pinstripes and chain-link steering wheel. It is big, brash and beautiful, like the robust and soaring vocals of Cheryl Lynn. The ’77 Thunderbird may have been based on a four-year-old Torino platform, but these newly-downsized, seventh-generation models were, as far as I’m concerned, as real as it gets.
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, October 27, 2019.
Compare the condition of this Thunderbird to this one. Also, for a couple more great tunes in Cheryl Lynn’s discography, click here to “Shake It Up Tonight” and here for an “Encore”.
I don’t mind this t-bird; the best face it’s had for years and that basket handle works. The colourway is a bit not me, but that’s still a nice example to come across. I’m digging on the stretch tyre treatment.
hehehe discoJo and his magic turntables.
Don, the color combo is a bit bold for my personal preference, as well, but for some reason, I really like it within the context of this car’s overall presentation (including the stretch tyres – I had to look up that terminology).
It seems I learn something new on this site every day!
It definitely works with the rear lights creating another excellent red shape.
These look much better with the lower body-side moldings, like in the brochure picture.
Hate that car but love that song. Found it on my computer’s playlist of 12,000+ songs. I digitalised from the album ‘A Night At Studio 54’, released in 1979 which I discovered and saved from my Father’s vinyl collection.
Didn’t realise he was a groovy disco music lover. He would have hated that Chunderbird too!
+1.
Good song, bad car.
Delboy, I also have the “A Night At Studio 54” double-LP, purchased when I was a college student, from Blue Chair Records in Ybor City (Tampa), at a time when I was really into Alternative.
I couldn’t hide my enthusiasm from my friends. Those records were kind of a “gateway” that lead me back to this kind of music. If I recall correctly, it was also the song set that (re-?)introduced Cheryl Lynn and the titular song back into my consciousness.
I made many more music purchases based on owning those records.
I was getting kind of worried until I got to the end of your post and you finally mentioned “Shake It Up Tonight”, which is one of my all time favorites of the genre. Cheryl Lynn- what a voice! And I always thought these T-Birds were a bit on the long side, but they did have kind of an impressive character about them. They kind of look a little classy to me now.
snap
I like the styling of these cars but having driven a not that old (perhaps 2 year old) 73 Torino, I can’t help thinking how much more I could have enjoyed these cars if they were even smaller/trimmer. Yes, the model that preceded this one was like an aircraft carrier (I drove one of those for a bit in 76) but in comparison these are still like Naval Destroyers.
The red/white contrast on the roof really makes that basket handle pop.
As the former owner of an upsized ’75 Thunderbird (the Lincoln Mark V derivative powered by a creamy 460) these truly are downsized. I had a weird desire for a ’77 to ’79 Thunderbird when in high school but in retrospect I’m glad the craving didn’t come to fruition.
Styling wise, these were a complete hit. It’s too bad Ford lost their mojo for the follow-up 1980 versions.
Jason, I still think about your definitive 1980 Thunderbird CC post when I think of the 8th generation cars. While I don’t share your pure disdain of the looks of the 1980 – ’82 cars, your essay had me howling – acronym and all. LOL
I have to admit that when these were new someone had to point out that this was basically a Torino (in hindsight, the windshield is a obvious clue..) Ford did a neat trick with these. While the GM B/Cs were new this year, They pointed (to me) to the 80s. Theses are pure 70s in a good way.
Great car and great song!
I’ll add one to the mix
Those are my favorite T-Birds and they were pretty plentiful on the streets back then but they didnt fare too well against rust. I’ll take one in black with a tan interior, t-tops and retrofitted Magnum 500 wheels since I dont like any of the factory wheel choices.
bonus-Bobby Allison won the ’78 Daytona 500 in a T-Bird
I always loved the bass line in that song, Dan.
This one was also a big favorite of mine from just a year later for the same reason…
LTDan, that Thelma Houston song (from around the time this car was new) is great, and I always thought some clever DJ would find a way to segue between this song and Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover” – which both start slow, then start to gallop.
I remember having seen pictures of the Bobby Allison Thunderbirds, and the same thought always strikes me – that keeping the opera window and blanking out the rear quarter window takes some gettting used to for me. Thanks for posting both that link and the picture.
