As many of you may know, I have owned three 1978 Thunderbirds. I have owned a heavily optioned base model, a Diamond Jubilee, and currently, a Town Landau. The base model was the first new car that I purchased. I really wanted a Town Landau at the time, but settled for the base model. When Thunderbird was downsized in 1977, they only offered the base model initially, but during the model year came out with the Town Landau. Here is a 1977 Ford Thunderbird Town Landau 2 door hardtop coupe for sale here on Craigslist in Epping, New Hampshire. Thanks go out to Barn Find reader AMXBrian for finding this car and bringing to our attention.

The way to quickly distinguish a Town Landau from the regular model is by its brushed aluminum tiara band that wraps beginning just below the B-post opera window, over the roof to the opera window on the opposite side. Other exterior features of the Town Landau are a color-coordinated translucent hood ornament, accent stripes on hood, headlamp doors, upper bodyside, louvers, and trunk, wide color-keyed side molding, front cornering lamps, front and rear bumper guards and rub strips, color-keyed turbine spoke aluminum wheels, and dual remote sport mirrors. Some of these features were optional on the base model. While 1977 base model Thunderbirds only sold for $5,063, by bringing out the Town Landau at $7,990 this got Thunderbird back into the pricey territory which was $200 more than a standard 1976 Thunderbird.

About four years ago, the brake lines failed on this car and it was parked, the car running and driving fine until that point. The body is in great condition for a 42-year-old vehicle. There are no dents or dings. It appears the car may have been covered but there is no word of any rust on the vehicle.

Inside Town Landau included velour split bench seats with fold-down armrests, 18-ounce carpeting, high gloss wood tone paneling, air conditioning, AM/FM stereo search radio, tilt steering wheel, quartz day/date clock, power windows, power door locks, power driver’s seat, and more. This interior looks to be in pretty good condition except for a crack on the driver’s door armrest. Someone has done some cutting on the lower door panels to accommodate aftermarket speakers. The dash and seats appear to be in good condition.

While the seller says this car has a 351 cubic inch Cleveland engine, the 1977 Thunderbird Town Landau came with a standard 400 cubic inch engine. Maybe later in the year, the engine size was changed. The VIN code would be helpful in determining the engine. The seller also says this would be a great restoration project or you could hotrod or ratrod it. The car has 78,000 miles. The seller is asking $1,800 for this Thunderbird. For this price, its hard to find anything running these days, so the price may not be too bad. There were nearly a million 1977 to 1979 Thunderbirds produced, so any needed parts should be easy to find. Are you ready to take wings and fly in your own Big Bird?