1971 Ford Thunderbird

I know I am becoming a website nag.

But, look at that beautiful wood grain 5-pod airplane cockpit resemblance instrument panel:

 

Super well kept for a 50 year old car.

 

For the short while I owned my '69 4-door Landau Thunderbird, I had the distinct feeling I was captain of a ship, not the driver of an automobile....... And with Ford's 'isolated' steering feel back then, you didn't just turn the steering wheel - you 'gave the command' and the mechanical bits registered the change in direction, like a big ocean liner.

My folks '69 Galaxie 500 was even worse in that regard.

 

And this was by design! It's one of the biggest complaints I hear from people about driving older cars - that the steering is too easily moved with minor hand movements or the huge amount of wheel turns (super assisted) to get it to turn fully. Just how cars were made back then, it didn't help that radial tires weren't around and the bias ply tires needed plenty of correction going down the road to stay straight...

 

I love my old land yachts, 73 colony park and 66 breezeway

 

Also most of the designs up to 1970 had negative caster on the front spindles. To make it easier to steer a car without power steering. It also effects the way the track down the road. Along with the bias ply tires it also effected how often you had to correct the steering to keep the car in its lane.

The last time I modded an older car (my 67 Lemans) it had 2 degrees of negative caster, we could only get about 1/2 of a degree of positive caster, but it helped the car go straight down the road after putting a good set of radials on it. That and a quick ratio power steering box transformed the feel of the car. Best drive ability modification I did to it. And no one could tell that it wasn't stock.

I do like the dash on this T-Bird, but do you have to reach thru the steering wheel to work the radio controls?

 

The height of over steer I always noticed was on Dragnet. Poor Bill Gannon had to have arms like Popeye after schlogging that Fairlane around LA. If you ever watch that show notice his 10 and 2 hands are constantly in motion. The Fairlane did have the wood sports wheel, which I found odd on a 4 door dog dish car. Poor guy probably got a splinter a week.

 

Maybe it's because I drive Mercs with power steering, but they drive smooth as silk down the road... Now my brother had a 68 charger that had a sea like motion where you had to correct it... It would dip and bounce to the left and right, my mother drove the car once and she hadn't driven a car that old in decades... Needless to say I was getting seasick with her over corrections.


Unfortunately I made a comment about that to her at the time "mom, are you sure you know how to drive this car? I'm getting seasick"... Got my butt chewed out

 

I've driven both his Mercs, and while they feel overboosted, I drive them like a helo pilot flies an egg beater, by averaging the controls. Detective Gannon and Officer Malloy both had cars that just didn't have any road feel but too much road muscle. Maybe they could've got some instruction from the pilots in Astro Division

 

I may be in the minority here, but I think the combination of the paint color and the black vinyl on this particular Thunderbird makes it quite stunning.

 

It is a stunning car - looks like new at 50 years old.

 

All power options.

 

Wow- looking at the interior would think the car just came off the transport. Is this vinyl really 50 years old ? Plus the styling is just spot on.

 

It does all look like new.