Beak Bird: 1971 Ford Thunderbird Landau Coupe

Disclosure: This site may receive compensation from some link clicks and purchases.

In the late 1960s, my father bought a dark blue Jaguar XKE 2+2. He was a doctor, and the Jag loved to break. This was not a good combination. One day the Jag dropped a part on the road in Washington Park while he was taking me to school. When I returned home (on the bus), a new 1971 Thunderbird had taken the Jag’s place in the garage. I felt this was a terrible trade. However, the T-Bird was deadly reliable and large – so it was easy to avoid my annoying brother. Of course, when I saw this craigslist ad for a 1971 Ford Thunderbird Landau coupe, nostalgia struck. But for the color, this could have been our car. The 1970/71 T-Birds flaunt the influence of Ford’s new hire at the time, Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen. It was Knudsen’s notion to bestow the ‘Bird with a prominent “beak”, unique to these two model years. The seller wants $15,000 (in person) for this low-mileage, well-documented example of one of the largest T-birds ever made. It performs capably, so fly in and drive it home from Cincinnati, Ohio. Pat L. handed us this wonderful tip – thanks, Pat!

The fifth-generation Thunderbird occupied the “personal luxury” niche, and luxury meant power. Several V8 engines were available as options; this one is the top-of-the-line 429 CID Thunderjet, breathing through a four-barrel carburetor. Output is 360 hp. Ford’s three-speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission assures ease of use. The carburetor has been rebuilt, and new items include the thermostat, coolant sensor, vacuum sensor, starter, fuel pump, water pump, master cylinder, and brake hoses. Fluids have been changed and consumables like the spark plugs, plug wires, and the distributor cap have been replaced. This car has covered only 48,582 miles with documentation from new to prove it.

The condition of the interior supports the low mileage – but given its color, this car must have had very careful owners as well. The faintest of stains show up on the seat under the armrest, but the instrument panel is beautiful from every angle. Note the artsy etching on the sill plates, and their near-pristine condition. If these needed replacing – well, good luck. The trunk is every bit as nice as the cabin, too.

One of my favorite features of our T-Bird was the taillights that spread across the full width of the car – it’s like a party back there! But the lack of visibility out the rear corners – thanks to the landau roof – drove my dad nuts. Ford fixed that in 1972 by adding an “opera” window; the “beak” was moderated in ’72 as well. The distinctive ’70/’71 ‘Birds have gradually earned modest respect in the collector market. In terms of value, if you’ve had a yen for this model, finding a better one at a lower price will be very tough.

Auctions Ending Soon

Comments

  1. Darren S.

    I liked the previous years with the hidden headlights,the ‘beak’ just didn’t look right to me. But to each his own I guess.

    Like 12
    • rayburn

      Agree, just realized where ford designers might have got the “bird” from on this style, maybe as in bird beak? But it’s still a cool car!

      Like 5
      • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

        The “Bunkie Beak” was added by Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen, a former Executive VP at GM who was lured away from GM to become the President of Ford at the behest of Ford’s Chairman of the Board and CEO, Henry Ford II in February, 1968. One of the first things Bunkie did was add the enlarged proboscis to the T-Bird and grow the Mustang into a larger and heavier car. He was fired from Ford on 11 September, 1969, lasting just nineteen (19) months at Ford.

        Like 5
    • Greg in Texas

      It looks like an extra 200 pounds of steel for an already VERY thirsty ride to lug around because __________(??). Truly pointless, and irresponsible. The Caddy fins hadn’t experienced Oil Embargo yet, so I give them a pass. That nose was thumbing itself at Americans, telling us “Wars for oil will be ongoing due to mass waste mode we are launching.” Terrible looks, terrible for performance… Yet it’s so clean and gaudy, even as no fan of V8 engines in general: I’d drive my gf around on that bench seat. If that didn’t work, I’m shopping. For a new girlfriend LOL !

      Like 2
      • Randy

        I owned a 1970 “fast back” 2 door, with bucket seats, the glorious opera style backseat and the 429 that cruised 70 with ease netting 24 miles per gallon and 15 city. In 1977.
        For giggles one day, from a dead stop I pulled three car lengths on a ’69 383 Road Runner. He did not catch me though he tried. There was this element of surprise no doubt because it surprised me. I truly would love to have that car back.

