Of all the fabulous Thunderbirds made between 1955 and 1969, through my scratched up goggles, the 1967 through 1969 Thunderbird coupes are the most fabulous. I have such regard for them I find little to fault with this fabulous 1969 Town Landau Coupe I found for sale on Facebook Marketplace recently. Even in Linda Blair, "Exorcist Green", the vinyl top, the landau bars and the asking price an above average retail $13,000. Bonus, you get a dented and bent driver's side front fender.
Whenever I see a fabulous Thunderbird and, my blog, my rules, Ford didn't build any "fabulous" Thunderbirds after 1969, I can't help but think of the Austin, Texas based R&B\rock band that calls themselves "The Fabulous Thunderbirds" and wonder what the impetus to call themselves such was.
The band was formed in 1974 with lead guitarist Jimmy Vaughn, who's the older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, percussionist Mike Buck, bassist Keith Ferguson and lead singer Kim Wilson. Although they continue to tour, save for Wilson, none of the original members are still with the band.
Was their name inspired by a Ford Thunderbird? Perhaps an original band member or three were car people or Ford Thunderbird fans. Given the state of moniker when the band first came together a then current T-Bird (above) being the inspiration seems unlikely, but you never know. Perhaps it was by "Thunderbird", the cheap fortified wine that can make you feel, ahem, fabulous? Seems more plausible it was inspired by what many North American Indigenous people believe is a supernatural being of power and strength. Talk about a literal "fabulous Thunderbird".
If I was a betting man, I'd say someone, not necessarily a band member, simply put the superlative "fabulous" as a pre-fix in front of the magically lyrical word, "thunderbird" to create a "fabulous" name for the band. As simplistic as that is, it's not uncommon in art (and in life) for what appears to have a higher power to need a larger-than-life genesis story.
Our '69 here is part of the last the last of the fabulous Thunderbirds that also included a vinyl-top (and landau bar) free hard top (coupe) and a four-door "Town Landau Sedan" version. These weren't and still aren't everyone's cup of tequila, but in the late 1960's, if buyers wanted something domestic to make a swanky automotive fashion statement "they had made it", and a muscle car was out of the question, their options were limited. They either had a Thunderbird or GM's Cadillac Eldorado, Oldsmobile Toronado or Buick Riviera to choose from. Ford's Lincoln division also had their snazzy (and more expensive) Continental Mark III (as of 1968). Their Continental too but you'd think those buyers would be more inclined to shop Cadillac deVilles than a Thunderbird\Eldorado\Toronado.
The class-of-1967 Thunderbird evolved from the 1958 "four-passenger" Thunderbird that itself evolved from the primordial ooze that was the original two-passenger model. You wouldn't be alone, though, scratching your head wondering how the Thunderbird got to this overly large state when it started out as Ford's answer to the Chevrolet Corvette.
Then again, we have to understand that from the get-go in 1955, about the only thing a "Ford Thunderbird" had in common with a Corvette was that both cars could only seat two-passengers. A "Thunderbird" was marketed first and foremost as a luxury-car and one targeted primarily at women. Despite trouncing the Corvette at the box office, Ford executives weren't happy with the number they sold and added a rear-seat for 1958. To make way for the back seat, the car got bigger. Much bigger.
Many give the four-passenger, 1958 Thunderbird credit for spawning the personal-luxury-car niche that would slowly grow in popularity through the 1960's and become the defacto definition of domestic automobilia in the 1970's. With that came subsequent larger and heavier redesigns in 1961 and 1964 with the 1967's being the largest and heaviest of the flock.
Contemporary road testers didn't mince their words when it came to these cars claiming they were so big and ponderous to handle they were clumsy. Brakes and engine power barely adequate too. Oh, the sacrifices we make to look fabulous. No wonder that starting in the mid-1960's, seemed like Mercedes-Benz simply waltzed into the backfield of the Big Three and stole the ball. Made out with their cheerleaders, ate their hotdogs and guzzled their beer while they were at it.
.jpg)
Back then, though, to the unwashed, luxury-car adoring masses how would they have known there were better options to blow their dividend checks on? Overtly styled cars with cushy, mushy, "cloud-like" rides were the stuff of dreams to the "Greatest Generation" that grew up on primitive, purposely styled vehicles that rode like agricultural vehicles or at best trucks. Ersatz style with lots of plush? That notion sold a lot of cars back then. And the Ford Thunderbird delivered it buckets.
Through 1969 anyway. Ford mucked the whole thing up for 1970. Sure, they mercifully dropped the suicide door, four-door versions, but they inflated the thing way past where it could comfortably stretch (it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a bloated pigeon!) and the "Bunkie Beak", named after former GM executive Bunkie Knudsen who came to Ford for a cup of coffee, paved over any sense of design cohesion and balance. Knudsen was a GM executive instrumental in the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix who insisted the updated, 1970 Thunderbird have a protruded front end like the Grand Prix did. Perhaps without the silly front end and more handsome wheel trim these might have had more elan, but all I see is the start of the mess the car would become from 1972 through 1976.
On the interior, seemed Ford took copious notes from General Motors; forget the Age of Aquarius, the Age of "Plastiwood" was upon us. And acres of it too. The dash on these cars has nowhere near the swagger of any T-Bird before it and I can only imagine what those trading in an older Thunderbird must have thought when they slipped behind the wheel of one of these for the first time. The '67's retained some of the jet fighter cockpit ethos of earlier models but that theme had grown passe. That changed for 1968 and 1969 and not for the better.
The dictionary defines "fabulous" as resembling or suggesting fable; of an incredible, astonishing or exaggerated nature. I can't think of a more apt description for Ford Thunderbirds made between 1955 and 1969 and especially these 1967-1969 coupes. The closer this bought to $10G I think it bought well. Save the money to fix that dent and buy some tickets to see "The Fabulous Thunderbirds" in person next time they're in town. They are, here's that word again, "fabulous".
.
The only mainstream success the "Fabulous Thunderbirds" had was with "Tuff Enuff", a single off their first album when they were signed to a major record label in 1986. "Tuff Enuff" reached number-10 on the Billboard chart that year and became their signature song. The above video for it was ranked number-96 on VH-1's list of greatest one hit wonders of the 1980's.
No comments:
Post a Comment