OMG...so Beautiful...in 1972 when I graduated from high school, my best friend had a 1967 Cougar XR7 and his Dad had a 1968 LTD Wagon...with the "green glass" which told the world it HAD Air Conditioning! His Dad also had a 1967 Thunderbird with this tilt steering wheel....I got to sit in the drivers seat and operate it....was like the deck of the Starship Enterprise to me, a kid who drove a 1962 Rambler American! I swear it was this bronze brown color, but I can't be sure...too many years ago.....Congratulations to your friend for this STUNNING T-Bird.....Jim Farley should bring his entire team to see this car design and get FORD out of the ditch!!!!!
Greetings from a fellow 1972 graduate. I bought a ‘67 Cougar XR7 a month after graduation. Lt. Green metallic, black vinyl top, buckets & console. Miss it… soooo wish I could have kept it, but alas, eventually needed it as a trade-in.
The fit and finish on the Ford products looks so much better than GM cars of that era. I remember GM cars in the seventies with misaligned body panels, poor paint, and tinny sounding doors when closed.
Once you get into the mid-70s all of the Big 3 were slacking on fit and finish quality. I think late 60s GMs were pretty solid and fit well. But once you get into 71+ the GMs were a little lower in body and interior quality while the Fords stayed fairly solid till '75 or so.
Agree with you 100% except for the Riviera and Eldorado of this era were pretty special. That would change in 1971 for the worst. 71 Eldo’s and Riv’s would lose their special and careful craftsmenship and sound like rattle traps when you closed the doors.
The QUALITY is superb in these shared platform cars. Having owned both a 1966 Thunderbird and a 1968 Lincoln Continental, which rather ‘bracket’ the production and features of these automobiles, I quite enjoy this video!
Hey Adam, this Thunderbird interior is spectacular!!! I love the tilt away steering wheel, my 69 Cougar XR7 had the tilt away steering wheel too!!! 👍👍🙂
It is a beautiful standard interior of a well optioned Thunderbird! Such amazing attention to detail everywhere one looks. Marc, that steering wheel "flower pot" chrome is reproduced and relatively easy to replace. The shifter is closer due to the Tilt-Away mechanism, which was made optional for '68 and '69 (when it included a collapsible steering wheel per new Federal regulations). Fun fact: the Mark III's header panel with the warning lights was used on Thunderbirds as well beginning in '68. Adam, I still hope that someday a 4-door Thunderbird Landau makes its way into your collection, preferably in a dark color.
I love the 4-door, but it's not for everyone. Adam, look for a Hardtop with no vinyl top or two-tone. The standard roof is a thing of beauty, a lovely bevel on the C-panel, and a convergence of body lines that are somewhat obscured when the roof belt molding are applied.
I am VERY G.M. oriented but, I have no choice but, to admit that Ford did an excellent job with the Thunderbird, Mustang, and the Lincoln Mark series. I love the wrap-around rear seat backs. They always gave the Thunderbird that extra touch of exclusivity. This year Thunderbird used some of the softest springs ever placed in an automobile. With these cars, it is vital to keep the shock absorbers up-to-date.
I was a Ford guy for over 20 years, especially T-Birds 1955-1966. That all changed the first time I drove a Riviera. They rode and handled SO MUCH BETTER. But I am getting the impression that the RU-vidr prefers a soft ride, judging by his self-proclaimed preferences.
@@MostlyBuicks Ford always placed the ride above the handling with its cars. G.M. tried to find a happy medium while Chrysler placed more importance on handling. Little of that is relevant today as most of the world's new cars have forgotten ride comfort altogether. When I go on a long trip, I bring my 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood. :)
Back in those days, a luxury car was supposed to isolate you from the road. That’s why the 67 Thunderbird road nice and smooth. When I was a kid, a friend had a 67 Thunderbird, not only was it smooth it was so quiet with the windows closed.
