Mission Creep: 1971 Ford Thunderbird

As the TV show The Wonder Years grew up with its audience, so did the Thunderbird. The trim, stylish dude with a pack of cigs in his sleeve who bought a '55 could stroll right back in to the Ford showroom sixteen years later in a bowling shirt covered in mustard and still find his dream T-bird waiting for him. Find this 1971 Ford Thunderbird here for sale in Ft. Meyers, FL for $5,000 via craigslist.
Tip from dascpcu

By 1971, the T-Bird had devolved from sports coupe to personal luxury coupe, essentially saying-without-saying that you'll be riding comfortably alone. However, the Thunderbird did retain some sense of style even though none of the hallmarks carried over from earlier generations. Like high waisted jean shorts, the T-bird used to look completely ridiculous after aging a few years, now to come back into fashion. For only $5k, this seems like a screamer of a deal for something oh-so 70's.

This car sports the 429, which in 1971 was still making 360hp, however, later it would fall to 208hp net in the sixth generation 'Bird. Behind the 385-Series motor is likely a C6 trans which will put up with almost anything that you want to throw at it while still being buttery smooth. The seller states that a fair bit of maintenance work has been done recently to the car's original mill.

The interior in the fifth generation cars was a comfortable place to sit in your driveway with a scotch and a chili dog, stare at your newly awarded bowling trophy, and wonder what exactly happened over the past decade and a half that lead to staring into a steering wheel and dash full of simulated wood. Luckily, that place is still in great shape and a wonderful place to ruminate about what a great deal you just got.

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Matt, a self-proclaimed bottom-feeder of the classic car market, spends half of his time buying cars, half of his time retrieving them, and the remaining third on keeping them on the road.