Ford’s personal luxury car retained much of the same styling for the 1970 model as it had from the previous year, but the reshaped and busy front end really stood out (literally) and it kind of resembled a bird’s beak, or at least some historians have thought so, while others believed it looked like a Pontiac. But however you viewed the car, people seemed to like it, with more than 50,000 of them finding homes for the ’70 model alone, and if you’ve been in the market for one that looks like it’s been well-cared-for since new this one here on Craigslist may be worth checking out. South Pasadena, California is home to this 1970 Thunderbird, with the asking price set at $26,000.
Rocco B., thanks for your great tip here! Apparently, this car has only had two caretakers, as the seller tells us his father was with the original buyer when he purchased the car new, and at some point, Dad was finally able to buy the car from the first owner, and it’s said to have been in his climate-controlled garage ever since. The seller doesn’t say whether or not that’s still the original paint, but with the low miles and being in a friendly climate like the Los Angeles area, it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the factory finish. The outside looks good everywhere we can see, with even the white vinyl top appearing to have held up nicely.
A peek inside reveals an interior that looks about as good as the outside, and in a matching red color. This one’s also got the sporty bucket seats and a console, plus plenty of other equipment like air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, and I believe that’s an 8-track player I spotted underneath the radio. Another small but fun touch Ford gave the driver was the shaped high-beam indicator, which looks like a tiny Thunderbird, and I’m just not seeing much at all inside to find fault with, other than hoping that dash cover is only for protection and isn’t hiding anything.
Under the hood is Ford’s 429 Thunderjet V8 with a 4-barrel, which made 360 horsepower right from the factory. With only 31k miles on the ticker, I’m speculating the motor has never been out of the bay but there has been some work done recently in the fuel department, including a carburetor rebuild plus a new gas tank and sending unit was installed. That’s also a fresh set of tires, and I have to agree with the seller when he describes the car’s condition as amazing. What are your thoughts on this 1970 Thunderbird? Is $26,000 in the ballpark for what we’re seeing here?
Not one single ding in the shnoz. Amazing
Another example of a model which I ignored back in the day, which I now find interesting and attractive. I now have an appreciation for the big personal luxury coupes, which were great cruisers, then and now. This Thunderbird looks to be in great condition. Good colors. Don’t see these all that often.
Nor its corporate competition, the GM examples, the Chevy Monte Carlo, Buick Riviera, Cadillac Eldorado, Oldsmobile Toranado, or the Chrysler Cordoba, with the “rich Corinthian leather” so favored by Ricardo Montalban, LOL! Most all of these cars were driven by upper middle class career men, middle managers, and they all fell out of favor when the two “Gas Crises” hit in 1973 and 1979, due to their large size and poor fuel economy. The examples that survived did so in a much smaller and more fuel thrifty size. Most of them rusted away to nothing and were sent to the crusher by the thousands, never to return, hence the relative rarity today.
Truth! I just bought a 1970 Olds Toronado for restoration in PA. It had been retitled with a Vermont plate, so I have no Idea where it came from originally, but it had no invasive rust (just some corrosion spotting on a few panels) on the body and no body rot (again, just surface corrosion underneath). 90K on the clock. $2500 and considering myself VERY lucky.
— before anyone asks, car is not a GT. only about 20K Toros were made in 1970, and fewer than 1/4 of those were GTs. This will be a faithful rebuild to factory specs. No interest in a clone. Custom (9687) Ivory interior with black carpet. Original code 46 Ming Jade paint. BUUUUUUT, I am replacing the shredded Green vinyl top for White, because I want a never-ending struggle to keep it clean : )
That is such a good looking car and you took such terrible pictures of it you’re not doing that car any justice at all! Try taking some good pictures and then reposting this on site! Such a shame you’re not showing this car and it’s best light cuz it is one of the best looking cars of the early 70s.
I think it’s a lot of car for the money or is it the other way around! Love everything about it including that 429! I just don’t have the expendable income to secure that 1970 goodness !