Quit beating Marc up over the "drop of silver paint." After all, I have heard that there are many women (edit: and men) of a certain age in Los Angeles who have "had a bit of work done" and may not have all of their OEM. Consiser Marc's story as very much of its time and place.
My 1968 Mustang GT/CS had a Tilt Wheel. Yes, complicated, including a tin car under the hood as a vacuum reservoir. Lots of crossover between T-Bird and Mustang interiors, including the deluxe overhead console with map lights. Same 4 courtesy lamps, too.
Hey Adam, I always love when you have Mark as a guest. He’s a wealth of knowledge and has a fun sense of humor. I also love when you do the comparison videos, that’s always very interesting. And as always, I love your sounds….MMMMMM…..Aaahhhhh…….Love it and take care!
Wow! An evening with Mark and Adam! That’s about as good as it gets for us car geeks. Gorgeous cars indeed! Thank you, gentlemen, for sharing your wealth of information with us RU-vidrs.
That brushed metal dash is 1000 % more elegant than the 1968 treatment. Same with the steering wheel. This really is one of the great interiors of the 1960’s. I owned a 1987 Turbo Coup. manual transmission with the standard cloth interior that was just fabulous. The whole car was very special, but as we all know, this kind of dash no longer existed.
I was in high school when the Mark III came out. I've never gotten tired of looking and learning about them. Still prefer the '69 interior over the later designs, especially the high back seats.
The Industry knew that a lot of changes were coming in 1968- collapsible steering columns, padded steering wheel, side marker lights- the "flower pot" sterring wheel, across the line from Ford, was Ford engineering working toward what would happen in 1968. Safety conscious designs for interiors actually began from Ford in 1956, the lineup of which was marketed as safety first designs. Seat belts became available, knobs, switches, levers were intended to be safer, the 1956 steering wheels were deep dish with the intent of being less likely to cause injury. They were safer than anything else in the industry.
I have a 64 Galaxie 500 fastback that has the slide away or swing away wheel. It's nice. You just move the park lever a bit more towards park and it releases. In the locked position it is very solid.
This was really informative and interesting. Ford did a good job on the interiors and they made the Lincoln appear difference although there were commonality with the Ford. It is interesting how Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark were on the same path in the early days and diverged in 1977 and came back together in 1984 and stayed on that path until the end. It is is interesting to note the quality of the cars and the details. It is sad it is not like that anymore. Ford really had something special with Thunderbird and the Mark series. Thank you Adam for your friend and the video.
My aunt in her early 20s had a 62 TBird, black with red interior. In the summer my cousins and I would pile in and she'd drive us to the pool at the Polish Falcon Camp. I think mostly because she had a crush on the lifeguard. I remember his name was Billie...classic no? In any case we'd have a blast. She'd never get in the pool because it would ruin her platinum blonde beehive hairdo, it cost her a fortune. Now in her late 70s, I didn't say that, she's still a fun, wild girl!
My sister's first boy friend had a 62 Red Tbird convertible with a black interior. My parents did not care for this guy much. I got to ride in that car once, he was speeding down the narrow beach road at high speeds, I started crying.
@@fleetwin1 Yep, good ol Bruce Romano. The old man gave him his walking papers when he brought my sister home late claiming he was "on time" according to "romano time".
I have always been fascinated by the interiors of many of the older cars. It seems in some cars it was almost an afterthought while others were very well thought out. The use of different materials and a variety of colors made for interesting interiors. It seems todays cars while very colorful in lighting tend to be mostly gray and pretty bland.
