1970 Bunkie Bird
Although sharing the same platform and many of the same parts of the 1967-69 Thunderbird models in 1970 saw a major change in their style: a large eagle beak! Available in coupe or sports-back models, all 1970-1971 Thunderbirds had prominent wrinkled lines on the bonnet, leading to a jutting tip, that even formed the middle of the grill work, which was a not too thinly disguised bird’s beak. The T-Bird for these two years, had the most aggressive look. Semon “Bunkier” Knudsen, the former GM man now president of Ford, is the one responsible for that dramatic change, as a result some call the 1970-71 models “Bunkie Beak birds.”
In 1971 Neiman Marcus offers “his and hers” Thunderbirds in its catalog, with telephones, tape recorders and other subtleties. They retailed for U.S. $ 25,000 for the pair.
1967 Glamour Bird
This fifth generation saw the second major change of direction for the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird has remained basically the same concept in 1966, though the styling has been updated twice. The introduction of the Ford Mustang at the beginning of 1964, however, had challenged the Thunderbird on the market. Like the Thunderbird, the Mustang was a small, two-door, four-seater with sporting ambitions, but it was significantly cheaper. The Thunderbird sales suffered. Ford responded by moving the Thunderbird upmarket, while some fans of the classic 1966 Thunderbird considered it as the final year of interest.
For 1967 the Thunderbird would be a bigger car, moved closer to Lincoln, because the company has to emphasize the “luxury” part of the “personal luxury car” designation. Ford opted for the lifting of the Thunderbird traditional Unibody construction for this larger car, turning to a body-on-frame with an advanced method of mounting rubber between the two frames to reduce noise and vibration.
The Thunderbird form ‘68 saw the introduction of the new 385-series big-block 429 CID engines. Like most Ford engines of the time, they were “insufficient” at 360hp for insurance reasons. The Thunderbird engines also got a special treat with style heads, so that a significant power increase was obtained versus their conventional headed brethren. These engines made “Glamour Birds” some of the fastest ever made, despite their larger size and heavier body on frame construction. 1968 and 1969 model year saw small trim changes.
