The 1972-76 Thunderbird was a virtual clone of the regal Continental Mark IV, but it was priced at thousands less. For luxury car buyers, it was the deal of the century.
The 1972-76 Ford Thunderbird doesn’t have a Rolls-Royce-style grille or a faux spare tire bump on the deck lid like its close corporate cousin, the ’72-’76 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. But in most other ways the T-Bird (red coupe above) and the Mark IV (silver) are surprisingly similar cars.
Both were assembled at Ford’s Wixom, Michigan plant in the northwest suburbs of Detroit; both were available only as two-door coupes, the classic personal-luxury body style. They shared the same 120.4-inch wheelbase chassis, structural black metal, cowl, and greenhouse—and a remarkable similarity in exterior styling. Indeed, from middle distance it can be a little difficult to tell them apart, especially in profile. Yet when the ’72 T-Bird launched on September 4, 1971, it listed at $5,293, nearly $3,400 less than the $8,640 Lincoln. Naturally, the more value-minded buyers of the luxury-car crowd were quick to take notice.
The sixth-generation ’72-’76 production cycle was the largest and most luxurious Thunderbird produced by Ford to date, with any previous sporty flavoring fallen away. Thunderbird fans, who like to give each generation of T-Birds a nickname, have dubbed these models the Big ‘Birds. True, the Thunderbird’s cabin appointments were not quite as lavish as the Mark IV’s, while the list of standard luxury equipment was not nearly as long. In features and price, the Mark IV was still the Ford Motor Company’s king of personal-luxury cars.
One more minor difference, initially at least: The T-Bird’s base engine was the 429 CID V8 while the Mark got the maximum-strength 460 CID V8, but in 1974 the 460 became standard Thunderbird equipment. In many ways, especially in their mechanical underpinnings and general appearance, the Thunderbird and Mark IV were pretty much the same car. When 5-mph DOT bumpers became mandatory in 1974, the resemblance only grew.
A bit surprisingly, perhaps, the remarkable similitude of the Big ‘Bird and the Mark IV didn’t seem to hurt the popularity of either one. Both were strong sellers, with the Thunderbird moving its customary 50,000-60,000 units per year and the Mark IV essentially carrying the Lincoln division at the time with annual volume in the 50,000-70,000 range. We could conclude that Mark IV and T-Bird owners each got what they wanted. Mark IV buyers enjoyed the prestige of a classic standup grille and a spare tire bump, and Thunderbird buyers got the deal of the century.
I sold both and recall in 73 when we had 3 new Marks come in they all had Thunderbird name script on the dashboard.
Oops!
James,
While visiting the local Chrysler-Plymouth dealer in September 1968, and wandering around the back lot to get a glimpse of the new 1969 cars before they were in the showrooms, I spotted an unusual vehicle:
!969 Plymouth Fury 2-door hardtop, dark green with a green vinyl roof. On closer inspection the interior was for a BLUE Dodge Polara hardtop; seats, door cards, trim panels, even the dashboard was for a Dodge Polara! The window sticker indicated the correct interior.
I was good friends with the service manager. On a later visit he explained how both cars were built on the same assembly line, and this type of mistake often happened at the beginning of major new model changes. He said that because there was a blue Polara with a green interior somewhere in the country, eventually Chrysler would figure out where the cars were located, and recall them both to exchange the interiors before sending them back to the original dealerships.
The Cougar was probably a similar bargain, dad had one before he upgraded to the Lincoln…
In 1975 or 1976 while working at Lincoln-Mercury, I was ask to pull a Lincoln Mark IV into my stall over lunch. When I pulled it into my stall, there were two PA State Troopers there, Two State Troopers from Kansas (?), and two Michigan State troopers that were escorting two suits from Ford. I was asked to remove the steering wheel and dash pad.
Turns out the serial number tag riveted to the dash frame was the same as a Lincoln Mark IV in Kansas.
After the tag was changed by one of the suits, lots of papers were signed and everybody left.
The only thing I was told is they did the change at lunch because the only people in the service department was the service manager and myself.
It’s funny; the Mark IV leaves me cold, but the contemporary Thunderbird is one of my favorite pre-1980 Ford products, eclipsed only by the Glamor Birds.