The year was 2011. I was in the thrall of my new avocation, which was that thing called (then, as now) Curbside Classic. It seemed that every day I stopped to shoot photos of cars and trucks that were potential subjects to grace these pages, which were the the joy and delight of millions. My ability to find cars outstripped my ability to write about them. Sometimes there were constraints on my time. Other times there were constraints on my enthusiasm.
I am nearing the end of photos from 2011 that I have never written about. I stopped to shoot this one because even in 2011 it was becoming unusual to see these cars in this kind of condition. But enthusiasm to write about it? That was kind of an unusual thing too, and I just never got there. So let’s do something about that, shall we?
What’s in a name? A lot – which is something that everyone knows. People all over the world might have grown up loving movies made by guys named Archibald Leach or Marion Morrison, but we will never know. We DO know how it worked out after those guys changed their names to Cary Grant and John Wayne.
It was always the same with cars. The F-85 was never anywhere near as popular as the Cutlass. And as popular as the Chevelle and Malibu might have been, it was the Monte Carlo that hit the big time when it came time to sell a “personal coupe” in the 1970’s.
Ford had done pretty well naming cars, with Mustangs, Mavericks, LTDs and even Torinos. But Ford had ownersip of one name that was head and shoulders above the rest – Thunderbird. The Thunderbird name was affixed to cars that were “Unique in all the world”, cars that were almost universally desired. The Thunderbird name always punched above its weight, and was responsible for more than a few Ford-branded automobiles sharing garage space with much more expensive and exclusive vehicles.
Part of the secret was that Thunderbirds had always been fairly expensive cars. This became a tougher market once the Continental Mark III came along midway through the 1968 model year, and lots of those upper-income buyers chose the Lincoln-branded personal coupe over the one sold at Ford dealers. The Thunderbird retained a certain cache’, but the cars themselves became less and less special, until it had more-or-less become a budget Continental Mark IV with dumbed-down styling and less standard equipment.
Ford’s personal coupe wilderness was not just about the Thunderbird of the mid-1970s. One class down, the Ford Elite suffered the same kind of problem. Whether the car or the name (and probably both) it just never caught on the way cars like the Cutlass Supreme, the Monte Carlo, the Grand Prix or even the upstart Chrysler Cordoba managed to do.
In 1977, Ford gave the Gran Torino/Elite a much-needed makeover. The regular Gran Torino, in a kind of truth-in-advertising moment, became the LTD II. The personal luxury derivative, however, became the recipient of the great Thunderbird name. The rest, as they say, was history.
Nobody has ever argued that the 1977-79 Thunderbird was a breakthrough design. The basket-handle roof was a hat-tip to the 1955 Fairlane Crown Victoria, and rooflines had been creeping in this direction for several years. Nor has anyone ever argued that this was a great car. Under the skin it was a more-or-less average product of the Ford Motor Company of its time, for better or worse. Everyone knows the worse part – the emission-strangled engines that were better at drinking fuel than turning it into power and the horridly ungainly 5 mph bumpers that were all function and not at all about form. Floaty suspensions, dead, unresponsive steering and pack-trailing engineering were part of the Ford Package of the mid 1970’s.
There was also the good stuff, with bodies that no longer suffered from the really bad rust problems and had some of the most substantial-sounding door slams in the industry. There were better-than-average interior materials and a freeway ride that took a backseat to nobody in isolating the driver from the cruel world. Fords of that era also tended to have fairly decent levels of fit and finish and involved far less drama in the service department than some competitive cars.
In the 1930’s, Packard put its prestigious name on some less expensive cars – and sold a bunch of them. 1977 was the year that Ford did the same thing by exiting the “near luxury” market and repurposing the great Thunderbird name on a far less expensive personal coupe. How much less expensive? The base MSRP of the 1976 Thunderbird was $7,790. Ford built 52,935 of them. The 1977 Thunderbird listed at $5,063 and demand exploded. 318,140 units was the final tally for the smaller, lighter and far, far, less expensive Thunderbird.
