This 1980 Ford Thunderbird could leave many enthusiasts in a quandary. That’s not because it is a bad car, but because it will have some debating what its most significant attribute is. It is a one-owner vehicle, meaning it has a known history. It presents well and is unmolested. The low odometer reading may sway some, although the seller’s decision to send it to auction with No Reserve makes it hard to resist. If you are part of that crowd, you will find it listed here on eBay in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bidding has raced to $4,100, and with No Reserve in play, a new home is days away for this classic.
The Eighth Generation Thunderbird’s introduction signaled significant changes for the badge. The styling contained a slightly European look, but the physical size caught the eyes of many. Compared to its predecessor, the new T-Bird was seventeen inches shorter, four inches narrower, and rode on a wheelbase six inches smaller than the car replaced. However, the true scale of the changes revealed themselves when you placed both cars on the scales. This new model was an incredible 700lbs lighter than the car it replaced. These factors combined to achieve the company’s goal of producing a more fuel-efficient model due to prevailing economic conditions. Unfortunately, its timing was off, and it may have enjoyed greater success if it had appeared a year earlier. The seller indicates this Thunderbird is a one-owner classic that wears most of its original Code 3L Dark Blue paint. They admit there are amateur touch-ups on the front right fender and part of the hood. It sounds like there may have been a minor fender bender involved, and the cosmetic repairs were performed on a budget. Otherwise, the body is straight, and the paint shines nicely. The Blue vinyl top is in good order, and there’s no evidence of any rust issues. This classic features spotless trim, with the same true of the glass.
Powering this Thunderbird is a 302ci V8 which sends 131hp to the rear wheels via a four-speed AOD automatic transmission. Considering the car’s luxury leanings, including power assistance for the steering and brakes is no surprise. Luxury car owners generally aren’t concerned about outright performance, so this classic’s ability to cover the ¼-mile in 18.5 seconds would have been a secondary consideration. However, the new model was not only significantly faster than the car it replaced, but a fuel consumption improvement of nearly 15% means that Ford achieved its efficiency goals with the 1980 model. The seller claims this Thunderbird has a genuine 34,700 miles on the clock, but they don’t mention verifying evidence. However, since it is a one-owner vehicle that has been appropriately maintained throughout its life, service records may provide the required proof. They describe the driving experience as excellent, saying it performs as expected, with no vices or problems.
Opening the doors of this Thunderbird reveals an interior containing the hallmarks of a car that has been pampered. There are no signs of abuse or wear, the upholstered surfaces look excellent, and the carpet is spotless. The original owner’s decision to keep the car stored in a garage when not in use has limited UV exposure, meaning the dash, pad, plastic, and faux woodgrain are faultless. The only aftermarket addition is a wheel wrap, but the interior appointments are surprising for a vehicle of this type. I expected seats trimmed in leather or cloth, but the Blue vinyl in this survivor was standard. Buyers paid for the others as optional extras. I find the company’s choice slightly odd because the material was no better than that found in a Fairmont, despite this car costing considerably more. The air conditioning, power locks, a power driver’s seat, cruise control, tilt wheel, and an AM/FM radio/8-track tape player are all expected in a car of this caliber. However, the manual windows surprised me. That seems curious, but the classic world is riddled with the unexpected.
The history of the Ford Motor Company is littered with failures (Anyone for an Edsel?), but it also contains some notable successes. Some would argue that these had more to do with luck than good management, which is probably partly right. However, cars like the First Generation Mustang and the Pinto proved the right car at the right time, and their sales figures easily confirmed their success. By any rational measure, the Eighth Generation Thunderbird should have raced out of showrooms, but it didn’t. The company developed it off the back of rising oil prices, deciding the buying public would fall over themselves to own a smaller and more fuel-efficient personal luxury car. However, oil prices had dropped when the new T-Bird broke cover, and the buying public gave the vehicle the cold shoulder. Ford sold 284,141 Thunderbirds in 1979, and the expectation was that an entirely new model should have sold up a storm. When the dust settled, 1980 sales reached 156,803 and declined rapidly from there. The Ninth Generation, introduced in 1983, reversed the slide, but at no point did the Thunderbird revisit those heady days of more than 200,000 cars per year. With oil prices currently climbing as they did during the late-1970s, maybe the time is right for a new owner to enjoy a personal luxury car like this 1980 Thunderbird. It has attracted twenty-seven bids with time remaining on the auction. Maybe that’s the reason for the enthusiasm. Do you agree?