Our family had a new '66 Town Landau. As a boy, I became jealous of a neighbor that bought the new '67 the night they came out. I frankly thought our '66 interior was more elegant.. especially with the formal Landau top that did not have side windows in rear seat..( which they brought back again in 69 and then 71), which was super private with its button tufted upholstery and elegant wood with silver inlay trim. But I swooned over the '67 and their many features. One item that our neighbors new T-bird had was a 'service indicator'. It was a little box under the dash near the ignition switch. it would spit out a little card. After a few weeks of ownership, a card came out, thanking them for their purchase, and welcomed them to the private world of Thunderbird. At 3,000 miles, a little card came out reminding them to do an oil change. Back in those days, Ford would send Thunderbird owners little presents every 6 months or so. One was an inscribed owners plaque that you can mount on the dash, or outside on the door.. another was Thunderbird porcelain tea cup set. Another was a 1/25 AMT model car- all put together with a transistor radio built into it. - I LOVED that gift! Thanks for the memories and another great video!
Beautiful cars. In the early 1980s I had a ‘67 Thunderbird hardtop in Tahoe Turquoise with a Parchment interior. An absolutely gorgeous car and after the second gas crisis in 1979-80, practically worthless. I was in college at the time and it was the wrong car to have on a student budget. I had a terrible time trying to sell and finally took $700 for it. Timing is everything and, of course, I’d love to have it today. I hope it’s preserved somewhere. One interesting thing, the gauge bezels have a soft black rubber lip. A nod to passenger safety before the more rigorous safety efforts in 1968.
I'd give just about anything ot be able to sit in the front ( or even back) seats of one of these, they both look so immensely comfortable! I think these are towards the top of the list of favorite Ford products of all time. 60s t birds were all pretty excellent with both interior and exterior styling that stood out even among it's peers. The Mark III, on top of being an equally stunning design, would also serve as a starting point for American luxury car styling for the next 20-30- but without the malaise of the later emissions and fuel crisis era vehicles.
I've posted on other Adam videos my parents' having owned a 68 T-Bird 429 coupe and '67 T-bird 428 4-Door. Both were great cars. The 4 door was Brittany Blue with a dark blue brocade cloth and vinyl interior....just breathtaking and very durable. All the metal pieces mentioned here were beautifully rendered in my parents' car. The 4-Door interior was really over the top, with just as much attention paid to back seat luxury and appointments as the front. Ford changed much in the interior from '67 to '68, the '68 feeling more mid-century minimalist and the '67 positively Rococo in comparison. No question the switchgear and materials in the '67 were superior to the '68. And yes, both cars' steering wheel releases no longer worked at about 100K miles, and Ford dealers could have cared LESS about fixing them. They hated working on these models...we fortunately had a JPL scientist friend who worked on friends cars in his spare time and could fix anything. Kept them running like champs. Miss those cars tremendously. Weak spots included those damned weak York AC compressors; crappy stereo speakers; water pumps; hood hinges that NEVER sat correctly, causing the hood to never sit flush at the back; weak center hood latch when the hood screamed for TWO latches to keep it from fluttering; cheap, sluggish motor for sequential turn signals; on the 428, a very dangerous hose splice at the carburetor from the metal fuel feeder tube to the carburetor inlet tube...about two inches long with pinch clamps, and if it ruptured...gas would be pumping all over the top of the engine. Often overlooked in servicing the car. The 428 was a wonderful engine, turbine smooth, quiet and refined. Many of them were destroyed in car fires caused by this stupid design flaw, exacerbated by indifferent maintenance by Ford dealers at the time who would forget to regularly replace it.
So fun to watch the steering column in action, something I'd somehow missed despite carpooling in one of these as a kid. The stylish divorcee driver (go-go boots and all) soon graduated to a Mark III, and my most indelible memory from both is the ceiling-mounted warning lights.