I had never paid enough attention back in the day, but now know from this car’s bolder grille texture that it is a 1979 model – the final of this model’s three-year series. Inflation was a problem in 1979 and the base price had jumped to either $5,411 or $5,999 (depending on the source).
The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations also took hold that year, which led Ford to eliminate the 400 cid (6.6 L) V8 from the option list, leaving the 302 (5.0) and 351 (5.8) V8s as the only choices. Demand remained strong, though, and Ford still managed to push 284,141 examples out the door – some of which were quite luxurious, though not quite as much as Ford’s advertising guys tried to suggest.
Unbeknownst for everyone at the time, all kinds of disasters were lurking around the corner. The one that affected almost everyone was the combination of soaring fuel prices and a crashing economy, which put the entire automotive industry into the doldrums. But Ford found a special and unique way to amplify things with the new 1980 version of the Thunderbird. Inflation had run the price up to $6,432, but this time you got far less car for your money. Production dropped to 156,803, and dropped again by about half each of the next two years until hitting 45,142 units for 1982.
The Thunderbird name, though possessed of some magic, had limits. No name, no matter how magical, could sell a turd like the 1980-82 successor to this car. However, in 1977 Ford’s best nameplate was able to give a decent mid-sized personal coupe that booster shot of charisma needed to turn an ordinary car into one that was very popular. Nobody who bought these thought of them as equals to the great Thunderbirds of the past. But we were used to that in the late 1970’s, because so few new cars were equal to their predecessors.
Although this version was the first, it would not be the last ordinary car to wear the Thunderbird name. Some were more successful than others, but none of them was more successful than this one. Was that kind of success enough to make it worthy of the Thunderbird name? When these cars were common, this was up for debate. Decades later they seem to have earned their place. These were not among the great Thunderbirds. But for their time, they were good enough to bring just a little “Thunderbird magic” to a wider audience.
Further Reading: 1977 Thunderbird (Paul Niedermeyer)
The last paragraph echoes my thoughts about this version.
In lots of ways, this car was a product of the times…much like Cadillac, there was pressure to downsize and get better fuel mileage, so even if they wanted, probably couldn’t keep the same uniqueness of previous Thunderbirds. Not only that, but inflation was high in the 70’s so there was pressure to keep prices low enough to keep them affordable. This model succeeded greatly in that way.
However, I think if there was exclusivity to the Thunderbird before, this is where it was lost. Three years before Ford offered the Elite, which in my mind other than roof style is really what the 1977 Thunderbird became. The Elite itself wasn’t really anything more than a Torino coupe, but in 1974 when the Elite came out you could still buy a Thunderbird which was also offered as a Lincoln….not that Thunderbird was just the Ford version of a 2 door Lincoln, but it was different than other Fords. This was the first version that was not. But it was what people wanted, even though it diluted what a Thunderbird had been before.
I have to admit, this is the only version of the Thunderbird that I’ve ever driven….I worked as a transporter for Hertz in ’77 and ’78, and these (as well as other LTD II models) were really popular rentals, besides the Granada which we also seemed to have many cars, seemed to be the backbone of the fleet at least at our location. As a good looking car, I’d frequently have my trunk searched as a 19 year old driving a current model year car across the border (made frequent trips to Dorval airport in Montreal, which wasn’t far from our home location). Undoubtedly, the car stood out which maybe was good enough for Thunderbird, but I’d previously thought that Thunderbird for Ford was kind of the equivalent of Corvette for Chevrolet, a special and unique model, but to me, this wasn’t really that far (other than roof styling) from a pedestrian LTD II.
The Thunderbird name magic is real. We have a 1995 Thunderbird, and often when I tell people that, they’ll say “Wow, you have a Thunderbird!” I like our T-bird, but it’s not that special – after all, it’s a 28-year-old beige coupe with a tax value under $1,000. Yet people get excited hearing about it.