For all practical purposes, this was the car that killed T-bird. They may as well have offered a wagon. I believe it was the switch to the Fox platform, that many T-bird buyers just weren’t interested in. It’s not what they bought a T-bird for. T-birds, like Grand Prixs, and Monte Carlos, were these macho gentlemans cruisers with these long hoods, I’ll leave that one alone,( think Peter Griffins car) but the downsize schpiel was not their cup of tea. Like my old man, they wanted BIG cars, and many, like my old man, simply gave up and bought vans. I got a chuckle out of the crank windows too. Some folks, believe it or not, didn’t trust them, good old crank window never failed them, and that was the mindset with newer fads. My old man didn’t like the feel of power brakes, for example. Unlike today, where everything is power windows,,except of course, my Jeep. These cars pretty much eliminated the macho part, and attracted grannies and secretaries, where the previous T-birds were too big, these were a hit. To me, it’s a Ford Fairmont, with racing success all it’s own, but, tis’ no T-bird.
Could be worse…could have that 255 V8 in it.
Killed the T-Bird ? A little extreme aren’t we Howie. lol
Ford sold lots of 1989-1997 Generation T-Birds.
Including the Bill Elliott Turbo Coupes before 1989 and the Super Coupes of
that the 89-97 generation.
1980 was hardly the end of the line !
The next generation TBird was this exact same car with new sheetmetal. They even used this same car as the basis of the Lincoln Mark of the same era. These were Fox body Fords and they were good cars that kept Ford afloat before the Taurus.
This car was featured 2 weeks ago, on Dec 17.
one fugly mal proportioned t-bird. I agree this generation about killed the bird. The side profile is, umm, ok, but other views, especially the front 3/4 view, kill it. Did the grand bird get the back track dimensions of a friggen BMW Isetta? why are the back wheels being sucked in so much? uuuuggghh. The interior just screams cheap. Everything just looks so cheap and plastic, inside and out. Thank god for the 83 aero bird, the interior was still cheap poo, but at least it looked nice and wasn’t trying to suck the back wheels into obliteration. Just my 2 cents worth. value of .0000014 now with this insane inflation
A couple years after I was out of college in my first job, I crashed my second company car in 1981 and my boss suggested I “get my own car”. I had money down on a big black boxy T-bird and when I went to look at it before the final sale in the dealer’s lot passed by a Black Mustang 5.0 GT. I decided to buy the Mustang instead but when somebody hit me a couple years later, I sold it to my auto body brother and bought the new “Aero style” T-bird with the 302. Drove that until 1987 when I traded it in for another. Came close to driving one of the last “boxy” T-birds as I called them. Move on to four Lincoln Continentals after that…
I had an 80 TBird and actually liked the car. It did have the 255 in it, which was not anything that would set you back in your seat, but was a nice cruiser. It rode much better and felt heavier than the other fox body platforms. On the other hand, the subtle roof line changes in 81 ruined the classic styling in my opinion.
My Brother-In -Law bought a base 1980 T-bird that was silver over blue the most base unit he could find…even had a 3.3l (200ci) six that was offered midyear. If you thought the 4.2l was a slug, it was lightning compared to this one!!! It was very reliable however….
A Ford Fairmont by any other name…. It has the Ford Fairmont steering wheel, dashboard, steering column, shift lever, seats, etc. A cheap, economy car trying to masquerade as a Thunderbird. An elderly lady gave me hers in 1995 when she gave up driving. It had the 255 V8. I could never get used to the horn control being on the end of the turn signal lever! Short wheelbase, rough riding car. Sold it for peanuts as soon as I could.
We had a bunch of these on the rental fleet. Big disappointment from day 1 until the time we had to package them with Cutlass’s to wholesale them.
Growing up, my mom always judged a car’s trunk by whether you could stand up a full grocery bag in it and close the trunk without crushing the top of the bag. Judging by the pretty shallow trunk, she would have passed on this one.
The epitome of Detoit’s “malaise” era cars. Let’s shrink ’em, and raise the price! Ford almost killed the T Bird with this slug. But, the AeroBirds saved the day!
The aforementioned slug was only around for 3 production years.
And then Ford had one of their ‘Better Ideas’.
Let’s redesign the whole, round it off and make the rear window super
aerodynamic.
Did wonders for Bill Elliott’s NASCAR career !
The next 2 Gen T-Birds sold very well !
Could make an interesting basis for a sleeper, with all the Fox-body go-fast and handling upgrade bits readily available from Ford and the aftermarket.
Maybe even subtly revise some trim to imagine what a period “GT package” T-bird of this vintage might’ve looked like back in the day, had Ford decided to offer one.
WTH was Ford thinking, they killed the thunderbird with that abortion.
I worked for Ford in the Phoenix District Office when these were new. First, while the 79 Bird sold well the majority of sale were in the first few months, as these were the hot car of ’78. After the February oil shock sales hit the wall. The 1980 Bird was on paper the right car for the time (fool me once on gas supplies…) but the execution was horrible, essentially it’s a “Fairmont with earrings” as one dealer commented (the Fairmont was not a prize, either). Poor ride, cheezy appointments and poorly disguised sytyling killed this one. A product planning failure.