The fifth-generation Thunderbird is the most interesting for me, especially the unusually redesigned examples such as this beautiful 1970 Ford Thunderbird with the famous “Bunkie Beak”. This amazing car is listed on eBay with a $12,000 buy it now or you can make an offer. It’s located in beautiful Knoxville, Tennessee.
A friend of mine in high school had a dark green four-door T-Bird of this generation with a 429 and he got 8 mpg, ouch. As most of you know, Ford made a sedan version of the Thunderbird for the 1967 model year, the start of the fifth-generation. This was no average four-door, the Thunderbird sedan had suicide doors which were unique then and it’s still unique now. That is, of course, the model that I would want for the unusual factor, which isn’t to say that this Sportsback T-Bird isn’t super desirable, too. It sure is a beauty.
Or at least it’s a beauty from the rear with that sloping roofline. There was also a two-door Landau model. The design and especially the projecting front end treatment is said to have been generated from a former Pontiac designer, Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen who was now at Ford. Bunkie wouldn’t last long having been dismissed in the fall of 1969, reportedly for not getting along with long-term team members including Lee Iaccoca.
You can see the driver’s seat needs reupholstering but the rest of the interior looks great, front and rear. The seller says that this T-Bird “was restored in recent years and is pretty original/complete.” I’m not quite sure what that means, if it was restored to original-spec or if it’s original but parts of it were restored? Whichever case it is, this car looks amazing for being 48 years old. If my ’66 Lincoln Continental Coupe would have been this nice for this money I’d still have it. Hagerty is at $10,200 for a #3 good condition example as a comparison.
Here’s where it gets really fun, this knife and fork engine (as in, it’s so clean that you can eat off of it) is Ford’s monster 429 cubic-inch Thunderjet V8 with 360 hp! I know, those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end. They say that it “starts and runs great. Could likely use a carb rebuild as it stumbles when stepping on it (Likely the accelerator pump).” They also say that there’s also a small coolant leak which shouldn’t be a huge problem. Have any of you owned a fifth-generation Thunderbird?
I love these T-birds, Scotty! My Dad had a ’66, with which this one barely shares any family resemblance. I love the “beak” and the full-width tail lights. And most engines saw their peak HP numbers (albeit SAE gross) in 1970. I’d love to own one of these for a year or so then let it fly on to someone else. If well kept, this car would make a great highway cruiser with no need for technology to “keep you centered in your lane.”
I’ve always liked the taillights, but the rest seems pretty LTD coupe (which was kind of the job of the Torino).
Beautiful car, beautiful colour!
Great looking car but the Thunderbird is the ultimate exercise in automotive devolution. From the beautiful 1957 design to Led Zeppelin in 13 years! It wasn’t broke and you didn’t fix it Hank.
Love it ! The T-bird has changed more than any car I can recall. My dad had his ’55 2-seater Corvette competitor. He romanticizes about it to the day. 4 door experiments, this 1970 feature nose, Turbo coupes of the ’80s, then the retro imports of early 2000.
Certainly one here I’ve never seen in person, appreciate the post !
Hey…anyone know what the heck the louvered panel behind the rear window was for ? (heat A/C coils in the rear seating ? mid-engine option lol)
Flow-through ventilation, John. It was a big deal in the late-1960s-early-1970s.
My family’s ‘78 AMC Concord even has flow-through venting. Two small vents underneath the dash controlled by pulls, with wing windows in the rear seat. Pop the vents, open the wings, and presto—it cools it off quite well.
Like…..best looking of the latter Birds…..my opinion…..
Man, what a nice car. You know, they just don’t make cars with class like this anymore. I can see this in direct competition with the Tornado and Riviera, sporty personal luxury car with a big quiet engine. Designed for quiet operation and cleaner emissions the 429 did its job as asked without any drama, well, the only drama being how quickly it made a tank of gas disappear, but who cared in 1970. Great post.
Pretty cool car for someone trying to get into the hobby and not have the same car as most others at the local car show!
