The 5th generation Ford Thunderbird was introduced in 1967 as the second major revision to the original Thunderbird. What was once a lithe sports car that competed with the Corvette was now an enormous personal luxury car that competed with first class rail transport. Find this 1971 Ford Thunderbird Sportback 429 offered for $1,500 in LA area, CA via craigslist.
The 5th generation Thunderbird deviated from previous generations by changing from uni-body to body-on-frame construction. This might be considered a step backwards, but the weight (4350 lbs) brings with it a considerable amount of stability and comfort.
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Power in this Thunderbird comes from the what the seller describes as a 429/460 V8. Not sure if that means it is equipped with engine code N - the 429 ThunderJet engine, a big block beast that was originally added to passenger cars for NASCAR homologation purposes. Which ever engine, expect a minimum of 7.0 liters and power when fitted with a 4-barrel carburetor is in the range of 360 horsepower and 480 ft-lbs of stump pulling torque.
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Wow. Haen't seen one of these in years. Cool car.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like an awful lot of car for the money.
ReplyDeleteAt $0.35 per pound it's less than half the price of US Government Inspected Chicken Gizzards.
You know the old saying: "Give a redneck 4350 lbs of chicken gizzards and he eats for a year. Give a redneck 4350 lbs of big-block Thunderbird, and he can do doughnuts in a Steak & Shake parking lot, kick over the jukebox, take home the waitress and eat whatever she was able to steal from the kitchen before she walked out in the middle of her shift."
I've heard this, yes.
DeleteI love 1955 through 1971 T-birds.
ReplyDeleteI check out all the design lines like eyeing an E-Type.
I am surprised that is not more love for T-birds.
Could the 1958 T-bird really be the first muscle car and not the GTO? A 430 cubic inch engine in a small mid-sized car.
I would not buy this car seeing the Kentucky Fried dashboard and the fake braided radiator hoses.
But the drivetrain alone is worth the price.
Good one Dr. D !!
I had a 1970 for 16 years. The original motor is a 429. The rear suspension is coil spring and 4-link with a panhard rod. You got 10 mpg whether you were moving fast or slow. It towed a series of vintage race cars around California in the late '80's and into the mid-'90's. The southbound Hollywood Bowl exit on the 101 is a two-lane bridge with a mild left turn and a crest in the middle, followed by a downhill straight. Going about 90, the car would powerslide across the exit, get light over the crest, slide right from the inner lane to the outer lane and squat just in time to catch the straight. Sort of fun in a 2 ton car.
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ReplyDeleteAs of 1971 the Thunderbird was the sporty version of the Lincoln Mark III.
Which is kinda like saying 'the sporty version of the USS Nimitz'.
You could launch an F-18 off the hood, but if you put the helm hard to starboard while passing Dallas westbound you'll be headed due east somewhere around Gibbon, Nebraska.
As the loser criminal in "The Crow" bellowed, "Here's to ya, T-Bird!" but I do think that one was a '73. The vibe is similar, especially how the pics all seem to be taken at night in a seedy neighborhood...
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