In May 1979, I purchased a brand new Ford Thunderbird. I was only 19 years old when I bought the car paying $6,600. I drove it for three years then parked it in my parents garage (as I was transfered to another state). My parents have passed but I still have their house and my 79 T-Bird which only has 33K original miles. The car is light metallic jade with a dark green vinyl top and green interior and best of all,, it's near mint.
@Keith Willis Yeah these were some of the largest and longest "chuckle" "midsize" cars ever.....Marketing, marketing...lol. Not much separated them from many "full" size cars of the time!
I recently found a 1977 Ford Thunderbird in a local wreckers yard. They tried to sell the car for $1,400 but no takers. Sad because by the time I found out about this car, they had already transferred it to the yard where it was being picked apart. . BTW, I found out the car only had 84K original miles on it with 302 engine. It was silver with a red vinyl top and a perfect red interior. The car had no dents and only a little surface rust on the top part of the chrome bumpers. I would have paid the $1,400 they wanted if I knew about the car while it was still in one piece. Sad!
My grandmother had an orange ‘78 Diamond Jubilee Edition with the name plate “Made especially for Elizabeth Griffin”. That car was huge but very luxurious back in the day. Wish I had that car now. Was beautiful.
Wow...this takes me way back!! My mom had a one of these when I was a little kid and I thought it was the coolest car ! Whenever we would go somewhere at night I would hop out and watch the folding light covers close. I though that was the coolest thing.
I have 2 1979 Thunderbird Heritages with the 8 track Quadrasonic tape players that sound like your actually there when it was recorded! I couldn’t ask for anything 40 years old to sound any better ! And still WORK!!!!!!
By offering editions like the Diamond Jubilee Edition and Heritage was Ford's attempt to hold on to the upper end of the personal luxury field which it largely abandoned with the 77 downsizing.
Dennis Bowers Really? Imagine a mustang powered SUV like mitsubishi did with the eclipse, definitely there is no market for a car like this dont you think? And its a shame!
Sorry, that ship has sailed. SUVs, minivans, 4-door pickup trucks, and large crossovers have replaced full-sized cars, which were popular among people born in the 1920s and earlier.
Brings back memories like an old gf.my grandmother had one brand new.white interior w blue paint.and white vinyl top.she told me I could have it.then backed out.i was mad as hell.i loved that car.later my dumb cousin wrecked it.im still pissed even today.grandmas been dead 5 years now. I'll get over it probably in 5 years.
I had a 78 thunderbird. Navy with grey vinyl top and grey interior. Buckets and consul. A superb car. Always started and ran perfectly. But a couple of kids and more doors were needed. I traded it for a Buick LeSabre Limited. I went from 2 doors and zero problems to 5 years of nothing but trouble. Which made the T-bird just that much better.
The 77-78 are my dream car that I wanted so badly when I was in high school. I loved the style and design, especially when these cars were all loaded with power features. I still want one today, as I would only drive it on special occassions, but not the 79' version as they redid the tail lights differently. I still have brochures on these models.
There is one advantage to the 79. Because of the way they are laid out, it is a minor modification to fit sequential turn signals. The advantage to the 77 and 78 lights (yes they are different from each other) is that it is easy to install European compliant turn signals to the back of the car.
I had the 78 Dimond Jubilee Edition T-Bird. What a ride it was. Only thing I did not like was filling the huge gas tank. On the open Interstate...gliding along in cruise control...sweet ride.
Gas mileage is easy to improve. My brother had a 79 that, by the time he was done, was matching the fuel consumption of an 89 Honda Civic. If he had the extended range tank he would have been able to do 1,000 miles on a tank with some left over.
My mom bought one new in 1978, I spent my earliest days in the back seat. She traded it in 1984 for a Turbo Coupe with a five speed which was just light years beyond this one. These were basically re-badged Torinos, having been downsized in ‘77. Nevertheless they were the best selling of all the Thunderbirds and remain popular with enthusiasts.
I had a Burgundy '78 T-Bird (400 CID). I loved that car. I even kept it in the garage when I could. In the early 90s the metal underneath the battery was rusting & the headlight covers had a vacuum leak, they would open as soon as you shut the car off. But I really didn't mind. That was one sweet ride. I had owned it for 20 + years!
I have had a pair of 78 and a pair of 79 Thunderbirds. I miss them. Both 78s had the Interior Decor Group, Exterior Decor Group, vinyl top, and climate control with the optional 351M under the hoods backed by the FMX 3 speed autobox. The 79s were very low option, 302 cars. Reliable, comfortable, and economical once you learned how to get gas mileage out of them. The near thing is that the gas mileage gsins were accompanied by performance gains. Better breathing hrlps both.
We had the white base model, early in the video, with the 351 motor back in the early 2000's. Still road like a boat and turn the steering wheel with your pinky. Miss driving it
I graduated from college in 1976, and thought the Thunderbird in that era was so good looking. I lived in Newport Beach at the time and saw any number of them in and around Southern California.
I was never really a fan of Ford, but this Thunderbird body style 77, 78, 79 wins my heart. 👌🏾🔥🔥🔥 I have such fond childhood memories of riding in these back in the day. 🤗
My mom had one 78 or 79 Thunder Bird color mint money green and white leather seats and green carpet in side.White leather half top.⭐💰👑💯Super Clean On God Lord.
As an owner of a '79 Heritage and '78 Town Landau, these cars were distinctive, not like today's bubbles w/ wheels. Back then you could 'personalize' your car, almost all options were individual.
Still a beautiful car. With today's engines this car would not have needed downsizing. It's very rare to see these cars in Nova Scotia. In the day they were a big seller in Canada. Lee Iacocca hit the nail on the head with this design and concept. A luxury car for the common man/woman. What a concept.