I prefer the grille of the 71 over the 70. A few yrs. back I inquired about a 71 with the same Sports Roof,and the center console[was told later it was a fairly rare option] it was parked under a business carport. No one knew anything about it, 6 mos. later I spotted it at the local “pick n pull” The T-Bird was low mileage and in excellent shape. It gave me a bad feelin in my gut needles to say I was pi$$ed. I placed an ad on the local c-list,under parts.Cars usually are there a month to 6 wks. but the t-bird didn’t make it a week. Lookin back,I think there was more to story.
I had a 71 4 dr the last year of the style I had just married a woman with 2 kids and transmission went out couldn’t afford to fix it !i wish I could find one reasonably priced today one of the neat features was hydraulic windshield wipers powered by the power steering pump
Nice, nice, NICE!!! Before the T-Bird went to “full tank status” in ’72, ( which were still nice cars) these were the nicest T-Birds. The old man had a ’73 for a brief time, it was a tank. These still had an element of sportiness to them, and styling the likes we’ll never see again. Ford sure nailed it with this one.
As a side note, got a chuckle out of “accelerator pump”. I bet many haven’t a clue as to what that is. On carburetted vehicles, “pumping the gas” was a regular ritual, especially on big block motors like this. Takes a lot of gas to get these beasts going. I still do it today on my ’77 GMC when it’s cold. We’re spoiled today by modern fuel injection, that pumps the gas in under pressure for us.
My 1970 T-Bird had the 429 Thunder jet in it. When you stomped on it I swear you could see the gas gauge going down. It got 8 mpg with normal driving.
Could remove trailer hitch before photos but still nice looker,
I was thinking the same thing…
Ask my self if it was a Factory Hitch….. Ijs
the trailer hitch is to tow a fuel tank behind you
Or the 1957 T-bird you are taking to win another trophy.
Nice looking Thunderbird…love the color. Looks like the Thunderbird emblems on the quarter panels are in the wrong place. I believe that they should be above the side marker lights.
I’m not a Ford guy, but Henry’s guys nailed it on this one. Great styling strong driveline. What’s not to like. As for gas milage this is not your daily driver anymore so tanking it up won’t be that painful. I remember when you’d see these regularly on the streets. I miss those days. Now everything is so cookie cutter, unless you can see the badge on it you can’t tell what it is.
My older brother had a 71 TBird, very similar to this but his had a black vinyl roof and cloth upholstery. He would keep a gas mileage log and if I recall it got about 12 MPG. He never had problems, it always started and ran, but after about 8 years of New England weather rust took its toll on the body. The rear quarter panels were so eaten away that it would not pass safety inspection and he ended up junking it. I do recall his next car was a VW Rabbit diesel, I think he was sick of spending all the money on fuel.
I own a 71 Landau. It actually gets 15 MPG. I take it to car shows and have several awards for her. I love this car.
I had the 4 door was working construction in Dallas to at the time we had to drive to Paris 150+- miles away on one trip 2 bgirls in a 1975 trans am wanted to run them on interstate the poor T/A had no chance on top end!I GOT TICKET 128 cost me small fortune lol they should have stuck to 1/4 mile I loved that car
From the side profile looks almost Olds Tornado to me.
I had a ’71 like this, red with black vinyl roof and black interior, high back buckets and console. Beautiful car until I got a hold of it.
Last time I seen it was driving by a junkyard north of Kimball, Mn. My friends brother bought it from me and finished it off. We drove our cars back then. Hard.
Has a Jimmy Durante shnoze,
Who can name the racer that campaigned one of these in NASCAR?
Stirling Moss?
never seen one with manual windows before
Aftermarket cruise control from long ago (not sure if it works)
…..
I’d take that as a NO,
….. it doesn’t work !
Considering the seller says works for most of the other gear !
Which is quicker and which car is more wanted? This or a fwd caddy Eldorado, or a toronado , all 2 door. Also hp in each one.