The ’77 T-bird was the right car for the time period.
Not the best, not the most space efficient.
“Timing” is everything in life.
Great analogy — especially because this Thunderbird generation is often panned (in hindsight) as being a fake. Yes, it was really a Torino masquerading as a new personal luxury coupe… yes, it wasn’t really sporty even though it carried the Thunderbird name… yes, it’s attractions were largely superficial.
But this car wouldn’t have succeeded like it did if a whole lot of car buyers hadn’t identified it as being real. And like you said, it was real in comparison to the LTDII, and the styling (helped by great colors and color combinations) stood out and was perfectly timed to its day. I’ve always had a hidden affection for these cars (much more so than for the bulbous prior generation), but have never been able to recognize just why.
Not that it matters too much, but I think this is, in fact, a ’78 T-bird… the only difference being that the ’78s had the Bird emblems on the hidden headlight covers as opposed to just the “Thunderbird” script on the left cover as shown on the ’77 brochure image.
Oh, and you might be amused to know that it’s not quite true that “We all know this song.” I had actually never heard of it until today, so I learned something here in addition to why I like 7th generation Thunderbirds. Thanks for the great writeup!
Agree on the feature car being a ’78 for the reason mentioned (headlight cover ‘birds’).
FWIW, the ’79 also had the headlight cover birds, but an egg-crate style grille with larger opernings.
Eric, thank you so much – and also for pointing out the “tell” for the ’78 models. I’ve corrected the title and made a minor revision to the text.
The ’79s are easy to spot, but not *quite* as attractive as the earlier ones. Glad I could also provide part of your Thanksgiving week soundtrack.
Actually I didn’t know that one off the top of my head. I just happened to have my copy of Consumer Guide Auto ’78 in front of me when I read this article, so I looked up if there was any difference between the ’77s and ’78s. But now that I know about the Headlight Birds, I’ll never forget.
I love the Halston analogy. Ford had a valuable name in the Thunderbird, on a car that had lost its reason to live. Matching that fabulous name with an attractive (for the time) car finally gave the Monte Carlo a run for its money. Where the 60s and 70s often had Chevrolet rushing to catch up to markets Ford discovered and exploited, the Monte Carlo/Elite/Thunderbird story is a great example of the opposite happening.
Earlier this year, I had a chance to watch the 2019 documentary on Halston, and it was very enlightening. It wasn’t until I got toward the end of writing one of the first drafts of this essay that I thought to include that analogy.
I generally like the downsized ’78 GM PLCs (Cutlass Supreme remains my favorite), but in 2019 and to my eyes, the 1977 – ’79 Thunderbirds have so much more presence. I would want a silver car exactly like in the brochure photo.
There are two of these in a mobile home park several miles from me. They look like that are still driven.
A friend bought one, all decked-out and it was very nice, but in the STL summer (or any other place), if you sat in the back seat, you were in a hot fishbowl!
While the style was generally pleasing, the lack of openable windows made me say “no”. Strictly a personal luxury car for one or two!
And they had two chances to make them open!
The late 1970s….
Great music, lousy cars (which really weren’t that lousy, just slower and thirstier), ersatz luxury…. the Indian Summer of the big American car.
Take an expensive name (the T-Bird was expensive…$7700 base in 1976, very few options available–it was a Ford Mark IV), slap it on an admittedly well-designed (for that type of car and era) car with mid-size bones, and base price it at $5200, and–yes, we have a winner!
These were everywhere on Long Island in the late 1970s–as were LEGIONS of Monte Carlos and Cutlasses and the ‘new’ 77-79 full-size GM cars–including tons of Cadillac De Villes.
People complained about rising prices, but a lot of them were driving these cars.
And on the few times we would get on the LI Expressway or Northern State Parkway, I use to think how majestic the big GM cars looked as the gradually sailed by us in the left lane.
We had a new President. I think people were optimistic in 1977, when the T-bird made it’s big debut, and Ford finally got a small piece of the pie GM dominated.
Where as the ‘76 T-Bird was akin to the Mark IV and a true luxury car with 460 V8 power, this was little more than a smartly styled Torino wheezing along with a 302. But the price was significantly less as well and all of a sudden an aspirational brand was available to the masses. The result was a huge sales hit. Shows the incredible power of the Thunderbird brand.
