This 1976 Ford Thunderbird Crème and Gold trim is the last of the sixth generation of Thunderbird and is the highest luxury trim it could come in. Surprisingly, the buy-it-now price is $6,500. Currently, it has reached $2,869 by 13 bidders with the reserve not yet met. New, the base price was $7,790. It is located in Des Moines, Iowa. The seller has noted a VIN along with 62,645 miles and a clear title. You can view more on eBay.
This bird is powered by either a 7.0 or a 7.5-liter V8 engine. That is connected to an automatic transmission. The seller says that this car does run and drive and as they put it, it even “floats down the freeway.” They do provide a number of photos of the engine and everything appears to be in good condition. The crème and gold trim level didn’t appear to have any mechanical upgrades for performance.
And while the trim was luxurious, there were still options. All of which is slightly hard to tell based on the photos, if the car has them or not. Options that were available included a lighted mirror, power lumbar seats, an AM/FM radio with a search feature or an 8-track player. There was also an auto dimmer option. This car does appear to have a radio that appears to have a search option.
After looking through the photos and the information in the listing, while the price is still high, it seems like a respectable ask by the seller. While it might not achieve that price, especially considering since new, the price has not depreciated much. Then again, maybe it is more the situation that these cars have not appreciated as other cars of the era have. But if they ever do, you will want this example, as it is in the kind of condition that would make it a prime investment.
These big Thunderbirds haven’t really developed much as far as collectible vehicles. Thus their prices are pretty cheap. But if one wanted an example of a large coupe of its era (a type of vehicle not available today), this is a good candidate. Nice shape, period-correct colors, two-tone, fancy interior which isn’t black or gray, and that l-o-n-g hood.
It was always interesting what Ford did next for 1977: moved the Thunderbird to the Torino platform, gave it some interesting styling, lowered the price, and sold a bazillion of them.
one in garage tracy city tn. My uncles car. 11k miles I think. Original.
From the position on the thermostat housing, I would venture to guess that this Bird has the 400 engine. The 335 series engines had a dry intake, while the FEs had coolant that flowed through it.
This car has the 7.5L 460 engine. This platform did not offer any of the FE series in 74 thru 76.
Splendid! Big loud and proud. Ford really needs to bring these packages back to its big SUVs. It would fit perfectly. Much more so than the sport packages that they’re trying to do. I mean, Explorer ST? Really?
Absolutely horrid.
Yeah, show yet another Mustang in Respray Red, right?
My old man had a big T-Bird like this, a ’71, I think. What a tank, and the doors weighed a ton, which my mom never liked. He didn’t have it long, but it was, in true Thunderbird fashion, a real cruiser. It should, it weighed 5,000 pounds. Nice car, I don’t think T-Bird was ever the same after these. The time has past for a car like this, and I doubt will bring much money, but they were nice cars.
My uncle purchased a brand new T Bird in 1971. This was a guy who ran a scrap yard and never drove a new vehicle, opting instead for high mileage well worn vehicles that he could either purchase at auction or piece together from his scrap yard. Needless to say, this brand new car was his pride and joy. My parents would run in to him on a weekly basis on the Service Drive at the Ford Dealership. My parents with an ongoing litany of chrome misalignments and various squeaks and rattles in their brand new Country Sedan Wagon and my uncle with an intermittent high pitch squeal that the Dealership could never replicate.
My Uncle became so frustrated over this non-resolved high pitch squeal that he sold his pride and joy during his 1st year of ownership rather than continue to endure this noise. He instead opted for some non-descript used vehicle that he purchased at an auction.
I can’t even imagine the wave of despondency that must have rushed over my uncle when while driving his 80 plus year old grandmother around in his recent auction purchase, the high pitched squeal returned.
Turns out his Grandmother’s hearing aid had been the culprit all along.
That squeal or some other mystery noise could really happen. On a trip in a friends Subaru Outback, during a high wind gust, a clear horn beeping was heard. Freaked us out, nobody around, we thought the horn was shorting out. Turns out, on some Subaru forum, something about the way the rear view mirror was designed and the window open a crack just right, produced a noise like a horn that other owners complained about too.
Does that small diameter cap distributor still have pts & condenser?
How old are those tires with the crazy whitewalls?
Silly a big clock was more popular then than a temp gage – didn’t most people wear a wristwatch? – why discharge the battery prematurely?
I read, by 1975 all Fords had Duraspark electronic ignition. In ’77, was the Duraspark ll. The module on the inner fender proves it. Pretty sure this is a 460.
T bird took some steroids.
This ‘Bird is a really clean, well-maintained example of the era and might be a good investment that could pay of down the road. I think the Buy-It-Now might be a little high but not unreasonable for what you’d be getting. A cousin had a ’72 T-Bird and I remember it being a fantastic cruiser with all the bells and whistles available at the time. This one is a relatively cheap entry into the collector hobby and would certainly draw a fair amount of attention on any show field.