Really, I don’t know if people are thinking of the original 1950s T-bird, the 2002-05 retro bird that’s fresher in people’s minds, or something in between. All I know is that no one says to me “Wow, you have an Odyssey!” about our other car.
Regarding the ’77-’79 T-birds, I have a soft spot for them. I actually find the styling to be exciting, and I’m willing to look past the car’s faults for the good looks and smooth ride. Definitely better in my opinion than the previous (’72-’76) generation.
I saw one on the road a few years ago, while I was driving my own T-bird. I tried in vain to get a picture of the ’70s bird in my own T-bird’s rearview mirror, but those pictures didn’t turn out. Anyway, this is that car – probably the most recent one I’ve seen on the roads.
Yes the Torino became the LTD II and the LTD II became the Thunderbird. How did buyers not see this slight of hand at the time? The fender and body lines of these cars are almost identical. Sure they threw on a bunch of brougham touches at the new T-bird like basket handle window, covered headlights and fancy wheel covers, but jeez, is this what buyers back then wanted? I guess it was as this car sold like hotcakes. I was 12 when this gen bird came out in 1977 so I remember them well as I had been a “car guy” since I was three years old. I much prefer the 1983 and onward T-birds. Much better designed cars.
The fact that the owner had this old girl out on a damp-ish day indicates their willingness to drive this as it was intended, weather be damned.
The body style of this harkens back to the 1973 and subsequent models, even earlier if you close your eyes hard enough. I did have a fondness for these cars, I can’t say why, maybe the early models had sequencing turn signal lamps out back, or maybe I liked them going back to the 1966 and kept that sentiment.
I never had a ride in one of these ’79s, but I imagine it as a pillowy, cushiony feeling, less firm that what a Cutlass may have had.
Nice writeup.
I was seven when these first arrived and I remember how ubiquitous they were and I can to this day immediately think of at least five close neighbors who owned one. The most striking to me was a black Town Landau, one with the striking jade package, and a diamond blue Diamond Jubilee. The base price was low but you got virtually nothing. You had to upgrade models even to get sufficient sound-deadening material to actually come close to the quietness of a luxury car. Having spent time in the backseat of many, I also remember how absurdly lacking in legroom they were in the rear. I always had a soft spot for the poor Bird that followed, itself bookended between the previous model, a sales juggernaut, and the following model, a groundbreaking beauty that ushered in the areo years. Downgraded as it was, I do think the ’77 through ’79 model earned the magic of the Thunderbird name and made that magic available to the masses–a bright spot for common folks living in the shadows of the malaise era.
Another fantastic essay. As much as I have been vocal about my like (or absence of dislike) of the 1980 Thunderbird, scrolling down between the ’79 and ’80 print ads of the two cars with a similar perspective made me elicit an involuntary gasp and a “dang”.
I like the ’77 – ’79 cars much more now than ever, and trimmed properly, I think I would dig one. For ’77, I would have wanted a t-topped Cordoba, but I can imagine how the angular styling of these Thunderbirds looked modern and fresh.
Bravo to Ford for finding a way to take an old body that was known and solidly built after years, and placing updated bodies upon it, all the while GM was successfully downsizing their full sized cars and finding maket successes. Ford had Torinos, but they weren’t selling like Cutlasses, Monte Carlos, or Cordobas – but Ford did find a way to sell hundreds of thousands of this old Torino body via the LTD II and Thunderbird names. Ford wasn’t just sitting on its hands either. The Fox and Panther body cars were manufactured during these same years. The Fairmont/Zephyr was a hit that showed Ford buyers that Ford did have other ideas – and the Panther lasted from 1979 to 2011, selling in the millions.
So this old Torino/Thunderbird/LTD II body was a transition from the old Coke-bottle floating barges to CAD/CAM designed 1980 cars. What we see here is the use of an old shell, selling in the millions as this transition is occurring. It is really a wonder how Ford was so fortunate to avoid what befell Chrysler, (however the early 1980s pre-Taurus Ford days were still ahead.)