I concur with most of your analysis, except the part about big ‘Birds having a short option list.
The other thing these cars did well was to exhibit a subjective feeling of solid quality. The interior materials were pretty decent for the era, a cut above the stuff coming from GM and Chrysler, for my money. The doors were heavy and closed with solid authority. It was easy for someone to feel like he was getting the Thunderbird experience for a bargain price.
The 1980 model was the total opposite. Looks aside, the follow-up felt thin and cheap in comparison.
admitted well-designed…I meant, admittedly well-STYLED
If I HAD to own a Ford from the 1970s, it would be this one.
Even though downsized and decontented, it was also quite distinct and to these eyes, very attractive. There were many years of Thunderbird prior to this one that had just looked like caricatures of what a T-Bird should be. But the ’77-’79s and ’83-end of decade Fox-based models hit the sweet spot.
Where as the ‘76 T-Bird was akin to the Mark IV and a true luxury car with 460 V8 power, this was little more than a smartly styled Torino wheezing along with a 302. But the price was significantly less as well and all of a sudden an aspirational brand was available to the masses. The result was a huge sales hit. Shows the incredible power of the Thunderbird brand.
I believe the ‘Bird and the LTD 2 door from this year and up had the most mismatched quarter window treatment of any cars out there. It was as if Ford had received a bunch of mis-ordered opera windows and just stuck them on the car. Some cars had a vertical divider in the opera window to magnify the mish-mosh effect.
They were also guilty of one of the ugliest vinyl roof colors ever. On a rather pretty, dark navy blue body color , you would often see a putrid orangey, peach, indescribable color top. Someone told me at the time the color name was chamois. It was popular in the Midwest. I couldn’t find an example though.
The car in the photos is a ’77, not a ’78, as it has the bird emblems on the headlight covers. The ’77s just had the Thunderbird script, which was, in my opinion, the better, cleaner look. Anyway, a ’77 was my first car (purchased in college), true red with burgundy vinyl top, pleated red vinyl seats and 351 V8. I loved that car. Not efficient use of size/space, but it was sharp looking and very reliable — would start in 25 below, no problem. Highway gas mileage was decent, too.
Jeff, thank you so much for the correction to the model year. Thanks to you and also Eric703, I’ve amended both the title and text.
And red with burgundy vinyl sounds like a beautiful combo.
Yes i had a 78. A few minor changes from ‘77 but I always thought the ‘78 was a little cleaner looking. I really enjoyed the car for 5 years till family increases necessitated a 4 door. I went from a dead reliable t-bird to a mostly dead in the shop ‘83 Buick Lesabre. Lesson learned.
The car just screams Hollywood and West Side of L.A. to me, and completely fits into the era in which it was sold. I wouldn’t really want one, but as a product of the era it’s superb. Long hood, wide taillight bar, magic headlights, oh yeah what a cruiser!
For me, late-’70s personal luxury coupes and disco are inextricably intertwined with each other…
I never quite got the ’71-76 T-birds that seemed so redundant given that the Lincoln Mark IV existed. The Elite was added in 1974 to tend to the faster-selling midsize PLC market and was advertised as being “in the Thunderbird tradition”, but Ford realized they’d be better positioned for the future though if the Elite wasn’t just Thunderbird-inspired but actuallywas a Thunderbird. (Fast forward to the present, and Ford realizes they’d be better positioned for the future if the Mach E wasn’t just “Mustang-inspired” but actually was a Mustang. Ford knows that despite the ‘Stang’s iconic stature, the market for two door coupes has become small and crossovers are where it’s at now. For a car where youth appeal has always been crucial, an impractical low-slung two door coupe that spews hydrocarbons will have little appeal to today’s youth who were raised on utility vehicles and worry about climate change and sustainability. The Mustang must change with the times or it will go the way of… the T-bird, which for decades was just as iconic as the Mustang but still died along with the other personal luxury coupes.)
But in 1977, PLCs were hot, and Lee Iacocca knew his PLCs and this must have been one of the most profitable. The (mostly) new sheetmetal did a much better job of disguising the old Torino bodyshell than the LTD II did. Inside, though, it still looked like too much like a Torino.