        Like 2
  2. Cooter CooterMember

    This is a solid survivor and you don’t see them any more. That 429 is a strong engine packing good torque as well,

    Like 24
  3. BA

    I would love to have this car ! Talk about cars & Coffee! Just dripping with class ( which I might be a little short on) . We had a gold Rivera on here that knocked my socks off but this baby is right there with her. I know if it was the cooler jet engined front end but rarely do you see such a beautifully clean & well maintained car & the white everything just pops class. Yes I would put upgrades on it some would scoff at like long tube headers & fuel injection & maybe rear disk brakes for effortless daily driving if needed but beyond that treat this car like the royalty she is! Just when you think all the good ones are gone Shazam !

    Like 12
    • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

      My only complaint is that Ford made the bucket seats optional starting in 1968, and the owner of this car didn’t pry the wallet open to order the optional bucket seats with center console. My interest is more than academic, since I am only 59.5 inches (4’11.5″) tall, so if I’m driving, anyone sitting in the passenger’s seat better be either shorter than I am, or enjoy sitting in the fetal position with their knees under their chin and their feet on the seat, to keep from getting their legs crushed, LOL! BTW, I would have to have power seats with the height adjustment, since manual seats didn’t have height adjustments back in the day! I speak from experience, since I drove my Mom’s 1967 T-Bird with pillows under my butt and behind my back, because Mom’s car had manually adjusted bucket seats. I wore my seat belt to keep the pillows from sliding out from under my behind in turns, LOL!

      Like 11
  4. Tucker Callan

    Looks like it`s been re- painted?

    Like 7
    • BillB

      Lots of bubbling in the rear quarters, especially seen in the right rear photo. Also, in front of both rear tires the quarter bottoms look a little too squared off. Those spots will be busting out by next year. Take a magnet with you when you check it out and negotiate price accordingly.

      Like 10
      • Michelle RandAuthor

        Good catch.

        Like 6
      • Cooter CooterMember

        Bill, the squared away rear fender openings are the cars design. They weren’t rounded. My buddy had a 69 with the same look.

        Like 2
  5. LCL

    Without Landau irons is it truly Landau?
    Perhaps Landau is an attitude, an elan.
    Those that have it don’t need the irons. Or they are inside.
    I guess it stylist-talk for thick vinyl roof.
    That mark on the front seat looks like a damp baby sat there.

    Like 2
    • LCL

      Are the door windows frame less?
      That’s a big piece of glass!
      No frames, fold the top back and it is a Landau.
      Now, how do you pronounce coupe?

      Like 3
    • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

      The faux Landau bars went away in 1969. Starting in 1970, both painted roof and vinyl roof cars got the simple T-Bird badge shown. 1967 to 1969 cars got a different B-pillar treatment depending on the roof covering ordered by the buyer. Painted roof cars (“Tudor”) got a Thunderbird badge with an insert painted to match the body paint color, “Tudor Landau” cars got the vinyl roof with the phony Landau Bars, “Fordor Landau” cars (Ford-speak for a four-door T-Bird) were only available with the vinyl roof and false Landau bars, Ford never made a four-door T-Bird with a painted roof from the factory, so if you see a four-door T-Bird with a painted roof, you know that the vinyl roof was removed and the car was repainted at some point in its life.

      The four-door T-Bird, complete with Lincoln Continental style “suicide doors”, was only made for five (5) model years, from MY1967 to 1972. The “Fordor Landau” option was dropped starting with the 1973 model year, when the T-Bird and the Lincoln Continental Mark IV were built on the same platform.

      Like 8
      • LCL

        Thanks for the info RA.
        I think I want the Fordor Landau now that I know they exist.

        Like 2
      • Tony C

        Actually, those five years were ’67–’71. The clap-door ‘Birds were dropped after that year. ’72s were an entirely-different series, and Toodors only.

        Like 2
  6. Howard A Howard AMember

    Well, a doctor in a Jag is like a Jag mechanic doing brain surgery. Not the best fit for either. The T-bird is much more “doctor” worthy, as a not so dependable car like a Jag, might not be the best car for someone that needs to be somewhere. The author liked the taillights, but didn’t mention the sequential feature, Ford, Mercury and T-Bird specific. Electronics were in their infancy, and the “control unit” was a crude example, and rarely worked after age. Many just wired in all the bulbs to flash. I see today, Mustangs have that feature, with better electronics, I hope. T-birds of this era catered to a certain group of “professionals”. Doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, and engineers all went for T-birds. Women, sadly were still relegated to 6 cylinder Mustangs, or the wives of said professionals. in T-birds. Another of Fords great ideas to discontinue that car as well, and not that goofy latest one that went nowhere. Ford made such wonderful cars, what the heck are they good for now?