I never saw these cars as “new” – I always saw them as updated old Torinos. I was never a fan of the ginormous intermediate cars of this period. They were flaccid floaters although that seemed to be a huge market winner at the time. It is unbelievable how many of these Torino-derived coupes, sedans and wagons were sold. They were very popular. Ford would love to see that level of sales again.
There is Thunderbird magic – not with these cars, but certainly beginning with the 1983 coupes almost right to the end.
As to those Box birds from 1980-1982, remember that they are essentially the same car as the other Fox cars, even Aerobirds, Marks, Continentals and Mustangs. They only looked like square turds. A true styling fail – is what they were.
Yep, you found it. A picture of the (to me) horrible LTD II. Looks almost identical to the T-Bird. However, you’re absolutely right in that Ford found great success in gilding the lily and more power to them for that. It’s the consumers I’m surprised at for buying into this.
The LTD II is not attractive at all, but the Thunderbird somehow works. (Interestingly, there is someone around here who still has an LTD II two-door coupe as a daily driver. Those don’t even turn up at car shows!)
I was a teenager at the time, and the success of these Thunderbirds wasn’t surprising. Mid-size personal luxury coupes were red-hot, the Thunderbird name still had magic, the 1972-76 Thunderbirds weren’t viewed as all that attractive (the Continental Mark IV was much better at that mission) and the 1977 styling was distinctive compared to the competition.
The most goofy thing about the LTD II coupe was that ersatz Starsky and Hutch stripe. I can’t imagine how silly someone would have felt driving around in a car so festooned.
You didn’t see too many of them, but the best looking of the whole intermediate Ford coupe line-up of the time was the base Cougar since, besides having the best front end with the horizontal, quad rectangular lights, it didn’t have the silly C-pillar window louvers.
I draw some parallels between the 72 Torino platform and the D3/D4 (Volvo P2) platform of this century, it never really found proper footing, with all sorts of names like five hundred, a rebranding with the tarnished Taurus, flex, etc, but then Ford transferred the still beloved Explorer badge to it and sales exploded! Like the 77-79 Tbird I doubt it’s anyone’s all time favorite Explorer, but it had the name, was up to date, styled well enough and resonated with buyers.
The front end of the LTD II was actually a thrifty way to recycle the 74-76 Elite hood stamping. Like the Monte Carlo, it’s stacked rectangular lights occupied the bulges in the hood for the neoclassical rounds.
You’re absolutely right about “the name”. As Eric points out above in the comments, there are certain cars where the name alone seems to conjure up favorable comments among the general public. “Thunderbird” is definitely one. As is “Mustang”, “‘Vette”, and to a lesser extent “Camaro”. I do realize that these are all 1970s or older cars, and that’s kinda part of the point. These car names are still stuck in the popular memory (not necessary auto enthusiasts’ memory) as being cool cars. In the same way that the bands of the 1970s seem evergreen, these cars do as well in their presumed coolness.
Maybe that’s just the opinion/perception of someone of my generation. Maybe it’s different among those much younger (e.g., Gen Z). I don’t think cars are generally cool at all to the current generation, so likely the models of coolness from their parents’ and grandparents’ generation don’t register much at all.
Which is kind of ironic, as this white mid-70s Thunderbird was already clearly a grandpa car when you took the picture a dozen years ago. The Shriner badge on the rear deck pretty much tells that story.
My father carpooled with a friend’s father. He had traded a 1973 Chrysler Newport four-door sedan on a 1978 Thunderbird. My father complained about the lack of rear-seat legroom in the Thunderbird, as compared to our car, a 1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale four-door hardtop.
“It has less room than our car. Why would we want that?”
Maybe because it’s much more stylish..? Needless to say, my plea went nowhere.
As for the styling – at least Ford didn’t simply use tracing paper to produce a 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo clone, as Chrysler did with the Cordoba. This Thunderbird didn’t look like its direct competitors, and if there was a resemblance to the LTD II, that could be explained away as Ford maintaining a “corporate” look.