Damn, those bumpers! Notice how Ford’s ad agency did a superb job of hiding that huge front bumper filler panel with shadows. But there’s no hiding it on a white car in broad daylight.
Bumper quibbles aside, the basket-handle ‘Bird was exactly right for the late seventies. It was still a land-barge, but it didn’t ‘look’ like one, and gas prices had stabilized enough so the miserable fuel mileage (along with lousy performance) wasn’t much of a deterrent. And, in what was surely one of Iacocca’s last acts at Ford, he made sure it was still plenty brougham-y with stuff like the Diamond Jubilee edition.
I just think wire-spoke wheels look wrong on a car like this, ditto the real or imitation centrelock wheel nuts.
Well, with a chain-link steering wheel, pin-striping, and window lettering, seems entirely appropriate.
I like the wire spoke wheels on the featured ‘Bird, but they are way too small in diameter.
This car was one I really wanted through high school when I was driving a ’73 LTD. While my car was a 2-door, and I was in my brougham phase then, when I graduated, I couldn’t afford one, but loved the basket handle look. That is why I bought the ’79 Futura. Sure, it wasn’t a T-Bird, but it had “that look” with the basket handle roof, so to me, it was like I had a little T-Bird.
Little did I know at the time, my next car would in fact be a “little T-Bird” on that same platform…. my ’83 Aero-Bird.
As to the featured song, when I was in my brougham phase, I was also in my disco phase, and THIS one was one of my favorites. And while I always associated it with my youth, I now associate it with the “Night at the Museum” movies, through its clever use at the end of those movies. “To Be Real”, indeed. ;o)
Your first picture sure makes the hood look a mile long which brings up a thought. What American car actually has the longest looking hood, from back edge to top of front extension, for a production car?
My 67 Park Lane is 58 1/2″ and the 73 Polara is 62 1/4 “.
A (not so) quick Google Search called the 1969 Grand Prix the car with the longest hood ever for an American Car. I always thought the Grand Prix was a mid-size PLC. It was in 1997, anyway. I wonder how much of that was hood and how much of that was (Bunkie?) beak?
Our founder Paul wrote up this CC at the old site that pegs it as a 6 footer.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/curbside-classic-the-most-beautiful-pontiac-ever-1969-gran-prix/
I could have sworn it was one of the late seventies Lincolns that would’ve won this superlative.
Hmm, well the hood actually incorporates the beak not counting the grille itself. However, I didn’t see anything in the article that told how many actual inches it is. I guess Paul would need to chime in to say whether the hood was truly 72 inches long or it looks to be a six footer which can almost be related to the “I caught one this big” so to speak. No offense it is just that while I am very good at pegging small dimensions like millimeters and inches I am not that good at eyeballing feet and yards as accurately.
I just can’t get onside with anything about this car except the hood ornament. That pile of randomly-thrown-together, melted-bar-of-soap-shaped opera windows is one of just far too many uglystick hits. To my eye the Lincoln Continental carried and presented this size, proportion, and design philosophy much more successfully.
(Don’t know if I’m under- or over-thinking, but what do we guess “Har Bird” means?)
I think it says “Star Bird”.
Oh! Oh, yeah.
So does the other side say “Pirt”?
Although the Monte Carlo of the same era will always be king of personal luxo cars………..these T-Birds are great cars and put them back on the map!!
I relate the 72-79 intermediate platform to the D3/D4 platform in recent times. There was never a quite right model application to it – the 500 looked like something from the prior decade(like the muscular fastback Torino), the Taurus was a hasty rebadge(like the LTD II and 77 base Cougar), and way too big for the name(Cougar XR7), but then the Explorer happened and suddenly it paid off (77 Tbird). Strangely enough both used the Montego name too.