Adam,my first car I bought when I was 15 was a 78 Thunderbird in Dove Gray.Great car and I loved it.Showed up at Academy Ford with a shoebox full of money and the nice salesman asked me how old I was.Told me to bring dad with me.Went to my beloved father and he was surprised with my story and saw the look in my eyes and took me to the dealer the next day and got me a better deal.He was so proud that he paid the insurance for the first year and filled the tank and said,my boy go have fun but be careful.Mike the Greek
My dad had the '66, '67 and '69. The 1966 had the nicest interior and it's tilt wheel was just as effective but simpler. '67 had no center armrest. In '68 they put a bench seat in the front. That killed it. In 1970 and 1971, as a result of bringing over a stylist from Pontiac, they totally messed up the frontend. In 1972 they came out with a new car. It was huge and un-sporty. In fact the next decent, sporty T-bird was in 1983. After 1972 the next decent Mark was the Mark 7. I'd like to see Ford bring back both cars. At least they weren't boring. They looked good from all angles which is more than you can say for most SUVs which tend to be indistinguishable from the rear and especially in profile. BTW, the "S" in "SUV" stands for "sports". What is sporty about these little trucks?
7:30 Most rear seats have the subtle outline of the rear wheel housings visible on their surface to allow 2 passengers to sit as far back as possible within the car's wheelbase. Ford did an amazing job of hiding that outline in both the wraparound seat in the T-Bird and the more conventional seat in the Lincoln, but I'll bet the seat sinks more in the middle than on the sides. Ford definitely did more to give these interiors a solid monocoque look than any manufacturer has done since. It's great to see cars like this preserved.
I stated it before. While it was OBVIOUS that the 73-76 TBirds and the corresponding Mark IV were the same basic car, the relationship between the 67 T Bird and Mark III was much LESS obvious. I never knew they were related back then.
One interesting interior feature, or lack there-of, in the Mark III is vanity mirrors on the inside lining of the sun visors. Instead the mirror is a standalone piece located in a pocket in the glove compartment. Not really sure if the T-bird also features this but something you should check out Adam.
The 1967 Thunderbird interior is one of the most durable interiors, you often see these that look like they were dug up, but the interiors will still look great. 67 is really the last year, ok maybe 68, where the standard interior was gorgeous. A car ordered with not a single option other than power windows (manual windows in a PLC is a no no) and it is perfection. Never again would the standard Thunderbird be as gorgeous in and out.
The 1968 Thunderbirds dash, while not as spectacular or elegant as the 67 had a unique feature in that the turn signal indicator duplicated the 3-lamp sequential action of the rear taillights. This was dropped for the similar 1969 through 71 dashes.
My second car, in 1973 at 18 years old ,was a 1969 4 door Thunderbird Landau. LOVED the car...loaned it to my brother who hit a 45' bright yellow Bluebird school bus and totaled it. In perfect weather. In a 35 mph zone. HOW was this even possible????????
It's amazing and disappointing that no one in all these years has reproduced the chrome ring for the flower pot pad steering wheel in Galaxies and Thunderbirds... The Mustang version that is reproduced is different.. It's not as wide. I'm lucky that the one on my 67' Galaxie with 54000 miles is not split still intact and fairly shiny...
The illustration of the 'Bird's steering wheel reminds me of how terribly I miss tilt wheels of years past that were designed to spring upward to allow better entry/exit. It seems like all the modern steering columns are useless to help entry/exit.
My uncle was a Ford mechanic and disliked Thunderbirds for all of the electrical gremlins and complexity. I loved them for their beauty and aircraft styling - so unique.
Your uncle was right! The day I got it, the windows and doors froze! No one except the dealer could get me out! But I still loved it. Until a couple of kids decided to drag race into the rear end. The dealership could never fix the "thumping" sound. Only 6 mo.old.
Absolutely 100 percent agree. The 1967 T-Bird interior was the best of the so-called "glamour bird" interiors IMHO. But I loved my 1968 and I love my 1971 as well. The 1968 was decidedly a bit down market as mentioned here and the 1971 has many many interior pieces replaced by plastic. Still beautiful for their times.
67 Thunderbird was my 1st car back in the 70s. White black vinyl top with a 390 under the hood. Loved that car. Loved how the steering wheel swung to side and the parking brake would release automatically when you put it in drive. The flower pot steering center could be twisted off and hollowed out to hide things in. The power steering was amazingly easy to turn and the brakes were hard to get use to, they were sensitive. Best car I've ever owned.