It was interesting to hear Ford trumpeting the “trimmer” Thunderbird for 1977, while also boasting that the LTD was the “full-size car that kept its size,” a jab at the downsized 1977 GM B- and C-bodies.
You are so right about the rear seat legroom. Even as a young child I had to sit side-saddled. It was absurd.
The Fox-platform 1980 Thunderbird was a response to the economic pressures of the time. Those of us of age remember well some of the highest (adjusted for inflation) gas prices in US history, and the manufacturers were simply building what they thought the public wanted.
The only problem was, in the Thunderbird’s case, it just didn’t work. This was no Mustang II, a car that at least looked like the original. There was nothing original (or even remotely good-looking) about the Fox Thunderbird, and sales dropped like a rock accordingly.
Ford might have thought the same people who bought the downsized GM PLCs from 1978 would love the small Thunderbird, but they were sorely mistaken.
The sad part is, if they had been built better and the company didn’t look like they were at death’s door, Chrysler’s refreshed Cordoba/Mirada/Imperial could have cleaned-up in the PLC category.
I’ve always thought that the 1980 Cordoba and Mirada were the best-looking of the early 1980s personal luxury coupes. The problem was that Chrysler had a reputation for poor quality, and by late 1979 it was well known that the company faced bankruptcy without some sort of government help.
First, a base 1979 Ford Thunderbird MSRP was $5,999. That is from the 1979 edition of FoMoCo’s very own “CAR BUYING MADE EASIER” booklet. The base engine was the 302-2V V8.
This Thunderbird is one of the best examples, perhaps the most successful, of “nameplate inflation”, which Detroit was good at.
As a 12-year old, I thought the 1977 T-Bird styling was pretty decent–for what I considered then (correctly) to be a gaudy, American car. Much better than the Torino Elite 2-door it replaced. So that helped. And at 12 years of age, if Car and Driver wrote it, it must be true! LOL!!!
But what really helped was taking the Thunderbird nameplate off the bigger 2-door that was at the top of the Ford line-up, and not selling especially well, basically Ford’s version of the Lincoln Mark IV, and putting it on a mid-size personal luxury car.
It also helped that personal luxury was a “hot segment”–GM was selling hundreds of thousands of Cutlass Supremes, Monte Carlos, Grand Prixs, Regals–hundreds of thousands of EACH! The Cordoba was a big hit for Chrysler.
So, Ford (and the car magazines) could say the biggest news in 1977 was the “new T-Bird”, for some $2,500 less! A 1977 T-Bird had a base price of $5,272 if i recall correctly, “$5,4xx as equipped” (the car in print ads some judicious options–vinyl roof, whitewalls). Maybe THAT was $5,411.
Of course, the 1976 T-Bird was quite loaded with power windows, locks, A/C (though the electric rear defogger was extra cost–so Detroit!!!), and these were extra cost options, which would push the price of that 1977 T-Bird well into the $6-thousands, maybe even up to $7k-plus, which was about 10% less than a 1976 T-Bird base price of around $7,700.
While I could think of many other cars, domestic and foreign, I’d rather have, even “comparably equipped”, I’d rather be seen in a 1977 T-Bird than the 1976.
So, improved styling inside and out, in a hot segment, AND the allure of getting a “T-bird for $2,500 off) helped Ford get a piece of the action.
I don’t like the rear end on the 1979s, marked degradation.
No matter. The party for Ford and everyone else continued thru the summer of 1979, when the effects of the Iranian revolution and the jump ini crude oil led to a doubling of fuel prices, and shortages, and sales of cars plummeted during the last four months of 1979, heralding the 1979-1982 recession.
Also, some more trivia, 1979 was the last year (for a while), where MSRPs didn’t increase during the year.
I loved Ford’s “Car Buying Made Easier” guide. Sent away for it every year it was offered, and I played with the price lists equipping the various models with the options and packages available.
Despite the funky greenhouse, I preferred this to the vaunted Mark V, thanks to the curve of the front fender tops.