I like these Birds for what they are, they’re busy but they’re sportier appearing than most broughams up to this point with help from their basket-handle roofline, and I think that’s what helped them stand out from the competition. This bodyshell never was conducive to neoclassical bodylines like the Monte Carlo, despite the attempt by the Elite In the front end, and with the straight edge 77 update shed any attempt at it at all in sheetmetal. I won’t say these were forward thinking mind you, but they seemed more in line with clean sheer look principals than pimpmobile that typically defined the segment. The dressup of course was typical, but the colors and combinations seemed a little brighter and broader than the usual browns and golds so prominent in the PLC segment too, and they were legitimately forward thinking with their optional alloy wheels.
Frankly I’m tired of pretending these were The baddest of the bad cars in automotive history because it’s fashionable to extol efficiency and practicality as if people now are any less vain and fashion conscious than they were in 1978.
That’s actually a pretty good comparison Matt, a lot of similarities to the D3/D4 cars. I’d say the only big difference was that the Torino started out as a hot seller in it’s segment, while I don’t think the 500 really had much market impact.
Totally agree with you Matt!!! these and most of the 70’s cars were pretty dam cool,i too am tired of people beating them down and calling them things they are not. this is what people wanted at the time. A 1974 Monte Carlo and 1974 Fleetwood Brougham with the Talisman option would suit me fine!!!
Ford desperately needed a winner and with the obsolete Torino intermediate body, was able to find sales with it. It seems that with enough sound deadening, padded vinyl, crushed velour, wood applique, opera windows and a long hood, you can turn a lousy rider into a posh lousy rider during the 1970s.
It’s a look that seemed to be popular during a time when men wore disco pants, neck chains, English Leather, porn staches, a shag haircut, and ladies wore something similar in a jump suit. Yeah – those stacked heeled shoes. Yeah – that “Boogie Night” soundtrack. Yeah – they were high on snow and ditch weed, Boone’s Farm and Colt 45.
Yeah – those clothes, those colors, those cars, together in static cling harmony.
The Thunderbird had lost its way with the 1972 restyle – it came across as an LTD with a more cramped back seat and longer hood. Any real styling distinction was long gone.
Ford also forgot that one of the selling points of the four-seat Thunderbird was its relatively compact dimensions for a luxury vehicle. People did not buy early four-seat Thunderbirds because they had gargantuan dimensions – quite the opposite. They were among the first cars that broke the “large size=luxury” mindset.
This generation was quite popular when it debuted – I remember them immediately popping up in driveways and parking lots of my hometown. Turning the “okay” Elite into this much more popular car was a marketing and styling coup – which Ford increasingly needed by the late 1970s.
The square-rigged styling worked, and the “roll bar” with its opera window seemed dramatic and distinctive – just the sort of thing that made people sign on the dotted line for this type of vehicle. Plus, Ford’s intermediates came across as better finished (particularly the interiors) than their GM competitors.
The following generation was a complete disaster that almost finished off the Thunderbird nameplate. But salvation was found with the “aero look” Thunderbirds that began with the 1983 model year.
As for Ms. Lynn’s song – I still love hearing it today. The song is very upbeat, and I love how she puts her heart into it. It’s interesting that it debuted in late summer 1978, because I don’t remember hearing it on our local “Top 40” stations until early 1979.
Thanks for another great article Joe. Really enjoy the way you successfully tie in pop culture, music, and personal anecdotes in your articles. And a very nice discovery. This T-Bird has presence! And the owner’s love for it, shows in the detailing. I wasn’t a huge fan of this generation of BIrd at the time either. I preferred the styling of the Buick Regal and Cutlass Supreme among personal luxury cars. I found the Cordoba and T-Bird didn’t seem to a have sporty side. Leaning more towards boulevard cruisers.
Lynn definitely deserved greater Hot 100 success. She had one of the standout voices of the later disco era. Like Anita Ward, France Joli, Alicia Bridges, and other distinctive female singers who hit in ’78-’79, I thought she’d have more followup hits in the disco vein. I didn’t know until later that ‘Got to be Real’ was written by Lynn, David Paich of Toto and producer David Foster. As Lynn provided background vocals on ‘Georgy Porgy’, the Toto classic from the same time.
Daniel, I came back here to post this *very song* under LTDan’s comment to continue that playlist. “Georgy Porgy” outranks even “Africa” as my favorite Toto song.