    Like 9
    • Jack M.

      I’m not a Ford man, but I’ve heard that they sell the most pickup trucks in North America.

      Like 3
      • Arfeeto

        That Ford sells more pickups than GM is a common misapprehension. GM, in fact sells more. In 2022, GM sold 768,698 Chevrolet and GMC pickups, which are virtually identical vehicles. The same year, Ford sold 726,004.

        https://tfltruck.com/2023/01/full-size-truck-u-s-sales-report-for-2022-gm-is-still-on-top-ram-slides-down-here-is-what-happened/

        Like 2
      • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

        Classic marketing weasel words at work here, folks! Ford sells more single-brand pickup trucks than any other manufacturer, it’s true, but when you combine sales of more than one brand made by the same manufacturer, the picture changes. Ford, Chrysler and the Asian imports all sell pickup trucks under just one brand name. GM, on the other hand sells essentially the same truck under two (2) different brand names, Chevy and GMC. Take each nameplate separately, and Ford outsells either one separately, but combine the sales figures for both Chevy and GMC under the GM umbrella, and the combination outsells the Fords handily.

        Like 3
    • CCFisher

      Try a new Mustang, Howard, and you’ll understand what Ford is good for now. It’s not the cheap thrill it used to be, but even the 4-cylinder Mustang can keep up with all but the fastest and rarest of the 60’s muscle cars.

      Like 3
      • Stan StanMember

        The 305hp, 3.7 mustang from 2011 really dialed up the bargain mustang fun again CC 🙌

        Like 0
      • Howard A Howard AMember

        Sure, let me just bring up some of my offshore illegal accounts, oops, I mean, I hear ya’, I do, but back then just about anyone with a job could have a slick car like this. Today, “thrills” are limited to people that have 10 times what I make on SS as chump change, and the “rest” are relegated to white Subarus( or 30 year old Jeeps) It’s okay, we had our time that can’t be replicated by any modern Mustang, Challenger or Camaro, for that matter.
        Far as speed, not my concern, but it’s todays hot button. To be honest, that Kia Soul, ( I have no idea what motor it was and didn’t care) had plenty of steam. Until Ford reinvents itself with decent cars that anyone can afford, and get past this truck foolishness, their products have little interest to most, and that’s the kiss of death for a car maker.

        Like 5
    • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

      The sequential turn signals first appeared in 1966, and for the first two (2) years (1966-67) the control unit was an electromechanical control box, a small electric motor drove a cam that switched each taillamp on in turn. The direction of motor rotation determined whether the turn signals flashed from left to right (right turn signal) or right-to-left (left turn signal). Starting in 1968, the control module became all-electronic, using Silicon-Controlled-Rectifiers (SCR’s) to drive the sequential switching circuit.

      Like 6
  7. Bob_in_TN Bob_in_TNMember

    Fun write-up Michelle, explaining your first-hand experience with this model T-Bird. Very good craigslist ad (that’s rare). The car looks to be in great shape. Not may of these around, you wouldn’t see yourself coming and going even at a Ford-only show. Not a ton of money to have a nice cruiser.

    Like 10
  8. John EderMember

    Wow- the front bumper gets to your destination ten minutes before you do…

    Like 8
    • Michelle RandAuthor

      Yes, it also got to the back wall of our garage a bit before our brains said it should. Ouch.

      Like 13
      • Robert Atkinson, Jr.

        That problem wasn’t unique to the “Bunkie Beak” cars (MY1970-71). I was pulling Mom’s ’67 T-Bird into the garage when I pulled a little too close to a set of stairs to the loft over the garage, when the corner of the bottom step punched the left front turn signal out of its mounting hole! Dad just bent it back into shape and popped it back into the mounting hole in the bumper! Problem solved.

        Like 4
  9. Bj

    This must’ve been a “no shoes, white socks only passengers “ car judging by the (still) white 52 year old floor mats !

    Like 6
  10. Gary

    Gotta be VERY careful changing lanes with those wide blind spots.

    Like 4
  11. Goz

    I’m a Ford guy and usually a big fan of the T Bird. But this bloated, beaked bird, is not anything i’d want.

