The most popular American collector cars are those made by GM and Chrysler circa 1970. Fords? Not so much. Ford products of the time mostly seem to be either
dull-as-dishwater or, on the other end of the spectrum, exercises in bad taste and excess. This Thunderbird is a good example of the latter. The big T-bird coupes made through 1966 were not strong sellers, so Ford decided to go for more of an old-man's luxury car.
The first edition of this design in 1967 was not too bad, but in 1970 Ford decided to really beat this car with an ugly stick, replacing the flat grill and hidden headlights of the '67 design with the bulldog look you see below. Combine that with the dubious design features the car already had, including a mandatory vinyl top and "landau irons" on the roof, and you've got what might have been the least-attractive luxury car to come out of Detroit until the
1980 Cadillac Seville.
Sales were only 36,000 units in 1971, with only one-sixth of those being the four door.
* This Thunderbird and the 60s Lincoln Continental were the only mass-production cars made after World War II with suicide doors.
* The T-bird made a huge comeback later in 70s,
selling 352,000 in 1978 alone. Why everyone was so crazy for that land yacht, I don't know. Who can explain anything about the 70s?
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