Thank you for the good words regarding my essay. That Toto was the backing band for much of Ms. Lynn’s debut album set the bar pretty high from the get-go. I have her second album (“In Love”), as well, and while I like it, I can understand why it didn’t have the continued crossover appeal as “Cheryl Lynn”. (That, and the general backlash against dance-oriented urban contemporary music.)
Early David Foster stuff is gold, as far as I’m concerned. I also recently purchased Jaye P. Morgan’s (who was a judge on “The Gong Show”) eponymous album from 1976 (David Foster’s first production), and it’s still one of my favorite purchases of the year. I may have to find a way to incorporate a track off that album into a future piece here at CC.
“Georgy Porgy” is an excellent song, and one of my favourites by Toto as well. I liked their sound before they became mega popular. Not so much when they became more adult contemporary by the mid to late 80s.
I really appreciate that you provide so much background information, when you focus on an artist. You showed that Lynn continued to have a successful dance artists career. I didn’t realize this. As her mainstream appeal as a disco artist subsided.
I do wish I followed David Foster’s early career more closely. I didn’t know at the time, he produced Earth, Wind and Fire.
Thank you again for this Joseph, I really enjoyed your piece!
+2 Georgy Porgy. Better than Africa, Rosanna and Hold the Line.
Toto guys also did Boz Scaggs’ Silk Degrees
I guess “Toto” is slang for anesthesiology.
Slightly off topic, but for fun, I thought I’d supply you a link to one of the most popular and commercially successful disco-influenced songs from Canada. Given your enjoyment of music, its fun occasionally supplying you a link to a tune that might be new to you, and you may enjoy. IMO, this song has withstood the test of time, and remains one of the better songs from the disco era. Production really advanced quickly with disco, and this one was released in 1976. So, the production is no match for Chic or the Bee Gees. What made it quite unique at the time, is the song was a big cross-over hit in English Canada, even though its lyrics are almost entirely in French.
They were a three lady group from Montreal, called ‘Toulouse’.
I guess “Toulouse” is French-Canadien for anesthesiology.
Mitsou is likely more your energy level…
Daniel, I like this, too! Reminds me a little bit of Voggue (also from Canada), but sung in Quebecois.
Another enjoyable read Joseph! Although, Got to be Real isn’t my type of music, I think you did a great job capturing the T-Bird’s musical equivalent. I know a lot of people question if these 77-79 Torino Birds were “real” Thunderbird, but I think they were. The big 72-76 Birds kind of jumped the shark for me. Like someone else mentioned they looked too much like an LTD, and they were far too large. The 1958 Thunderbird redefined what the Thunderbird was, and so did the ’77 Bird. The automotive market had changed and the ’77 Bird captured where the market was moving. After the ’77-79 cars, the T-Birds stayed down market, remaining more affordable with less focus on luxury.
Ford did a great job of updating this body. Despite its old bones that really started out with late 1960’s styling trends, Ford was able to bring it up to date with only a re-skinning. The common windshield is the easy give away to the same structure underneath. They were a huge styling improvement over the Elite IMO, and Ford even managed to shave a few pounds out of the cars compared to the ’76 intermediates. The one thing I thought Ford should have invested in was an updated dash. While I like the ’72 Torino style dash, it wasn’t the most up to date for the times and it instantly dated the car. At least it had round gauges, and a full cluster was available.
These cars were everywhere in my youth. I remember tons of these Thrunderbirds, Cougar XR-7s, Monte Carlos, Cutlass Supremes and Cordobas. But I don’t remember many of the plainer equivalents, like Colonnade Malibus, LTD IIs, and Furys. Maybe they just didn’t stand out to me, or maybe my hometown just had huge numbers of PLCs. This particular car just doesn’t work for me with the too small wheels and too low stance. I like the old beater Bird Joe found in his earlier post over this one, but I am glad someone is caring for this white Bird, even if it isn’t my style.
Was this a real Thunderbird? Yes, they all were. If your last name is Smith, you don’t get to pick and chose who in the family are “real” Smith’s.
I own and love my 70′ bird. 429ci thunderjet, 4 door, suicide back doors, landau top, rides like a boat with class. But sorry to say they just got uglier and slower after 72′.
