When the Thunderbird was redesigned for 1967, Ford took things one step beyond the 2-door personal luxury car it had been all its life. They added an extra set of doors, making it available as a 4-door sedan for the first time. And they were the “suicide” type doors like the 1960s Lincoln Continental. The seller here bought three late ‘60s T-Birds about 30 years ago with plans of fixing them up, but it never happened. So, he’d like to sell the three together just as he got them. They’re in a big garage in Mansfield, Ohio and available here on craigslist for $15,000 OBO. Thanks, Jim Cormany, for this interesting tip!
The fifth generation of the Thunderbird ran from 1967-71 and was a larger and more luxurious car ever than before, in part to distance it from the successful Mustang. The car would no longer be unibody construction in favor of body-on-frame construction with rubber mountings between the body and frame to reduce sounds and vibration. The convertible was gone, and the 4-door was in, at least through 1971. The car now sported hidden headlights.
As the story goes, the seller bought all three of these Thunderbirds as a package deal– two from 1967 and one from 1968 – and they were running when parked around 1990. But each needed a repair of one kind or another. The bodies and paint may look good now, especially in the extra photos the seller provides a link for, although the rust bug has entered the undercarriages of each of the cars to the extent they may actually just be fancy parts cars. However, if your vision is high enough and your pockets deep, each car could be restored. Click here for a flood of more photos.
The three cars are:
1967 Sedan – Blue (390 V-8 Automatic)
1967 Landau Coupe – Red (390 V-8 Automatic)
1968 Sedan – Maroon (429 V-8 Automatic)
As is the case with all T-Birds of this era, they are well-equipped and would give you the impression at times that you’re riding in a Lincoln. That cost less money to buy at the time. If any one of these cars was in premium condition, it could be worth $20,000. Because of the electronics of the day, restoring these cars would not be a cheap proposition.
A Tbird with 4 doors is just not a Tbird to me .
Think of it as a forerunner to a Porsche Panamera since we are talking 4 doors.
In December 1966 my Dad took my Mom’s 1966 T-bird Town Hardtop, that burned a quart of oil every two weeks, and traded it on a 1967 2 door Landau in Sauterne Gold, at Metairie Ford in New Orleans. Our neighbors, 4 houses down from us, later traded their 55 Bel Air sedan on a 1967 4 door Landau in Dark Green. After the first year, the novelty of a 4 door Thunderbird wore off and they never sold as well again until production stopped in 1971
Great comparison!
Neighbor had a 69 with 429, got to detail when I was. teen, it was fast!
Thank you Russ. If I had the room and not two projects underway and going well even with the virus going on I would jump all over these. Although I never thought the 4 doors were as attractive as the two doors in this design I’d save them anyway and have some good fun. At $15,000.00 one would be North of $15,000.00 apiece as a budget figure so you would be in the fleet about $55,000.00. which in this market is not bad for three cars.
I’ve always found the way the side window profile of these cars rises from rear to front to be awkward. It’s as if an executive sat in a mockup and demanded that the windshield header be higher.
Got a 68 T bird sitting in my garage ,also 429 and same color has the one listed .Its with in 25 miles from Mansfield
Weren’t all early Thunderbirds frame cars ? I thought the first unibodied birds were in 1980
58-66 were unibody…wouldn’t touch one if there was any rot
Out of all of the Hot Wheels Sweet 16 I always liked the Custom T-Bird above the rest. The Custom Eldorado never looked just right whether made in America or Hong Kong.
My very first Hot Wheels was the 68 Custom T-Bird in copper with black roof. I just bought one ( the Hot Wheels one) this year, just to have a copy of my first car!
Mine was good with a black vinyl top, made in Hong Kong. They sell a complete set for $500! If only, you know?
A friend of mine had one , and the first 2 hot wheels I ever owned as a kid were the 67 mercury cougar and the 67 thunderbird . The one my friend had was considered more of a cooler than the norm 4 door sedan. He did tell me he left it running outside one day to run in and drop something off to his wife at work for just a minute only to come out and find it missing. Thinking it was stolen he was about to call the police and heard a strange noise around the corner. Yes folks these cars were of the vintage that would slip from park to reverse. His car had backed around a corner into a crowded parking lot and miraculously missed several parked cars and hit a fence and was trying to push it over when he found it.
Had a 67 sedan, my late grandmother bought it new in 67, she actually traded in her 65 Bird for it. It was maroon w/ black leather interior and powered be a 429. She drove it until 1972 and parked it in her barn in Pennsylvania, I picked it up in 84 when she passed. It had 8000 miles on it, with fresh gas and a batt it fired right up. It didn’t need much to restore, just a good cleaning. The best memory of driving it was when some kid with a Camaro or Mustang in the early 80’s would take off at a light balls to the wall and a 3 ton boat would just leave them in the dust. I had it for about 5 years the sold it. Wish I had it now.
Now down to $12k for all three, but wait there’s more – a 4th one for free!
I’m actually a lot more interested in seeing what’s under the other car covers, visible in a number of the photos…