Ditto. I also don’t have a place to park it out of a New England winter, and it would be a crime to expose this car to snow, even under a car cover! The 429 is a significant upgrade from the FE block 428 Thunderjet mill that was last seen in the 1968 T-Bird, and I’ve even come to tolerate the “Bunkie Beak” that I used to despise! I especially like the fact that the original owner ordered the optional bucket seats. When the bucket seats were made optional in 1968 (?), Many owners went with a bench seat instead, and this car really looks great with bucket seats and a console!
I think that is Jim Powers’s, the great Ford designer. Fantastic story behind this man. He was instrumental in the development of the 1961 T’bird and Continental.
Wow what a car, luxury and performance. Likely the best one left. Find it odd that it has a fuel and oil pressure gauge, it’s usually fuel and engine temp when it’s only two gauges.
Looking through the photos posted in the Craigslist ad, oil pressure and fuel level gauges are to the left of the speedometer with volts and coolant temperature gauges to the right of the clock.
If these follow the same gage layout as its 1967-69 ancestors, these came with a fuel gage, temperature gage, ammeter and oil pressure gage. The rightmost gage pod was for the wiper and washer controls, replacing the group of four levers used in the 1967 example. This was the next-to-last year for the fifth (5th) generation T-Birds (1967-71), the so-called “Glamor Birds”.
Left to right, the fuel and temperature gage were in the leftmost pod, followed by the speedometer in pod #2, the clock in pod #3, then the ammeter and oil pressure gage in pod #4, and the wiper and washer controls in pod #5, with two (2) “idiot lights” of indeterminate function shared with the wiper controls. That’s in addition to the “Convenience Check Group” row of four idiot lights mounted above the rear view mirror.
My Uncle Don had a triple black 70′ Thunderbird,he bought it new as his summer car and drove volvos during the rest of the year lol.The car was like a Saturn rocket,a bit lazy on take off then sudden blast,if drag racing started at 30 mph the 70 Thunderbird would be a contender..godlike midrange.
It’s that long stroke.
And if it was anything like my Mom’s ’67, it didn’t matter if you were driving on the highway or the city, the gas mileage was consistently 14 mpg, LOL!
A 1971 example, painted the same color as this car, is also available in Hemmings, but it has the black leather bucket seats in place of the red cloth, and the vinyl roof has been removed, and the roof painted body color as part of a previous restoration. The asking price is $29k and here’s a link:
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1971-ford-thunderbird-la-vergne-tn-2733348
P.S. The 429 can become a 460 if you replace the crankshaft with a “stroker” crank, new pistons and connecting rods, either Ford factory parts or aftermarket parts.
I would pay the extra $3k for the 71 with black interior. If I was looking to buy one.
The fifth (5th) generation cars lasted for five (5) years, 1967-71, but experienced significant changes each year. The first year cars, like my Mom’s example had the 390 “FE” V8 as the standard engine, with the 428 Thunderjet power plant as the optional mill. Starting on 01 January, 1968, the only engine choice was the 428. In 1969, the 428 was phased out, to be replaced with the “385” block 429, which became the sole engine choice until 1972, when the 460 became the optional engine until 1974, when the 460 became the only engine available in the T-Bird, to cope with the increasing weight and declining power output of the increasingly antismog choked engines.
Source: Automotive Mileposts.
http://automotivemileposts.com/contentstbird.html
I’m gonna argue with you that the 385 series 429 was first available on the 68 Thunderbird (hence the name, Thunderjet). In 69 everything else got them. Unless that’s what you meant.
You are correct. The 429 was offered in the ’68 T-Bird.
No, I was referring to the largest “FE” block, the 428 Thunderjet. The “385” block didn’t appear in the T-Bird until late 1968 as a Model Year 1969 offering, and it wasn’t called Thunderjet. AFAIK, the 429/460 “385” engines didn’t have any name unless you are referring to the Cobra Jet and Super Cobra Jet versions of the 429, which never appeared in the T-Bird, but only in Ford’s “Pony” cars, the Mustang and Cougar, and the mid-size muscle cars, the Torino and Montego. The T-Bird and Lincoln Mark IV only got the base versions of the 385-Series engines, the CJ and SCJ variants were reserved for the performance cars.
Several 1968 T-Birds have pictures that show a “428 Thunderjet” sticker on the air cleaner lid, the same sticker that denotes the number of venturis (2V or 4V) or barrels in the carburetor.