Hello Joseph,
I love that you have taken a car, with which I have no prior experience or interest in, and explained to me the rhyme and reason for it’s being in a single article. As music and automobiles can be such resonate cultural touchstones, I think you have a fantastic method for communicating to readers.
Thanks for the great read, and my best wishes for the holidays!
What a great article. You’ve spanned several of my favourite topics (vintage cars, popular music and vintage clothing shopping) all in one fell swoop. Not sure why but your piece hit me right ‘in the feels’ and made me tear up. Maybe it’s because I’m reminded of my dear departed spouse John, who loved cars too, and vintage clothing shopping and well-crafted pop tunes. It’s incredibly rare to see these subjects woven together so well. The intersection between cars and music is indeed a strong one; here’s one of my favourite commercials which also weaves together music and the driving experience. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QPBrN3qJGqs
Blake, thank you so much, and I’d like to also think that John would have approved of this essay. I also remember the “Pink Moon” Cabriolet commercial from when it first aired, and seeing it again made me smile. If you’re Stateside, I hope you have a good holiday.
Thanks, everyone, for letting me indulge in cooking up another car / music / pop culture stew. I loved doing so and appreciate the warm reception. Cheers.
I like these for their sheer disco-tasticness, even though my experience owning one wasn’t all that great. I bought a low mileage yellow ’77 around 2000-ish. It was a base trim level car with no power anything. Unfortunately the seat gave me back pain after about a half hour of driving — something you don’t discover on a three mile test drive. I also found that after the novelty wore off, the objective shortcomings of the car come to the fore. With the base 302, it was pretty sluggish and still thirsty. It was also amazing to realize that one of these Birds has almost the same external dimensions as a ’77 Coupe deVille, but the Bird’s back seat is really cramped and the trunk isn’t very big. I guess people who wanted space efficiency bought Granadas or Fairmonts.
My most favorite style of Thunderbird. Very close second is the Mark IV based Big Birds of 1972-1976. When I graduated high school in 1990, these cars were still plentiful and seemed to be EVERYWHERE! The maintenance guy at the cabinet plant I worked at between 1992 and 1995 had a light brown one of these, quite mint and driven daily, except on really snowy or sloppy days. He had an old Bronco for those days.
Never had the chance to own one, but always wanted one. I’d like to find one of the Town Landau versions with the stainless-steel roof cap that goes over the wide “basket handle” of the roof, with the full-on Broughamy interior and turbine spoke wheels. Preferably in that lovely Dark Jade green that seemed popular then, but is very hard to find now. I know they represent Ford at their Malaise-Daze worst, but there is something charming about these mobile leisure suits.
Recall driving these several times summers of ’77 and ’78 when I worked as transporter for Hertz. They rented mostly Fords back then, and these were really popular, so we got to drive them pretty often. I drove other LTDII models, but not the “regular” full sized LTD (my parents had a ’73 Country Sedan up till 1978 so I’d have to go home to drive the true full sized version.
For some reason I think about the US/Canadian border crossing when I think of these…probably because I used to drive these frequently from our home location in South Burlington, VT to Dorval Airport in Montreal..it was the closest big city to us, only about a 2 hour trip, whereas New York and Boston were 4 or 5 hours away (Boston being a bit easier as you had interstate all the way, we had lots of 2 lane roads driving down route 7 and 22a to get to the Northway). Back then I was a (young) college kid, driving a late model and pretty fancy Ford…so they always had me open the trunk to see what was inside.
Fast forward 18 years, we went through the Hungary/Slovakia border OK in our ’96 Ford Scorpio wagon with Swiss plates, but about 5 km inside the border they pulled us over and made us drive back to the border (fortunately Slovak is my Mother’s first language even though she was born in the US, she didn’t learn English until she went to grade school..but her Slovak was 70 years old from her parents. none of us spoke Hungarian, but my Father knew German which is a pretty common second language there). They made us open the trunk of our car…on top was my Father’s backpack which contained packets of instant oatmeal…they were pretty bored with those, and didn’t check further, we had purchased alcohol in Miskolc for our relatives whom we were about to visit…and my sisters cleaned out their supply of diet coke to which they were addicted at the time. (Nothing to do with Thunderbird, but at least we were driving a Ford).