    Like 2
  12. CCFisher

    I read somewhere that insurance companies put a surcharge on these due to the fragile and vulnerable nose.

    Like 1
  13. Jay McCarthy

    The wheel covers on these ‘Birds were designed to emulate the front wheel drive look that Toronado and Eldorado wheel covers had

    Like 2
  14. FireAxeGXP

    Thanks Michelle for this stroll down amnesia lane! My Dad was a Thunderbird man for more than a decade before switching to Porsche 930s. He owned a 57 a 60 and a 63. My Mother used to tell the story that when he went to buy the 63 his annual bonus from the DOD hadn’t come in yet. So he told her he would simply give up beer until the money came in. I don’t think that lasted very long. If he had stayed with Ford and stuck to his every 3 year plan I still would have missed out on these unique examples of T Birds. My first new car (bought with Dad’s assistance) was am 84 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and my second new car was an 89 Super Coupe. As usual I agree with Howard. Ford was once a great car company but that’s long gone. Yeah they sell a whole lot of butt ugly trucks. Who cares? Not me. Oldsmobile. Pontiac. Buick. Ford. All dead and gone. I miss them all.

    Like 3
  15. OIL SLICK

    That car is a mud bucket. Good luck finding replacement panels. Ford doesn’t support their cars for parts unless it’s a mustang.

    Like 2
  16. JAY BIRD

    I’m almost certain it was the 1965 T-bird that first had sequential turn signals!

    Like 1
  17. Big C

    The “Beak Birds” were better looking than the ’67 restyle. But I’ve always liked the ’73-’76 Big Birds.

    Like 3
    • Greg

      Out of all the T Birds of this gen the 71 is my favorite and if it had the buckets and center console l’d put my name in the bid. Always wanted a 71 and this one is nice. Fairy Godmother were are you?

      Like 1
  18. Bill Maceri

    I’m a total Ford fan, I have been ever since my oldest brother bought a 66 black on black Mustang. It was a 289 with a 4 on the floor manual transmission. I loved that car and could see Ford used quality materials especially in the interior. I have only ever bought Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns too of course. I love every generation of Thunderbirds. I always liked the Binkie Beak years. During the 73 oil crisis nobody wanted cars like these. I bought a 1970 Thunderbird with the fastback roof. It was gold metallic with a black vinyl top and interior. It was gorgeous. There has never been a car with a better looking dashboard. I would just stare at it, especially at night when it lit up in that aqua blue lighting. I still love that color lighting. The back seat curved around to meet the sides, the black cloth material Ford used kinda reminded me of a coffin. With the 429 4 barrel Motorcraft carburetor it would only get 8 mpg, not the best car to own during a gas crisis. Because of that hideous mileage I only paid $1,500 for it. I didn’t really need the car for transportation, I had a 69 Mustang Mach I I used as my daily driver. But I had to have that Thunderbird, had it for 5 years and was able to sell it for the same price I paid for it. I really loved that Thunderbird, and to be honest. I love a lot of cars from the 60s and 70s. I sure do miss those cars. Now we have small little imported shitboxes, they’re all the same color gray. But they get good gas mileage. There’s a lot more to a car than good gas mileage. I now collect 1:18 scale diecast models. I have a great collection, I have them all over my room so I can see them all the time.

    Like 2
  19. C Force

    This car resides in the rust belt,a paint depth gauge,magnet,and a flashlight would be good things to have on hand to inspect this car.

    Like 0
  20. Tony C

    Personally, I liked the clap-door ‘Birds better; the extra length and the doors just made the car look better, even if it did contribute to T-Bird’s identity crisis. What I H8 is the continued use of that seriously-overclichéd phrase “suicide doors,” even if power locks were relegated to the optional-extra list in the latter half of the ’60s (stupid mistake of Ford, BTW).

    But I digress. The “beak” is a misconception by many regarding weight. It added hardly any weight compared to ’67–9 ‘Birds…and those were really not that heavy (to me, 4,300 lbs. of car isn’t emphatically heavy). It was a styling thing only, maybe with a little argument for “Controlled Crush” which Ford started to promote in ’68. Basically, I think that, if any purpose could be argued beyond aesthetics, the “beak” was hoped to provide some cushioning in a front-ending, to mitigate any disabling damage. At least, if I were Iacocca, that would be the marketing argument I’d push.

    Like 1

Leave A Comment

RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.

Become a member to add images to your comments.

*

Barn Finds