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.
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.
The Mark has the looks on the outside, but I love the T-Bird's metal dash. It's amazing that Mark's car looks that good after 200K miles – I think he mentioned that was the milage. That may be common place today, but it was not back in those days.
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.
My '66 had this wheel, along with spin-out seats. One of my favorite cars ever. Sadly, they really uglied it up outside – looks like a vacuum cleaner. The '65/66 bodies were far more aggressive and appealing.
That T-Bird is a beauty, gorgeous interior. I loved the 1967 Mercury Cougar XR7 interior package with the tilt away steering wheel, overhead console, wood grain dash with a full complement of green lit gauges and old school toggle switches. 1967 was a good year for cars.
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?
My parents had a new 1967 four-door Landau, and I miss that car to this day. My dad traded it in on a 1976 Ford Granada because he thought it looked like a Mercedes. He never claimed to be perfect, and this obviously proves that he wasn’t (sorry, Dad!)
Always surprising the aeronautical theme of the interior of those 60's T-Bird which contrasts so much with that cheesy exterior roof trimmed with vinyl and a landeau bar … I could only see Trump's personal plane trimmed with such a roof.
The turn indicators in the 1968 cluster were a electrcal nightmare.
The three green lamps above the red T-bird outline HI-BEAM indicator were designed to light in sequence either direction, shadowing the rear sequentials.
According to legend, this lasted till Nov '67 when it was replaced by bulbs in the outboard positions.
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.
Like you said the door hinges are massive chunks of steel. Could there be pieces of steel thicker on this car? Or most other cars for that matter . The axles come to mind. 😊 And thinking deeper I guess some steering components.
Especially now that they have so much drive by wire stuff in cars. It would probably be somewhat be easy to eliminate the steering shaft into the cabin and have moveable wheel. I know my gear shift lever on the column of my truck isn't physically connected to a shaft to the transmission.
I also took my dash apart and cleaned everything. The heater was so hot I could burn my fingers when adjusting the airflow in the middle two vents. I loved the car and used it as a daily driver from 1999-2003, afterwhich I sold it to buy a 50 meter tower that I used to conduct a wind test that later became a wind farm.
I remember sitting in a T-bird in an Omaha showroom, was by the Westland Mall in West Omaha. I clearly remember sitting in the front driver's seat, which would swivel to let you in and out. Maybe this was a later model than the 67? Why Ford is no longer making a classic Thurnderbird is totally baffling. Who the H cares about an EV Mustang, or other vehicles Ford is rebadging to bolster sales, like the Bronco and Maverik. The last T-bird had the pitiful egg car look, and was a hodge podge attempt to try to achieve a retro look while cutting corners and reducing trim, but still charging about 40 to 45k per vehicle.
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.
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.
Dude sounds like Orson Wells…
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.
this guy is a pretty good salesman
Ugliest car ever made….well, maybe tied with the Yugo, Pacer, Vega and Gremlin.
The 64-66 T-bird may have been the best wrap,rond seat (mom had 65), but the Dodge Bros. had one in a 6 passenger thad wooden spoke wheels
IMHO, the BEST interior design ever!!! The Mark III gets an honorable mention.
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.
I had a 71 and it had a lot of similarities minus the wheel side tilt.
The Mark has the looks on the outside, but I love the T-Bird's metal dash. It's amazing that Mark's car looks that good after 200K miles – I think he mentioned that was the milage. That may be common place today, but it was not back in those days.
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.
I have a 66. The advantage of the 67 is having a glove box.
Two flavors of beautiful FoMoCo luxury! I love to listen to Mark and his design insights.
Where is Mark’s accent from? It’s very cool.
More Mark, more often!
My '66 had this wheel, along with spin-out seats. One of my favorite cars ever. Sadly, they really uglied it up outside – looks like a vacuum cleaner. The '65/66 bodies were far more aggressive and appealing.