The padding on the vinyl roofs of both cars is still In phenomenal shape and the look is so exquisite. A great compare and contrast. I would love to see the Riviera and the Eldorado of this era thrown into mix. These were the pinnacle of personal luxury American cars of the era. You can tell gasoline was cheap by the size of the cars and the engines that propelled them. The style and luxury of these cars said “ I’ve made it “ in a way that most modern cars miss. So glad you guys share these beautiful automobiles with us.
Had a beautiful black 4-door '67 Thunderbird. It had the most comfortable, quiet and smooth ride I've ever experienced! And the 8 track acoustics in the interior were incredible. Loved that car!
This generation T-Bird has so many interesting features, like the interior design, the tilt-a-way wheel, the hidden headlights, and of course the sequential turn signals but it's also clear how all those things have contributed to the rarity of these cars. You get some mystery vacuum leak, or something goes wrong with that steering column, or god forbid the complicated mechanism that operates the turn signals, you've got a problem. Unlike other Ford products of the late 60's and early 70's (Mustangs and even some Lincolns), I can't imagine they are easy to work on and you won't just waltz into Autozone and walk out with a sequential turn signal box for a 67 T-Bird...
I was in the 4th grade at a private residential school and the decision was made that I would be leaving to go back home after Christmas and back to public school...I was picked up by my Dad in December and he was driving his new '67 T-Bird. The burgundy beauty had 2 doors and a 390 V-8. I thought the hidden headlights were cool and loved that back seat style. As a kid I only knew my Dad to drive Lincolns; so I thought this car was a space ship when he rolled in to pick me up--it was Sunday and the song 'Sunday Will Never be the Same' was playing on the radio while Dad gunned the gas from a stop light...I loved that 1967 Ford Thunderbird--and still do. Thanks for this video!
I do love this interior and it's much better executed than the 68 (I'm guessing some of those changes were for safety - rather than cost cutting reasons - oops typed too soon, Marc hit that) but 68 did seem to be the begining of various manufacturuers started taking out cost inside)
My Brother had 1967, 1973, 1974, and 1975 Tbirds. I was only 10 or 11 when he had the 67. In retrospect, it seems to be the most unique of them all.I also remember thinking it strange that such a large car was only a 4 seater. I was also intrigued by the what i called the pop up steering wheel.
With my first car being a 1964 Thunderbird given to me by my Dad in 1972, I have been spoiled by Ford's incredibly fine workmanship which made their luxury offerings arguably the best in the 1960s and early 1970s. I currently have a 1965 Thunderbird convertible and 1969 Lincoln Mark III. Unfortunately, Ford began selling style over substance by the later 1970s. The best example of that is the Lincoln Mark V...which is a total styling success, but with build quality (both materials and workmanship) no better than a standard Ford. I have had four Mark V examples - trying desperately to "fall in love" - but have always come back to the earlier Ford Luxury offerings like the 1965 T'Bird and Mark III for their unique combination of superb style and material quality. Only Jaguar's interiors (e.g. Vanden Plas) have impressed me as much those on the two classic Ford products I have kept for decades now.
Had one. Loved the interior, the power of the 390, the Fairlane 4V (1.12 Venturi rather than 1.08), the C6 and was told to try a Holley carb and i did and it wasn't any better on that car. No performance or mileage improvement so I put the 4100 back on it. I really think the 4100 was better but I didn't tune carburetors back then. It could (the Holley) have needed adjustment that I would not have known how to do back then. I wanted a Carter AFB but never found one to suit. But wasn't it amazing back before emissions and fuel injection they got the same or better mileage with definitely more power. A 390 would get 13-15 driven nice. A 429 could get pretty good mileage. A 302 back then would get above 20... and some claimed mid 20s. And then they retarded the cam timing, reduced total timing, detuned the advance, lowered the compression, added EGR, PCV, catalytic converters, etc etc and then you'd be lucky to get 10 mpg out of the big blocks and not even 20 with the 302 until they added overdrive and speed density injection and then sequential injection and then mass air flow sequential injection and then direct injection... but they've got stuff costing thousands and thousands more than you'll ever see in savings. Whatever, i guess.