I started working in a Ford dealership in February, 1975 as a car jockey and new car clean up person. Late July or early August we received our first $10k Thunderbird something like $10006.00 sticker. All the sales people, owner, technicians, and even the office personnel came out to look at a $10,000 automobile.
This and the Lincoln Mark IV were the icons of that time. Both were great cruisers that can’t be found today…
When a vehicle of this era and genre shows up on Barn Finds, inevitably people will chime in noting how great they were at long distance cruising (preferably for no more than two people). Give these cars credit for doing that important task very well.
Today, the closest thing we have to handling this task is a crew cab pickup. Which is hugely ironic when one thinks about it… Imagine the look you would have received at your local Ford dealer in 1976 if you would have predicted that the interstate highway cruiser of choice in 2019 would be a F150 SuperCrew.
& the look you would get predicting that
parking spaces would be so small it would be tough to park ford’s mainstream vehicle.
& that 99% of trucks would be 4 doors. & that you could no longer build a vehicle alacarte’, only 1 or 2 interior colors avail – mostly grey & or black, & exterior colors(maybe only a total of 7) other than black white or silver cost thousands of dollars more, & that ford would not have made a 2 door car in the last 10? years(other than mustang), & that mustang would only be able to hold 2 people, & it would have a ridiculous small trunk & trunk lid that had to be extended to the bumper to fit anything inside!! & that it would be smaller inside than mustang II !!, & ford would no longer be making any traditional cars other than mustang. & after 10 years a shelby mustang STILL hadn’t got unique tailites!
At least ford is looking to make a larger mustang for the next gen – hopefully a ’70 lookalike. Lets hope the same is true for Camaro, tho it may be on its last legs.
The bird of this generation was just a lower priced Mark IV, no wood on the dash, lil less sound deadner, ugly gauges, 5000 less
This is a beautiful color combination. I drove Lincoln Mark V’s for 20 years. They were excellent cars, and rode wonderful. The 460 had plenty of power, to move this very heavy car.
For a while in my early 20’s I inherited my family 1977 (I think) Heritage Edition T-Bird. I drove it around Seattle as a delivery vehicle for a civil engineering firm. Not a great delivery car :(
I remember there was well over a foot of empty space behind the flipper headlight mechanisms and in front of the radiator, so much you could climb in and stand there on the pavement, in the middle of the engine compartment. It was just empty space to add length. I recall it had a 2-barrel carb on a 351W which meant it would constantly spin the tires in the rain because it had good torque down low, but not a ton of power at speed. It seemed like it had most of its heft on its front wheels. It was meant to cruise the freeway in a straight line at 55mph, I suppose, and it was very good at that. It was very comfortable, like a bed, although the back seats were small and dark. Quadrophonic 8-track player with a joystick fader, built in CB radio with all the controls on the handset, whole car was maroon, like wine.
A lot of family members drove it before it was given to me, so by that time it wasn’t in great shape. I guess I should have been more responsive to that gasoline odor I noticed one day, because eventually it caught fire and burned up.
The tow truck driver said he’s had one just like it and took his kids to Disneyland in it. He said it was the greatest freeway rider he’d ever driven.
Grand prix must have been worse IN RAIN & SNOW, since its v8 weighs quite a bit more than the 351W.
Both full frame cars.
This is a beauty!! Can you say, “Date night?” She would be sittin’ pretty in this one.
I’ve owned both a ’76 Thunderbird ans a ’76 Mark IV, both being the same creme color as the one for sale. Both had 4 wheel disc brakes, most popular accessories, with the 4 trumpet horn. I purchased the ‘Bird from the original owner, and very sweet elderly woman. The car had 51,200 miles on it at purchase. The car earned several accolades at car shows. As a straight line car, it was superb ! Very comfortable, the Auto climate control worked flawlessly. These were also available with ABS; an innovative system in it’s day. Terrible fuel economy, and the 460 just didn’t get the job done, as one would expect from such a large engine. The 460 was the only engine option; NO 400 cid was available at the time. I really enjoyed that car.
I had a 1975 back in the day. It was our daily car. drove like a dream. sure it used a lot of gas and it went thru several starters, but what a ride!
I recently sold a really clean one like this (recently? About 2 years ago lol). I was trying to pull $3,500 out of it, low verifiable miles, moonroof, so on. Just a nice car!
A friend bought it for $2,500. She still drives it everywhere & loves it. I feel I should have just held onto it.
This car is a beauty. I don’t think it is worth what the seller is asking, just because of the trouble I had selling mine for half of what this seller wants, but she sure is a sweetheart & I would proudly drive it.
Couldn’t you also get a nice Mark from this year for the same price?
More Ford Bloat
It is in nice shape tho