I liked these as a teenager when they came out, thinking that they were an improvement over the Ford Elite, and even the Big Birds that preceded them. Our family was in a ’73 LTD at the time, so new Fords got noticed, and my feelings we these were styled pretty nicely. I liked the basket handle look so much that when the Fairmont Futura came out (much more affordable to me for a first car than a T-Bird) I got one as my first new car.
As to the 1980 to 1982 Box Birds, while not styled to my liking, they were a bridge to a later Fox Bird that I loved, and when it was time to replace the Futura, I got myself a 1983 and have ben a Thunderbird fan ever since.
Had they still had this car (as a PLC… not the Retro Bird) in early 2008 when I bought the 2007 Mustang, I’d likely still be driving one today. The retro Mustangs were more of a spiritual PLC successor to the Thunderbird than anything else Ford had to offer at the time.
These were hugely popular for a simple reason, they were a bargain priced Lincoln Mark V. The sharp edged styling wasn’t identical, but it elicited the same feeling in the viewer. The “real” Thunderbird was never going to be able to go toe to toe with the Monte Carlo, since it was platform mate of the Lincoln. Switching the name to the mid size platform, made the car seem more modern, and more appealing to a younger demographic. I knew a lady, in her late 30’s, that bought a new ’77 and she was ecstatic about her purchase. I knew what it really was, a “switcheroo,” by Ford. We were both working at the GM plant making Monte Carlos and Regals and she considered the Bird to be a step above!
The name did have so much cachet at the time, my Mom used to tell me that her dream car would be a bright red Thunderbird, and she didn’t drive that much.
I agree with Rick, that the 2005 Mustang was kind of a spiritual replacement for the PLC. I think that Ford has missed an opportunity by failing to re-introduce a “Grande” version of the Mustang. It could have a plusher interior, smoother suspension, and a lot more sound deadening added. I bought a new V6 Pony coupe in ’07 and I found the smoother ride, and more tractable, quieter engine, quite appealing. Even in comparison to my current ’06 GT convertible.
So 20 some years from attractive personal coupe to bloated personal barge is hardly progress in my eyes once the Thunderbird became just another 4 seater sedan the magic was gone.
I was 15 when this generation of Thunderbirds was introduced and regarded it quite favorably as a vast improvement over the bloated 1972-1976 model that preceded it. Perhaps less special than that Lincoln Mark IV knockoff (itself succeeded by the far more attractive, though hardly downsized Mark V), the Torino-based T-Bird seem to capture the zeitgeist so much better. I remember riding in a friend’s mother’s 1978 T-Bird Brougham and being very impressed with the plush interior even though the origins of the dashboard were glaringly obvious, given their direct resemblance to the one in Mom’s unloved Torino wagon.
If I had been in the target market for a mid-size personal luxury car at the time, I would have passed up the T-bird for its Cougar cousin, which didn’t have the silly basket-handle roof design. Better yet, I would have gotten either a 1977 Regal or Gran Prix with all the options.
The existence of the LTD II coupe, quite effectively undermined the status of this gen T-Bird.
While the crisp styling looked reasonably fresh, at least for a year or so, the long hood/short deck proportions lent a decade old vibe.
I disagree, I think if anything it was the other way around, the Thunderbird undermined any higher trim configuration of the LTD II, which only seemed to find a market in police and taxi use. The elite predecessor and big 72-76 Tbirds never seemed to have much impact on Gran Torino volumes, but the LTD II is a name most people forgot even existed, and/or misattribute it to the Fox based 83-86 LTD
Considering the drastic plummet in sales to the rationally sized and reproportioned Fox chassis 1980s, I see no reason to critique the long hood/short deck proportions for being “outdated” not every car should have morphed into a Volkswagen Golf in response to the energy crisis. The 79s fell off from the 78s but it was still the third best selling Thunderbird year of all time
The Thunderbird was the brand name in Ford’s portfolio, that needed to be upheld. Ford knew the LTD II was a stopgap deadend.
The long hood (and short deck), said ‘1969’. The basic proportions of Ford intermediate coupes going back ten years.