Hey Adam, thanks for another excellent review of these two beautiful cars from the Ford Motor Company. The Thunderbird and the Mark llls, and IVs are two of my top 10 all time favorites. I owned a 1970 Thunderbird, that I loved, and I also had a 1990 Mark Vll, I loved that one too. Unfortunately, my 1970 Thunderbird with a 428 cid, that could only get 8 to 10 mpg, was the wrong car to have during the 73 oil crisis. To this day I still question whether or not it was real, or a tactic to raise gas prices. It was a very dark time in America. Thanks again Adam, I really appreciate your reviews of those two fantastic cars.
BTW, the interiors of the Thunderbirds and Marks from the 60s and early 70s are the best ever to come out of Detroit. There's nothing quite like them, even today. They were nothing less than fantastic works of art,. The I.P. bluish green lighting was mesmerizing. Ford's attention to detail from that era can not be beat.
Hmmmm The 67 T-Bird dash had four pods and four slider switches for the floor airdoors, rear-vent, washer and wiper. The looks to have gotten a fifth pod for the slider switches. The 68 dash looks "Safer" but the 67 looks much better.
I had a ‘67 Tudor in my 20s, loved it then, miss it now. Maybe one day… I traded my Vega for it to a guy who needed something to get to Ohio from here (New Orleans). Sure hope he made it 😃
These were exceptional cars with superb fit and finish. On top of it all, they were reliable. Friends owned them and I drove many miles in the T-bird, always arriving in style.
I was about six when I climbed into the back seat of my uncles T bird. I remember those wrap around rear seats very well. My Dad was in the front passenger seat. It seemed like a rocket car to me. And I was obsessed with NASA and Appollo.
While I find the 67 interior more stylish than my own ‘69, that flowerpot steering wheel hub is a little off putting in person. Those rear seats were supremely comfortable.
Stupid to Put gear selector On strearing wheel instead of putting between the seats Console kinda useless Like you said everything is prone to breaking. Terrible Design
I'd rather have the Lincoln! I think those interior door latch handles on the Thunderbird emulate throttles on a multi-engine airplane. That car doesn't look bad at all under the hood. A little dusty is all...
Love those tilt-pop wheels. I had an early production '67 Cougar that featured the rare optional tilt-pop wheel. It was complex, and I had to partially rewind the solenoid to make it function properly again. My Dad and I did a full restoration on that car, and there was not one single part left on the body shell. Reconnecting all those vacuum lines (had AC too) was quite fun...
It's a wonderful video with great views and narration but I think Mark overuses the word "cliché" to the point that it becomes a cliché! Lol. The reason you're highlighting the dash on this Thunderbird is because it was one of the best, feature-packed and comparatively unique (printed circuit boards!! hydraulic wipers!!) not because it was overused *at the time.* At least I think so. He does have almost encyclopedic knowledge of the car, and **I ADORE** the old advertisements. Keep them all coming, you guys are great, and that ain't a cliché! Lol.
Some super-interesting observations there on the '67 T-Bird interior. 1) We have adjustable columns today, but they take purposeful action --- that was instantaneous and automatic. 2) Wired into the transmission, (can only happen), in "PARK" and dome light-activated with a solenoid switch release that moves it at a 45 degree angle! 👌 Agree, "simple in function but complicated in execution" and as stated, one reason those cars have become so rare today.
Adam- I have to agree the interior in the 67 T-Bird is stunning. It would be really cool to see it compared to a 64 Riviera interior. They both are really awesome!