It would have been neat to demonstrate the Thunderbird back windows sliding rearward (instead of down) like they do on the Mark III.
That T-Bird is a beauty, gorgeous interior. I loved the 1967 Mercury Cougar XR7 interior package with the tilt away steering wheel, overhead console, wood grain dash with a full complement of green lit gauges and old school toggle switches. 1967 was a good year for cars.
The door hinges on those cars are insanely overbuilt.
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?
My parents had a new 1967 four-door Landau, and I miss that car to this day. My dad traded it in on a 1976 Ford Granada because he thought it looked like a Mercedes. He never claimed to be perfect, and this obviously proves that he wasn’t (sorry, Dad!)
Always surprising the aeronautical theme of the interior of those 60's T-Bird which contrasts so much with that cheesy exterior roof trimmed with vinyl and a landeau bar … I could only see Trump's personal plane trimmed with such a roof.
I had one, the easiest car I ever owned. I bought it new for $3700. We used to negotiate. The dealership asked me to never return! I miss it.
Quite a modern IP for 67. Specially the console tratment.
Remember these well cougar xr7 had pretty much same hot sunny day all that chrome
Whenever I see these cars, I am amazed that the US car makers ceded their place in the marketplace.
The 67-71 Thunderbird are some of the best Birds made.
I'd love to adapt one of those steering column to my 67 Ford XL convertible problem it I have floor shift and all T birds had column shift.
The turn indicators in the 1968 cluster were a electrcal nightmare.
The three green lamps above the red T-bird outline HI-BEAM indicator were designed to light in sequence either direction, shadowing the rear sequentials.
According to legend, this lasted till Nov '67 when it was replaced by bulbs in the outboard positions.
Ford would never use nice material like this again. even the platinum f150 has cheaper interoir components.
Damn that’s awesome
These are very nice cars 😊
Auto upholstery spray glue will hold your headliner up. Stickiest stuff I’ve ever used 😮
Solid cars, you can sit on them without creating dents 😊
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.
Like you said the door hinges are massive chunks of steel. Could there be pieces of steel thicker on this car? Or most other cars for that matter . The axles come to mind. 😊 And thinking deeper I guess some steering components.
Beautiful car the steering system would not pass safety today collapsable steering
Well memory seating settings do do the same things today lol. But a very cool innovation at the time. And love the car.
The three hinges and cut outs for them are massive!! But obviously built to last
I think Chryslers 300G coupe or convertible from 1962, particularly with the Cross Rams rivals the T'Bird in every department…then some.
Especially now that they have so much drive by wire stuff in cars. It would probably be somewhat be easy to eliminate the steering shaft into the cabin and have moveable wheel. I know my gear shift lever on the column of my truck isn't physically connected to a shaft to the transmission.
True had one
I also took my dash apart and cleaned everything. The heater was so hot I could burn my fingers when adjusting the airflow in the middle two vents. I loved the car and used it as a daily driver from 1999-2003, afterwhich I sold it to buy a 50 meter tower that I used to conduct a wind test that later became a wind farm.
1960 Chrysler dashboard. Also 1960 Lincoln Continental.
Gorgeous cars, the both of them, but that shift lever on your Mark is just.. freakishly small..! 😧
I remember sitting in a T-bird in an Omaha showroom, was by the Westland Mall in West Omaha. I clearly remember sitting in the front driver's seat, which would swivel to let you in and out. Maybe this was a later model than the 67?
Why Ford is no longer making a classic Thurnderbird is totally baffling. Who the H cares about an EV Mustang, or other vehicles Ford is rebadging to bolster sales, like the Bronco and Maverik. The last T-bird had the pitiful egg car look, and was a hodge podge attempt to try to achieve a retro look while cutting corners and reducing trim, but still charging about 40 to 45k per vehicle.
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.
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.
2:50 🙄😳 was that a fat bag of flower power
😤=🤣🥳🤫🥴😴 repeat