Yes, that was the main color choice, they also offered it in a coppery color called "Ember" metallic and then you could get the Diamond blue trim with white paint and the Ember trim in pastel tan. They offered the regualar Thunderbirds in like 18 colors and 6 interior trim colors so people could really tailor them they way they wanted and you would most likely never see one just like yours on the road.
I drove a brand new white w/ red leather '78 Tbird to high school... man I was spoiled!!! My new car is a 2020 white Volvo s60... funny how its drive reminds me of the Tbird... lol
Love how this was filmed in my childhood neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego. I drove my parents new '78 to Point Loma High School at the time. White as shown in the vid with red roof and interior... Lol
Wow, I do not recognize this as Point Loma. The scenery seems too rural. There's almost NO traffic in the highway scene at the beginning or in any other scene. Even the in-town scenes look like they were shot in a small rural town rather than in a city or suburb. The parking lots are so empty.
My mother had one back in 1979. She LOVED that car. It was a sweet ride. Emerald Metallic Green, sporty rims, huge V8. She still misses it. But some idiot hit her back in 1984 and even after they fixed it, the car wasn't the same.
Good lord this year model is hideous yet, there is an allure to it. Too bad I am out of garage and drive room, I would get one or a mustang two, lol. Great video, Merica 🇺🇸
I feel sorry for those who choose to own it I like the aero birds that came out in 83 and the luxury version that rode on the Lincoln chassis from 72-76 the sadest T birds were 80-82 on the fairmont chassis They got back to their heritage in 2002-2005 is what they were really suppose to be about
Oh my the green T-bird looks exactly like the one Bosley drove in Charlie’s Angels though his had the vinyl interior of was it leather in green. That was the T-Bird to bag back then.
1978 where have you gone? How many matching leisure suits came with the Diamond Jubilee edition? In all seriousness, I L-U-V the customization available in those days. Back in '78 I was too young to drive a Thunderbird but I was old enough to admire them.😁
back in the day options were endless, today it"s take it or leave it. car buying used to be a personal thing but now you can have carvana deliver your vehicle to your home. going to the dealership I thought was whole lot more fun. people today have gotten spoiled and lazy!
@@JayFreely I"m not taking it to "personally" I"m just telling you how it used to be. I"m 58 yrs old and apparently you"re a lot younger or else you would understand where I"m coming from; "I hope you dont take this PERSONALLY"
It all had to do with emissions. The 400 was probably the only one that met the requirement without heavy mods and retaining some level of performance.
My first new car was a 78 Thunderbird Maroon in colour with the 302....Sharp looking car however the folding headlights were garbage in the snow and cold (I live in Ontario Canada) and the 302 V8 with all the emissions on it make my wifes current 2016 Honda Civic 2 lt 4 seem like a race engine...The 302 back then was very unresponsive..
Can confirm, Hotel California does sound good in these cars lol. But they could use an upgrade imo. 40 year old speakers and radio don't have the same oomph that modern tech can provide.
I would drive this any day over this new plastic over engineered junk that will break in five years. At least a 1978 Ford Thunderbird was not meant to be disposable when in a crash. No expensive sensors computers or ABS and air bags to fail.
I love at 9:40, the highlighting of the side trim and pin stripe. Note the body side molding (door trim) did not line up in typical 1970s crappy manufacturing / design fashion. I wonder if anyone still has this trim/color version anywhere - esp. the trunk straps. And of course an 8-Track of the Eagles.
The 302 2 bbl had no guts in '78 - The 400 2 bbl was the only one with any type of power (165 hp 320 ft lbs torque approx.). Even the 460 in the Lincolns were bad that year (202 hp 350 ft lbs torque)
@@1983jblack I had the 78, with the 351M It put out a blazing 144 BHP Looking at the specs, the 302 had 134 BHP,. and the 400 wasn't much better with 166 BHP, all the new emission controls (in the 70's) killed those engines
@@lapdog65 Don't feel bad I had a 1977 Mercury Cougar XR-7 with the 400. Bought it brand new on 07/08/1977. As beautiful as it was, it was nothing to write home about performance wise. My 1972 Mercury Montego MX with a 351 could eat that Cougars lunch. The funny thing about these cars is each car we bought was much slower then the last. Our 62 Chrysler Newport was a dragster compared to the Montego and Cougar. The Montego had the smoothest quietest ride of any car I've ever driven. Always thought the speedometer was off, because at 65 MPH it felt more like 40. Had it tested and it was accurate.
0:45 Yes, it had far more sales than the 1976 Thunderbird because it was in no way the same car. The 1976 model ended an era; the car was a much higher quality car. The Thunderbird of 1976 was a thinly disguised Lincoln Mark IV, which was the pinnacle of what a luxury car should be.
And today folks. Our cars come in two non colors. Simply Silver and Compliant gray. Our interiors come in 133 shades of black. And..AND!!! if you con't like Gray, you can also get your new compliant car in Silver!
My 1st car was a 77 T bird and the money I was spending for gas for the 351m 400 engine I was able to get a brand new 94 Pontiac grand am 4 door and still had money left over 🤣⛽
CTUALLY THEY HAD SEVERAL. tHE BASE AM/FM WAS MONOAUREL WITH ONLY ONE DASH SPEAKER. tHEN THERE WAS AM/FM STEREO, AM/FM SIGNAL SEEKING STEREO, AND 2 AM/FM UNITS EACH WITH AN 8 TRACK TAPE UNIT. oNE WAS REGUALAR 4 SPEAKER STEREO AND ONE WAS QUADRASONIC STEREO. Sorry for all those caps due to caps lock, but I am not going back to re-type.