But how does the LTD being a stopgap undermine the status of the Tbird? If anything the LTD II was such a non entity in the market, where comparisons weren’t easy the Tbird seemed more like a standalone product than the Elite was from the Gran Torino. The predecessor on the on the other hand despite being more expensive had an obvious resemblance to the Lincoln Mark IV, but being a cheaper version of a prestige car is just that, not exactly keeping with the Tbirds status.
The long hood (and short deck), said ‘1969’. The basic proportions of Ford intermediate coupes going back ten years.
And? Long hood short deck was/is timeless for this class of car. 55-57s had them, it’s there on contemporary BMWs and Mercedes too, and of course all front engine sports cars, these dimensions remain on cars of this class to date. The sheer dimensions with its ponderous length and width would be valid criticism, but the long hood/short deck proportions were not a problem, not for a Thunderbird. The more cabforward proportions of the 80 models were a far greater liability and what made them so unattractive *as Thunderbirds*.
I was 12 when these came out. While styling preferences are subjective, I felt the 1976 Torino looked better than the 1977 LTD II (conversely, I thought the 1977 Mercury Cougar sedan, same basic lines as the 77 LTD II, looked better than the 76 Montego sedan).
The 77 T-bird did look “distinctive”. It had Ford cues (the angular lines and concealed headlamps) and in terms of appearance was a viable alternative to the GM 2-doors and Cordoba.
The sales numbers of the 77-79 T-bird (over 300k in 1977 and 78, and close to 300k in 1979) were very good for Ford.
If anything, the 77 T-Bird undercut the LTD II 2-door.
Thunderbird, Roadmaster, Imperial, Impala, Eldorado. Some of the most iconic names in automotive history. Sadly, none exist today. What a shame these names have been jettisoned to the dustbin.
The Thunderbird name had so much cachet and prestige that in 1977 it transformed a tarted up Torino into a sales sensation. Later generations may have been fine cars, but the last true T-bird was in 1976.
I have always referred to these as “Disco Birds,” because somehow the styling says “Disco Era” more than just about any other car I can think of.
I bought a ’77 in around 2000-01 when they were still bouncing on the bottom of the depreciation curve. It wasn’t as much fun to live with one as it was to admire their looks. I had the base interior, and the seat gave me a backache if I drove more than a half hour. Using the rear seat was out of the question, unless the age of the passengers was still in single digits. The trunk was unimpressive, and the car was slow and hard to keep in tune. Somewhere along the way, I figured out that the basic exterior dimensions were similar to the 1977 downsized GM full sized cars, but the interior room and trunk space were compact-level, at most.
I pretty much wrote off Ford cars between 1976-1982 as not being worth my time. This is a good example Calling this a Thunderbird when the Cougar and the Elite looked very similar. Neither, as far as I am concerned, did justice to their name plate.
These are my favorite years for the Thunderbird. I get that Ford was recycling old platforms, but at least they made them classy. We own a 1978 Diamond Jubilee, and love it. I’m not a fan of the 174hp 400, but then at 60 my stop light racing days are over!!
Wow you guys are definitely tough on the LTD II. My 77 LTD II is a thoroughly enjoyable car to drive. I couldn’t care less if it shares a hood with another car and this and that. Frankly, all that is just noise.
As far as it’s looks? It is bad to the bone. It’s nasty, bad ass looking. It is Large and in charge. And yea it looks even more badass next to my 79 Heritage Thunderbird
Great article!
I recently became the recipient of a family-owned (since ’83) ’79 Thunderbird convertible, which, according to American Custom Coachworks – the Ford-authorized conversion shop – is one of 100 they produced for that year. As my wife and I were married in ’79, this ‘Bird has great sentimental value from that perspective, in addition to the fact it was my dad’s most favorite convertible ‘Bird among his many ‘Birds spanning ’57, ’62 and ’66. It turns the heads of youngsters and not-so-youngsters every time I take ‘er for a spin. For me, the smiles-per-gallon is priceless!