Surprisingly, only the roof panels and hood were shared with the ’67 version, most of the panels were new in ’68, largely due to the addition of the Federally-mandated side marker and cornering lights, side guard door beams, and a change to the wiper blade sweep to increase the glass area covered by the wiper blades, also in accordance with new federal rules for wiper blade glass coverage. The ’67 had the wipers sweep from outboard in, towards the center of the windshield, while from ’68 on, the wipers swept in parallel, from left-to-right, so the cowl was changed to relocate the wiper arm shafts.
The bumper and front turn signals were also changed in ’68. 1969 saw the deletion of the rear seat side windows and a revised taillight treatment, only to have both the rear seat side windows and full-width sequential taillights return for 1969. The “Bunkie Beak” appeared in 1970-71, before the sixth (6th) generation car appeared starting in 1972.
Wow, that car is gorgeous. If it’s as beautiful as the pictures make it seem, I think it’s worth the money, if you can find a Tbird collector. All those rare options are a bonus. I think I’d be afraid to drive it, except maybe early Sunday mornings when many people are still asleep.
This is probably the nicest ’70 T-Bird out there, but…….$26,000 is still the territory of a solid, driver-quality ’55-’57.
I had a 1971 Thunderbird with anti-lock breaking. system. I enjoyed going on fresh snow falls and testing it out. This Bird was always stright and never sliding. If this Bird where to have you will find a black plastic box attached to the bottom of the glove box. It will be 8 x 4 and an inch thick. This is the computer.
ANTILOCK in 71
Great posts today a trip down memory lane! My Dad’s 1959 Ford Skyliner and now his 1970 Tbird! His Tbird was maroon with a black vinyl top and black interior, thanks again you made my day!👍👍
I want it so bad….but then I’d probably be having canned tuna fish for lunch for the next five years….And I’m sure it won’t fit in my garage.
I owned a 1969 2 door Thunderbird, it came with the 429 cubic inch engine. I loved that car. This 1970 has the same dash & engine. The car had great acceleration for a car that size. The only downside was I only got 8 miles per gallon.
I used to use my 1971 Thunderbird and sometimes my 1969 Mark III to drive from my office in Romulus to our plants near Cleveland, Ohio. Both these engines, (429 & 460) would give me 20 miles per gallon on these trips. I would never want to think about gasoline when driving around town.
I have two of these 1970 fastback Broughams. Both red.
One is totally restored, car taken apart and refinished.
The other is an Arizona car, bought off the original owner, with 78,000 original miles WITH RARE FACTORY SUNROOF. I have this car listed on CLASSICCARS.COM. Keep an out out on EBAY, starting likely this weekend as I will be listing it on auction.
Yes, @Mike Stephens, that is a factory radio-and-8-track deck. As an 11-or-12-year-old, I spent many hours sitting in my parents’ identically optioned ’70 ‘bird, running the battery down, listening to 8-tracks and pretending I was cruising the highway. I think the 8-track radio was part of the Special Brougham options on this example. The Special Brougham package included the hopsack cloth and vinyl bucket seats with center console, rim-blow horn steering wheel, grille-mounted driving/turn-signal lights, body color inserts on the wheel covers, and a variety of other nice features. Although not widely appreciated, the 1970 Thunderbird (with the Special Brougham package) is my favorite of all the ‘birds due in part, I’m sure, to the childhood family memories.
My 1971 Thunderbird had this brougham package. I had a plush cloth material and extra high front seats. Mine was a four door and it also had the $1,00.00 anti-lock braking system. Motorola was on strike and only an AM radio was available. Otherwise I was with all other options available and the wheel covers also had the same color as the car. I paid for $3,000.00 for mine. It had been a facory test vehicle and when engineering was finished I bought it. Had 4,000 miles on it.
Referencing the 428/429 debate. I always thought that the last 428 was 1967 model as an option over the 390 and ALL 68 models had the new 429.
I goofed. My Bad. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa! To all who I disagreed with originally, I apologize, unreservedly. You were all correct, and I was wrong! Now, would somebody pass the crow, I’m feeling hungry now.